1–What is the title of your latest release? THE STOLEN LADY: A Novel of WWII & the Mona Lisa  2–What is it about? Two women, separated by 500 years, hide the Mona Lisa—with unintended consequences. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  In a year when no one could leave home, traveling vicariously by writing THE STOLEN LADY truly kept me sane. In my imagination, I whisked myself away to Renaissance Florence, over the Alps to the Louvre, to the breathtaking châteaux of the Loire Valley, and to the hulking medieval abbeys of southern France. What an incredible imaginary journey during the strangest of times! 4–How did your main character(s) surprise you?  As a novelist, I have long wanted to explore the mind of someone who threw a treasured possession onto the Bonfire of the Vanities in Florence in February 1497. But building out the mindset and background of such a character (Bellina—a servant in Lisa Gherardini’s house) made me ask so many questions and then rethink them all. 5–Why will readers relate to your characters?  Bellina (at the turn of the 16th-century) and Anne (in the 1940s) are average women facing extraordinary circumstances. I think we’ve…

With my new release, Mona Lisa Darkening, just out in mass market paperback—the first one of my novels to do so—I’m left scratching my head a bit. One reader emailed me with praise for switching the series from the more expensive trade paperback to the smaller and economical mass market paperback format. But two other readers queried, asking if Mona Lisa Darkening would possibly be available in trade or hardcover format, which they preferred. I’m sorry to say no. But it surprised me greatly that they would ask. I’d love to hear which format others prefer, and why.Okay, some happy news. My 11-year-old son, Michael Chen, recently starred in a small independent film called Children of Invention, an amazing experience all in itself, but now we’ve just learned that it’s been accepted into the 2009 Sundance Film festival, under the Spectrum category! Here’s a link to the other 15 films in the category—the Spectrum group is halfway down the page. Robin Williams, Ashley Judd, Mary Tyler Moore, and the like are listed there! And, as listed in my son’s bio, he’s a great dancer. Here’s a ballet clip I just posted of him on YouTube from last year’s recital. I’m…