Category: Blogging
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From a Journalism Major’s String Book: – Before Jim and Marty, There Was Maria
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, College Life, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in South Florida, Miami-Dade Community College, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Student Journalist, Student NewspaperI was 24 in the spring of ’87—still holding onto the hope that someday, somehow, math would make sense to me. Spoiler: it didn’t. Not then, not now. Even the so-called “remedial” kind felt like trying to read sheet music in the dark. But while numbers left me bewildered, words felt like home. I was…
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The Echo of a Smile: Memory, Maria, and the Garratyverse
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Blogging, Books, College Life, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Films by Steven Spielberg, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Miami-Dade Community College, Movies, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, West Side Story (1961 Film), West Side Story (1961), West Side Story (2021)Long before Jim Garraty stood on the curb in Somerville, watching a Corolla disappear into the quiet, there was a boy sitting in a sunlit classroom, speechless at the sound of someone saying “Hi.” I wrote about Maria in Catalyst back in 1987. She was radiant, kind, and achingly real. We shared benches between buildings…
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From a Journalism Major’s String Book: – The New York Dispatch of a Rookie in Dress Shoes
Before the Garratyverse, before the novel-length narratives and thematic intricacies, there was a young columnist—23 years old, notebook in hand—stepping into the bustle of New York City with wide eyes and a press badge. My second semester at Catalyst gave me the opportunity of a lifetime: to attend the College Press Convention in the heart…
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Writing and Storytelling: This, Too, Is Part of the Story
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Blogging, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Miami….Again, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: CodaThis, Too, Is Part of the Story Late Morning, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, Miami, Florida Hi there. It’s a typical South Florida summer morning, the kind that the tourism industry doesn’t tell non-residents about. It’s hot, yes (82°F/28°C, but the heat index is 93°F/34°C), and sticky, but the skies are veiled by a sheet of…
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It’s So Nice to Be Noticed!
A Lovely Mention in the Smorgasbord Weekly Round-Up for June 9th-15th I was delighted to discover that Reunion: Coda was included in last week’s Smorgasbord Blog Magazine Weekly Round-Up, curated by the always generous and indefatigable Sally Cronin. Her round-ups are like a literary potluck—rich with heart, humor, storytelling, and soul—and I’m honored to be…
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Where Fiction Begins: The Making of Marty
She first walked into the story in jeans, a white blouse, and Keds sneakers—shy, late for chorus, and clutching a schedule change form like it held her whole academic future. I didn’t know then that she’d become the emotional center of Reunion: A Story and Reunion: Coda. I didn’t even know her name. What I…
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From Typewriter Dreams to Storytelling Realities: A Writer’s Journey
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Blogging, Books, College Life, Coral Estates Park (Miami-area Neighborhood), Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in Miami….Again, Life in South Florida, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami-Dade Community College, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High School, Writing a First Novel, Writing as a CraftLate Morming/Midday, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, Miami, Florida “But there’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours…
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Blending Personal History and Fiction: Jim Garraty’s Commencement (A Reunion: Coda Excerpt)
Forty-two years ago today, I sat in a sea of white robes at the Gibson Center, alphabetically wedged between beauty and blemishes, equal parts restless and terrified. Years later—during the depths of a snow-blanketed New England winter—I wrote this chapter of Reunion: Coda, channeling the bittersweet chaos of that June afternoon. Jim Garraty, ever the…
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42 Years Ago, in a High School Not So Far Away (A Tempus Fugit Gig)
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Billy Joel, Blogging, Cold War (1945-1991), Computers, John Williams (Composer), Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in South Florida, Personal History, Personal Thoughts, Personal Thoughts, South Miami Senior High School, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Tempus fugit, U.S. History42 Years Ago, in a High School Not So Far Away…. Late Morning, Tuesday, June 17, 2025 — Miami, Florida “It was only high school, after all—arguably one of the most bizarre periods in a person’s life. How anyone emerges well-adjusted is nothing short of a miracle.” — E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly A…
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My In-Between Day – June 16, 1983 (A Tempus Fugit Gig)
Afternoon, Monday, June 16, 2025, Miami, Florida “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”― L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between 42 summers ago… June 16 fell on a Thursday in Anno Domini 1983. I don’t, of course, remember what the weather was like that day, although I recall that earlier that week, on…
A Certain Point of View, Too 