Blarney to Bastille:
A Kiwi on Cobblestones
by Fleur Lind
In London
A VERY SPECIAL DATE
As the sun rose over our Air B & B, I was feeling excited. I had been trying over the months leading up to this trip, to pull off a hot date.
It wasn’t a date in the usual sense, but a meeting. Quite a way back, three years ago when I was trying to establish myself and my books on Twitter, I followed a lot of writers and authors, hoping to be guided by their wisdom and experience. Among the many I followed and quite a lot of them followed me back which was very humbling, was an English author; David P Perlmutter.
He had written several books, but one of them really intrigued me. Wrong Place Wrong Time is his true story about a time when he was in his late 20s and got into some strife. He didn’t go looking for any of it, it found him. Well, maybe the reason he went to Marbella in Spain to begin with could have been averted by some better thinking, but if he had thought things through differently, he wouldn’t have had such an incredible experience that became a book, that went on to become best-seller. I thought it was a five-star read. I couldn’t put it down. I love a book like that; one that draws me in. I wrote a review, liked and retweeted his news. I am a big fan.
Anyway.
He responded and thanked me for my support. I was so humbled to be acknowledged by a best-selling author! I messaged him asking questions; I had a lot, being a new writer. He was very helpful and supportive.
I read the other true stories he had written. The same thing happened; I couldn’t put them down. I liked his writing style; each book was so different and kept me guessing.
When we knew this trip was happening, I was bold and messaged him asking if there was the slightest possibility we could meet up during our time in London. It was great to hear he was happy to make time for us. He had a very tight schedule in the months leading up to our departure. When we arrived in London, we continued to chat on social media as we tried to firm up a day and time to meet.
That day had come, and it was that morning! We only had one shot at this meeting, so it was that morning, or it wasn’t going to happen, because we were running out of days we would be in London and his schedule wasn’t flexible. We also had to finish our London Explorer Pass; we had a few clips left on our ticket.
We made our way to Kennington Underground, tapped our card, and headed for Waterloo. We had agreed on a place to meet at Waterloo Station, so we waited and watched all the commuters going this way and that, looking out for David. He was tall and slim with short shaven hair. I was hoping he wouldn’t be too hard to spot!
***
It was so nice to meet the man I had been messaging like a long-time friend. We had a quick meet and greet, he then led us away from the bustle of Waterloo and onto the streets of London, where we found a quiet café to talk. We talked about books in general, good reads, his Wrong Place Wrong Time and my Local Time. I gifted him a copy, all the way from my house to his.
It was a solid hour of pure gold. David was delightful, helpful, supportive and a wealth of good advice. To remember our meeting, Kevin took a photo of David and I, holding Local Time. Such a great way to start a Thursday!
After we had exhausted the banter, we wrapped up a very enjoyable meeting with handshakes and hugs. I was grateful to David for his on-going support, I am a huge fan of his work.
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