Naughty Paris

Sometime after midnight in May, New York.

I suppose it makes more sense to leave a little message before sneaking off to New York for a week, but we were so busy packing and running errands and getting some last minute articles done that we barely made it to the airport on time, let alone with enough breathing space to....well, breathe!

Not at ALL helped by the additional security check we had to endure thanks to a certain Canadienne getting all jittery during the customary grilling that all non-US citizens are subjected to before entering our fine country. Good thing she brought the Frenchman along to keep spirits up during the nail-biting delay. They sat behind me during the flight, giggling as they read the questions on the form they had to fill out for customs ("Are you a spy?", "Are you a nazi?", and "Are you planning on commiting terrorist acts against the US?" were some of the questions, with little "yes" and "no" boxes to check).

The Frenchman's first NY taxi ride.

So during our stay in the Big Apple we ate at two Thai, one Japanese, and one Chinese restaurant. And drinks at a fine French-Vietnamese establishment. The Frenchman ate enough hotdogs to keep America's street vendor economy booming. Between us we purchased six pairs of shoes (gotta love the weak dollar!), and three umbrellas -- because we kept leaving the ones we had at the apartment. We bought several maps, but never really figured out how everyone knows which subway platform to stand on. Vive la métro!

We finally got to meet our agent, Rebecca Freidman, in person. She took us for drinks at the lovely Pegu Club (those ginger cocktails are sooooooo yummy!), then let us wander around the Sterling Lord HQ, ogling the 12th floor views over the city as a huge storm moved in. Rebecca also noticed us drooling over the stacks of books in English (when you live in Paris, these are rare and expensive), and let us take home as many as we could carry. My suitcase made it to the taxi stand in Paris before falling apart under the weight.

Agent Friedman, trying to hide from the camera (those glass walls don't help, chérie!)

So, being in a real live literary agency for the first time, I had to ask her if there really was a slush pile. Not only does it exist, it really is a pile...see your manuscript in there?!

We had a little Happy Hour soirée for friends and clients at the appropriately-themed Madame X bar, all red velour, dimmed lamps, and $5 cocktails, woo hoo! But best of all, we even got to experience a little taste of the Naughty New York nightlife by attending one of Mademoiselle Palagia's One Leg Up parties. Stay tuned for Carolyn's play-by-play of the evening. ;)