My last week in New York flew by. I got lots of research done, including a tour of one of the hospitals where Michael works—and where one of my characters stays. It's amazing what being in the actual place triggers. I'll write more about Setting in a later post. I'll also be posting more pictures from New York (as requested).

Apparently I'm not the only one in New York trying to get some writing done. I shot this photo last week outside of Trader Joe's. 

"It has great articles..."

The classic line I heard from neighborhood fathers whose kids or wives found thier hidden stacks of Playboys. 

In contrast, my father just wrote me an email:

Greg and Michael, my hosts here in New York, are passionate collectors of contemporary art. They've designed their home to showcase it. These pictures do nothing to capture the experience of being here, but they'll give you an idea:

Here's the guest room, where I've been staying:

The other day I hauled my laptop to the West Village to write. I sat down at DOMA and scored a window seat looking at the brownstone, brick, and wispy tree-lined Perry Street. At a certain point, I looked up and saw a telephone booth out the window. At first I thought, remember telephone booths? They barely have them in San Francisco anymore with so many people using cell phones now. But then I looked closer and saw this: