BESTSELLERS & BEST FRIENDS
My book publishing blog, with murder mysteries woven through it.
If this is your first visit, be sure to start with “1. Let’s do it!”
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I decided to take a train back to New York City from the Ligonier writers conference. Service between Pittsburgh and New York is limited and always way behind schedule. But I have a fondness for trains, even the not-so-reliable ones.
I spent large chunks of my life traveling between Boston and New York. Publishing will do that, as I often managed staff in both cities.
First was when I was Marketing Director for Little Brown, based out of Boston, with our publicity staff in New York City.
Day trips back then were frequent and easy. At either end, you’d just go to the airport and walk onto the Eastern Shuttle.
Eastern shuttle
That’s right, kids, you just walked onto the airplane! No security. All pre-9/11. Open seating. When the last seat was taken, the door closed and the plane took off. Then a few minutes later, they’d bring another plane over from a hanger and start loading up that one.
You’d buy your ticket from the flight attendant once the plane was in the air. With cash if you wanted to. Seemed so run-of-the-mill in the day. Now I miss it like crazy.
Second, when I had my Planet Dexter imprint with Penguin, I worked in Boston; and I had a knucklehead boss in New York City. Trips were necessary.
Then 9/11 happened, along with the resulting and unbearable airport security. Acela, Amtrak’s higher speed train service between Boston and New York, also showed up. I never again flew between the two cities.
Amtrak Acela
I enjoyed the hours of quiet on the train. They were good for thinking. And now, realizing that it was Joey Freeman wearing my letterman’s jacket who got shoved into the back seat of a car at 1:45 a.m. in my hometown, I needed to think.
I got over to Latrobe, the closest Amtrak station to Ligonier, at 8:20 a.m. and got on the Pittsburgh-to-New York train.
I found a good seat. I checked my messages. The pissed-off-Einstein guy had texted me ten times: I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE.
The train was nearly empty. I got out a pad of paper just in case my thinking came up with anything. I took a deep breath.
And that’s when I saw my letterman’s jacket walking back from the café car.
What the hell?!
Tomorrow: (To be continued.)