Category: The Jim Garraty Chronicles
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On Writing and Storytelling: Wrestling with Subheads, Holding on to Stories
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, Writing a First Novel, Writing as a CraftWrestling with Subheads, Holding on to Stories Tuesday, December 16, 2025 – Orlando, Florida If you’ve ever worked with Kindle Create, you’ll know it can be both a blessing and a curse. Today, I’m spending several hours fixing subheadings in The Jim Garraty Chronicles—particularly in Reunion: Coda. It’s a formatting issue that has haunted every…
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A (Laundry) Day in the Life
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, 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, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Tempus fugit, The Jim Garraty ChroniclesSaturday, December 13, 2025, Orlando, Florida Time flies faster than a rollercoaster at Universal Studios—or so it seems. Can you believe we’re already skidding into mid-December, with just twelve days left on the countdown to Christmas 2025? I’m still trying to wrap my head around that one, and my coffee hasn’t quite caught up yet.…
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The Chronicles, the Coda, and the Chaos
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Books, Bryan Haddock, 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, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Stefan (Steve) Lee, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, Writing as a CraftWednesday, December 10, 2025 – Orlando, Florida Now that most of my belongings are finally here in Orlando instead of languishing in a warehouse in South Florida, I can turn my attention—at least in theory—to other priorities. Chief among them are the omnibus edition of The Jim Garraty Chronicles and making sure the Audible release…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Behind the Curtain – Marty’s Origins
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Audiobooks, Brandon Padilla, Bryan Haddock, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Passage of Time, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High School, Stefan (Steve) Lee, The Jim Garraty ChroniclesBehind the Curtain: Marty’s Origins Ever since the day I first sent my novella, Reunion: A Story, out into the world back in 2018, the questions started coming. Sometimes they arrived shy and quiet, like old friends at a backyard barbecue, and other times they landed with surprising directness. Most often, it was a fellow…
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Another Workweek, A New Month, and Another Season
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Blogging, Brandon Padilla, Bryan Haddock, 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, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Stefan (Steve) Lee, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, Winter in FloridaMonday, December 1, 2025 – Orlando, Florida Another Monday, another new workweek, another new month—and, meteorologically speaking, another new season. (It’s also rent day, though thankfully my landlady is considerate and understanding of my circumstances. Compared to the steep payments I made during my ten months in Miami, this arrangement feels far less onerous.) It’s…
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Adventures in Audiobook Production: Waiting, Wondering, and Hoping for ACX Approval
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Audiobooks, Audiobooks, Books, Brandon Padilla, Bryan Haddock, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Stefan (Steve) Lee, The Jim Garraty ChroniclesThursday, November 6, 2025 – Orlando, Florida “We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.” —Voltaire Today marks the first full day since I approved Brandon Padilla’s audiobook adaptation of my novella Reunion: A Story on ACX, Amazon’s platform for independent audiobook production. The project—47 minutes of audio paired with a cover…
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Omnibus in Progress, Comfort in Limbo
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Audiobooks, Autumn in Florida, Books, Brandon Padilla, Bryan Haddock, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Computer and Video Games, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Kiri Sings Kern, Kiri Te Kanawa (Dame Kiri), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Madison (NH), Life in South Florida, MicroProse Software, Military History, Music, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Rick Atkinson, Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age, Stefan (Steve) Lee, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777–1780, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, Things I MissMonday, November 3, 2025 – Orlando, Florida “Work. Don’t Think. Relax.” — Ray Bradbury There’s a certain comfort in structure, especially for those of us who live by stories. As much as I love the creative process—and I do, or I wouldn’t be doing this—I try to keep my writing life tethered to a Monday-through-Friday…
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My Plans for a Restful Sunday
Sunday, November 2, 2025, Orlando, Florida It’s late morning here in Central Florida as I write this—my 2,214th post on WordPress. True to late autumn in this part of the world, it’s a bright but cool day: 74°F (23°C) under sunny skies, with a forecast high of 80°F (27°C) and mostly sunny conditions. Being the…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Working on Weekends – Hope and Persistence, or Quixotic Hubris?
Sunday, October 12, 2025 📍 Orlando, Florida A Chilly Morning and a Familiar Ritual This morning greeted me with an unexpected chill—low 60s, which, by Florida standards, qualifies as brisk. The sun had barely crept over the horizon when I stirred, debating whether to return to sleep. Light tends to sabotage my rest once it…
A Certain Point of View, Too 