Author: Alex Diaz-Granados
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Navigating Life Changes: From New England to Miami
Late Morning, Monday, October 28, 2024, Miami, Florida It’s a moody, warm late October morning on my second full day back in Miami. As I pen this initial blog entry from my hometown, the temperature sits at a balmy 81°F (27°C) with clouds lazily drifting across the sky. The air is thick with 65% humidity,…
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Coming Full Circle…Back in Miami After 8 Years’ Absence
After a week-long road trip that took me from Madison, New Hampshire down the Eastern Seaboard through various states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, the District of Columbia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, I am back in my home town of Miami. We arrived yesterday afternoon, and today we unloaded…
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Sayonara, Madison.
Well, here it is, Thursday, October 17, 2024. Today is my mother’s birthday. Had she lived to see it – in good health, of course – she would have been 96 today. Alas, she’s been gone for nine years, so this is one of those weird occasions when I feel more sorrow than joy. It’s…
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Writer’s Shop Talk: My Third Most Favorite ‘Best Friends Forever’ Scene
“There,” I said. “The one with the long chestnut hair and the blue denim outfit. She’s heading for the lunch line.” Mark squinted and nodded. “Yeah, I see her. She’s pretty. Who is she?” I shrugged. “I don’t remember her name. But she sang ‘We’ll Meet Again’ this morning. She was amazing.” Mark raised his…
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Writer’s Shop Talk: My Second Most Favorite ‘Best Friends Forever’ Scene
Mark walked with me that day, our last day of high school. He didn’t say much. He knew I was hurting. He knew I was losing Marty, and that I was feeling downright shitty about it. She was leaving for London with her family after graduation. She would be gone for the whole summer, maybe…
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Thoughts Upon a Cold, Rainy Fall Day in New Hampshire
It’s cold and rainy on Columbus Day in Madison, New Hampshire, and a most depressing way to start my last few days here before I head back to South Florida on a long road trip with my South Miami High School classmate and his wife. I don’t know when I’ll arrive in Miami because Eric…
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A Novelist’s Soundtrack (Music to Write Stories By)
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you may remember that, for me, music is a vital element of the creative process when I write fiction. The format (screenplay, novella, or novel) doesn’t matter; the emotions and mental images evoked by the songs and other compositions…those matter. As someone who “sees” stories as mini-movies…
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A Note from a Late Rising Blogger
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Blogging, Creative Writing, Going Full Circle: Back to South Florida I Go, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), New Hampshire Weather, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: CodaLate Morning/Midday, Saturday, October 12, 2024, Madison, New Hampshire I am running late on this sunny but cold Saturday morning in Madison’s Eidelweiss District. I don’t know when I went to sleep last night; I only know that it was much later than it should have been. A trip to the bathroom at 6:20 AM didn’t…
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Writer’s Shop Talk: Got Any Hobbies?
Jim Garraty, a history professor, balances his time between teaching and diverse hobbies like building model kits and playing classic computer games. His girlfriend Maddie, a pianist and stamp collector influenced by her diplomatic family, shares a deep intellectual connection with him, rooted in a mutual appreciation for history and music.
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Writer’s Shop Talk: My Twist on the ‘Meet Cute’ Trope
The discussion revolves around the “meet cute” trope in storytelling, specifically in romance genres. While the author acknowledges its challenges, they reflect on their own successful execution of it in their novel featuring Jim Garraty. In a noisy Brooklyn nightclub, Jim encounters a captivating stranger, Maddie, whose eloquence and charm draw him in. Their conversation…