Category: Personal Thoughts
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Thoughts Upon a VERY Hot Late Summer Day
Saturday, August 15, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. It is another scorching late summer day in Central Florida. Like in many other countries in the Northern Hemisphere, we are experiencing a brutal heat wave in one of the hottest years on record. I’m not going to bore you by jotting down the current temperature…
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Musings and Thoughts for Thursday, August 13, 2026
Thursday, August 13, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, there. I am, once again, off to a later start with my blogging than I’d like. As I write this, it’s early afternoon on a hot late summer day in Central Florida. Currently, the temperature is 94°F (34°C) under mostly sunny conditions. With humidity at 58% and…
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On Writing and Storytelling: All Good Things – Even Sabbaticals – Must Come to an End…Just Not Yet
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Blogging, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Summer 2026, Summer in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Writing and Editing Software, Writing as a CraftTuesday, August 11, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. Late summer in Central Florida has a way of announcing itself without saying a word. If you’ve spent any time in the Sunshine State, you already know the drill: heat thick enough to feel like a physical presence, humidity that clings like an overly affectionate relative,…
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A Glimmer of Modest Good News on a Humid Late Summer Morning
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Royalties, Summer 2026, Summer in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), The Summer of Two Movies, Writing as a CraftSaturday, August 8, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Good morning, friends. It’s another hot and humid Saturday morning here in Central Florida—the kind of morning that reminds me I’m very much in Orlando in August. The temperature is already 83°F (28°C) under partly sunny skies, with 88% humidity and a southeast breeze at 8 MPH (13…
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A Quick Life Update from Central Florida for August 6, 2026
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Creative Writing, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, Reunion: A Story, Summer 2025, Summer 2026, Summer in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftThursday, August 6, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. I’m still—somewhat reluctantly—on vacation from Professional Daydreaming™, so I don’t have any updates on And the Horse You Rode In On… or other projects in the works. This break from creative writing feels strange. After a long, frustrating stretch of “salutary neglect” toward long-form fiction—I wrote…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Books, Breaks, and the Business of Being Bad at Marketing
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Goodreads, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Royalties, Summer 2026, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), The Summer of Two Movies, Writing a First Novel, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftWednesday, August 5, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. I hope your middle-of-the-week is treating you kindly, wherever you are and whenever you’re reading this. Here in Central Florida, it’s late-summer business as usual: hot, cloudy, sticky, and keeping one eye on the sky just in case the rain decides to make a dramatic entrance.…
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On Writing and Storytelling: What I’m Doing in My Late Summer Sabbatical
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Goodreads, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Royalties, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High School, The Best of All Possible Planets, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two MoviesTuesday, August 4, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. Pull up a chair, pour something cold if you’re in Florida like I am, and let’s catch up. I’m still on a sabbatical from literary fiction after a busy three-year stretch that produced Reunion: Coda, Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen, The Summer…
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On Writing and Storytelling: I Needed a Sabbatical – But I Can’t Wait For It to End!
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in Album Reviews, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Blogging, Book Reviews, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Life in Florida, Movie Reviews, Movies, Movies & Television, Music, Music & Concert Specials, Music Reviews, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reviews, Summer 2026, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), The Summer of Two Movies, Writing and EditingSunday, August 2, 2026 — Orlando, Florida Hello, everyone. It’s a gray, humid late-summer day in Central Florida. The temperature is currently 84°F (29°C) under mostly cloudy skies, but high humidity and a 12 MPH (16 km/h) breeze from the southwest make it feel like 88°F (31°C). We’ve already reached the forecast high, and scattered…
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A New Month Begins….and the Creative Writing Department Takes a Brief Summer Vacation
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Blogging, Books, Creative Writing, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), Life in South Florida, Life in the Tampa Bay area, Life in the United States, Personal Thoughts, Summer 2026, Summer in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series)Saturday, August 1, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi there. Central Florida Weather Check To no one’s surprise, August has arrived in Central Florida with its usual late-summer combination: oppressive heat, heavy humidity, and the afternoon threat of rain and thunderstorms. As I write this from my corner of Orange County, the temperature is 91°F (33°C),…
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A Hot Florida Weekend and a Cold War Victory
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Books, Computer and Video Games, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, MicroProse Software, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: Coda, Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age, Summer 2026, Summer in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Triassic GamesSunday, July 26, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. It’s a scorching midsummer day here in Central Florida. We’re in the middle of a particularly brutal heat spell—official temperatures in the high 90s, barely any rain, and a stubborn drought that refuses to break. I’m in good health for a 63‑year‑old man, but even so,…
A Certain Point of View, Too 