Teresa Sorkin Spotlight | The Blogger in The Hamptons

The water was rushing down on me a a brutal force, my skin soaking up the hydration; I was cleaning away a thin film of grime that will only stick to you after hours and hours of travel. My loofa was rubbing my skin raw, the shampoo cleaning my scalp - and yet, my heart was racing a mile a minute. How did I end up here? To my right, a small one foot wide and one foot tall window lead the path into the unknown. It was pitch black outside and yet, I couldn't stop imaging a mans face peering in at me in my vulnerable state. But, let me back it up a bit.

Around February or March of this year, I got a nice message from a woman following my blog. She loved my reviews and complimented me on the fact that with each one a collage of various Hollywood faces would accompany my often lengthy wording with who I would imagine playing these characters in a film or television adaption. We talked about our love of mysteries and thrillers, what film adaptions did and did not work for us, and about life. Within a couple of short weeks, this woman - Teresa Sorkin - became someone I would talk to regularly and it was a quick friendship. It's not unusual for me to find people that I consider friends within this community as we all have similar interests, yet our personalities contrast wonderfully and I have been lucky to find a plethora of people that I have formed some remarkable bonds with. I still look back and laugh at the fact that Teresa waited a while to tell me she had written a book. She mentioned it so effortlessly like she had just picked up a cup of coffee. "What?!" "Yeah! I'd love for you to read my book when the advanced copies come out. Would you be interested?" This has also happened before. People reach out to me asking if I'm interested in covering a book and sometimes it's hard because while they're nice and I am enamored that they value my opinion, sometimes a coming-of-age tale about a group of friends in the 1950s without a murder or any creepy moments just isn't going to do it for me. Well, I looked up the synopsis to The Woman in the Park and I was like "Absolutely. 100% yes, I will read your book!"

'Good lord, you'll never believe the size of this box that came for you, today!' said the text message that I received one really chilly night that winter. It was my mother and she was just as curious as I was to see what was in the package. You see, my mother has been supportive of any and all of my ventures in life, but with my blog, the support has been endless. She's went to events with me and been awestruck at the relationships I've made - both with authors and other bloggers alike. When I got home that evening, indeed; there was a big box awaiting my arrival. I poured a rather generous glass of champagne and got to unboxing. The first thing I saw was a REAL LIFE COPY of The Woman in the Park and I was immediately bewildered. It was finally here and I could finally read it. Along with the novel was a beautiful coaster with a drink recipe to promote the book, a small bottle of whiskey with the book cover on it, and a beautiful hand-painted wine glass with a quote about friendship. Now, I love me some book mail, but since then nothing has compared.

Over the next few months, Teresa and I really had gotten close and were in constant communication. We discussed her novel, obviously and many other books but also television, film, my goals, her career, family, etc. Nothing went uncovered and I soon found myself in a whirlwind of friendship. This seemingly perfect stranger that I met on the internet was now one of my favorite people to talk to and I found myself laughing out loud during our conversations and immediately wanting to give her updates when it came to different projects I was working on and a plethora of other things. Soon, summer was approaching and that is when it all changed.

As summer began to settle in and the warm weather was approaching, I was finally ready to tell my friends and my family my plans for Labor Day weekend to wrap up summer...the only problem? It was barely Memorial Day and everyone had the same question whenever we would get together for dinners and drinks; are you getting excited? The question was so seemingly innocent and yet, I wondered to myself how I was going to deal with this catch 22 of a question. The problem was I was overly excited to not only visit someplace that I had never been and was eager to see, but I needed to meet my newly-found friend and celebrate her success - yet, I also wanted to enjoy my summer as much as possible without wishing the time to fly by. As the promotions for The Woman in the Park began to peak that summer, I finally dove in on the Fourth of July and I was embarrassingly giddy. I kept telling Teresa in my multiple messages "I know you're probably spending time with your family and Happy Fourth, but..." and would tell her how much I was loving this read (I'll link my review at the bottom of this post). Sure enough, it was barely July and now I was even more excited because I absolutely loved her novel. It was twisty and fun, cinematic and psychologically stunning. Sure enough, I had a great July and August and the time was nearing for me to finally embark on my big adventure to The Hamptons. The week prior to me leaving was a daze of me trying to prepare, pack, get some rest, and also oblige to any social obligations I could.

The day I left for The Hamptons was surprisingly mellow. I had gotten enough sleep, my four hour drive wasn't too long, the train ride into New York was mild and drama-free. Upon arrival, my hefty suitcase and I found this cute Mexican restaurant with delicious skinny margaritas and I began to unwind - the traveling was going to finally be coming to an end. Well, then I hopped on the Jitney and my bus began to descend toward my destination. When I finally arrived after my trip was extended an hour, I was beyond exhausted. I needed a shower, a drink, and something other than chips and salsa in my stomach. Now, this is where things get really interesting. For months, I had heard people reprimand me about traveling to a place I've never been before to meet people I don't know and that I was doing it all alone was scary and risky. I pushed their arguments aside and reassured them everything would be fine! Once I arrived in South Hampton, Teresa had set me up to stay in her friends cottage so I could have my privacy and relax. Once I arrived via Uber, I would jet downtown and meet her for dinner and drinks. We chatted a couple of times on the phone and all was well until my Uber climbed up this monstrous driveway and I looked around. It was pitch black, secluded, and the neighbors were far off in the distance no matter what direction you looked in.

I quickly took a shower and tried to get used to my surroundings, but felt an unease, so I did what any thirty-two year old man would do - I called my mom.

"Hi honey, everything okay?" Her voice was reassuring and yet on the verge of tense.

"I don't know if I can stay in this cottage - I'm kinda creeped out and think I should get a hotel room."

"Oh Gare, just try it for one night and see how you feel. You're probably just anxious."

And anxious I was. I could imagine a face in the woods barreling toward that small window in the bathroom and looking in at me - this was a case of someone who reads way too many suspense and thriller novels. I didn't want to be ungrateful, but I needed to feel comfortable in my surroundings and being this far from all of the action was not it. Soon enough, Teresa called me and said she was other way to pick me up for dinner. Simple enough, I would just tell her how I felt and find a hotel room. I waited outside and sure enough, an SUV came into the driveway and I heard a familiar voice.

"GARRETT! I am so glad you are here! This is fantastic!"

Teresa is even more beautiful in person and I immediately ran up to hug her like she was a friend I hadn't seen in years.

"How's the cottage? Everything okay? I didn't get a chance to check it out because I am trying to prepare so much for tomorrow!"

"Well-"

"Garrett?"

Another voice came from the vehicle. A mans voice. Booming and authoritative. A man got out of the SUV and greeted me with a strong handshake.

"Hi Garrett. I'm Ian - Teresa's husband."

"Hi! It's so nice-"

"Where's your suitcase?"

"It's inside."

"Okay, I'm going to go get it. You're staying with us."

My knight in shining armor was here to save me. Soon enough as we were going inside to get my suitcase, Teresa was ever optimistic.

"Oh, I mean it's not a bad place, it's just so far out from everything and I totally didn't realize you would be this far from us."

"Where are we?"

Everyone spun around and in through the doors in a movie-like scene came this beautiful blonde and stylish woman waltzing in and looking at the surroundings.

"Hi, I'm Joanna."

Something about these people just gave me such a sense of peace and I know it sounds weird, but I felt like I was being reunited with old friends. I was ecstatic to be around Teresa and immediately fell in love with her family and Joanna. The car ride back to Southampton was full of laughs (mostly from the sweetest little girl ever - Teresa's daughter Bella) and great conversation of all of us getting to know one another. Soon enough, I was on Main Street in Southampton walking with this lively and loving crew and this great feeling of comfort came over me. Southampton is the only place I've been to thus far that is even more beautiful in person than in film and television.

Eventually Teresa and I found ourselves at 75 Main and were sitting outside on the sidewalk enjoying cocktails and waiting for our meals.

"I am SO glad you are here. Like, I cannot believe we are finally meeting!" Teresa exclaimed.

"Right?! I cannot believe I am meeting you. This is all so insane."

"So, here's the plan this weekend..."

