Following my time at the Woodstock Writers Festival, I headed to NYC to meet a friend and spent five days there with him. We did a lot of the tourist-type things that I hadn’t done in my previous three visits to the city. (All three past trips were to attend Writer’s Digest Conferences, and I was alone.) It was nice to have the free time and the companionship to travel around and see the sights, but here I will address the more “literary” things I did.
· Visited the New York Times (see photo below). There was a time when I dreamed of working there someday!
· Went to the New York Public Library, though sadly, the famed reading room was closed. I will have to re-visit that (soon).
· Attended Abigail Thomas’s interview/reading/book signing at McNally Jackson bookstore. What a great place! Highlight was when I told Abby that I think I’ll retire in Woodstock in about 10 years, she said, “That’s too long!” I told her I’d need to sell some books in order to make it sooner and she replied, “Then go home and WRITE! What are you doing?”
· Met Elissa Schappell at McNally Jackson bookstore, as she was the one interviewing Abby. Elissa was a great interviewer and very interesting in her own right. I got to chat with her while waiting to get Abby’s book signed. At one point, I leaned forward and fished Elissa’s hair out of her wine glass, which she was holding in front of her shoulder. She just waved it off and said, “It’ll just happen again.” So casual. I bought a copy of Blueprints for Building Better Girls and devoured it. I have since purchased “Use Me” as well.
· Went to KGB Bar on the advice of Ann Hutton (a fellow workshop member for the last two years at the Woodstock Writers Festival.) Though I had missed the reading they had that night, I met some great people there--Leslie Goshko, Kyle Erickson, and Maryanne Ventrice. They were great and we hit it off and chatted over drinks--there were even hugs when it was time to say “Goodnight!” I definitely look forward to spending more time at KGB Bar on my next visit to NYC.
· Then, there are all the things I’d still LIKE to do in NYC…So, for my next visit—YES, it’s been booked already—and I am returning for my birthday in June! I’ll get to have a birthday steak at E & E Grill House (my favorite in NYC), attend a Friday Gotham Write-in, and spend a day with Julia Cameron at her workshop, “The Right to Write.” What a treat! More on that later as my next post will be about some of my biggest writing inspirations…
XOXO,
Lisa
At one time, this was my dream place to work! Would still love to see my name in a byline...