Category: Life in Florida
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Thoughts and Musings for Saturday, October 10, 2026
Saturday, October 10, 2026 – Orlando, Florida It’s a steamy, summery Saturday afternoon in Central Florida — the kind that makes you wonder if the calendar is lying. As I write this, it’s 90°F (32°C) under mostly sunny skies, but the humidity has muscled the feels‑like temperature up to a sweltering 100°F (37°C). Technically it’s…
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Creativity, Cloud Cover, and a Trip Back to 1975
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Poland, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, And the Horse You Rode In On, Autumn 2026, Autumn in Florida, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series)Wednesday, October 7, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi there. It’s another rainy day here in Central Florida — the kind of steady, all‑day drizzle that makes you wonder if the Sunshine State misplaced its branding guide. While the rest of the country is out there enjoying crisp air and pumpkin‑spice‑everything, we’re still stuck in the…
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Thoughts and Musings for Sunday, October 4, 2026
Sunday, October 4, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hey, Dear Readers! It’s the second day of this first weekend in October, and I’m taking a well‑earned breather from And the Horse You Rode in On, the fifth entry in the life and times of Jim Garraty. I need it. I’ve been working almost nonstop in the…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Recovering from a Narrative Tailspin
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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, Autumn 2026, Autumn in Florida, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftSaturday, October 3, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi there, Dear Reader. I’m running a bit late today. The weather in my corner of Central Florida has been unsettled; it’s been rainy here over the past two days, and we even experienced a thunderstorm around 3 PM. After that, my landlady decided that we needed to…
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Have a Good Monday!
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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, And the Horse You Rode In On, Blogging, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series)Monday, September 28, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. I’m running behind schedule on this sunny, warm afternoon in Central Florida. Aside from yesterday’s arrival – in the late afternoon hours – of my hardcover copy of The Jim Garraty Chronicles, I don’t have much in the way of news. I also need to work…
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A Hardcover on the Way, and a Hint of Fall in the Air
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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, Autumn 2026, Autumn in Florida, Books, Creative Writing, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Madison (NH), Personal Thoughts, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Winter (2023-2024)Sunday, September 27, 2026 – Orlando, Florida It’s early afternoon on this last Sunday of September 2026. The current temperature is 82°F (28°C) under sunny skies, but with 37% humidity and a southeasterly breeze blowing at 5 MPH (8 Km/H), it feels more like early summer than early fall. The oppressive heat of this past…
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Images of Autumn
It’s meteorological fall here in the Northern Hemisphere, although where I live (Central Florida), you wouldn’t know it unless you’ve lived here for decades. It doesn’t look much different from summer, does it? I did, briefly, live in New England and got to see all four seasons before I had to move back to Florida…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Decisions, Decisions…..
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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, Autumn 2026, Autumn in Florida, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), The Summer of Two MoviesTuesday, September 15, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. It’s a gray-shrouded, rainy early autumn afternoon here in Central Florida. Fortunately, we’re getting the gentler side of the weather—steady showers rather than the crackling thunderstorms that usually roll through this time of year. The sky has been mostly overcast since morning, and the temperature is…
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Why I Started a GoFundMe for My AdventHealth Bill
Why I Started a GoFundMe for My AdventHealth Bill Every so often life throws you a curveball that isn’t dramatic enough for a memoir chapter but still manages to knock your balance off-kilter. For me, that curveball arrived in the form of a medical bill from AdventHealth — $530.26, no more and no less. It’s…
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Somewhere, Not Anywhere: Why Specificity Gives Fiction Its Soul
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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, Arbetter’s, Books, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in South Florida, Personal History, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High School, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Things I Miss, Writing a First Novel, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftThere’s a peculiar trope that shows up in fiction across genres and skill levels: the generic setting, the “It Could Be Anywhere” school, town, neighborhood, or city. You’ve seen it. A thriller introduces a group of high‑school students, but the school has no name, no mascot, no colors, no hallways with personality. The town has…
