My goals for my first day at the Romance Writers of America conference were simple…arrive in time for the luncheon and then meet with my wonderful editor at 2:00pm. With a 6:00am flight there shouldn't have been any concern with meeting these goals. But as some of you well know, my plans were thwarted by a 3 hour flight delay.
At 11:00am, when I reached Newark airport, I went in search of my shuttle. A man in a lovely knit hat asked me to lend him some cash so that he could book a hotel room. I explained to him that I don’t travel with cash, so the man in the lovely knit hat then asked if I had anything else I could give him. I should have said, “Yes. Advice. Stay away from airports.”
In an attempt to save money, I had booked the “Super Shuttle” from Newark airport into downtown Manhattan. At 11:25am a man steps inside Ground Transportation and yells out, “Meee-lah”, “Meee-lah”. I’m thinking, could he possibly be calling, Miller? Rather than respond with my given surname, I wave my hand and called out, “Meee-lah here.”
I am taken to a van with twelve people crammed inside, each being transported to unique and widespread spots in New York City. I'm reminded of Romancing the Stone as Joan Wilder sits on the Chilean bus with a chicken on her lap. The panic begins to escalate. A panic enhanced by Betsy Horvath's frantic texts of, "Are you here yet?!" A blind passenger asks to be dropped off in Chinatown. He can’t see his suitcase, but describes it as being black with wheels. That depiction certainly distinguishes it from the eleven other black suitcases with wheels. We all begin searching name tags to find the blind man’s suitcase, and then remarkably, the blind man, his cane, and his black wheeled suitcase are left on the curb in Chinatown.
We have now been on this shuttle for an hour and a half and any chance at reaching the hotel in time for the luncheon are lost. All that is left is to pray that I’ll make it in time for my editor appointment. I arrive at the hotel at 1:47pm and quickly check in, gauging that I can run up to my room with enough time to drop off my bag and make it back downstairs for the 2pm tryst with my editor. Then I see the elevator line…
Yes, I made it at 2:03pm, but the suspense of the day took a toll on my hair. :) Here is me and my fantastic editor, Melissa.
Maureen A. Miller
12 comments:
But after all that, you now have a story to tell. You don't even look a bit ruffled in the photo. Glad you made it time to meet your editor.
Sorry, but I laughed ... it could only happen to you. :)
I agree with Wynter, you don't look at all ruffled. You look wonderful. And so calm. I would have been a wreck.
A most excellent beginning to your adventure, Maureen. Glad you made it (somewhat) on time!
But you made it! You made it! I'm sorry I added to the pressure - I just couldn't believe you were STILL in the shuttle :D LOL
You look fabulous :) One and a half hours on the shuttle and I'd have looked like a hostage at the end of a long siege! I hope the appointment went well! Tell us more about your RWA experiences :)
I loved your line about "Staying out of airports." sounds as if you ride into adventure. Enjoy.
When it came time for the meeting with Melissa...she calls me on her cell to tell me that she is walking around the bank of elevators and that I should stay there until she finds me. She makes a complete circle around the elevators with me on the phone assuring her that I'm standing right in front of them, and yet we can't find each other. That would be because she was on floor 7 and I was on floor 8. Doomed, I tell you! Doomed we were. :)
Sounds like you had quite the adventure, Maureen. Glad that you got to experience the full conference adventure, and that you weren't too late for your meeting with Melissa. Wish I'd been there to meet all the Carina authors in attendance, but definitely next year . . . :-)
Missed you, Kathy!
I think if we're unable to attend next year I will throw a picnic instead, and everyone is invited. That includes you, readers!!
Of course, everyone must bring a side dish. I'm a terrible cook. :)
I saw Maureen at the end of that horrific day and she looked fab! More like she’d been driven around in a limo and rushed to the head of every line she was in.
@Rita - Hahahahaha! That is because when you saw me I had a tall glass of wine in front of me. :)
Wow, Maureen! Glad you made it to the editor appointment, anyway. :) And now you can say you didn't just visit New Jersey/New York, you SURVIVED it. LOL
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