Category: The Jim Garraty Chronicles
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How Pop Culture and Music Inform the Garratyverse
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in A Bridge Too Far (1977 film), Alex Diaz-Granados, All the Things You Are, All the Things You Are (Kern and Hammerstein), Amazon, Billy Joel, Classical music, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, John Williams (Composer), Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Ludwig van Beethoven, Melodies and Memories: Music, Songs, and Singers, Movies, Music, Music & Concert Specials, Pop Music, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Star Wars, Superman: The Movie, The Summer of Two Movies, West Side Story – Original Broadway Cast (1957)How Pop Culture and Music Inform the Garratyverse If you spend enough time inside the Garratyverse, you eventually notice something: Jim Garraty’s world doesn’t just contain pop culture and music—it breathes through them. Songs, films, TV shows, and the cultural noise of their eras aren’t background decoration. They’re emotional weather systems. They shape memory, mood,…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Back-to-Work Monday Blues
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Books, 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, Summer 2026, Summer in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two Movies, Thomas Wikman, Writing and EditingMonday, June 8, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. It’s another steamy summer day in Central Florida, which means the sun is once again auditioning for the role of tyrannical overlord. I’ve already rescued the mail from the curbside mailbox, so I can now spend the rest of the workday indoors, where the air‑conditioning—and my better…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Sound of Modest Good News
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 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 and Editing, Writing as a CraftThursday, June 4, 2026, Orlando, Florida Some days in the indie-author life arrive with trumpets; others show up carrying a modest little kazoo. Yesterday leaned more into kazoo than fanfare. The free Kindle edition of Reunion: Coda promo ended at midnight, and while I can’t call it a runaway success—only six readers downloaded it on…
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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: 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 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…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Stories, Sunshine, and the People Who Read Them
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Books, Brandon Padilla, Bryan Haddock, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Bogota, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Madison (NH), Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 and Onward), Life in South Florida, Life in the Tampa Bay area, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Spring 2026, Spring in Florida, Stefan (Steve) Lee, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftThursday, May 14, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hi, there. It’s another scorchingly hot late‑spring afternoon in Central Florida. As I write this, the temperature sits at 87°F (30°C) under mostly sunny skies. With humidity at 42% and a west‑northwest breeze of 11 MPH (17 km/h), the heat index nudges up to a sticky 92°F (33°C). The…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Pushing Forward, Even When My Heart Wants to Work on Something Else….
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, 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), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two Movies, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftWednesday, May 13, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hi, there. It’s another torrid and sticky late spring day in Central Florida. As I write this, it’s already early afternoon, and the temperature is summer-like 85°F (29°C) under partly sunny conditions. With humidity at 70% and the wind blowing from the west-northwest at 8 MPH (13 Km/H), the…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Between the Work I Want and the Work That Needs Doing
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, 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, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Royalties, Spring 2026, Spring in Florida, Stalled Projects, The "New Story", The Jim Garraty Chronicles, Writing a First Novel, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftMonday, May 11, 2026, Orlando, Florida Vapor, Vessel, and a Very Warm Monday Hi there, and welcome to the Monday edition of A Certain Point of View, Too. Although we’re still a few weeks away from the first day of summer—June 1 for those of us who follow the meteorological calendar, or June 21 at…
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When Spring Cosplays as Midsummer
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Spring 2026, Spring in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two MoviesFriday, May 8, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hi, Dear Readers. It’s early afternoon here in Central Florida, and the heat has settled in like an uninvited guest who refuses to take the hint. As I type this, it’s 90°F (32°C) under partly sunny skies, the kind of sunshine that looks friendly until you actually step outside.…
A Certain Point of View, Too 