Now what?

The second draft is done, but what happens next?  Questions abound from friends, family, loyal blog readers.  When can we read it?  When does it hit the shelves?  Are you writing another one?

God knows I don't have all the answers, but here's the skinny on the little rocky path my novel travels along.

The Dirty Dozen are still reading.  So far, I've had one in-depth report (from a high school English teacher, no less) but I'm still waiting for the rest of the feedback.  At which point I will hum and hah and ignore most of it because honestly I'm tired of fiddling with this damn story.  Then, with care and trepidation, I will put together packets of manuscripts, accompanied by brilliantly drafted cover letters and synopses, and trust the postal services to deliver them to dozens of agents.  Obviously, every one of those agents will immediately call me back with publishing offers, movie deals, and marriage proposals and I will become more famous than JK Rowling. 

Or not.

So, will you readers get a sneak peak at some point?

I don't know.  Maybe if you're very good.  We'll see.

In the meantime, I'll be trying to land myself a job that pays actual money that I can spend in real-life supermarkets to feed my ever-expanding waistline (no, I'm not pregnant, just perpetually hungry).  Actually, I should be trying to do that right now (my next interview involves preparing a 20-slide presentation... A splendid opportunity to take the old Powerpoint skills out for a spin).  But the sun has finally returned to New York and I just came back from a really long run and I have a dinner with friends soon and [insert random excuse here].

Love and Hate in the City

New York, New York.  If you can make it there...

So I'm back in my favourite city (outside of Paris, obviously).  And it's raining.  So instead of being out and about and on my way to a movie in Bryant Park, I'm stuck indoors and so can entertain you with what I love about this city - and what drives me nuts.

I love that random strangers talk to each other.  And not because they're trying to get into your pants, or sell you a pair, but just because they're feeling chatty and want to share.  I can see how it could unsettle some of the more introverted among us, but I'm the type that has to be forcibly stopped from striking up conversations with my local prostitute, so New York is my idea of heaven.

I hate that tax and tip are never included, not even in stores, so the slightest activity involving the exchange of money (and in New York, that's pretty much all activity) means having to pull out a calculator or risk having a heart attack when you're told the final price.  Or both.

I love the concept of the salad bar.  Not a uniquely New York thing, but definitely very prevalent in the city.  Salad bars epitomize everything that is wonderful about New York.  Diversity.  Freedom.  Constant availability.  Do you want a salad composed of a kilo of cherry tomatoes and a couple mushrooms on top?  You can do that.  Fancy some green beans with your lettuce?  Why the hell not.  And you can find salad bars anywhere, even in supermarkets.  It's positively orgasmic.  Please, please, I beg you, couldn't some entrepreneurial fellow launch salad bars in Paris?

I hate the taxis.  Granted, they're easy to find.  But nothing else about them is good.  The drivers get hopelessly lost as soon as you aim for anywhere outside the grid (basically, anywhere below 14th street).  The cars are dirty, small and uncomfortable.  And those damn television screens make me want to vomit and punch someone, not necessarily in that order.

Finally, I love that I never have time to do everything I want to do.  There's just too much going on in New York.  Even free stuff.  Even stuff for when it's raining.  Even stuff in the middle of the night.

On that note, time to get ready for an INSEAD dinner.

Sleepy in the Apple

I just landed in New York (I know, I know, I can't sit still for one minute) and I'm trying my very best to stay awake.  My watch says it's 8:30PM (well, not the one on my computer).  My brain is screaming that it's the middle of the night and I've been up since far too early.

The battle is on.  Watch vs. Brain.  My money's on the brain.  Mind over matter and all that.

In other news, some feedback has started trickling in from the Dirty Dozen.  And so far, it's good!  Miracle of miracles, one of the Dozen has reached chapter 13 and is still reading!  But they might all just be saying nice things to make me feel better. 

Oh, and my left leg appears to have ceased normal functions.  Don't ask me why, it's just not happy with me.  I think (but I can't be certain) that it's unrelated to the massive tumble I took down the stairs yesterday.  Sigh.  This is not a good month for me staying upright and injury-free.

Well, as you can probably tell, I'm not at my freshest right now and my blog posting is showing signs of impending collapse.  So I think I'll go do just that.  Stuff it, I'll just have jet lag.

