Palm Trees, Reconnection & Sales! My Orlando Recap

I escaped the wintry cold, reconnected with family, and made some cash. Florida was very good to me.

I’ll be completely honest: my trip to Orlando for the Spellbound Bookstore Romance Book Fair was just an excuse to escape the freezing temperatures and mountains of snow in New York.

I’ve been so cold this winter that I turn my heat up to 74 degrees.

It’s been so frigid that I have become a hermit. Unless I’m dropping Evan off at school, picking him up, or going to appointments or the grocery store, I am not going anywhere.

I have felt the winter penetrate my bones so deeply that I refuse to take off my Snuggy.

So, basically, this has been me…

So I booked a flight to Orlando to sell some books and experience some heat beyond the warmth of my Snuggy and the steam of romance novels.

Speaking of, my baby girl, my Dominicanita, my doctora, Yoanna, sold out at the Spellbound Bookstore’s Romance Book Fair! I brought fewer copies since it’s the second book in the Heights of Love series, but when readers passed by my author table and read Yoanna’s blurb, they were intrigued.

I will always feel like a proud momma with Candi because she was my first. But, just like parents of multiple kids get better at parenting, by the second book, authors get a better grip on how to craft a story. We feel more confident about who we are as romance authors and just let shit flow.

Now I’m on my third book, Reina, and I’m letting loose—like when a parent didn’t let her eldest daughter date, but by the third daughter, the boyfriend is chilling in her bedroom (open door, of course).

As for the rest of my time in Orlando…

Other than meeting amazingly supportive readers and authors alike, I reconnected with my godmother, Nancy, whom I hadn’t seen since I was 9 years old after she moved to Orlando.

I’m still beaming from our time together. I felt so loved, seen, heard, and connected to her and her husband, who have known me since I was 4 months old. She even gave me the photo below of me at that age. The fact that she still has it melts my heart…

So, yes! The trip was a success. I saw palm trees. I sold books. I felt warm and fuzzy in more ways than one.

I can’t wait for my next trip to Orlando (soon, because I am manifesting moving there) and my next romance book signing in May in PA! Oh, and of course, my birthday is in April. Stay tuned for a special book sale and more details on my next three (yes, three!) book signings!

Love,

Sujeiry