New York, Day Three (part two) and Day Four

After our long journey back from Central Park, we took a quick nap and then got cleaned up for the wedding. I must confess I actually used one of the hotel provided shower caps for the first time in my life as I knew my hair would still be sopping wet if I shampooed again. It was funny and weird. I felt like Lucille Ball or something.

 

There was a shuttle to the wedding location in Queens, which was fortunate because I did not feel brave enough to face the subway again, especially in heels. The wedding was held in The Foundry, which is exactly what it sounds like, an old industrial-type building revitalized into this very cool open concept building. Seeing the heavy beams, old brick and odd little alcoves where the equipment must have been was neat. The back patio on the building held nursery plants, so it was beautiful and green.

 

The ceremony was lovely, just perfect. I really enjoyed the two poetry readings in the ceremony, which I believe were written specifically for the bride and groom. I actually teared up during the wedding, and I don't remember the last wedding that made me cry. : )

 

After the ceremony, we had drinking and dancing and dinner. The photo above is at dinner. We clean up pretty well, no? : )

 

Once dinner was finished, we had celebrated with more champagne (don't know what it was, but it was fabulous) and more dancing. I really had fun this time. It helped, knowing so many of people there.

 

At one point, Greg and I were demonstrating various 90's cheesy dancing techniques, like "churning the butter" and "mowing the lawn" just to be silly. The champagne definitely helped with that. My favorite part was seeing my in-laws "raising the roof" during "Jump Around" by House of Pain. They were awesome!

 

The bride and groom also provided these really cute Chinese-type slippers for those of us who wanted to kick off our heels and dance, which heck yeah, I did.

 

After cake and more dancing, an ice cream truck pulled up outside. Mr. Softee for everyone who wanted it! How cool is that?

 

I declined the ice cream but had a very enjoyable discussion with several of the other wedding guests about ice cream sandwiches and the proper cookie to ice cream ratio that must exist. : )

 

One final spin around the dance floor and then it was time to go. The shuttle had arrived to take us back to the hotel.

 

One funny/scary moment, our bus actually stopped dead on the bridge between Queens and Manhattan. Of course, some of us were, um, still feeling just how much we'd celebrated and found this more amusing than scary. But the bus driver got us up and moving again very shortly and all was well.  

 

Day Four

…is not very exciting, I'm afraid. We slept in. Brian and Susan were up and about and adventurous, but we were too tired. We did make it down to breakfast to talk to family a little more and say good-bye. But then it was all about getting packed and getting to the airport.

 

I was sad to leave. We don't get to see this part of the family very often. I only get to see my New York friends about once or twice a year. And I just had so much fun! : ) It was such an adventure, very different from chilling on the beach at Maui, but an altogether awesome experience. Thanks to everyone who offered advice and encouragement. You were right!

New York, Day Three (part one)

Day three, late nights and early mornings, we were starting to get a little tired. But we rolled out of bed to head for Rockefeller Center (photo at the top) to see if we could catch The Today Show and then line up for our NBC Studio Tour. (Thanks to sister-in-law Susan who did much of the organizing and planning for this trip--you rock!)

 

We missed The Today Show as they stopped filming early because it was a Saturday, but that was okay. We had plenty of time then to shop at the NBC store, where you can buy things like a talking bobble-head of Michael Scott from The Office, a t-shirt for Psych that reads, "Psychics do it in the future" and a BSG mug that quite simply states, "FRAK."

 

I would have loved to buy all of the above but instead settled for a small keychain for my sister who collects such things. Not much suitcase room, even less money!

 

The studio tour was really neat. We saw where they film the nightly news with Brian Williams. And it was a working studio. Behind the glass a few feet away, a reporter/anchor named Alex something (somebody want to help me out with her last name?) was giving a report on MSNBC.

 

We also saw the Saturday Night Live set, which actually didn't look like much. They had equipment and boxes all over the places for the Olympics. The show, obviously, is on hiatus until fall.

