Edinburgh!

Hey Peeps!

I just got back from Scotland and had an awesome time. I spent most of the week in Edinburgh (as you know from my last post) but got to go out to the beach for one of the days-- the beach? In Scotland? Yes! We searched for Puffins!

It was a glorious day, by, er, Scotland standards (ie it didn't rain!) and fun was had by all.

Here are some pics of me looking out at that tumuluous North Sea. Brooding, right?

Contemplating life...and stuff.

Conquering the mountain. Er, rock.

A Puffin footprint? I guess we'll never know.

xx,

R

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Hey Guys!

I'm in Edinburgh, Scotland, currently seated at a coffee shop with the most incredible view of the castle. I remember sitting here, in this exact spot, quite a few years ago when I came to Edinburgh for the first time.

I studied abroad here in college and it was a transformitive semester-- seriously, guys, if I have one piece of advice for college students or HS students entering college, it's this: study abroad.

Not only did Edinburgh prove to be an incredible city, and one I continue to cherish, but it also woke up the travel bug in me. I had always traveled as a child--- my parents have been the king and queen of adventure since far before I was born (they're way cooler than me, trust)-- but it wasn't until I came here that I really understood the way a place can effect you-- seep into your skin and just stay put.

I wrote my grad-school application essays here, and applied. I got in, and those two years brought me to New York, and the publishing world--- a city and an industry that has since allowed me to realize my life-long dream. Now it is here! This book comes out in a month and three weeks--- a month and three weeks!

So what the heck am I doing in Edinburgh? Reflecting. Writing. Remembering that this city, and my dreams for myself, were here long before a book deal--- and they will be here long after. Oh, and stalking JK Rowling-- for updates on that stay tuned to twitter.

Thank you all so much for your advanced support, and love, and well-wishes. It's going to be an awesome few months. I can only hope that in another 5 years time I will be back here with even more news to report to this place--- can you believe it, Edinburgh? My book is a bestseller!

Have a great week, friends!

xo,

R

To say this place is magic for me is a bit of an understatement.

#stopkony

GUYS--- If you haven't yet, watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc&feature=youtu.be

The world we live in right now, and the power we all have to effect one another, is remarkable. The Invisible Children are calling us to use it.

xx,

R

We're on a mission.

I'm off to Edinburgh, Scotland this week--- my favorite place on earth. The city is made of magic, for me--- how could it not be? JK Rowling lives there! I've been a lot, but I've never seen her. Well, that's not entirely true. I've never met her. On my last trip I'm (almost) positive I saw her walking down the street outside the coffee shop I was working in. My friend who I was with says I chased her down the block like a mad woman (I think I briskly walked), but then she got into a waiting town car. Will this trip be the one where we finally lock eyes? Stay tuned, peeps!

Your reporter,

R

Remembering The Writing

Sometimes I forget about the writing. Or, I should say: sometimes I'm so caught up in being an author, that I forget about being a writer.

Being an author is cool. It's also strange. You do things like answer a lot of emails, and plan events, and look at covers. You talk about schedules and deadlines and money. There are a lot of people involved. It's kind of what I imagine being a celebrity is like except when you're an author no one cares what you look like, or who you're dating. You also don't go on cool tropical vacations where people photograph you.

But you are at the center of something.

You write this book alone, and then slowly, or all at once, people start becoming a part of it. An agent, an editor. A publicist. Sometimes other agents, foreign teams. There is marketing and sales and then reviewers and bloggers. It slips from your hands out into the world and you don't get it back.

Do you want it back? Not really, no. This was the point all along. But somehow, even still, that offers little solace.

What offers solace is simple: writing. It's the putting words on the page, the doing the thing, that is what really matters. Anne Lamott in her book Bird by Bird says the following: "Publication is not all that it is cracked up to be. But writing is."

It's true, it is. Sometimes I forget that. Sometimes I get so lost in the emails and questions and the five-year plan that I forget it's really all about the writing. That I love it more than I love anything else. That it is the best gift I have ever been given in this life. Better than a book deal. Better than the book on the shelf.

That's when I pick up Bird by Bird or On Writing and I let them remind me. Sometimes we need other authors to remind us that we are really writers.

XO,

R

Fashion Week!

I got to do some fun stuff for fashion week--- one of which was walk in a fashion show! It was a super cool event put on by Monopoly and Junk Food and featuring some awesome designers. It was totally a blast. Here is a video of me strutting the catwalk!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEDCcLcg-b4&feature=player_embedded

You can't see this, but just as I came out I high fived with the model that was coming up the runway. I felt just like Carrie Bradshaw!

I was happy to return to being a real person today, though. I much prefer my PJ's to stilettos.

Happy Thursday,

R

Hellos and Goodbyes

Today I said goodbye to my best friend. She's moving to another city, and I will greatly miss her. I will miss a lot of things about her--- those warm hugs, brunch on a Sunday--- but most of all I will miss the spontaneity of our friendship. The afternoon drop-by coffee. The dinner at my apartment. How we'd meet for drinks with 15 minutes notice, and spend three hours talking.

We said goodbye on the street corner this afternoon, and when the light changed, she walked away. Not for good, I know that. There will be visits, there will be Skype dates. There will be gchats. But something is changing, and in that moment, I felt it-- I felt it all.

Hannah, in many ways, introduced me to New York. I met her my first week here. I showed up in her office as a prospective intern--- fresh from Los Angeles with a cardigan around my shoulders in 100 degree heat. Hannah took me in, but it was slow. Our friendship unfolded with the seasons. It was a year before I was really in, I think. But when you're in, you're in. She showed me her city-- the one she has lived in her whole life, and that I was a stranger to. Her favorite restaurants, book stores. The New York City Ballet. How to cross The Park at 66th street. That Amsterdam was on the west side. She'd often send me directions to places we were meeting, or guide me step by step on how to get home.

Many things have happened in five years. Break-ups and boyfriends and jobs and a published novel, but the one thing that has remained consistent is her presence in my life--- in my New York life.

So we said goodbye. To this chapter, anyway. And I cried. I cried so much a stranger stopped me on the street. This lovely woman with big, brown eyes and cashmere-clad hands.

"What's wrong, darling?" she asked me.

"I just said goodbye to my best friend," I said.

She nodded, took my hand in hers. "You'll see her again."

"I know," I sniffed. I gulped back some sobs.

"It's not goodbye," she said. "It's until next time."

Then this perfect stranger hugged me. She put her arms around me and I lay my head on her shoulder.

When I turned to leave she was reluctant to let go of my hand. "Do you know where you're going?" she asked me, concern in her eyes.

"Yes," I said. "I do."

I know where Amsterdam is now. I know that my favorite restaurant doesn't take reservations, and if I go past 7 pm, I'll have no chance of getting in. But most importantly, I know how to get home.

I'll miss you, HBG. Safe travels.

XO,

R