Halfway There, and the Horses Are Getting Restless

Tuesday, November 3, 2026 – Orlando, Florida

Hi, everyone, and welcome to another exciting episode of A Writer’s Life.

Today has been a better day than yesterday, at least weatherwise. It rained a little while I was sleeping last night, but even though it was cloudy and mostly gray when I got up around eight this morning, the rain showers that doused my part of Orange County yesterday were a memory.

As I write this, it’s 82°F (28°C) under partly sunny skies. With the humidity at 72% and the wind blowing from the east at 12 MPH (19 Km/H), however, the heat index is 89°F (32°C).

Ah. Autumn in Florida.

Speaking of yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised when I checked my Kindle Direct Publishing account and saw that four readers had grabbed free e-book copies of The Jim Garraty Chronicles: A Life Told in Four Movements.

Four downloads may be a modest number in the grand scheme of things, but I’m not complaining. It means four readers who may not have encountered any of the stories in the omnibus now have a chance to meet Jim Garraty, Mark Prieto, Marty, Maddie, and Kelly Moore and follow Jim at different stages of his life, from the summer of 1977 to June 2000.

And if I’ve done my job right, perhaps one or two of those readers will enjoy the stories enough to leave a review on Amazon or tell someone else about them.

At least, that’s my hope.

Meanwhile, I have another Jim Garraty story to finish.

Yesterday, I completed the first half of And the Horse You Rode in On…, a story that’s not as sprawling as Reunion: Coda, nor as tightly focused on a single event as Reunion: A Story or Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen.

At 9,430 words, the new tale is already almost twice as long as Comings and Goings, and it’s only 50% complete.

Apparently, Jim had more to say than I expected.

I don’t want to say too much about the story yet, partly because I’m still writing it and partly because some of the fun should come from discovering where Jim’s memories take him. I will say that And the Horse You Rode in On… is funny in places, bittersweet in others, and, I hope, charming throughout.

It also gives me a chance to spend more time with Jim and Mark when they were young, when the future was still an undiscovered country and neither of them had the slightest idea where life was going to take them.

Of course, the older Jim who is telling the story does know.

And therein lies some of the tale.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about writing the Jim Garraty stories is that contrast between memory and experience. When we look back at our younger selves, we know how things turned out. We know which friendships lasted, which ones didn’t, which seemingly insignificant moments became important memories, and which plans for the future went wildly off course.

The person actually living through those moments knows none of that.

Young Jim certainly doesn’t.

He’s just trying to get through the day.

And yes, there are horses involved.

Sort of.

Now that I’ve reached the halfway point, my job is to stop talking about And the Horse You Rode in On… and get back to writing it. With a little luck, Jim, Mark, and I will eventually find our way to the end.

Preferably without stepping in any puddles.

Don’t forget to check out The Jim Garraty Chronicles: A Life Told in Four Movements on Amazon or the online stores for Books-a-Million, Book Culture, and Barnes & Noble. And remember, the free e-book promotion ends on Friday at 12 AM Pacific Time!