 

My favorite was the Conan O'Brien set. It was SO tiny. I know television uses all kinds of illusions and tricks, but this was ridiculously small compared to the cavernous space you feel like you see on screen every night. For those who watch the show, let me say this…the distance between Conan and Max, the drummer, is like five feet, maybe even less. Like I would be worried that Conan, during an enthusiastic arm wave, might knock into the drum set. That's how close they are.

 

But because they use individual reaction shots, Conan by himself and then Max or vice versa, it makes them seem very far apart. Same thing with the distance from the point where Conan does his monologue to the desk. Maybe ten feet apart.  Twenty might be pushing it. And yet if you watch the show, you know it seems to take him a long time to get over there. Just another illusion, folks.

 

The set furniture is also really small, to match the scale of the set. Our tour guides, the adorably named Margo and Carly, said standard living room furniture would look huge. So, beware of anyone who looks tall on the show! They're probably not. I also wonder if this is part of what's behind the running joke about Conan being freakishly tall, as he frequently mentions on the show. I'm sure he is tall. I'm even more sure he looks gigantic because of the set.

 

Also, the set itself is curved, no hard angles. That's so you won't have any depth perception and be able to tell exactly how small the studio is. Interesting, right?

 

 After the tour, we headed to the Carnegie Deli, only to find a huge line and a menu that included too many mentions of "tongue" for us to be comfortable eating there. So, instead we went to Lindy's. It was horribly expensive, but I must admit that I liked my sandwich and Greg's soup was really good. For the money, though, Junior's was better. (Trump Tower, we would discover later, offered a three course meal--appetizer, main course and dessert--for $22. Donald, I have new respect for you, offering decently priced food in New York City.)

 

We decided then to brave the walk to Central Park (photo at the top). It was so cool. It make sense that you would have to have something like this for all the dogs, kids and frisbee players that must live in the area. Still, it was a bit odd to see so many people staking out little patches of ground with their blankets and accoutrements. It sort of looks like what you'd see before a fireworks display on the 4th, only no fireworks.

 

That was, I think, my favorite part, walking all the way to the park. Of course, then we had to walk alllllll the way back. Even in my comfy chucks, my feet were hurting aplenty by the time we made it, but it was worth it. After this, we had the wedding, but I'm going to save that for my next, and probably last NY trip-related post. :)  

New York, Day Two

Okay, so here's where things got a little nerve-wracking. On Friday, I went my own direction while everyone else went theirs.

 

Greg, his parents, and Brian and Susan all went on the Grayline Tour to see some of New York's most famous sites.

 

I left to meet my editor from Hyperion for the first time. I was SO nervous. I left the hotel at 9:07 for a 10:00 a.m. meeting based on the front desk's warning that there might be heavy traffic. I arrived at our meeting place at 9:22. Good grief. Fortunately, I noticed there was a Barnes and Noble on the corner, so I went in to shop and kill some time.

 

It was an interesting experience. The store reminded me of our college bookstore, all crowded shelves and things in odd places. It wasn't the sleek, stand-alone structure I'm used to seeing in the Chicago area. It was like a rabbit warren with all these little rooms kind of stuck on to each other and alcoves full of books. It was cool.

 

I headed back then to the City Bakery and read for a few minutes. My editor arrived, and we had a great time talking about everything from books to our favorite television shows. He is awesome and I can't wait to work with him! : )

 

After that, feeling quite confident in myself, I hailed a cab on my own and gave directions to the hotel (Madison and 21st, please). Of course, I immediately failed the next test when the cabbie asked me if I wanted him to take twenty-third all the way. I had no idea and was forced to confess so. But it was all good. I made it back eventually, probably in a more roundabout way than if I were a native, but oh, well.

 

After dropping off stuff at the hotel, I walked the block to Grand Central to meet my friend Stacey Agdern for lunch. She's a bookseller in Grand Central as well as a writer, so we just grabbed a quick bite to eat while she was on lunch break. We chatted about writing and books and about the possibility of RT next year.

 

When Stacey went back to work, I headed back to the hotel. I should have taken a nap, but I was way too keyed up. So I headed up to the rooftop garden bar on the hotel (picture at the top). It was beautiful and warm up there. I wrote for a bit. Then I went for a walk around the block and checked in with my folks on my cell phone.