Ma pomme

Before I leave NY and head back to the real world, I thought I would share with you some of my favourite spots from this trip (a sort of Res Ipsa's Lonely Planet, if you will):

Thompson LES and Above Allen (on Allen St): Because it's in my favourite part of town, and the terrace bar has one of the most incredible views of the Manhattan skyline I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy over a Caipirinha. I wouldn't pay the "actual" rate for this hotel, but for the deal I got on expedia, it's a bargain.

Double Crown (on Bleecker and Bowery): Because the English colonial/Asian fusion food is surprising and yummy (the "Pigs in a Wet Blanket" being not only fun to order but also delicious) and the atmosphere is convivial and relatively unpretentious.

Freeman's (off Rivington): Because eating mac&cheese in a pseudo-Disney version of a hunting lodge full of the LES's beautiful people is fun. And because it's so hard to find you feel like you really earned it.

Coffee in Washington Square Park: Because unlike most things in NY it only costs the price of your morning latte, and there's usually free live music thrown in.

Abercrombie & Fitch (Fifth Ave): Because sometimes it's just nice to ogle.

I should really do one of these for Paris some time... Stay tuned.

From the couch

Ah, how perfect, perched up over the L.E.S., waiting to go out and grab a few drinks on Orchard Street, and listening to Ryan Adam's "New York New York".

All said and done, I should be in 7th heaven right now. I had a yummy Diner breakfast of french toast and maple syrup with my lovely travelling companion N this morning, followed by lunch with very very close friend E (+1 baby) in the Meatpacking District, and topped off with yet more chatter with another E over in Brooklyn. Tonight, and over the next couple days, there will be more friends, more catching up, maybe a little shopping... Really, what's not to love?

And yet. As I look out at the rain pouring over New York, I can't help thinking I'm bringing the whole city down. Yes, there's the Boy trouble, and having to give away my cats, and having to go back to a job I'm less than enthousiastic about (note the carefully disguised euphemism) but surely despite all that I should still be able to dig deep and muster up the required vacation spirit?

And then there's the bittersweetness of being in New York. It feels a bit like going back to the house you grew up in and realizing all the furniture's been moved around and you can't remember where the bathroom is. And the new owners are treating you like a temporary and rather annoying guest they have to put up with while they wait to go back to their real lives, lives which you clearly are no part of. That's when it finally hits you that this house is not "home" anymore, that after years of pining to find that one place you belong you've now exhausted all possibilities and have nowhere else to look.

God, I've just read back over this post and it sounds almost as miserable as I actually feel. What a jolt. So much for the months of carefully practiced sugar-coating. What and how much to say on my blog has been at the forefront of my mind lately. I guess we're trying something new now. (As an aside, a big thank you to petite anglaise, who despite now being a serious, published author, actually took the time to reply to my email on this issue, blogueuse-to-blogueuse).

Res and the City

I'm here! I'm finally here, in this wonderful "alternate home" of mine, New York.

I landed shortly after noon, and then proceeded to make the horrendous mistake of using SuperShuttle, which meant I arrived at my hotel over three hours later. That and the early onset of travel-exhaustion turned me into Little Miss Blue, my thoughts running something like "sure, it's fun and adventurous and liberating to be a single woman travelling by herself, but one of these days I'd like to go on a vacation with someone for a change." And of course the super-sized wet-room shower (I just love American hotel showers) was so obviously made to be shared. What is it about trans-atlantic travels that deludes us into thinking we will somehow leave our old sorrows behind? I should know better by now.

Never mind. It's illegal to be blue on vacation, especially on vacation in New York, so I decided to take my sorry behind out of the hotel and off for a walk (and as many double shot lattes as my bladder would allow). Most hotels in Manhattan are concentrated in the Midtown area, but not being much of a fan of skyscrapers I've chosen to try out the Thompson Lower East Side hotel, perched on Allen Street about two blocks shy of gentrification.

And this very clever choice of mine meant that my stroll took me through Soho, up to Bleecker (lots of bitter-sweet memories there), around NYU to Washington Square Park, and back. I was tempted to do a second, wider loop through Chinatown and Tribeca but despite the three coffees I was simply too tired to keep going. Will just have to save it for tomorrow, after my spa appointment and coffee with a very old friend and her very new baby.

For novelty's sake, I'll try to keep posting from NY over the next few days and provide you with a "virtual" tour. And if any of you, dear readers, are in/from NY and want to share some recommendations, I'd be much obliged!