Category: Life in Florida
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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,…
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Not the Path I Expected
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Audible, Audible Reviews, Audiobooks, Books, Brandon Padilla, Bryan Haddock, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Stefan (Steve) Lee, Summer 2026, Summer in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two Movies, Writing and EditingFriday, July 24, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. Here we are, at the end of another workweek and on the brink of another month’s end. As you might expect, it’s a stiflingly hot summer day in Central Florida. As I write this in the early afternoon, it’s 94°F (34°C) under mostly sunny skies. The…
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Correcting the ‘Chronicles’: Kindle Fixes Are Live—Now I’m Waiting on the Paperback
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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, Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), Life in the United States, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), The Summer of Two Movies, Writing and EditingWednesday, July 22, 2026 – Orlando, Florida I’m pleased to announce that the latest batch of edits to The Jim Garraty Chronicles—specifically, the corrections I made this weekend and on Monday to the Reunion: Coda section of the omnibus—has made it through Kindle Direct Publishing’s production pipeline and is now visible in the Kindle edition.…
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Heat, Humidity, and the Never Ending Pursuit of a Better Book
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Books, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, Reunion: Coda, Summer 2026, Summer in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftSunday, July 19, 2026 – Orlando, Florida It’s another oppressively hot and humid summer day in Central Florida. As midday approaches on this last day of the weekend, the mercury sits at 90°F (32°C), though the heat index pushes it to 101°F (38°C) under mostly sunny skies. In other words, a typical Florida mean‑season afternoon:…
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A Small Moment of Book Marketing at Aldi
Friday, July 17, 2026 – Orlando, Florida A Small Moment of Personal Book Marketing at Aldi Yesterday offered one of those unexpected, quietly meaningful moments that remind me why I write in the first place. I was at my local Aldi—nothing glamorous, nothing planned, just a routine stop with my landlady—when I spotted the young…
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Taming the Subheadings: A Small Victory in a Sweltering Florida Summer
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There are days when writing feels effortless — when the words line up, the formatting behaves, and the software cooperates like it wants you to succeed. And then there are days like today, when the outside world is sitting at 95 degrees with a feels‑like of 105, and even my PC seems to be sweating…
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A Writer, Not a Programmer, Battles the Subheadings
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Royalties, Summer 2026, Summer in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two MoviesWednesday, July 8, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Happy Hump Day, dear readers! Well, here we are at midweek, and my little corner of Central Florida has apparently been set to “steam-clean.” As I write this, it is a torrid 92°F (33°C) under mostly sunny skies, with a heat index of 104°F (40°C)—the kind of number…
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All the Things She Taught Me
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, All the Things You Are, Creative Writing, Elizabeth Joan Owen, Elizabeth Joan Owen (Ms. Owen), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Melodies and Memories: Music, Songs, and Singers, Music, Music & Concert Specials, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High SchoolAll the Things She Taught Me Tuesday, July 7, 2026, Orlando, Florida On this exquisitely hot July afternoon in Central Florida, I find myself thinking about the lasting impact truly great teachers have on our lives—and how even the smallest things can bring their memories back. That feels especially true as we grow older, and…