 

At four, I went back over to Grand Central and met Stacey again. I was about to take my inaugural subway ride to see a mutual friend and she, thank goodness, agreed to come with me. The subway system, to me as an outsider, seems very confusing. Trains are identified by both letters and numbers, and I can't quite get a fix on how everything comes together. Chicago's color coded system seems much easier.

 

So, we found our way to Queens and our friend Isabo Kelly, to see her and her new baby, Jack. Both are doing well, and Jack is SO adorable. Lots of hair, and he's holding his head up like a champ after only two weeks.

 

We met up with another friend and author, Leanna Renee Hieber, at Isabo's house, and after a short visit with the new mom and baby, I had to head back to Manhattan for the rehearsal/welcome dinner. Thankfully both Stacey and Leanna agreed to chaperone me all the way back to Grand Central, even though it was out of their way. Thanks, you guys!

 

I raced the block back to the hotel, and I do mean raced. The family was supposed to meet at 7:30 in the lobby for a shuttle (or so I thought) and it was 7:22 by the time I walked out the door of Grand Central.

 

I got to the hotel, out of breath and sweaty (ew!), but no one was down in the lobby. I made it up to our room and found Greg just getting dressed. Apparently, I'd gotten my days mixed up for the shuttle, which was actually going to be Saturday, and they'd all just gotten finished with the wine and cheese hour.

 

Whew. So, I freshened up and then we took a cab over to the dinner location. In the cab, we had our first what I would call stereotypical NY experience. A woman started to walk in front of the moving cab. Our cabbie honked at her. She gave him the finger. He gave it back. She kicked the cab as we pulled away. Yeah. : )

 

Dinner was fabulous and so much fun! Even though most of us were staying the same hotel, we hadn't all seen each other yet. So it was great to be able to catch up, laugh and share stories. Greg's uncle, father of the groom, had put together this great presentation about the family, traditions, history, fun stuff. It was cool to see the old pictures and nice to be included in some of the more recent ones as well!

 

After dinner, we relocated back to the hotel and headed up to the rooftop bar again. It was really beautiful at night. Full of scammers, too. : ) Older business-type gentlemen hitting on girls young enough to be their daughters. Yeah, we had fun watching that. The girls kept pumping them for drinks and then…went home for the evening. Ha.

 

Feeling full from good food and drink and fabulous company, we finally dragged ourselves off to bed at about 12:30.

New York, Day One

Where to begin? New York was wonderful! I had such a good time. It wasn't exactly a vacation, but more of an adventure, and it was great!

 

We left our house at like 4:30 in the morning to meet up with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Brian and Susan. We realized we haven't traveled with them since our trip to California back in 2001, and we'd all forgotten how much fun it is to vacation together. : )

 

Anyway, plane ride was without incident and we got to NY on time. Our shuttle driver was a bit quirky, searching the airport for us by calling my brother-in-law's first name instead of our collective last name. Who pages someone by their first name? Seriously?

 

Anyway, after we piled into the shuttle for a long and bumpy trip (we suspect the driver was trying to avoid tolls *grin*, but I think he managed to hit every single pot hole in the NY area), we finally made our way into Manhattan. How cool! It is not, on the surface, that much different than Chicago. Except there is a different feel to the air, a different vibrancy. I liked it.

 

The traffic is worse because there are more people and the streets are MUCH narrower. But I can see why people live in New York. You can get just about anything you need within walking distance and you've got reliable public transport to get just about anywhere else. But there's a lot of walking, and I liked that too.

 

Our rooms were ready early at the Library Hotel, thank goodness, so we could drop off our stuff and head back out for lunch. Another instance in which I was grateful to be traveling with Brian and Susan…Greg and I would have wimped out and probably stayed in our room. But with them, we decided to explore a little, get lunch etc. Awesome!

 

We walked past the New York Public Library, which looks exactly like it does in the film Ghostbusters. I immediately took a picture and texted it to my sister Susan (not to be confused with my sister-in-law, Susan, or my mother-in-law, Sue) and my friend Ed with a silly quote from the movie.

