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The week that was...

Added 2024-04-06 17:00:02 +0000 UTC

I surprised my wife with a trip to New York to see a live event hosted by the Fated Mates podcast. Fated Mates is a weekly podcast about romance novels, and my wife is a voracious romance reader. The event itself was a blast.

From left to right: Co-host Sarah MacLean and Jen Prokop, and guests Kate Clayborn, Nikki Payne and Christina Lauren.

It was about a crowd of about 250-300 — mostly women — celebrating a shared love of their favored genre... with a fervor that would put many a fandom to shame! It was an absolute joy to experience!

It rained cats and dogs all day, but that didn't deter our plans. While we were in Brooklyn for the event, we made a trip to The Ripped Bodice, an independent brick-and-mortar bookstore devoted to the celebration of romance novels.

And after that, we went just a few blocks further to The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. This store features tons of superhero-themed gifts and tchotchkes, which supports 826NYC, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18, with their writing skills. Their volunteers, storytellers, and workshop leaders help 4,000 New York students a year!

Needless to say, I did my part to help support a good cause! The next morning, after a jaw-droppingly good breakfast at The West, we made our way home.

It wasn't until much later that I discovered that the coffee shop/bar was named after Mae West, who was born nearby. Part of the reason I'm mentioning it here is because I want to remember it for the next time I'm in NYC. It looked like an AMAZING bar.