What advice do you have for aspiring young writers? Other times, you can dive into the pleasures of the country, as Vidalia does when she goes to the countryside with Julien and his family. A lot of times, it can be a bumpy ride, as it is for Vidalia in her art class. I wanted to write about what it felt like to be an American in France, learning about the people and culture by being thrown right into the middle of it. That was another big inspiration for the book. I also studied in Paris in both college and graduate school, and I've spent a lot of time there outside of school as well. I was lucky to learn to speak French at that age, and that's something I've used ever since. I first went there with my mother, who was studying French, when I was four years old. Yes, I've lived in Paris on and off throughout my life. Of course, there were many more 'what ifs' that went into the story.

So I thought, what if a young girl who loved art, somehow ended up stealing it? And a part of Vidalia was born. What interested me was that he was stealing these things, not to make money, but because he loved them. I got it where I get most of my ideas, by looking at things that really happen and then asking, 'what if?' When I was starting to write Vidalia, I read a story about an art thief who had spent years stealing small works of art from museums and churches in Europe, only to keep them in his small apartment in Switzerland. Where did you get your idea for VIDALIA IN PARIS?

Vidalia in Paris by Sasha Watson