My Life in September

By Desirae Gracyn | Written: February 13th, 2026

On September 13th, one of my dreams came true. I did a book signing at Barnes & Noble Baybrook. This was an incredible experience. I had a line that was pretty long right when I opened. People also showed up before I even got started. My heart swelled, and tears may or may not have been shed.

Not knowing what to expect at the event, I brought quite a few books with me to the signing. I ended up selling all but four. Barnes & Noble took those remaining four and placed them on their shelves. They were gone within two weeks.

The staff there was also phenomenal. They checked on me multiple times throughout the event, purchased my book, encouraged people to stop by, and so much more. After the event, they even went around the store taking pictures of me and my book.

They also took several pictures with me, as seen below. 

I love the staff here and this place. I can’t wait to do a signing for each of my books here.

Thank you, Barnes & Noble Baybrook, for providing me with an opportunity of a lifetime and giving me a day I’ll never forget.

On September 16th – 20th, participated in my first-ever Stuff Your Kindle (SYK) event. I didn’t know what to expect from this event. I had seen my friend partake in one, and it has crossed my social media feeds a few times. After seeing it so much and loving the graphics, I decided I had to try it out and enter one of their events, Into The Darkness. It was better than I ever imagined it would be.

A few weeks before the event started, we had a group chat where we all talked and collaborated. Several people in the group made fun Canva graphics where we could advertise our books. We also made book drop videos and other things. This was such a fun-filled event. Even if I didn’t sell a single book, I would still love this experience. I made great writing friends, talked with wonderful people, purchased several awesome books, and found an organization that really loves and cares about indie authors.

By the way, I did end up selling several books during the event, which was really cool.

If you want to learn more about Indie Author collective, click this link. They do an event almost every month, if not every month. Most are themed. They also have a library on the site with books they recommend. And they even have helpful advertisement tools and other things on the website. They’re a really cool bunch of people. It does cost monthly to be a member, but it is so WORTH it.

Thank you so much, Indie Author Collective, for letting me participate. I can’t wait for the next one.

September was quiet! I decided to focus on my novels.

But in regard to acceptances:

1. In September, Dragon Soul Press accepted my co-authored short story, “The Bottle Hottie,” a paranormal romance/horror, written under Desirae Gracyn with JE Feldman, into the Poisons & Potions anthology. This story is my first-ever co-written piece! If you’d like to read more about the story, I’ll be posting a summary here soon. 

In regard to publications: 

Nothing was published this month.

This month, I quit the gym in the last week of September due to a mental health vacation. It makes me feel bad, but my brain really needed some time to rest. The meal plan I also did well for nine full weeks, but failed in week ten. This kills me that I broke both things. However, my mental health was more important. I hope to get back into it for the month of October.

Thank you, everyone, as always, for reading my blog and learning more about me.

Still no job post to celebrate just yet. Hopefully soon. :)