Back from the Lammys

Congratulations to Minal Hajratwala, whose book Leaving India: My Family’s Journey From Five Villages to Five Continents (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) beat out Map and three other finalists--Byron in Love: A Short Daring Life by Edna O’Brien (W. W. Norton), Cheever: A Life by Blake Bailey (Alfred A. Knopf), and Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood’s Dark Dreamer by Emanuel Levy (St. Martin’s Press)--to win the 2010 Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction, and to all the other Lammy winners and finalists!  A complete list of winners is here.

My companion and I drove down to New York on Thursday afternoon, the day of the award ceremony, with enough time to check into the hotel and breathe a bit before hobnobbing with the literati.  We'd made reservations online and chosen the Hotel Chelsea primarily for its location, semi-reasonable price, and non-shared bathroom; we had a vague understanding that it was somewhat famous (it has a mix of regulary residents and hotel guests, with many artsy folks staying there over the years), but our first thrill upon checking in was that we would be staying in Janis Joplin's old apartment!  Plus there was a balcony.  And cucumber aloe vera soap (was Janis a cucumber aloe vera fan?).

The ceremony itself, at the SVA Theater, was quite an event, and I was glad to recognize some faces and reconnect with folks I'd met at the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival.  My book cover and name flashed across a giant screen for a few seconds as the names of the finalists were read, and the plush seats and excitement of being at the Oscars of GLBT books almost made up for the fact that someone else's book got the winner logo.  Nonetheless, I was glad we had decided not to attend the after party, so I could have private time for the "I guess I'm not going to be famous tomorrow" realization to sink in.

Strange, the emotions that go through your mind with chosenness and nearly-chosenness and possibilities and maybes.  On one level, a little dream dying; on another, relief; on another, just one of many pinpoints of life.  I guess I really did have a vision that Map could triumph over four books by major major publishers and land its own re-publication book deal and be launched into the spotlight overnight.  But it is a book that wants to be introduced to readers one by one, slowly but surely, whispering not thumping.

The ten floors of wrought-iron railing stairwell in the Hotel Chelsea are covered with art by current and former residents, so when we stopped back after post-ceremony dinner for warmer clothing, we decided to take a look, and that led to exploring hallways too -- collages and painted shoes hanging on walls, decorated doors, interesting sounds and smells on some of the floors that brought clearer understanding of the check-in clerk's response to our request for a non-smoking room, "we have no smoking policy." 

Friday brought relaxed ambling through the city on foot, going wherever whim brought us and ending the afternoon at the Union Square Farmer's Market, where I was most excited to find pear cider (although the drop-off compost booth was also pretty cool).  Then, with a quick stop to pick up my backpack full of books to sell, onto the LGBT Community Center for the Bi Lines reading.

I had been wanting to do a reading in New York ever since the book came out, and am much appreciative of Sheela Lambert of the Bi Writers Association for organizing this reading and inviting me to participate.  I was also SO excited that so much family and family-of-family came to hear me read... thank you all!  And thanks to everyone else who came, and to my fellow readers and performers.  Such a blast.  I only wish there was more time to spend with everyone.

We drove out of New York late enough to miss the traffic, then onto the greenery of Connecticut for a day and then the greenery of Massachusetts, spending wonderful leisure time with good company in each place, and now I'm back in Cambridge, with an open afternoon and a nap calling.