Back from New York!

A new moon was breaking when I arrived in New York last Monday.

The only time I sat down this past week in New York was in a cab, watching The Color Purple and riding the Grey Line tour through Manhattan. The first day I dropped mom and our friend, Georgia off at Martha Stewart Omnimedia. They didn't get to meet Martha herself, but they did see her office and cooked in the Everyday Food kitchen.

I walked uptown to meet my editors, Carrie Feron and Tessa Woodward for lunch and stopped to change to my shoes at the Hilton New York. As I walked through the doors and then sat in the lobby, I remembered how I had pitched Hot Tamara to Avon's editorial staff three years ago. I never felt fear like I had that day. But I was determined because I was starting to doubt that Hot Tamara would be published, never daring to imagine that I would arrive at a place where I'd be planning my fourth release! It was a moment when I stopped fretting about goals I hadn't yet achieved and realized how far I've come from being a shy little girl from National City, to a published author on her way to have lunch with her New York editors.

I still get chills.

When I arrived at Harper Collins, I was warmly greeted by Tessa and Carrie. I also met Publisher Liate Stehlik, Pam and Sherry from Publicity and Adrienne from Marketing, all who made me feel very welcome. When I send off Switchcraft, I know it is going to a place where it will be loved and nurtured.

The next day, I did my first ever New York booksigning in the original Barnes & Noble store. When I walked up to the front counter with the two copies of Hot Tamara they had in stock, they seemed perplexed when I asked if I could sign them. The manager told me that authors usually come in through the backdoor with their "people." I told him that my people were on the boat to the Statue of Liberty.

For lunch I met up with my agent, Jenny Bent. She put a little seed in my head about possibly dipping into my old projects file and dusting off a historical I had written nine years ago. But first I have to write my mariachi story, then a sequel to Friday Night Chicas and then a ghost story ... in short, I need to hire a nanny and a housekeeper. But damn, I have a great agent!

After lunch, I sped back to Times Square to see The Color Purple. If you ever have a chance to see this play, SEE IT!!! Oh my God. I laughed, cried, got angry ... you name it. Plays usually put me to sleep but when intermission arrived, I wanted to hurry it up to see the second act.

So now I'm back and have tons of stuff to take care of ... like finish my book!

Cheers,
Mary