They Really DO Close Up Over the Holidays

I've long heard that publishing in New York City "shuts down" between Christmas and the New Year. But what exactly does that mean, I wondered. Does it mean they don't take calls? That they don't read new manuscripts? That they keep unconventional hours?

Well, duh. Guess what. It means just what they say...literally.

On Friday I wound up here in New York City and across the street from HarperCollins.

I told my husband, "I'm going over there and I'm going to say, 'Hi,' to an editor I know."

So I arranged my scarf around my coat in what I hoped was a fetching and fashionable manner, put on a fresh layer of lipstick and marched my freezing little body across the street to HarperCollins. Both the security guards rose to form a barricade as I walked in. I said, "I'm here to see Emily So-and-so."

The men looked at me sadly. "Nobody's here. We're closed for the holidays."

I mumbled, "oh." (Lower case "o", folks.) And I turned with a sigh and walked back out onto the cold, cold New York Street.

They really DO close up over the holidays.

Drat.