As you may know, I wrote dark paranormal suspense for nearly a decade, but lately I’m loving romantic suspense and contemporary romances for a change of pace. I also love reading romantic suspense and contemporary romances! What about you? Share what’s your fav kind of romance to read!
A Feel Good Romance Gets a Feel Good Review
I am so grateful to be able to follow my passion and love when you follow along with me! It’s especially rewarding when you take the time to leave a review and share your thoughts about what you liked about the book. So a big thanks to Carla the Reader for her review of South Beach Love. Thank you so much, Carla!
If you want to help a fav author, please take the time to leave them a review! Reviews really do help authors.
First Fun Day in Nashville
Despite some delays due to runway construction in Newark, got to Nashville and the Gaylord with few issues. Did some walking around the hotel and over to the Grand Ole Opry. Lots to see and I’m sharing these photos with you!
After the walk, I sat down for some writing and getting ready for the start of the retreat tomorrow. Looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones!
Behind-the-scenes of The Family She Never Met
My February 2022 release is The Family She Never Met from Sourcebooks Casablanca. It is a story of three women torn apart by the past, but it is also my family’s story. Being able to write it and share it with you is an incomparable gift. Here is a little essay about why I write such an emotionally challenging story. You can order The Family She Never Met at https://www.caridad.com/books/womens-fiction/the-family-she-never-met/ and at https://amzn.to/3yrE31l.
Why I wrote The Family She Never Met
I remember what it was like when we came here from Cuba. The “cousins” who would stay with us when they first arrived before going on their way. Parties with friends and the music that would pull me from my bedroom where I was supposed to be sleeping. I’d huddle at the top of the stairs, watching them dance and laugh. So graceful and beautiful. But then sadness and tears would creep in as they reminisced about the Cuba they had left behind and their dreams to one day return.
I remember my fear of being left behind. Because of their political activities, my parents had to escape to avoid imprisonment or worse. They left my sister and me in Cuba with my grandparents. For nearly two years we were separated, first by Castro as punishment and then because we wanted to enter the U.S. legally.
It wasn’t an easy time when we came here. It was such a different place, and we were sometimes not welcome, but we were free, and America truly is the land of opportunity. My parents and grandparents worked hard to secure the American Dream. My grandfather even lied about his age so he could get a job. At sixty-five he should have been thinking about retirement. Instead, he worked at an airport maintenance service to help put food on the table and a roof over our heads.
There were many other stories about our escape from Cuba and achieving our American Dream. For years I tried to find a way to write about those and to also explore the rediscovery of my Cubanidad after my daughter was born and
I wondered what I would leave of myself to her.
Every time I started to write I found myself pulling back because it was oftentimes too emotional to explore that history and my feelings, especially about a mother who didn’t want to talk about Cuba because it was too painful for her.
In truth, although there were many memories and stories that came to me while she was alive, there were almost as many others that were gifted to me by family and friends after her death.
When the thought came to me about writing a story about a young woman who knew little about her family’s history, I asked myself, “Why not tell your family’s story through her? Why not leave your daughter these memories for her to share with her little ones?”
Before I knew it, the emotions and memories that had been trapped in my heart became freely flowing words through the fictional characters of Lara, Jessica, and Carmen (after my mother).
The Family She Never Knew is mi familia. It is a story of a family that experienced the Cuban diaspora and a loss that remains with us to this day. It is a story of survival and family ties. Of hurt and separation, but more importantly, of setting aside the past and its ghosts to forge our future.
For me, it is also about honoring my mother and her courage in bringing her family to the United States and the sacrifices she made so that we could secure the American Dream. It is also about paying homage to my fellow Cubans, my husband’s Italian family, and so many other immigrants who have come to America for a better life.
Finally, it is about thanking America and its people for all that they have provided to so many for so long.
It is my hope that when you read The Family She Never Met you will see yourself and your family on the pages because the story it tells is a universal one, but more importantly, it is a story filled with hope and the power of love.
The World’s Best Conference Chair
The world’s best conference chair is any chair because I am so looking forward to getting out and meeting up with other writers and readers! I love the energy at conferences and getting to meet new people. I hope we can meet up at one of my upcoming events.
Romance Writers of America Retreat
July 14-17, 2021
Nashville, TN
For more info, please visit https://bit.ly/35khGym.
Novelists Inc. Conference
September 22-26, 2021
St. Pete Beach, FL
For more info, please visit https://ninc.com/conferences/about-the-ninc-conference/.
Fall in Love with New England Conference
Oct 15, 3:00 PM – Oct 16, 9:30 PM
Boxborough Regency, 242 Adams Place, Boxborough, MA 01719, USA
For more information, please visit https://www.fallinlovenewengland.com/.
Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference
November 6, 2021
Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference
Holiday Inn
Clark, NJ
Book Lovers Con
December 16-19, 2021
Omni Orlando Resort at Championgates, FL
For more info, please visit https://www.bookloverscon.com/.
Yo ho Yo ho The Writer’s Life for Me!
People often wonder what a writer’s life is like. For starters, writing. Lots of it. Even when I was working full time I would write when I could. During my commute. On the weekends.
Now that I write full time, I spend my early morning hours on the computer as well as long sprints of writing on the weekend.
But my writer’s life also includes a lot of things to support my desire to be published. Promotion on social media so you get to know me and I get to know you! I love getting to know more about you!
Crafts. Yes, you read that right. Crafts. I like making things for readers because I hope they get to know me better with the things I make. The beaded cigar boxes, bookmarks, and these charms that I’ll be giving out at the Fall in Love with New England Conference and the Book Lovers Con.
P.S. – If you want to get to know more about me, please drop by my Author Time chat on Thursday at 6 pm with the Belmar Public Library. You can join the Zoom session at https://zoom.us/j/91452521083 or watch the live stream at https://www.facebook.com/BELMARPUBLICLIBRARY/.
Missing Your Goals
It’s a tough thing to miss your goals, but there’s one thing that’s even harder: Not even trying in the first place.
That’s especially true about writing books. People wonder how you sit down and write a book, but that’s the first thing to do: Sit down and write.
The next thing to do is to set a goal and keep on writing until you meet it. The goal can be to write a page, or a short story, or a novella, or an entire book.
But the key to succeeding is to first set a goal and to work at it until you reach that goal. After that, set another goal and keep at it!
That’s the key to creating and maintaining a career as a published author: Not giving up.
