Florida’s Cold Snap Meets My Audible Warm‑Up

Wednesday, February 25, 2026, Orlando, Florida

“Heat is a blunt instrument, but warmth is relative. We feel warmer for knowing that it’s freezing outside.”― Katherine May

Another day dawns in Central Florida—sunny, yes, but carrying a surprising chill for late winter. By midmorning, the thermometer sits at 56 °F (13 °C) beneath a sky as blue as a tourist’s postcard—“one for the tourists,” as locals like to say. But before sunrise stretched its arms across the horizon, the world felt very different. I woke to a biting 36 °F (2 °C), the kind of cold that nips at your nose and briefly transports you to the one winter I once braved in Madison, New Hampshire.

Still, the day is warming, and we’re promised a high of 72 °F (22 °C) by late afternoon. Florida, ever the crowd‑pleaser, seems determined to make up for her frosty morning mood swings.

Despite the chill—which, I’ll admit, doesn’t exactly bring out my sunniest disposition—I’m still riding the high from yesterday’s Audible release of Reunion: Coda. Yes, my two shorter works (Reunion: A Story and Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen) have already found their voices on Audible, but this time feels different. This is my first novel—my most ambitious leap yet—and hearing it brought to life by my talented ACX collaborator, Stefan Lee, feels nothing short of magical.

Audible doesn’t hand out complimentary copies to authors (we’re not that spoiled), so naturally, I became my own first customer. Last night I dove into the 16-hour‑and‑19-minute journey, starting with the Prologue. Stefan set the tone beautifully, and I’m eager to reach the chapter where Jim Garraty finally encounters Maddie at the Moonglow Club in turn-of-the-millennium New York City. Here’s hoping the warmth of that scene offsets the morning’s lingering chill.

Of course, I’m hoping to see at least a few sales—and, ideally, some reviews—on Audible. The novel represents more than two years of writing on my end, plus four months of patient narrating, recording, and editing on Stefan’s. Neither of us received advances from Amazon for Reunion: Coda, so if you’re a fan of audiobooks and enjoy character-driven storytelling, I hope you’ll consider picking up a copy and, if you can, leaving a review on Amazon, Audible, or your blog.

For reviewers: ACX has provided me with codes for free review copies of all three audiobooks, including Reunion: A Story and Comings and Goings. If you’re interested in listening to any—or all—of the Jim Garraty stories in exchange for a fair review, let me know how I can send you a code, either for Amazon US or Amazon UK.