Chasing Manhattan

Today I'm home from New York, after an action-packed day and a signing at the well-named children's book store, Books of Wonder. So strange to be in New York fresh after a week in Maine by a secluded lake--what an incredible contrast. Which do I like better? The tranquil, sylvan glen, or the world's most thriving metropolis? It is a dead-even tie.

The event was a lot of fun, and I got to meet four other authors, ANNA GODBERSEN, author of The Luxe, RACHEL VAIL, author of Lucky, SUZANNE WEYN, author of Reincarnation (and also The Bar Code Tattoo, which she was sweet enough to give me a copy of, and J.M. STEELE, a fellow Hyperion author who wrote The Market. I did not meet the sixth author, F. PAUL WILSON, author of Jack:Secret Histories, only because I met him a couple years ago when I was trying to launch my writing career. Paul was instrumental in helping launch that career. I attended a writing workshop where Paul was one of the instructors. The workshop was really my first attempt to "leave the cave" to advance my writing career, and I really didn't know what to expect. After Paul read my sample, he said "I can't help you." I gave him the deer in the headlights look, and then he went on went on to say that as far as my writing went, there wasn't anything major he thought I needed to work on. I was ready, in other words, for publication. Paul has written over forty wonderful novels and countless wonderful short stories, so for him to give such encouragement was and is a high point of my writing life thus far. His influence on my life and career since has been dramatic.

So it was fun when the panel of authors was asked the question "who has inspired you to become an author?" and I got to answer, truthfully, "Paul".

Later that night I walked a dozen or so blocks to my hotel, which was across the street from a couple nightclubs. The street in front was of cobblestones, and there was a courtyard dividing the streets with a functional stonework art installation where people could sit and talk. I took the highest seat and watched the city flow by for an hour or so, just as I had sat on the deck at the place we rent in Maine to watch the lake,which is fed by two rivers,flow. Both sights were awesome to behold.