Friday, February 09, 2007

More New York

This massive stack of paper sitting on my editor's office floor is all the various stages of Blackbringer! He asked me if I wanted it and I said NO! What would I do with such a stack? I already have one of my own, though it's not quite as tall. Jim and I went into the Penguin Young Readers offices yesterday and it was so fun. We ended up spending hours there, probably preventing various people from getting their work done! What a wonderful group of book-lovers they all are. I met my publisher for the first time, and she was a real person, which was weird -- in the movies publishers are always scary and nonplussed. But she was so cool! She took us to a decadent lunch, with my editor Tim and an editor from the Penguin adult nonfiction division too. Prosecco at lunch, ooh la la.

It was really kind of momentous going into the office, because on our one previous trip to New York Jim and I did portfolio drop-offs at that exact same reception desk, with nary a peak down the long corridor to where the real action is. Getting to go through that door felt special. It was a moment. Little by little, it begins to seem real that I have written a book that someone is publishing.

Yesterday evening Jim and I took the subway down to the Lower East Side, and that was a fun glimpse of the city. We had sushi for dinner, then popped into a "cafe literaire" called The Pink Pony for port and tarte tatin (okay, okay, and flourless chocolate cake). Then we met our friend Robyn at a little Bulgarian bar we would never have noticed from the street, to hear gypsy music as played by a Greek, a Turk, a Macedonian, and a Philadelphian! The music was whimsical and wild, and the Macedonian's fingers flew so fast on the clarinet you couldn't even see them.

And today I met another blogger! Left-handed Trees came in from out of state and we met in Chelsea (which wasn't as cute as it sounded like it would be) for lunch and coffee and lots of talk about writing. It was so great to meet you, Delia!

14 comments:

paris parfait said...

Laini, tried to leave a comment earlier, but Blogger wasn't cooperating. I was going to say you tossed the remark in so casually in your previous post, "going to the Penguin offices," as though that wasn't a really big deal! I'm so pleased you've had a good reception there, were feted at a delicious lunch and got to meet the wonderful Delia! So much excitement! Can't wait to read your book. Enjoy every minute of New York.

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a trip! I just saw your post below about eating tarte tatin (which I so want to try - was it the kind with the apples or a different fruit?) and hearing gypsy music, and seeing THE Museum (they should SO do night tours since the movie came out) - and now you've another blogger, a Publisher and your Editor - and they're REAL people! (I sort of have a similar movie-image in my head of editors and publishers - they probably didn't wear their green visors I picture them with, in my mind's-eye either - probably stashed them in their big roll-top mahogany desks when they visitors were coming in, lol). So glad you guys are having such a wonderful time! Can't wait till I can read your book - tell your editor to send those copies out to me so I can, uh, recyle them...yeah, that's it - I'll recycle the paper for you - just as soon as I read through them to make sure there's nothing you wouldn't want to save...I'd be happy to do that for you...
:)

jennifer said...

Laini!

This looks like sooo much fun! We are glad that you guys are having such a great time!

Can't wait to hear your stories when you get back!

We are struck by how so completely giddy- happy you look in that lunch pic! :)

Amber said...

YOU and DELIA in one place! I am sooo jealous of...I don't know... any fly on the wall!!

This whole adventure is so exciting to hear about, Laini!

:)

Deirdre said...

This all looks like so much fun and excitement. I'm counting down until the book comes out - it's going to be my mid-summer read.

And you got to meet Delia!!!

Alex S said...

You look SO happy in the photo Laini and its wonderful to see! You deserve this big time after years of hard, hard work. I'm glad you are having such a great trip but this "gladness" is tempered by the fact that I am haunted by suspicions that your airplane packet was not tended to properly. I can't even eat or drink when I think about it! And you went to a Bulgarian bar??? yay! What does that mean? Was the service customarily rude then?? Did they treat you like a nuisance for walking into their establishment and trying to give them some business? (In case any Bulgarians happen to read this, I love you guys but your waitresses are scary mean!)

Kim G. said...

Hooray for you! The trip seems to be getting better and better as it goes along. Don't start to love NY so much that you think of leaving the great Northwest! ;)

Claudia said...

The whole trip sounds amazing! I´ll be walking around humming "New York , New York" today and thinking of you!

Jone said...

What an amazing time for you. Can't wait to read the book.

Jone said...

And now I titally understand SS's prompt this week: "yummy" REading and looking at pics with all that yummy food....

Annie Jeffries said...

Hey, I haven't visited for about a week and I come back and where are you but NEW YORK. Awesome. Such a fabulous city. A person could live there and visit every other place in the world I think and never leave NYC.

Colorsonmymind said...

Oh Congrats Laini.

It sounds like your trip was wonderful.

You look so radiant in the photo.

Success suits you:)

Patry Francis said...

The champagne looks marvelous, but your smile is even more delicious. Wish, wish, wish, I could have been there!

p.s. I just threw away a similar stack of revisions. I know you're supposed to keep them, but where would I ever store another book? Even my BRAIN feels overcrowded these days.

Anonymous said...

So, so, so excited for you...what an amazing trip you are having! You are the toast of the town (I wish I could have been there and met you and Delia...you are hanging in--well, near--my nabe!)