Stranded in Paradise

Those who read my blog two weeks ago would know that I visited St. Kitts, my home town for a family reunion. It was a great time, packed with activities that left me little time for book promotion. My major accomplishment in that arena was to get a local bookstore, NR Sales and Services, to carry my books, with the promise of that I’d promote the book locally and on Facebook.

Saturday evening, one day before my scheduled return, I met a relative who hosts a local radio talk show on Tuesday mornings. He invited me to do an interview me on his radio show. With great regret I had to decline knowing I was leaving the following day.

Sunday, after preparing ourselves mentally and physically (I hate packing) to leave this lovely island, we dragged ourselves to the airport, only to find out our flight was canceled. When we tried to get a later flight we learned that there were no flights available that day. After a long wait the lady at the counter finally announced our new travel arrangements. My husband, the toddler and the infants would leave on Monday traveling through Puerto Rico. My sister would travel through Miami on Tuesday, and I and my oldest daughter had no travel arrangements.

Eventually, we realized the only way we could travel as a group, was to take the next direct flight to New York, the next Wednesday. Of course we were disappointed (well not that much). My kids were hoping to reach in time to catch the 4th of July fireworks. My husband and I had to go back to work on Tuesday.

But then I realized every disappointment is for a good. I had three more days with no planned activities. I immediately called my cousin with the radio show and arranged that interview. It went well and aired on WinFM 98.9 radio with video streaming on the internet. After that my cousin introduced me to another relative who was a newspaper journalist. She interviewed me about my books and wrote an article for SKNvibes, the premier internet news provider for St. Kitts. I was able to meet a longtime friend who was about to migrate to a different Caribbean island. I was able to purchase local crafts and snacks like coconut fudge, sugar cake, and guava cheese that I had no time to purchase before. And of course I got to spend another full day at the lovely golden sand beach. I would say in those two to three extra days, I accomplished more in terms of book promotion than all two weeks before.

So, as the saying goes: “Every disappointment is for a good.”