But that's not the whole story about my switch. I'd always loved writing and telling stories. When I was a kid they worried about my grasp on reality—in fact, some of my nearest and dearest still do, because I love the imaginary worlds and people I get to create when I write. It's probably the closest I'm ever going to get to playing … well, not God, but a really powerful person. In many ways, I like writing better than acting because these are my stories and my characters and I get to say what I want to say. And no one in publishing has ever, ever suggested that I should have knee surgery.

RHRC: Which character in Serendipity felt most natural to create? Whom do you identify with most?

LS: Oh, Lord, that's such a good question. And the answer is, all of the characters were natural for me. But then, my characters always are. As an actress, I was trained to find something I could identify with in every character I played, and believe me, it was fun trying to find, say, your inner Lady Macbeth. So when I started writing, I realized that every one of my characters is me—sometimes in ways that I don't even recognize. And then, one of the perks of the whole writing thing is that some of my characters are also the person I'd like to be. Lu, for instance, is a huge musical comedy star, which is what I always dreamed of being when I was a teenager. Other kids of my generation listened to … well I don't know who they were listening to, since rock and roll left me cold, but I was swooning over Ezio Pinza singing “Some Enchanted Evening.”

RHRC: Serendipity is a different novel from your others. What made you shift settings? And you so vividly capture a New York City that no longer exists. What is your relationship to the City?