 

Then we headed down to find the TCKTS booth, where one can supposedly obtain half-price tickets for Broadway shows on the day of the performance. We were hoping to see Spamalot, which Greg and I had already seen in Chicago but wanted to see again. We thought we were early for the booth, which opened at three, but it turned out the line wrapped around behind the building and in several loops. Ugh.

 

We found the back of the line and waited. During this time, a guy walked by with his friend or girlfriend, openly mocking us, but in a funny way, about waiting in line for tickets when they could be purchased at the box office for half-price. At first, we dismissed him, but when he walked by again with the same girl and she had her tickets and he said the same thing, we decided to check it out.

 

The Spamalot box office was within sight of the line, so Susan and I went and asked about tickets. Sure enough, we could get four in the mezzanine for five bucks more than what we would have paid at TCKTS and we didn't even have to wait in line!

 

We celebrated our success with a meal at Junior's. I highly recommend the egg salad sandwich and the Devil's Food Cheescake. Yum.

 

After lunch, which was really an early dinner, we explored a little more, finding Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, which I really wanted to see, but I couldn't deal with the $35 per ticket. Ouch!  

 

Eventually, we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the complimentary wine and cheese hour and clean up. I, unfortunately, forgot to bring sandals that went with my brown shirt and khakis, so I wore the pink chucks. I blended in just fine and besides, no one could see my feet once we sat down at the theater. ; )

 

Spamalot was awesome. It was fun seeing Stephen Collins, the father from 7th Heaven, playing King Arthur. And Drew Lachey, Nick Lachey's brother, played Patsy. They were both very good.

 

I think the show got out at about ten-thirty, and we wandered back in the direction of the hotel in search of some small meal. We checked out Grand Central, where I would be meeting my friend Stacey Agdern, the following day. Eventually, we found a Friday's where we indulged in some appetizers and slushies.

 

Then back to the hotel and to bed!

 

I'm going to try to attach a photo of the New York Public Library. We'll see if it works. Thanks, Susan, for sharing your photos. I can't figure out how to get mine off my phone! : )

 

 

Even Danielle Steel, the grande dame of romance novels, is not immune...

From an article about Danielle Steel on CNN.com...

 

Atop such lists is a familiar Steel perch. Between 1996 and 2003, Publishers Weekly reports that 16 of her novels were best-sellers, and the Guinness World Records once cited her for having at least one book on the Times list for 390 consecutive weeks.

 

All that strangely doesn't calm her. She may have been writing novels since she was 19, but there's an insecurity that remains untouched, no matter the plaudits.

 

"I still never finish a book without being terrified I can't write another one. I never start one without being terrified I can't finish it," she says. "It's sort of a torturous process."

 

Whew, that makes me feel a lot better! I may well print this quote out and wallpaper my office walls with it. : )

New York and other updates

Sorry, life has just been hectic. : ) We had a fence installed for the puppies and Joseph, the older of our two "boys," celebrated by racing around in the backyard and losing several toe nails. He's forever losing nails, has been ever since we got him seven years ago. But this time, his toe injuries have required much maintenance and looking after. Seriously, I'm beginning to think we should have stock in whatever company makes Neosporin.  

 

Also, we had a celebratory dinner with a few friends a couple of weekends ago and I have some very fun pictures I want to share, but that will have to wait until I've got a few more minutes. Just squeezing a quick post in here. : ) 

 

Later this week, we'll be heading out to New York City. It's the first time I've ever been there. I'm prepared to feel cowed and intimidated by the entire setting--big cities make me nervous initially--but I'm also hoping I can adapt relatively quickly. : ) Friends who live there say I should be fine. It's not that different from Chicago.

 

But you have to consider: a) I live in the 'burbs. And the far northern ones at that. I'm closer to Milwaukee (and more comfortable driving there) than I am Chicago, and b) my only experience with New York is what I see on television, either in movies or commercials for reruns of Sex and the City (someday I'll get around to watching that show, I swear).

