Cocktails At the Coal Yard!

Dear Juliet

I just wanted to check in and confirm I'm off to the Coal Drops Yard, King's Cross, for that book launch tomorrow.

Wish you were there!

And I had an idea. I could have a commemorative cocktail and a bar of Dairy Milk for you there so you won't feel left out? I think Jenny once mentioned you liked chocolate and cocktails.

In that case, I'll bring my well-travelled copy of Dear Miss Landau along and get you a picture of it!

I did much the same thing on the Isle of Hydra last January.

I'm staying in that nearby shoebox, back in Shifnal late on Tuesday 16th, maybe 8.00 pm; so in actual fact if I send off a short blog post tomorrow morning at some unearthly hour the blip in communications will scarcely be noticeable.

Nevertheless, if you feel up to sending a small emoji, my smartphone number is:

 +447572 889840

Or, from a landline:

011 44 7572 889840

You don't have to do anything, I'll be having a great evening but there will be the odd sombre moment, thinking of you stuck over there in Los Angeles while I'm momentarily living the London high life...

You know, I really will miss you. I'm used to doing things on my own, I'm good at it and I'm not even quite sure how I'd deal with having someone else along for the ride, but I think it would be nice.

My annual leave is also approaching (24th August-11th September). I'll probably go to Cleethorpes, but as I should be clear of the chemo pills by then who knows what the future holds?

However, I had a little idea. If you're feeling nostalgic, you can always walk in my footsteps and go sit in the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf opposite the Roosevelt Hotel facing Grauman's Chinese Theatre. I sat in its predecessor in 1989 and in the current establishment in 2024.

This is what it was like the first time:

"Next I caught a bus to Hollywood Boulevard, home of Mann's (formerly Grauman's) Chinese Theater, souvenir shops, exotic bookstores, the Hotel Roosevelt and a few pimps. I trod over star's names etched in gold on the sidewalk until I came to a diner opposite Mann's. I ordered a milkshake there, slouched over the counter and watched the world go by. It was a good day."

(Down and Out in Los Angeles and New York ; 1st November 1989)

Nearly thirty-seven years... Time is indeed the fire in which we burn.

Anyway, congratulations on The Fledgling. A vampire-related cross-country road trip? That sounds familiar. Here's an idea which probably won't get anywhere. In 1947, Andreas Feininger took arguably the single greatest photograph of Route 66 in Seligman, Arizona. The Fledgling crew could try and duplicate it.

As for how I found out about that, that'll have to be a tale for another day!

Love,

James