WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR THIS STORY?

Ummm...it's actually hard to remember at this point. It came from a lot of places. I've always been intrigued by the fascination royalty holds and how very different the reality of being a modern royal must be compared to how most people imagine it. And then, I've always loved big dramatic movies about royalty, like THE SWAN, THE STUDENT PRINCE, MAYERLING, PRISONER OF ZENDA, duty, loyalty, personal sacrifice, the kind of stuff most people don't think about too seriously anymore.

But I think the real seed for this story was planted on a trip to Washington DC years ago when we passed the exit for Falls Church, Virginia and my mother off-handedly mentioned that the former Yugoslavian royal family lived there. I think it had been in the news because Princes Aleksandr and Philip had just been born. That really caught my imagination, thinking of princes being born so far away from the country their family once ruled.

Years later, it occurred to me that it would be a great, natural topic for a young adult novel, supposing the country invited the royal family back, asking some teenaged boy who had no expectation of anything like that to hand over his entire life to a country and a people he'd never seen. In fact, the first draft started with Alexei living in an unnamed suburb of Washington DC instead of England.

ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE A SEQUEL?

Maybe. Good answer, huh? Seriously, we'll have to see. I love Alexei and Sophy and would like to see what happens to them next. I'll keep you posted.

SO HOW REAL IS IT? IS ROVENIA A REAL COUNTRY?

Well, let's just say it didn't really happen. Rovenia doesn't exist and never did. But I wanted it to feel as real as possible. I wanted you to believe that Rovenia could be a real place with it's own history and customs. And it had to fit into the history that surrounded it. That meant I had to go back and study all the history I slept through in high school. (Okay, Mr. Gibbs, there's your chance for a hearty "I told you so.") And while none of the events in the book were directly taken from actual historical events, they were inspired by and--I hope--grounded in that history.

RESTORING A MONARCHY: COULD IT REALLY HAPPEN?

Yes. It happened in Spain. King Alphonso XIII was forced to flee Spain in 1931, when his people demanded a republic, but Francisco Franco declared himself head of state in 1936 and ruled as dictator until his death in 1975. Juan Carlos I, who had been groomed by Franco, succeeded him as king and led his country into democracy. His reign continues today and he will almost certainly be succeeded by his son, Felipe.

And in 2001, former King Simeon II was elected Prime Minister of Bulgaria after fifty years of exile. Simeon was six when his father died mysteriously and he succeeded to the throne of Bulgaria. Three years later, the nine-year-old king was forced into exile by communist government forces. Okay, so he's not exactly the king again, but isn't it amazing that the Bulgarian people actually voted him head of their government?

Strong pro-monarchy sentiments remain in many formerly communist countries that are struggling to establish democratic governments. In fact, during the early stages of research for this book, I accidentally got involved in a kind of scary e-mail ring with a bunch of Romanian royalists bent on returning King Mihai I to the throne. Seriously, there are good, dedicated people who would like to see the Romanian monarchy restored, but these guys were a little out there. I'm still not convinced the FBI won't come knocking on my door over this one.

SO WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT PICTURE OF THAT GOOD-LOOKING PRINCE YOU HAD ON YOUR WEBSITE?

Sorry to disappoint you, but I was getting so many "hotlinks" to that picture, it was exceeding my daily limit for transfers and kept shutting down my website. So the prince had to go. There are plenty of pictures of him elsewhere, though.