New York, the rest
More New York tales.
So this was the trip where I was basically a self-inflicted pack animal. It seemed like all I did was lug suitcases and bags of books all over the place. I am crying for a chiropractor right about now. First I had this great idea that I could walk from Penn Station to my hotel, which would have been fine, if I wasn't living on an energy bar and some potato chips for last six hours, if it wasn't 90°, and if my suitcases didn't weigh what felt like 300 pounds by the time I actually made it to the Wyndham Garden.
But I did make it. I checked into a hotel and stayed there all by myself which seemed like a real novelty. Since I can't drive and I live in suburbia I am almost never by myself out in the world. I missed talking to people sometimes, but on the other hand it was nice to spend hours and hours in the Strand and walk around at my own pace and never worry about anyone else. I could get used to that.
Not that I was really alone for long. The first night I had dinner with Angie Frasier and her family, Alex Bracken, Shana Silver, and book blogger Mitali. I have this curse where restaurants that I planned to go to are always closed. We had planned to go to a pizza place, and their ovens were being fixed or something and they were closed just that day. No one knew where else to go. We wandered something like 12 blocks looking for somewhere to eat. I can't believe how patient Angie's little girls are. I would have been getting a good whine on somewhere on block six I bet. We ended up at an Italian place where the waitress recited specials in an accent no one could understand and they overcharged us, causing us to have to whip out calculators, but they did have a quiet table for eight and that is not easy to find in Manhattan sometimes.
We talked about all the lovely things writers talk about when they get together, like covers, Twilight, gossip, what books seem like they're going to be big, etc. Alex has a lot of interesting stories being in that publishing course. I would have loved to have talked to her more. Angie was also super nice, and Shana was someone I felt like I knew but couldn't remember who she was, which is a strange side effect of the Internet community sometimes. She was very easy to talk to and her book is on submission now so I'm wishing her luck. Mitali had the blogger perspective and that was great to have there too.
On Wednesday I gave my editor my book buying haul which she had kindly offered to ship back to me, so more shopping was off limits. So on Thursday I got all intellectual and went to the Met with Sarah Cross where we can make comments like, "that wolf is awesome" or "this cabinet looks like it's for storing a dead body in". The last time I saw Sarah Cross neither of us had sold a book so it was pretty awesome to give her my galley and get her to sign Dull Boy for me (which was the only book I didn't have shipped back, so it was all I had to read at the airport and luckily it is *awesome*). While I was waiting for Sarah I went to the Morgan Library and gathered ideas on how to describe impressive old books for a scene in the mermaid book.
Okay, I just noticed I said the word awesome three times in the last paragraph. I need new words, sheesh.
Finally, with aching hamstrings and aching shoulders and possibly every muscle in my body aching, it was time for a ride home of constant turbulence and a blessedly early landing. I also should mention, being a foodie, that while for the most part this was not a great food vacation aside from the editor dinner and an evening custard stop at the Shake Shack, I had a positively amazing drink at a raw food restaurant. Young Thai coconut, masala chai, and raw agave, sweet and fragrant with the exact consistency of a milkshake.
And so my love-hate relationship with New York continues.
So this was the trip where I was basically a self-inflicted pack animal. It seemed like all I did was lug suitcases and bags of books all over the place. I am crying for a chiropractor right about now. First I had this great idea that I could walk from Penn Station to my hotel, which would have been fine, if I wasn't living on an energy bar and some potato chips for last six hours, if it wasn't 90°, and if my suitcases didn't weigh what felt like 300 pounds by the time I actually made it to the Wyndham Garden.
But I did make it. I checked into a hotel and stayed there all by myself which seemed like a real novelty. Since I can't drive and I live in suburbia I am almost never by myself out in the world. I missed talking to people sometimes, but on the other hand it was nice to spend hours and hours in the Strand and walk around at my own pace and never worry about anyone else. I could get used to that.
Not that I was really alone for long. The first night I had dinner with Angie Frasier and her family, Alex Bracken, Shana Silver, and book blogger Mitali. I have this curse where restaurants that I planned to go to are always closed. We had planned to go to a pizza place, and their ovens were being fixed or something and they were closed just that day. No one knew where else to go. We wandered something like 12 blocks looking for somewhere to eat. I can't believe how patient Angie's little girls are. I would have been getting a good whine on somewhere on block six I bet. We ended up at an Italian place where the waitress recited specials in an accent no one could understand and they overcharged us, causing us to have to whip out calculators, but they did have a quiet table for eight and that is not easy to find in Manhattan sometimes.
We talked about all the lovely things writers talk about when they get together, like covers, Twilight, gossip, what books seem like they're going to be big, etc. Alex has a lot of interesting stories being in that publishing course. I would have loved to have talked to her more. Angie was also super nice, and Shana was someone I felt like I knew but couldn't remember who she was, which is a strange side effect of the Internet community sometimes. She was very easy to talk to and her book is on submission now so I'm wishing her luck. Mitali had the blogger perspective and that was great to have there too.
On Wednesday I gave my editor my book buying haul which she had kindly offered to ship back to me, so more shopping was off limits. So on Thursday I got all intellectual and went to the Met with Sarah Cross where we can make comments like, "that wolf is awesome" or "this cabinet looks like it's for storing a dead body in". The last time I saw Sarah Cross neither of us had sold a book so it was pretty awesome to give her my galley and get her to sign Dull Boy for me (which was the only book I didn't have shipped back, so it was all I had to read at the airport and luckily it is *awesome*). While I was waiting for Sarah I went to the Morgan Library and gathered ideas on how to describe impressive old books for a scene in the mermaid book.
Okay, I just noticed I said the word awesome three times in the last paragraph. I need new words, sheesh.
Finally, with aching hamstrings and aching shoulders and possibly every muscle in my body aching, it was time for a ride home of constant turbulence and a blessedly early landing. I also should mention, being a foodie, that while for the most part this was not a great food vacation aside from the editor dinner and an evening custard stop at the Shake Shack, I had a positively amazing drink at a raw food restaurant. Young Thai coconut, masala chai, and raw agave, sweet and fragrant with the exact consistency of a milkshake.
And so my love-hate relationship with New York continues.