Two Timer
The old Peephole has gotten a bit cobwebby the past couple of weeks, and I apologize for that. To say life has been a bit hectic would be a vast understatement. For starters, I flew to London on April 15 to do some signings and promotion for The Desert Spear, which is now in its FOURTH week on the London Times Hardback Fiction Bestseller List (#9, #15, #13, & #12 respectively), as well as to attend London Book Fair and finally meet some of the international publishers I’ve been working with over the last couple of years.
Unbeknownst to me, there was a rumbling in the icy north.
The trip started as usual, with me frantically packing at the last minute, trying to remember and pack everything I could possibly need for the trip, while keeping my luggage limited to two relatively small bags. I managed to make it to the airport on time, miraculously remembering my ticket and passport. I breezed through security, checked the airport bookstores for the Warded Man mmpb (nope), and made it to the gate two hours before my flight. I was set to use the time constructively writing a last-minute guest post for RT (Romantic Times) Book Reviews, but I foolishly decided to sit at the bar and have a drink whilst writing on my phone. Minutes later, I was engaged in conversation with a South African farmer living in Texas and an ex-singer/dancer who was now an IT recruiter. It was an enjoyable enough chat, but hardly conducive to working.
I was feeling guilty about the post being late as I boarded the plane, and started pecking away on it while the plane sat on the tarmac.
And sat.
And sat.
Apparently, some jackass on the ground crew drove his vehicle into the plane, breaking some seal. It took two hours to fix, and another to do the paperwork. In that time, I finished the Romantic Times piece and e-mailed it off. You can read my RT Bookreview Guest Post here.
The plane finally took off, and I contented myself with editing the latest draft of my buddy Myke’s book Latent, watching Sherlock Holmes on the airline entertainment system, and starting Last Argument of Kings, by Joe Abercrombie (and if you’ve not read Abercrombie, get to it so we can discuss!).
I knew I needed to sleep so I could function through the day when the plane landed early in the morning in the UK, but I was too wired and sleep never came. I noticed on the in-flight map that we were taking the long way around the British Isles, circling to come in to Heathrow from the south. We landed 3 hours late at about 9:30 UK time to learn that all Heathrow airport was in chaos, and that all flights for the rest of the day were being diverted/canceled due to a volcanic eruption in Iceland spewing tons of ash high into the atmosphere above British airspace.
WTF?
The rest of the trip was series of up and down adventures I will relate soon, all with the overhanging threat of being stranded abroad indefinitely. Attempts were made to book a cruise home on the Queen Mary 2 (sold out) and even on a cargo freighter (also sold out). I was seriously entertaining the idea of taking the Eurostar to Paris, followed by an overnight train to Madrid, then flying to Boston and taking a train back to New York City, and then a subway to Brooklyn.
I get tired just typing that.
But then, by some twist of fate or divine intervention, UK airspace opened back up the day I was set to leave, and my flight went off on time without a hitch. We made it through the ash cloud and back to New York safely. While I was waiting in line at Customs, I took my phone out of flight mode and downloaded my e-mail, only to find an even greater miracle.
The Desert Spear made #35 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best Seller list!
That’s right. Arlen and Jardir are now Times bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic.
Best coming home present EVER.
I was one of those “jackasses” who worked ground crew at an airport, and I’ve seen more than one plane get damaged in just such a way as you described. All I can say is that people should just count their lucky stars that it doesn’t happen more often.
For anyone who has never worked as part of a ramp crew, some folks have no idea the pressure we are under to get everything done FAST, while at the same time trying to be SAFE.
I don’t know how many times we sacrifice our own health and safety just to make sure that some passengers “luggage” is loaded, even though it showed up to the ramp a minute before the plane was due to push back. It is a sad job that makes you feel a bag full of clothes is worth more than yourself, but that is the life of us jackasses on the ground crew.
Believe me though, our livelihood depends on keeping that plane safe. That poor schmuck who ran into yours understands that too well, considering he must be jobless now. We had one basic rule we lived in fear of, “You damage a plane, go home and don’t come back”. It cost more to repair a plane than it did to re-hire someone who might not make that mistake in the future.
Anyway, don’t want you thinking I simply came here to blather on about airports, it’s just that us luggage monkeys — as we are often called — are a universally looked down upon profession, and every now and then I’m sad enough to want to try and defend us.
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Best wishes on the continued amazing success of your books. I’m a recent fan (read WM and DS both for the first time in the past two weeks) and they’ve been the best reads that I’ve had in years, honest word.
Yow.
Sorry, Josh. That offhand comment was never intended to be taken as a universal condemnation of airline ground crews. I’ve done my share of thankless menial labor jobs over the years, and know full well how it feels.
That said, I hope, too, that you can see the other side of the story, and not take personally the frustration of people forced to tack an additional 3 hours onto a seven hour flight in a tiny cramped seat, missing their connecting flights, or who find themselves on the other side of the ocean without any of their possessions even after arriving 3 hours early, following all the endlessly changing airline rules, and paying a premium to check their bag. We all get snippy sometimes.
Happy to hear you enjoyed the books.
No, I’m sorry lol. Didn’t want my first post here to come off like that. I must be having a bad day or something! I understand where you’re coming from, traveling can be one of the most frustrating experiences in the world.
Glad to see the mighty Volcano did not greatly disrupt your journey home Peat and hoped you enjoyed your stay on our side of the pond. 😀
Oooh, just re-read this post and noticed you’re reading/have read The /Last Argument of Kings./ Didja enjoy it/are you enjoying it? I loved it in the end, ‘though I was a bit unsure going in.
Won’t say more, for fear of spoilers [I’m drugged up to my eyeballs due to illness, and a little unsure what I’m saying =)] and the righteous retaliation they deserve. Hope all’s good!
I liked LAoK a lot. Want to review it on the blog, but I am super busy. I did a short rating/write-up on goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1259463?sort=review&view=reviews