On Writing and Storytelling: Upgrading ‘WriteItNow’ and Pushing Forward Slowly with ‘The Jim Garraty Chronicles’ Project

Tuesday, April 21, 2026, Orlando, Florida

Hi there.

It’s a warm, sunny spring day here in Central Florida. As I write this in the early afternoon, it’s 78°F (26°C) under clear skies. With humidity at 37% and an east‑northeast breeze at 14 MPH (23 Km/H), the feels-like temperature is a comfortable 79°F (26°C). Today’s forecast calls for more sunshine and a high of 79°F (26°C), so no complaints on the weather front.

I’ve decided to purchase a downloadable copy of the WriteItNow novel‑writing program, now in Version 6. At $59.99, it’s not exactly cheap—arguably pricier than buying an external media drive—but space is at a premium on my current desk setup. I don’t have the roomy workstation I left behind in Madison when I moved from New Hampshire in October 2024, and I’m not eager to juggle extra peripherals. I would have preferred a Lenovo All‑in‑One with a built‑in Blu‑ray or DVD‑ROM drive, but the model I looked at on Best Buy’s site was over $1,300 before taxes. So, I went with a more affordable option. I do miss having a disc drive, but since WriteItNow offers a downloadable version, I’ll just buy that and keep moving.

As for writing news, I’m still deep in The Jim Garraty Chronicles inside Kindle Create, wrestling—yet again—with chapter titles and subheadings. It never fails to amaze me that a program designed to simplify self‑publishing somehow complicates the most basic stylistic conventions. Kindle Create seems obsessed with aesthetics while bungling capitalization rules that have existed for decades. Yes, I can fix the subheads manually, but it’s tedious, time‑consuming work. Still, Reunion: Coda uses a dual‑timeline structure, and those subheadings matter, so I’m sticking with it.

I’ll put in a couple of hours on the omnibus this afternoon and then call it a day. I’m not rushing to finish it, but I don’t want to abandon it either. I may not feel the same fire I had while writing Reunion: Coda, but I do want to see this project through—not just because I’ve been at it since last October, but because I want to hold the finished book in my hands and see it sitting alongside the others in my collection.

And if you’re curious about Jim Garraty’s world…

The first three stories—Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, and Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen—are already out in the wild on Amazon and Audible. If you’ve been following my progress or simply enjoy character‑driven fiction with emotional texture, those titles are a good place to start while I keep shaping the omnibus.