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Mike Thomas discusses what it is like to appear in one of my books.

A four-year stint as a high-school English teacher in the Chicago public school system is hardly the sort of resume item one would expect from an urban-savvy young novelist currently offering her most recent chick-lit novel, Sleeping Over, a look at five fabulous females trying to forge lives of meaning and intimacy in the City of Big Shoulders.

The 411 from Newcity's Seven Days in Chicago featured Chicago's very own Stacey Ballis. In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," Stacey alludes to her preparation for the attention sure to come her way after Inappropriate Men's upcoming release. "My family and friends will see the main character of my book and say, 'Oh my God, this is totally you.' "

Five authors from Chicago and the 'burbs have recently written "chick-lit" novels--a popular new genre that stars hip young urban women, usually casting about for romance and adventure. As it happens, not only have our local authors created heroines who mirror the target audience-- they themselves could be characters in their own books (though four of the five are married). Here's a look at Chicago's new author chicks and their lit. KOREY KARNES

Red Eye journalist Katheryn Masterson discusses the impact HBO sitcom "Sex in the City" has had in empowering and uniting single women. Stacey Ballis discusses her rich, single life in Chicago.