Before I knew it, we were just flying through the meal laughing and having amazing conversation. I didn't want it to end and Teresa immediately gained a bigger space in my heart. I could not stop talking to this woman and I was immersed in all of her stories and our chat was just going in so many directions that we were rapidly talking. It seemed like two hours was ten minutes and before I knew it, we were greeted by a young man who turned out to be Teresa's son and for someone so young, he was so mature and down-to-earth. You can tell from someone's children how good people are at parenting and once I met Bella and Jaden, I loved Teresa and Ian even more because as parents, they are downright perfect. Once dinner was over, the owner of the restaurant said it was a pleasure to meet me and that my dinner was on him. People there are literally so kind and this was the first of many kind gestures that I received in this whirlwind of a trip, so thank you to Zach Erdem.

Shortly after, we all went back to Ian and Teresa's house and it was gorgeous and the perfect place to summer in the Hamptons. After a great night of rest, I woke up and we all immediately went to the beach which was life-changing and such a nice place to relax before the night festivities. Dipping my toes into the water and feeling the summer breeze on that beach just gave me such a recharge that I didn't know I had needed. The rest of the day was spent getting to know many of Teresa's friends that were coming to support her and I felt so happy for her to have such a great group of people that came to show her nothing but love and support. Trust me - this woman deserves all the love in the world for what a fantastic and beautiful person she is and after meeting her friends, it's clear she surrounds herself by only the best. I met so many wonderful people; all kind and easy to talk to to the point it felt more like catching up with people I'd known for years than meeting for the first time.

After a nice shower and changing into shorts and a light shirt, it was time to head to Southampton Books for the big event - I was so excited to get to see all of the behind the scenes stuff leading up to this event and when the time came for the event I was so excited to be able to witness something so magical for Teresa firsthand. Upon arriving, I met the lovely Tullan who co-wrote The Woman in the Park with Teresa and she was just splendid and kind. This woman has been working with Teresa for so long and I had heard so many wonderful things about her that I was blown away with being able to meet her. Hearing Teresa and Tullan read from the book not only was so magical to me, but reminded me just how fantastic this novel is and made me instantly want to read it again. Tullan was so welcoming and excited to meet me as well and she was really kind about my blog and my reviews and kept telling me and others how much she loved it. For someone who had linked with me on social media to be so kind and fantastic was just an example of how great this woman is.

Once the signing was over, everyone quickly went to the after-party at Pierre's and it was another incredible experience. I met even more people who were all so kind and fun, including the lovely Jane Wesman, a PR expert and gushed at how I think she's just a genius and a very kind human being. There were people from the publishing world, the film world, and a plethora of friends and family at the after hours party and it was just so much fun! After a few drinks and some finger foods, we did enjoy a late dinner where I got to have some great conversation with some of Teresa's friends and the thing that was so surprising to me is that as a blogger, I love what I do but it comes so naturally after a couple of years. You get a book, you read it, you review it and you continue the cycle about 100+ over until you die. But seriously, getting to attend events like this especially in this capacity was just so eye-opening and out of all of these well-accomplished people that I got to meet, they were so interested and cared enough to talk with me for hours about how I got into blogging, what my weeks consist of, and so many other things that I hadn't been asked before. It made me feel so special and well recognized for what I do and the hard work I put into it.

After dinner, we went back to Teresa and Ian's house and relaxed and talked about the night and before I knew it, I was back in bed and already missing this family and these wonderful people that I got to meet. I don't know why, but as great as the weekend was, I was so sad to part with these people that I connected with so easily and so much within a matter of two days. The next morning I had to leave so early to make the long trek home that I didn't get to say goodbye again, but that's okay - I am eagerly awaiting the day I can cross paths with these incredible people again. Thank you so much to all of Teresa and Ian's wonderful friends who were so kind and welcoming and for creating such a shining energy to be around - I will not forget any of you and I am so thankful for all of you who made this weekend so miraculous.

I hope you enjoyed my post about the magical weekend I had. It was a remarkable time and I am so grateful to Teresa, Ian, and their family and friends who took me in and made me feel so welcome. I cannot wait to see you all again and I hope it is soon!

Did you read and love The Woman in the Park? Tag me in your reviews on Instagram @gareindeedreads so I can see all of your wonderful posts!