 

I own nothing in my wardrobe that even vaguely resembles the stuff I've seen Carrie and the girls wearing. I'm almost strictly a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. I have high heels but will do just about anything, including letting too long pants drag the ground, in order to avoid wearing them. I was excited last week because I found a cute pair of jeans at Target on sale for seven bucks.

 

Oh! Total tangent, but when I was in high school, my mother refused to buy me expensive jeans that were already worn-looking or torn and rightly so. However, I was thrilled to discover that my bargain jeans from Target were not only cute but came with a manufactured rip. Ha! I love it!

 

I've asked my friend Stacey A. (not to be confused with Stacy G., who also often gives me very good advice) who lives in NY about what I should bring to wear. I think she was a bit baffled about why I was asking this question. So, I'm wondering, perhaps, if television has once more given me a slightly off-kilter view of things. But we shall see.  

 

I'm also nervous and excited because I'll be meeting my editor at Hyperion for the first time. Very cool!

 

Just finished reading The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Weird story, incredibly well-written, but strange...in a good way, though. Her insights about reading and writing and why people do both were dead on and downright fascinating.

 

Watched Christian Bale in Equilibrium, an older sci-fi movie. Very Farenheit 451-esque, but I liked it. Turned out differently than I thought it would.

 

More later...

Burn Notice is back!

Burn Notice returns tonight! I love this show. It does not receive the recognition it should. The voiceovers alone are pitch-perfect. A few of my favorites (thanks to IMDb):

 

Michael Westen: [voice-over] Covert intelligence involves a lot of waiting around. Know what it's like being a spy? Like sitting in your dentist's reception area twenty-four hours a day. You read magazines, sip coffee, and every so often, someone tries to kill you.

 

Michael Westen: [voice-over] Southern Nigeria isn't my favorite place in the world. It's unstable, it's corrupt, and the people there eat a lot of terrible-smelling preserved fish. I will say this for Nigeria, though: it's the gun-running capital of Africa. And that makes it a bad place to drive a passenger sedan into a crowded market.
 

Michael Westen: [voice-over] If you're gonna collapse on a plane, I recommend business class. The seats are bigger if you start convulsing. Although once you pass out, it really doesn't matter.
 

Michael Westen: [voice-over] When you're being watched, what you need is contrast. A background that will make the surveillance stand out. An FBI field office is full of guys in their forties. At most South Beach business hotels, it would be tough to tell which middle-aged white guy was watching you. So you stay in the place where everyone is a Jell-O shot away from alcohol poisoning. If you see someone who can walk a straight line, that's the Fed.

 

The first two examples, of course, demonstrate the rule of three in screenwriting--the funny is always on three. The third item in the list is unexpected and still true. Love that.

 

You can read more Burn Notice quotes at IMDb. Or check out the show on USA tonight at 9:00. I think they'll be running last season's finale just prior to that as well. : )

 

And for those BSG fans who are desperate for their next fix of Number Six (hey, that rhymes!), Tricia Helfer is joining the cast as Michael Westen's "handler." Wow, there are all kinds of inappropriate jokes I could make there, but I won't (Jeffrey Donovan--the actor who plays Michael Westen--is very cute). Tricia Helfer rocks as Number Six (beauty, evil, temptation, sin and redemption all rolled up into one character somehow), and I can't wait to what she's like in this role.

News!

Okay, so I've been a little quiet here lately, as is my natural tendency when there's something really exciting going on but I'm not allowed to share...at least yet.

Now, it seems everything is out in the open, so here goes...

My fabulous agent, Laura Bradford, sold my first young adult novel, The Ghost and the Goth, to Hyperion!!! Hardcover will be out in winter 2010 and trade paperback in spring 2011, I believe.

I love this book, you guys, and had so much fun writing it. I'm unbelievably happy it was so well received.

Here's the blurb that's circulating about it:

Stacey Klemstein’s THE GHOST AND THE GOTH, in which a high school outcast who can see, hear and talk to the dead reluctantly agrees to help the ghost of a spoiled and shallow homecoming queen who just got run over by a bus of band geeks find her way to the “other side,” to Christian Trimmer at Hyperion, in a nice deal, by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency.

