There are so many things I could say about my first time in New York City. I could talk about how nice and helpful New Yorkers have been or tell you how the subway really isn’t that hard to navigate, or even discuss how I’ve perfected the art of not looking like a tourist. 

But, this is a writers’ blog. So, I’ll talk about how being in New York, as a soon-to-be-published novelist, feels. 

It feels all at once overwhelming, inspiring, and oddly magical, for lack of a better term. As soon as I first set foot in the city, I felt a connection. I’ve almost made this trip many times in the past, but I’m so happy that I’ve waited until now, when I was able to see the city and be a part of its story as well. I have gotten to be that guy who comes from a small town to the big city to see his dreams unfolding before his eyes. I can’t explain how it felt to take the elevator up to my editor’s office at Simon & Schuster on 6th Avenue or what it was like to so quickly become friends (over Japanese food) with someone who has changed my life.

Then there’s my agent—Ken. I met Ken and his assistant Ty for lunch on Tuesday and it couldn’t have been any better. We talked about books, we talked about my career, and, most importantly, we just talked-like normal people.
 
In between seeing plays and wandering around famous museums and taking super-fast elevators to the top of the city, I’ve gotten to meet so many interesting, kind, and all around wonderful people.  Yesterday concluded the “business” side of my trip with a meeting at the WEBook offices, an interview with Publishers Weekly (I had to pinch myself three times), and a great lunch with my new friends from WEBook.

Last night, I met up with my old advisor from college-who now teaches at SUNY New Paltz-and we talked poetry and books and big city life, all while eating genuine New York pizza. To see his reaction to my book news was definitely one of the highlights of this entire trip. 

So, I want to end this blog here, as I sit in the café at the Metropolitan Museum of Art surrounded by beautiful sculptures and intrigued masses of people, by thanking everyone involved in getting me to this moment. I want to thank WEBook for giving an author who’d almost given up on his dream one more way to be heard. I want to thank Ken for being so enthusiastic over my writing that I was signed with a publisher in less than a month. And I want to thank my editor, Nami, for fighting for me at Simon & Schuster. 

It’s so incredibly corny and cliché to say this, but don’t ever give up on what you KNOW you were meant to be.

--Corey