WOW: Who are your favorite authors?

CB: Of course Edith Wharton, as well as Leo Tolstoy.

WOW: It’s ironic you mention Edith Wharton. Many compare your work to hers. Wharton’s novels about the New York Gilded Age chronicled the pressures and perils of wealth and society. You, too, capture the dark side of glamour with merciless wit, especially in One Fifth Avenue. Do you like being compared to Edith Wharton?

CB: It’s very flattering. I consider her a great writer. She’s a far superior writer than I am.

WOW: You just signed a book deal to write The Carrie Diaries, a two-book young-adult series about Carrie Bradshaw’s teenage years. Have you always had Bradshaw’s back story in mind?

CB: It just seems like a fun idea to explore Carrie as a young girl. To me, Carrie is an independent thinker, and that’s really what the books will be about. I think young adult books are very interesting, too.

WOW: Will Carrie Bradshaw be the best-dressed student in high school?

CB: I don’t know.

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