THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP...another book.
Even before the London book was printed, Hastings House offered me a contract to do another title, Daytrips in Germany. So, with copies of the London book in hand along with the contract, I visited the New York offices of GermanRail, DZT (the German Tourist Authority), and Lufthansa for all the goodies they could bestow. The Germans were even more generous than the Brits, covering my hotels in Munich and Hamburg. This, combined with bunking with a friend near Frankfurt, made this truly an affordable adventure.
THE THIRD BOOK BEGINS:
By the summer of 1984 sales of both the London and Germany books were sufficient to justify a new venture, Daytrips in France. So off I went to visit the New York offices of Air France, which offered free transportation in return for my writing some promotional material for them. A fair trade, and it later landed me occasional jobs preparing advertising copy for them. In total I spent nearly all of September and October in France, hiking all over some 45 towns in quest of the best walking tour routes.
Back in New York, other projects delayed the France book, but the manuscript was completed by mid-July of 1985. While this was being prepared, I spent much of September and nearly all of October back in France doing research for two "good value" dining guides to be given out free to Air France's frequent fliers as a goodwill gesture. The airline armed me with a letter (in French) to be shown to prospective restaurants, explaining my mission. This resulted in many a free meal. I really liked this job.
In December of 1985, Walter Frese retired and Hastings House Publishers was sold to a new owner. I made one last trip to the old office to rescue every scrap of paper relating to the Daytrips books, and then crossed East 40th Street to our new headquarters.
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SO, just what Little Adventure am I up to now in 2013? WHY, just the most challenging one of them all! CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT.
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