Writer Daniel Green Smith answers 5 questions. The hotel is where Smith started work on his second book, "I was hoping to get divine inspiration, instead I got a huge bill for motorcycle parking, but I love New York..."
What do you do?
I am a writer.
When did you stay at the Chelsea?
I stayed at the Chelsea hotel for about 2 months in 1998 and 1999.
Why did you choose the Chelsea?
I went there because I was on a figure 8 motorcycle tour around the country in honor of my father who died in July of 1998. My father had been a writer in New York early on in the 30's and had fell in love with the book "Homeward Angel" by Thomas Wolfe. It seemed like there could be no better place to stay than in the place one of his favorite authors lived and wrote one of my father's favorite books.
Would you stay at the Chelsea again?
I would covet the chance to stay at the Chelsea again and finish the novel, but alas, I can't afford to stay there, and must work writing in between jobs...
What are you currently working on?
The figure 8 motorcycle tour is the topic of my second book, and I'm still working on it, but the nature of the book and the tour was and is, the resolution of the war between father and son, an unfortunate resolution in death, where neither son nor father is redeemed. The theme of the book is how we as the son's of the greatest generation live in the legacy of the wounding of our father's. The wounding of the depression, of WWII, of the misunderstanding that the generation had to live with as we moved into this modern age, and the misunderstanding that we as their children often felt.
You can check out Daniel's work at www.carpentersongs.com
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