Category: Books
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Echoes of Emotion: What a Thoughtful Review Reveals About ‘Reunion: Coda’
💬 Echoes of Emotion: What a Thoughtful Review Reveals About Reunion: Coda When Thomas Wikman reviewed Reunion: Coda on his Leonberger Life blog, I expected kindness. What I didn’t expect was emotional precision—the kind that doesn’t just summarize a book but listens to its heartbeat. Thomas called it “a love story complicated by life.” That…
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The Garratyverse Explained: Marty’s Entrance in ‘Reunion: Coda’…and Why It Matters
The Chorus Room Door: How Marty Reynaud’s Arrival Sets the Emotional Tone of the Garratyverse In the Garratyverse, entrances matter. They’re not just logistical—they’re emotional overtures. And few are as quietly seismic as Martina (Marty) Reynaud’s first appearance in the chorus room. She doesn’t burst in. She creaks in. The door opens slowly, hesitantly, as…
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On Writing and Storytelling: When a Reader Sees You
When a Reader Sees YouReflections on a Review That Resonated There’s a quiet kind of joy that comes when a reader truly sees your work—not just the plot or the prose, but the emotional architecture beneath it. Dawn Pisturino’s recent review of Reunion: A Story did just that. She saw Jim Garraty not as a…
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Toothpaste, Jeans, and the Politics of Manufactured Outrage
🧼 Toothpaste, Jeans, and the Politics of Manufactured Outrage “If you made toothpaste illegal, people would be knocking over drugstores to get it.”– Daniel Okrent, Prohibition, a Film by Ken Burns That quote has stuck with me for years. It’s a wry observation about human nature and the unintended consequences of moral crusades. Ban something—even…
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When Your Characters Feel Too Much: Writing Emotional Truth That Overwhelms Even the Author
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Books, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, Writing a First Novel, Writing as a CraftWhen Your Characters Feel Too Much: Writing Emotional Truth That Overwhelms Even the Author There are nights when I sit with Jim Garraty—not as his creator, but as his witness. I wrote him. I shaped his world. And still, there are moments when his emotional clarity leaves me breathless. Not because he’s dramatic. Not because…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Six Sales, One Soul: A Quiet Celebration of Connection
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Book Reviews, Books, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: CodaSix Sales, One Soul: A Quiet Celebration of Connection August has been quietly kind to me. Six sales. Not six hundred, not sixty thousand—just six. But each one feels like a small act of trust, a reader somewhere choosing to spend time inside the emotional architecture I’ve built. Reunion: A Story and Comings and Goings…
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Mapping the Heart: Navigating the Garratyverse
🔍 Introduction The Garratyverse is not just a series—it’s a recursive emotional journey. Through three interlinked works, readers follow Jim Garraty across decades as he wrestles with memory, intimacy, and the quiet heroism of being seen. 🧠 Emotional Themes 📘 Book-by-Book Breakdown Title Timeframe Emotional Focus Key Motifs Reunion: A Story June 1983 (with 1998…
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The Garratyverse: Amazon Reviews That Matter
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Book Reviews, Books, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: CodaThe Garratyverse: Amazon Reviews That Matter. In a literary landscape often dominated by algorithms and fleeting attention, it’s easy to overlook the quiet power of a reader who truly sees you. The Garratyverse—my evolving universe of emotionally intelligent fiction—has always been about memory, intimacy, and the dignity of small moments. So when readers respond not…
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The Garratyverse: A Life Told in Echoes
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Books, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda🧩 The Garratyverse: A Mosaic of Memory and Connection Reunion: A Story “A lyrical tale of regret for chances not taken, told in dreams and memories.” – Denise Longrie The emotional nucleus. Set primarily on one day in June 1983, it captures the ache of unspoken feeling and the quiet fracture of youth. Bookended by…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Reviews Matter! (A Lot! Really!)
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Books, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion: Coda, Reviews, Writing as a Craft✍️ Echoes and Endings: What Readers Are Saying About Comings and Goings By Alex Diaz-Granados When I released Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen, I didn’t expect fanfare. It’s a quiet story — 51 pages long — about a first-time encounter that isn’t quite romance, isn’t quite nostalgia, but something softer, more…
A Certain Point of View, Too 