On Writing & Storytelling: One Chapter Ends; Another is in the Wings

The Wait is Over

“For a while” is a phrase whose length can’t be measured. At least by the person who’s waiting.” ― Haruki Murakami, South of the Border, West of the Sun

My package with my copy of the paperback edition of Reunion: A Story arrived just a few minutes ago. I had been keeping a watchful eye on my order’s status on Amazon, hoping for the best (that I’d get the new edition), but prepared for the worst (last week I received the 2018 edition that I just updated via the Kindle Create app).

It was with much trepidation that I made my way from my room to the front door – the Amazon Prime delivery person had set the white-and-blue envelope on the front porch – to retrieve my book. I wanted the new edition in print even though I can read it on my Kindle-compatible devices, including my 2015 Kindle Fire HD tablet, my desktop PC, my laptop PC, and my Android phone. I have read my novella a few times – this time with a more critical eye – in e-book form, but I like traditional printed books more.

So, even though I knew the Kindle edition had successfully been revised and improved, I wasn’t going to be satisfied until I held the physical version in my hands. In my mind, at least, seeing the new cover up close and seeing the new front and back matter in an honest-to-goodness book would make it real to me.

Based on my sad experience with the previous attempt to order the 2023 edition of Reunion, this time around I waited 24 hours had passed since the final batch of updates went live. That way I was sure that the print-on-demand book would be based on the file stored in Kindle Direct Publishing’s servers, and not on the information used to produce the original version from July of 2018.

I enjoyed the way Diaz-Granados played with the timeline. His story is not in chronological order which is not confusing at all. It adds another layer of interest. – Priscilla Bettis, Amazon reviewer

Well, I’m pleased to report that I did, indeed, receive the upgraded version of Reunion. Even though I would not have returned the order if I’d erroneously gotten the older version (I need the royalties, for one thing!), I would have gnashed my teeth if I’d had to order a third copy for myself. Therefore, I’m overjoyed and relieved that I now have the “better” version.

Reunion: A Story is a sweet, sometimes bittersweet story of days gone by. It takes the reader back to the last day of high school and tells the tale of teen love and missed opportunities. Several years pass and success and time don’t always dull those feelings you had as a teen. Mr. Diaz-Granados captures the awkwardness of young love and how it can influence the rest of your life. – Betsy M., Amazon reviewer

(Even though the story is the same, I didn’t diddle with the ending to change the fate of the characters or add any plot twists just to pad out the story.)

“Stories may well be lies, but they are good lies that say true things, and which can sometimes pay the rent.” ― Neil Gaiman

Thus, the saga of Reunion: A Story – a project that I’ve been working on, on-and-off, since I took a creative writing course at Miami-Dade Community College in early 1987 – ends, for me, with a satisfactory conclusion.

(I’ll be happier if sales go up! But that, Dear Reader, is a story for another day.)

The next step for me, obviously, is to create a new story. Nothing too “out there,” so it won’t be a historical novel or a science-fiction story. I am still “new” at writing fiction, so I have to keep my ambitions in check and my story choices “simple” and manageable. So I’m focusing on a plot I can handle, plus settings that aren’t that difficult to create and populate.  That’s why I want to know what to name a fictional New York City area bar with a Big Band theme!