You ask is it harder or easier to write about different milieus--or, fish-in-different water scenarios. It's of course harder--and I would add, even harder than writing about different fish in non-fiction. In non-fiction, you can take a detached, scholarly view of your subject. You can cite polls. You can quote real people. If you make a mistake, you can run a correction--but in any case, a reader isn't expecting you to get it 100 percent perfect. But fictional subjects have to be 100 percent perfect, or they die, right there, on the page. If I make a tiny mistake about the sort of car a billionaire would drive (and there is a billionaire in the novel--in fact, there are two), the reader reels back and says, Wow, a guy like that would NEVER drive that car. And the whole character is exposed as a fake. I researched the novel as thoroughly as I would have researched a non-fiction book--and still, I had to rely upon a small group of friends who read every chapter before it was posted on-line, basically making sure I got those sorts of details right. These friends were invaluable--and I credit them in the acknowledgments. For the Justice department scenes, I had a friend who arranged a tour of the DOJ, explained anti-trust law to me as needed, and even made sure I got Bob's salary and title exactly right. Readers of the serial were also very helpful, and sent in their corrections when errors crept in. I was able to incorporate their corrections in the revision.

Q: The book seems to take a dim view of what David Brooks might call Bobos. Is there a cultural critique weaved in or was that just a necessary part of Amanda's life?

A: There are definitely parts of the novel that are satirical. I just couldn't help sending up some aspects of modern life. So much of it is funny. Amanda's son is nearly expelled from his tony private pre-school for bringing in a peanut butter cookie. He has violated the "Just Say No to Nuts" curriculum. What is perhaps frightening is that I didn't make that part up--there really is something called a "Just Say No to Nuts Curriculum" and it's why schoolchildren across America can no longer bring peanut butter sandwiches to school. (And please, before you readers out there start blasting me with emails, I know, I know--peanut allergies are Very Serious and We Shouldn't Make Fun of Them.)

Q: Are you planning to write more fiction?
A: Absolutely. I'm at work on a new novel right now. I'd love to do it on-line again, but at the moment, the demand upon me would be too great: I've had a baby since the last serial, and for the time being, she'll only let me do instant cereal, not Internet serials. This book will have to be cranked out the more traditional way. Amanda would understand.