What a Difference a Year Makes!

Late Morning, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, Miami, Florida

What a difference a year makes. On this date last year, I lived in rural New Hampshire, some 1,600 miles from where I am sitting now. It was a Tuesday, not a Wednesday, and spring felt more “real” there than here because the four seasons are more palpable in the northern latitudes. And because I was in the mountainous part of New England, it was chillier in Madison on May 7, 2024, than it is in Miami one year later.

Another thing that’s changed – aside from the locale and my living arrangements – is that one year ago, I had recently passed the halfway mark of the manuscript for Reunion: Coda, the novel-length continuation of my novella Reunion: A Story. Sometime before, in late April of 2024, I’d finished Chapter 15, and on May 7 I was hard at work on the second scene of Chapter 16.

Flash-forward a year, and you’ll find me not just back in Florida, but in my hometown of Miami (actually, Kendall, a suburb of the Magic City that’s not incorporated), with my first novel not just complete, but available worldwide on Amazon – and with two five-star reviews, too!

One review, the first posted, is on Amazon UK; the other was written on May 3 but went live on Amazon US yesterday. And…did I mention they’re both five-star reviews?

I’m thrilled to see that the book I was working on one year ago is not only complete, something that only 3% of aspiring writers manage to accomplish, but is also published and getting some wonderful write-ups on its Amazon product page. I’ll be even more delighted with more sales – writing, after all, is my passion – and additional reviews. It’ll boost my self-esteem and financial well-being, and it will also encourage me to keep writing more – and different – stories!

Anyway, those are my dreams for the future. Today, though, I’ll celebrate the differences between then and now…and the fact that readers – so far, at any rate – are enjoying Reunion: Coda.

To read the current reviews (one by Meg Learner on Amazon UK, one by “anonymous” on Amazon US) or buy a copy of Reunion: Coda, go here!