How I coped with a 3am start.

(Click on any of the photos to enlarge them)

Hi everyone,

If you follow my blog/social media, you’ll know I recently went on a week’s vacation to New York City. I’d been saving up for it for a while as a special trip – and it was amaaazing! I wore out a pair of shoes with all the walking, but it was worth it 😉

I’m not going to write a huge blog post about everything I did because that would take aaaaages, and I’d rather spend that time writing some fiction and lining up some more releases. I’m sure you would prefer I did that, too, huh? 😉

Perving on Philip Winchester

Here are a few highlights: Central Park, Freedom Tower, 9/11 Memorial, the fact that there were tons of ads for new shows Blindspot and The Player everywhere, so it meant I got regular glimpses of Sullivan Stapleton and Philip Winchester, boat trip around Lower Manhattan, providing fantastic views back to Manhattan, and of Liberty Island, Ellis Island, Governors Island, New Jersey and Brooklyn, the New York Public Library, the Stonewall Inn, Cathedral of St. John the Divine. And last, but certainly not least, the reading I did. Rather, I left this until last because this is what I wanted to expand on.

Reading from Eyes Wide Open

It all happened rather quickly (as did the booking of the trip in the first place), but the fabulous Lori Perkins runs a regular reading series in NYC, and as soon as I knew I was going Stateside, I dropped her an email to see if I could take part. Long story short, she said yes, and organised an absolutely amazing evening at the People Kitchen & Lounge, where I debuted a reading from Eyes Wide Open. My fellow readers were as follows. The lovely Laura Antoniou, who read from her work in progress. D. L. King, who also read a snippet from her work in progress. Mara White, who I wasn’t previously familiar with, read from her latest release. And Debra Hyde treated us to a section from her Charlotte Olmes (F/F retelling of Sherlock Holmes) series. It was amazing to meet all these lovely ladies for the first time – D. L. King in particular, as I missed her last time she was in the UK. I had a fabulous evening meeting and chatting to like-minded folk, and am very grateful to Lori for pulling it all together in record time. I loved every minute and felt rather famous after Lori’s fantastic introduction!

L-R: Laura Antoniou, Lori Perkins, D.L. King, me, Mara White, Debra Hyde.

Me trying authentic American iced tea for the first time. I didn’t like it. Prefer the regular, hot, British kind 😉

I was also fortunate enough to spend some time with the gorgeous F. Leonora Solomon. We’ve met before at Eroticon, so again, once I knew I was heading to NYC, I touched base with her. She came to the aforementioned reading, and also, bless her, trekked all the way across Manhattan to have breakfast with me and my other half on the day we were due to go home. It was fantastic to have that extra time with her, chatting about everything and nothing, about smut and not smut. And I think she was rather a fan of the deli we chose to eat in!

Overall, I had an absolutely fantastic time in NYC. I walked miles, took a ridiculous amount of photos, wore out a pair of shoes, and, happily, gained plenty of inspiration. I’ve already started writing a story with a Manhattan setting, and I’m sure as months and years pass by, there will be more – inspiration often strikes me waaaay after I visit a place. I didn’t quite get to see everything I wanted to, but hey, it’s an excuse to go back, isn’t it?

Happy Reading,

Lucy x