Category: Books
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New Month, New Season, and New Workweek
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Audiobooks, Books, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Summer 2026, Summer in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two MoviesMonday, June 1, 2026, Orlando, Florida “Green was the silence, wet was the light,the month of June trembled like a butterfly.”— Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets Another month begins, and with it, another season. June 1 marks the start of meteorological summer—the way professional weather scientists divide the year. Most folks still go by the…
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On Writing and Storytelling: A Welcome Bit of News
A small but welcome streak this week: a paperback sale of Comings and Goings on May 26, followed today by four free Kindle downloads of Reunion: Coda. Little ripples, but they keep the momentum alive.
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Why Marty Reynaud Is My Favorite Character to Write (Even Though Jim Garraty Is My Narrator)
Why Marty Reynaud Is My Favorite Character to Write (Even Though Jim Garraty Is My Narrator) Every writer has a character who sneaks up on them—someone who wasn’t planned, wasn’t outlined, wasn’t engineered to carry the emotional weight of a story, yet somehow becomes its quiet center of gravity. For me, that character isn’t Jim…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Advice for Aspiring Writers
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in Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Books, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), On Writing Well: 30th Anniversary Edition, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Reunion: Coda, Writing a First Novel, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftSo, you want to be a writer. Adorable. Truly. I once wanted to be a writer too—back when I was young, cocky, undisciplined, and convinced that stories would simply materialize out of thin air if I stared at a blank page long enough. Spoiler: they did not. What did materialize was a long, slow parade…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Girl Who Wasn’t Real (But Felt Like She Was)
Writing stories that draw, even partially, from an author’s lived experience can be a bit of a double-edged sword: wonderfully useful on one side, faintly perilous on the other. Memory is generous that way. It offers texture, specificity, and the small, telling details writers spend ages trying to invent—but it also comes with baggage, assumptions,…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Behold…the Power of Stories!
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Audiobooks, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Family History, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Bogota, Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Writing a First Novel, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftMonday, May 25, 2026, Orlando, Florida If you are a regular visitor to this space, you already know my favorite label: storyteller. Not influencer, not pundit, not a man with suspiciously strong opinions about semicolons—just a storyteller. I have been under the spell of stories for as long as I can remember: first as a…
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On Writing and Storytelling: 10 Quotes About Writing (and Writers)
10 Quotes About Writing (and Writers) Selected Reviews of the Jim Garraty Stories The Reunion Duology is a quiet, resonant exploration of connection, regret, and the complicated beauty of second chances. Told across two deeply personal works—Reunion: A Story, a novella, and Reunion: Coda, a novel—the series invites readers into the life of Jim Garraty,…
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Excerpt from ‘Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen’: An Unexpected (and Fateful) Escape from a Bad Party
An Excerpt from Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen Boston, 1984. A party Jim Garraty never wanted to attend. A girl who didn’t look away. A night stitched together by mixtapes, quiet courage, and the ache of choosing to stay. Jim isn’t chasing romance—he’s just trying to outrun the noise. But when…
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Book Review: ‘Miss Harper Can Do It: A Novel’
Miss Harper Can Do It: A Novel By: Jane Berentson Publisher: Viking Year Published: 2009 Genre(s): Contemporary women’s fiction Miss Harper Can Do It — A Surprisingly Poignant Home‑Front Novel Every now and then, I like to wander outside my usual reading comfort zone. Most of the books on my shelves skew toward the traditionally…
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On Steamy Days and Sluggish Muses
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Blogging, Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, Pooja (P.J.) Gudka, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Spring 2026, Spring in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two MoviesMonday, May 18, 2026 — Orlando, Florida It’s early afternoon in my corner of Central Florida, and it is, in a word, steamy. The temperature outside is 89°F (32°C) under mostly sunny skies. With humidity at 47% and an easterly breeze at 11 MPH (18 km/h), the feels-like temperature is 94°F (35°C). We’ve already hit…
A Certain Point of View, Too 