Category: Book Reviews

Writer’s Shop Talk: What’s in My Novelist’s Toolkit?

Feb 24, 2025

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Alex Diaz-Granados

in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Book Reviews, Books, Copilot AI, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, OpenAI (Bing Chatbot), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Writing a First Novel, Writing as a Craft

One of the coolest things about being a writer in 2025 is the amazing array of technological tools available to help create, analyze, revise, and improve literary projects. Some, like Microsoft Word, are time-tested classics that I’ve used since the late 1990s. However, I do think the app could use some tweaks by folks who…
Writer’s Shop Talk: Behind the Scenes of ‘Reunion: Coda’

Feb 14, 2025

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Alex Diaz-Granados

in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Book Reviews, Books, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Novella, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Writing a First Novel, Writing as a Craft

Late Morning, Friday, February 14, 2025, Miami, Florida It’s a delightful and warm Valentine’s Day in my little slice of South Florida. The temperature is already a toasty 78°F (25°C) under a brilliant, cloudless sky. Today promises to be like an early summer day, with the mercury set to rise to a perfect 83°F (28°C),…
Denise Longrie’s Awesome Review of “Reunion: A Story”

Aug 9, 2024

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Alex Diaz-Granados

in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Book Reviews, Books, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda
The Revised Reunion A Story

Apr 10, 2023

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Alex Diaz-Granados

in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Book Reviews, Books, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, Creative Writing, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion: A Story, The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle: Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger

Originally posted on Leonberger Life: Sometimes I make posts not directly related to Leonberger dogs, especially if I want to promote a good book. Today I am announcing that a book written by my on-line friend Alex Diaz-Granados has been improved in various ways. The story is the same, but it has been edited a…
A Quick Thought: Book Bans

Feb 21, 2023

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Alex Diaz-Granados

in Art Spiegelman, Books, Conservatism in the U.S., The Complete Maus, U.S. Politics

As a student of history, I can assure you of one thing: Individuals or groups who want to ban books are not on the side of good.
Musings & Thoughts for Tuesday, January 17, 2023, or: Some (Superficial) Observations About ‘Operation Downfall’ and a Brief Life Update

Jan 17, 2023

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Alex Diaz-Granados

in Blogging, Book Reviews, Books, Code-Name Downfall: The Top-Secret Plan to Invade Japan – and Why Truman Dropped the Bomb, Life in Florida, Life in the Tampa Bay area, Military History, Personal Thoughts

Hi, there, Dear Reader. It’s early afternoon here in Lithia, Florida, on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. Although the cold snap that has held the Tampa Bay area in a vise grip throughout the long Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday weekend is easing off and the temperature is 70°F/21°C, I am still having trouble coping with…
Musings & Thoughts for Monday, January 16, 2023, or: A Quick Preview of Things to Come on ‘A Certain Point of View, Too’

Jan 16, 2023

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Alex Diaz-Granados

in 4K UHD Blu-rays, Blogging, Blu-ray Collection, Book Reviews, Books, Code-Name Downfall: The Top-Secret Plan to Invade Japan – and Why Truman Dropped the Bomb, Groundhog Day (1993), Life in Florida, Life in the Tampa Bay area, Military History, Movie Reviews, Movies, Personal Thoughts, Reviews, Star Wars, Star Wars action figures (Kenner/Hasbro), Star Wars collectibles, Star Wars The Black Series

Hi there, Dear Reader. It’s Monday, January 16, 2023 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day here in the United States – and here in Lithia, Florida, it is late morning. It’s chilly – 57°F/14°C under sunny skies – and even though it’s going to warm up to 67°F/19°F and the afternoon will be sunny and…
Book Review: ‘The Third World War: The Untold Story’

Sep 21, 2022

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Alex Diaz-Granados

in Alternative History (Alt History), Books, Cold War (1945-1991), Cold War-Turns-Hot Games, Computer and Video Games, General Sir John Hackett, MicroProse Software, Military Fiction, Red Storm Rising (1986 novel), Regiments (2022), Team Yankee: A Novel of World War III, The Third World War: August 1985, The Third World War: The Untold Story (1982), Tom Clancy (author), U.S. History

Dies Irae: The Story Continues…. In early 1982, Sidgwick & Jackson of London and Macmillan Publishing of New York published The Third World War: The Untold Story, a war novel co-written by General Sir John Hackett and seven collaborators, many of whom had co-written The Third World War: August 1985, published four years earlier and,…
On Books & Reading: An Oral History of 9/11, and Observations About ‘The Third World War’ Duology

Sep 19, 2022

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Alex Diaz-Granados

in Amazon, Books, Computer and Video Games, Conservatism in the U.S., International Relations, MicroProse Software, Regiments (2022), The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11, The Third World War: August 1985, To Be Read (TBR) Stack, U.S. Politics

The Growing TBR Stack My copy of Garrett M. Graff’s The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 arrived yesterday at 4:56 PM. I retrieved it from our front porch where the Amazon Prime driver had dropped it off, and within a few minutes I had taken it out of its shipping…
Book Review: ‘The Third World War: August 1985’

Sep 15, 2022

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Alex Diaz-Granados

in Bird's Eye Games, Book Reviews, Books, Cold War-Turns-Hot Games, Computer and Video Games, MicroProse Software, Red Storm Rising, Red Storm Rising (1986 novel), Regiments (2022), The Third World War: August 1985, Tom Clancy (author)

On May 1, 1978, London-based Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd. published The Third World War: August 1985: A Future History, a work of near-future speculative fiction by Sir John Hackett, a retired general in the British Army, and a group of co-authors that, according to the publisher, included an admiral, an economist, and a diplomat, all…