Woohoo! I'm thrilled beyond words. : ) My website here will be updated to show G&G, as I've dubbed it for ease of use, hopefully by this weekend.

In the meantime, though, here's what I wrote for a short description from my synopsis:

Alona Dare—Senior in high school, co-captain of the cheerleading squad, Homecoming Queen three years in a row, voted most likely to marry a movie star…and newly dead.

I’m the girl you hated in high school. Is it my fault I was born with it all—good looks, silky blond hair, a hot bod, and a keen sense of what everyone else should not be wearing? But my life isn’t perfect, especially since I died. Run over by a bus of band geeks—is there anything more humiliating? As it turns out, yes—watching your boyfriend and friends move on with life, only days after your funeral. And you wouldn’t believe what they’re saying about me now that they think I can’t hear them. To top it off, I’m starting to disappear, flickering in and out of existence. I don’t know where I go when I’m gone, but it’s not good. Where is that freaking white light already?

Will Killian—Senior in high school, outcast, dubbed “Will Kill” by the popular crowd for the unearthly aura around him, voted most likely to rob a bank…and a ghost-talker.

I can see, hear, and touch the dead. Unfortunately, they can also see, hear and touch me. Yeah, because surviving high school isn’t hard enough already. I’ve done my best to hide my “gift.” After all, my dad, who shared my ability, killed himself because of it when I was fifteen. But lately, pretending to be normal has gotten a lot harder. A new ghost—an anonymous, seething cloud of negative energy with the capacity to throw me around—is pursuing me with a vengeance. My mom, who knows nothing about what I can do, is worrying about the increase in odd incidents, my shrink is tossing around terms like “temporary confinement for psychiatric evaluation,” and my principal, who thinks I’m a disruption and a faker, is searching for every way possible to get rid of me. How many weeks until graduation?

Bitter Pill is available on Amazon.com!

Celebrate with me! Bitter Pill is out there and available for ordering!!!! :happy dance, which makes me look like a big dork because I can't dance:

 

Awesome. Remember, the first three chapters are posted on my site as a free excerpt. Then I hope you'll find yourself drawn to Amazon.com to order and find out who killed poor Doc Hallacy and what exactly, if anything, is going to happen between our amateur sleuth Rennie Harlow and the gorgeous, but married Sheriff Bristol. : ) The pre-order link at the bottom of the excerpt will take you to the right spot--I just need to update the language.

Vacation brain

Sorry! I was out of town for most of last week. : ) We went up north to White Birch Village, a resort owned by family friends. Woke up every morning to the sound of the water burbling over the rocks and loons in the distance on the lake. Love the loons! I used the lodge there as the basis for Zara and Caelan's hideout in the northwoods in The Silver Spoon. It's been beautifully redone over the last couple of years and it was quite luxurious to stay there. Though, it does not much resemble the lodge in the story anymore! : ) 

 

Hung out with the fam for a few days, played chicken foot, went shopping in Minocqua, bought fudge at Dan's Fudge shop (mmmm) and bought a fantastic book (The Society of S) when I couldn't get into the library books I'd brought along for the trip. Actually, I nearly passed on the book, but the quote from Charlaine Harris on the front made me think twice. And my sister, who was with me, said it looked good enough to borrow from me. So, I bought it. : ) (No, I'm not capable of thinking for myself, just to clear that up right away.)

 

Fun stuff to read:

Because I was such an absentee author last week, I'll make up for it by pointing you to other cool places to read stuff. : )

 

• Ten authors who are also represented by my AWESOME agent, Laura Bradford, have a blog called The Bradford Bunch. They all take turns posting about various topics related to writing, books, life, etc. Last Saturday was my turn to guest-blog. So, I chose to write about how I got "the call."

 

• Lisa Shearin's post about cover blurbs (which directly relates to the whole "I bought a book because of the cover blurb" thing above).

 

• Barbara Vey's post with the hilarious article from The Onion about a hero caught unaware and forced to be a cover model.