Okay, I'm sorely late on posting this, but better late than never. haha. Anyway, here's a long, rambling post on what happened on my Exciting! New York! Trip! (aka, "Text in the City").
THURSDAY:
I arrived in NYC late morning and took a shuttle to my hotel. It was a nice drive--we passed Madison Square Gardens, Central Park, MoMA, etc. The hotel we stayed at (Wyndham Garden Hotel, Times Square South) was nice, and the people were super friendly. I enjoyed my stay there and would recommend it!
Our first matter of business--FOOD. Mandy Hubbard got into town first, but she was dining with her agent and editor. Julie Linker and Lauren Barnholdt, the other two people who were on the writer's retreat with us, finally arrived too (Julie flew; Lauren drove with her husband--and poor things, their car broke down on the way in, so they had to get it serviced).
And right here, let me just say I'm madly in love with Mandy, Julie, and Lauren. Seriously, I could not have had a better group of girls to chill with during the long weekend. Lauren is so funny and witty and pretty, and her dresses were fabulous! Mandy is tall and gorgeous and so sweet, and I'd hate her for being so pretty if I didn't know her. haha. And Julie--OMG she's like a pageant princess, so tiny and sweet and elegant and has a little tang of southern sass to her. :D
Anyway, while we waited for Lauren to arrive, Mandy, Julie, and I decided to have a leisurely late lunch/drinky hour at this place called Metro Marche, that was only a few blocks from us. OMG the food was good. I had hummos/pita bread, along with a couple of frou-frou cocktails. Our waiter's name was Harold, and he was hilarious. He was a singer, and we kept asking him if he'd sing for us. We told him if he was gonna make it, he needed to be prepared to sing at the drop of a hat. After all, what if we were big-time producers? haha
After we ate, Lauren and her hubby finally arrived (they had to leave the car in the shop, so they took a cab), so we decided our first order of business: go to the bookstore The Strand. OMG this place was awesome. It was HUGE. There were books EVERYWHERE. And they were so cheap! I limited myself to 5 books, because I knew I only had so much space in my suitcase. LOL
Then, we walked around Times Square for a bit (in the RAIN, which sucked, but was still entertaining, haha). And we went to this one bar/restaurant--the name escapes me, but it had pics of famous Irish poets, writers, and playwrights all over the walls. I had french onion soup there, and it was TASTY.
After that, we went back to the room and yapped for a while, until we all conked out from being jet-lagged (I roomed with Julie and Mandy).
FRIDAY
This was my big day--I went to Simon & Schuster's offices to do my video interview first. It was crazy fun and scary, haha. I met my editor Mike--he introduced me to Venessa (on my marketing team), who would read me my questions and the guy who would videotape it. They told me I had to repeat the questions in a sentence-like answer so it sounded like I was spontaneously just talking about these topics. LOL. I asked them if I could have a backdrop/green screen of a fireplace, and maybe don a smoking jacket and pipe--and then they could tape me, and I'd turn to the camera and be all, "Oh, well hello. Fancy seeing you here, in my parlour." I also suggested having a jungle behind me, just to mix it up a bit. So if there's anything weird in the background, now you know why.
During the interview itself, I kept blabbing on and on. Seriously, I went in some sort of trance. I don't remember most of what I said, but I know I talked about my eyebrows at one point. Smart! haha. But we had a lot of fun, and we were all laughing. So that's a good thing. :D
After the video, I met my editor Anica. Let me just say right now that I love Mike and Anica. And Pulse is totally awesome. The three of us yapped forever, and they showed me around the floor--I met other people who work there, as well as my publicist and cover artist. And I met the vice prez, too!
Well, of course, you can't visit with editors without going to food. haha. We went to this awesome Cuban place (the name is escaping me--I may try to update this later once I remember). I had pineapple chicken, and we all shared a pitcher of Sangria. TASTY! We talked so much and laughed and had a wonderful time. And after we ate, we stopped at this little bakery store that had the most AMAZING cupcakes. OMG seriously. I had a carrot cake one that BLEW MY MIND. And I never thought I'd talk that way about a cupcake before, folks. I was glad I found room to eat it. haha
Then, we decided that since we're all free in the afternoon, we should go see a movie. So we met back up and watched Bruno. OMG. Have you guys seen this movie? There were some parts that were so funny, I couldn't breathe...and other parts that I was literally hiding behind my hands, shocked and mortified and feeling like I'd be in trouble if I watched that dirty part. hahaha. I kept thinking, should I laugh at this part or not? What will my editors think of me? haha I'm SO lame. Anyway, this movie was so over-the-top in shock value. We all came out of the theater a little shell-shocked. ROFL
After the movie, I took a cab to The Dove Parlour (which is totally awesome, and I HIGHLY recommend), where I met back up with my fellow authors, as well as a few other authors who were in the area and could attend--I met Jessica Burkhart, who is adorable. I also talked with Shani Petroff. There were some super-nice agents and editors there too. And just as cool, we went during happy hour, so cocktails were half off. YAY!
When that was done, we went back to our room and yapped some more, this time actually about writing stuff. haha. Julie and I did some great brainstorming on my proposal.
SATURDAY
In the morning, I did some writing and revising on my proposal--go me! Then, early afternoon was the big 9-author YA book signing, where I met bloggers and authors and lots of fun people. I did a post on that HERE (including pictures). And of course, I bought a bunch more books while I was there. haha.
After the signing, a whole group of us went back to Metro Marche to eat, and Harold was managing--so he gave us free desserts. Go, Harold! I also tried escargot for the first time (which was slathered in garlic butter and nestled in mushroom caps), as well as trout. I likey both! OMG I was so full afterwards, though.
When dinner was over, Lauren and Mandy went to see the musical Wicked. Julie and I did a little souvenir shopping. I went back to the hotel and chilled out there for a little bit. Then all 4 of us did some yapping for a while and packed up to get ready for leaving Sunday morning!
THINGS I LEARNED IN NYC:
1--it's fun hailing a cab. Dude, I actually got really good at this. You have to stand in the street and stick our your arm, using your fingers to kind of wave a little bit and signal for them. The key is to look for the cabs that have their numbers lit up on their sign, because those are available. We all wished we'd found the cash cab, though--how fun would that have been? haha
2--speaking of cabs...cabbies are scary drivers. SCARY. This is no joke. I got sick to my stomach a couple of times because of how they swerve around EVERYTHING and seem to have a real aversion to using the brake. haha. But most of the cabbies were very nice to me, so that's at least a plus.
3--you have to be an aggressive, assertive, alert walker in NYC. People are EVERYWHERE on the sidewalks, and they just keep barreling forward. Plus, cars stop for NO MAN, so you have to watch for traffic when you cross blocks. And traffic...OMG traffic is insane. I'd hate to drive there. haha
4--it's nice to be pampered. My editors were so awesome and really made me feel welcome at S&S. They loaded me up with books to take home for me and my kids. AND they even mailed them to me so my poor suitcase wouldn't break. haha.
5--OMG everything is expensive in NYC. Be prepared to pay, especially for drinks and food. Cha-ching!
6--People in NYC aren't scary or unfriendly or rude. Yes, they're busy and in a rush, but I VERY rarely met anyone who was outright rude. For the most part, people were super nice to us. :D
7--Now that I've had a taste of New York City, I'm eager to go back. LOL. We're already talking about a Text In The City 2 for next year. YAY!
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