The end...

I arrived to snow; I'm leaving to tulips. (But whatever the season, PLEASE CURB YOUR DOG, PEOPLE.)

I should have written this post a couple of weeks ago.

But I didn't want to.

I was in denial.

A couple of weeks ago, the ten weeks of my fellowship were up. I'd had such an amazing time, that I didn't want it to end.  If I never wrote the end, maybe it wouldn't ever happen? I had writer's block. (Dear my lovely authors - you have permission to remind me of this next time you miss a deadline.)

But now that I am literally packing my bags (I may have had to buy a second bag to pack. I blame Uniqlo; I blame Anthropolgie; I blame the MoMa design store), I have to face facts. My time in New York as the Beatrice Davis Fellow 2014 is over.

My last few meetings and appointments were pure joy. Big thanks to Erica Sussman at Harper Teen. (Among many other things, she looks after the Laura Ingalls Wilder list. OMFG.)  Thanks to the crew at Knopf for having me back again.

And huge big kisses to the beyond-delightful Barry Goldblatt and Libba Bray - thank you for your thoughtful insights, your warmth and humour, and for such a delicious dinner. PLEASE COME BACK TO AUS TO VISIT US SOON OKAY THANKS. 

Thank you also to the incomparable Jane Starr, for such an interesting discussion about books and publishing and scouting and New York and YA and love of reading, and oh, so much good stuff. Not to mention just a gorgeous lunch. Thank you, thank you!

Thank you to EVERYONE that I met with over my time in NYC. So many people were so generous with their time and energy and knowledge and insight. I have been very lucky and privileged. And I'm so grateful.

And there were so many people I didn't get a chance to speak to. So many places I didn't go and people I didn't meet. I'm leaving NYC with a sense that the world of publishing is so huge and diverse that in many ways I just brushed the surface. But boy do I have a lot to think on, mull over and write about in my report. 

I think I will still be blogging a bit as I get home and formulate my thoughts. And I will post my report when it's finished.  In the meantime, some holiday snaps...

To soften the blow of returning to my real world (which shhh, don't tell anyone, I'm actually quite looking forward to. My conflicting feelings, let me show you them.), I have spent the last little while on holiday: hanging with friends, eating all the food, going to all of the galleries and cultural sites, drinking a fair number of the cocktails...

The Empire State from the Top of the Rock. Didn't see Liz Lemon anywhere around Rockefeller Plaza - but I communed with her spirit. It okay, don't be cry.

Blossom and blue skies! Spring arrived!

The Guggenheim, of course. I think my favourite gallery experience might be a tie between the Frick and PS1. (Yeah nah, they're nothing alike.) but I also really enjoyed the Whitney's Biennial and the New Museum.

Some of the crew eating Nathan's dogs at Coney Island. In pursuit of other iconic pop-cultural experiences, I also went to both the basketball and the baseball. LET'S GO, NETS/METS. (Thanks for the photo, SC.)

Matilda! The most bookish musical in town! So gorgeous.

And my man came to join me.

I'll me home on the weekend. Home in time for more winter. Boo.

But also home for footy (Let's go, Cats!), for vegemite, for currency that makes sense, for engaged locks on public toilets, for my own bed and my favourite coffee emporia... oh and for my family, and for my crew at A&U. YAY!