I'm in New York City! Chapter 1!

I am so happy to be in New York City again - I love this town! And I had a great view of the Statue of Liberty on my flight in! I'm here for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators International Conference. But first, I arrived a day early to spend some time with my dear friends Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman. You might recall, I spent Hannukah with them last year after Stan passed away; so, they have been my Guardian Angels. I knew I was falling back into good energy the moment I stepped into the airport taxi. My driver was from Senegal and we had fun swapping great music on the ride in. I introduced him to Earth, Wind, and Fire and he introduced me to Youssou N'Dour - awesome!Arriving at Ellen and Delia's was like walking into a warm hug. And once again, I had the honor of sleeping under orginial artwork by one of my illustrator heroes, Brian Froud. Delia made a delicious Persian dish for dinner and then we went to a performance of "Selected Shorts with N.K. Jamisin" at the Symphony Space theater. These were dramatic readings of short stories including "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin read by actor, Hugh Dancy, and a response piece by N.K. (Nora) Jemisin.Of course, Nora was once one of Delia's students, so we went backstage to say 'hi' afterwards.The next morning I took one of my favorite long walks in the park that runs along with Hudson River across the street from Ellen and Delia's home.
The funny thing is, I now own Bog Boots and a big puffy coat that I bought specifically for NYC; but the weather this trip was promising to be lovely, I didn't pack either! It's been getting into the 50s during the way wiht clear skies. What a great welcome back to NYC!

Follow along!
     I'm in New York City - Chapter 1!
     I'm in New York City - Chapter 2!
     SCBWI New York City - Chapter 3!
     SCBWI New York - Chapter 4!
     Stan in NYC - Chapter 5