Thrillerfest, Italian Desserts and the Great Manhattan Blackout of '19: My Trip to New York

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I had the great good fortune to spend a long weekend in New York City for the Thrillerfest writers' convention, and I wanted to share the experience with you. Don't expect any pictures of famous and well-loved authors - I haven't gotten to the point where I feel comfortable whipping out my phone and taking pictures wile talking to people. (I'm sure that will come later, as my publisher wants me to get on Instagram and I'll be desperate for content.

I traveled and roomed with the fabulous Jessica Ellicot. When we checked into the Grand Hyatt on Thursday, the clerk gave us a "room with a view." Here it is:

Yes, that's the reflection of the Chrysler building. Jess and I were very stylish; we had our own theme colors. Red...

..and blue.

 The opening night reception was sponsored in part my my publishing company, so I got to see loads of people I knew (and cadge free drinks.)

Here's Jess. Note the red.

The bar, where everyone ended up at the shank end of the night, looked like a cross between Logan's Run and The Blade Runner. Cocktails cost $18. New York, New York, it's a hell of a town.

My literary agency, which is also Rhys's and now Jessica's, has an afternoon BBQ every Friday afternoon during Thrillerfest.

Am I going to show you pictures of the BBQ? No, I am not. I'm going to show you book porn.

I really wanted five minutes alone inside the building with one of those rolling shopping carts.

On the way back, we ran into a large demonstration outside the hotel. The President of Taiwan was staying at the Grand Hyatt and there were Chinese protestors clashing with Taiwanese counter-protestors. 

Coincidentally, Jess and I went out for Chinese later that night! Luckily, no one protested when we ordered Kung Pao chicken and braised pork belly.

Saturday was writer stuff in the morning and then Julia's Big Fun Afternoon Out. My very dear friend Jeff Cohen aka (EJ Copperman) and his wife (also somewhat confusingly named Jessica) came in from NJ. We met up in the concourse of Grand Central Station...

...and then enjoyed drinks in the Campbell Bar, which has been converted from the private apartments of John W. Campbell, one of the builder/owners of Grand Central Station. 

 

Don't let my poor photography put you off; it's an amazing space and you should check it out if you're in the area. Yes, the cocktails are $18 here as well. I'm surprised everyone in NY isn't a teetotaler. 

We walked up to the NY Public Library's Main Branch to see their exhibit Walt Whitman, America's Poet (ending August 30th.)

 Leaves of Grass, first edition(s)

They had a treasure trove of letters, including this one from Whitman, one from his long-time partner, and one firing him from his position at the Bureau of Indian Affairs!

 Having satisfied our literary and historical appetites, we departed for North of Little Italy, no fashionably called Nolita.Picture me rolling my eyes.

Noted attorney Jessica Oppenheim and writer husband Jeff Cohen. The matching T-shirts made it much easier to spot them in crowds.

 

 The dinner was lovely, spiced with a dramatic note when, as we were leaving, the manager told us about the massive blackout occurring on the West Side. Happily, the lights were still on at our dessert destination, the 127-year-old Ferrara Bakery.This place is amazing. I started to get a contact high off the sugar fumes just from walking in.

 

We got seated right before the evening rush started. 

In Midtown and the Upper West Side, ice cream was melting in powerless freezers everywhere, but down on Mulberry Street, it was all buttercream and chocolate,

Italian iced tea - tea with a generous scoop of lemon granita. I can highly recommend it. That's a chocolate and hazelnut torte. I ate it all. I could have eaten three. It's a good thing the lines were so long by then, or I would have gotten a bag full of pastries to take home with me.

Despite the collapse of several parts of the subway system, I had no problems getting a cab back to the hotel, where the lights were on and the drinks were cold at the bar. Poor Jeff and Jessica, however, didn't get home until 2:30am! Both Penn Station and Port Authority were closed; they wound up catching the PATH to Newark and, I'm not sure, hitching home?

There was a lot of schmoozing, conversations about social media, and listening to folks gripe about the industry that I'm leaving out, mostly because the fun parts of the weekend are what I remember. How about you, dear readers? What are your NYC stories? Have you ever snuck away from a conference to frolic with friends?