A New York Minute

Gosh, it’s been a minute, hasn’t it?

Last week I went to New York City, finally! After postponing this trip (see a previous post) due to the government shutdown and an impending winter storm (which didn’t really happen), I rescheduled. And of course, me being me, I stupidly rescheduled to fly on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Yes, the busiest travel day of the year. And of course we got a ton of snow – like 10 inches! – in Chicago the day before so there were all sorts of travel chaos. I was lucky; my flight was only a couple of hours delayed. But I know someone who was trying to fly back to Chicago from New York on that Sunday, and her flight was canceled and she didn’t get back home until very late Monday night.

Anyway – there I was in New York City! I had a great three days. I didn’t get to do many touristy things; OK, I didn’t get to do any touristy things. Other than walking up 6^th Avenue and down 5^th one evening, taking in all the holiday sights.

Mainly I was there for work. I had a great meeting with my wonderful agent, Stacy Testa, at Writer’s House. This was our first in-person meeting since we started working together two years ago. Publishing has always been a long-distance kind of endeavor with everyone based in Manhattan. And most authors are not. So we rely on email and Zooms, but when we can meet in person it’s special.

Then, the main event – meeting with my wonderful publishing team, including my terrific editor, Susanna Porter, at Penguin Random House!

Again, it was so special to do this in person. And guys, you should hear all the exciting plans for the rollout of The Windsor Affair! I was blown away. Publishing has changed, a lot. Of course it has, just like everything else. And it’s been so interesting – and yes, sometimes frustrating – to see how certain things – like national placement in B&N, or even the existence of Borders – have gone away while other things – like social media, of course, and the rise of influencers – have taken their place. Like I said, sometimes it’s frustrating. Things that I used to rely on – placements and press that made two of my books NY Times bestsellers, for instance – no longer exist. So we’ve all had to navigate this new landscape, and rethink how to launch a book. And my new marketing and publicity team have definitely figured that out! Again – lots of fun things ahead, so stay tuned. And The Windsor Affair is available for preorder now.

Someone here asked me to share my travel wardrobe for New York, so here it is. First up, I only took one pair of shoes!! It’s a packing miracle. The shoes I wore on the plane and all of my trip are these Born Chelsea boots I got during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale this year. They were perfect! It was snowy in Chicago and rainy in New York and these babies were also very comfortable to wear the one day I walked about 15,000 steps. I will say I put in an insert, as they have a wide toe area, which is good but can also lead to the boots eating your socks. I put in this nifty little insert – I use these all the time in booties; they provide a little grip and cushioning and are especially great when you don’t wear a sock. And they’re thin, so it’s not like you have to size up to wear them.

As far as clothing, I wore leggings from J. Jill, my go-to legging source. I love their Pima cotton leggings. And I wore a couple of these comfy tunics from a brand on Amazon called Minibee; I dress them up with scarves when I’m out and about.

For my big meeting, I relied on an old standby, this astonishingly cheap but versatile skirt from Amazon Essentials. I’ve had this skirt for years, so it’s not really fast fashion (something I really try to avoid). I just bought another one exactly like it for the inevitable day the original gives out. But that doesn’t look to be anytime soon. This skirt can be paired with T-shirts in summer but in winter I pair it with one of my Vince Camuto sweaters from Nordstrom, like this one.

And that’s what I wore in New York!

The day after I returned, my bathroom renovation was finally finished! Except for the shower door, which was on backorder and won’t be installed until after the first of the year. Anyway, I think it’s gorgeous!

But I spent an entire day hauling all my things up from the basement, where I was living during the reno. But I’m back in the primary bedroom, and Luna has her favorite sleeping place back. She’s obsessed with our velvet sofa (by Joybird), but as it’s a sleeper sofa, I was sleeping on it for over a month. Now it’s back as sofa and she can ascend to her throne once more.

I honestly can’t believe it’s only a little over 2 weeks until Christmas. It was just Thanksgiving! Our kids will all be here the weekend before Christmas, and I’ve only just now started to buy presents. I haven’t even thought about food or anything! Like I said, it’s been a minute.

A New York Minute.