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"I'm very superstitious. ... I really appreciate that people want to know, but I just get so scared. ... I can't talk about it."

That's "City of Light" author Lauren Belfer, graciously declining to talk about the subject of her third novel, which is well under way. Belfer took a short break from her writing regimen this week to have breakfast in Manhattan -- a few blocks from her West Village apartment and not far from her neighborhood bookstore, Three Lives & Co., where she is shown here.

The Buffalo native -- who will give the commencement address in June at her alma mater, Buffalo Seminary -- chatted with me about how she finds her next writing project.

Belfer spoke about feeling as if she'd fallen off a cliff when she had finished writing "City of Light," which is set in Buffalo -- and how she never again wants to be without her next idea in mind.

Her first two novels -- "City of Light" was followed by "A Fierce Radiance" -- have not only sold briskly but have been critically admired, too. Given her impressive track record, you can't blame me for asking about Novel Number Three.