Tonight, I officially submitted Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen to the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress. The filing fee has gone up—because of course it has—but the act of registering this story feels more meaningful than ever.
Copyright isn’t just a legal formality. It’s a quiet declaration: this story matters. It’s a way of safeguarding the emotional labor, the long hours, and the vulnerable truths woven into every line. For me, it’s also a promise to the characters—especially Jim and Kelly—that their night, their voices, and their quiet courage will be preserved.
Set in Boston, 1984, Comings and Goings follows Jim Garraty through a party he never wanted to attend, until a girl who didn’t look away changed everything. Over mixtapes and Heineken, Rachmaninoff references and unspoken understanding, Jim and Kelly discover a kind of intimacy that doesn’t demand explanation. It’s not a story about first love. It’s about the first time someone truly sees you—and stays.
This companion piece to The Reunion Duology offers a deeper glimpse into Jim’s emotional architecture. If Reunion: A Story and Reunion: Coda explore the long arc of memory, regret, and redemption, then Comings and Goings is the spark that lit the fuse. It’s the night that shaped the man readers meet years later—a night that lingers in the silences between words and the songs that never quite leave you.
You can find Comings and Goings on Amazon, where it now joins the Garratyverse as a quietly luminous bridge between past and present.
Thanks for walking this road with me.
Update: As of June 27, 2025, Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen has been officially registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. While it may be months before the certificate arrives, the story is now part of the cultural and legal record—another step toward preserving the Garratyverse for readers, present and future.
A Certain Point of View, Too 
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