Category: The Jim Garraty Chronicles
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On Writing and Storytelling: So Much for the Modest Little Novella
So Much for the Modest Little Novella I have an announcement. The novella has escaped containment. When I began And the Horse You Rode in On…, I envisioned a relatively modest story about Jim Garraty and Mark Prieto during an important period of their childhood. I knew where it began. I knew roughly where it…
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On Writing and Storytelling: When a Modest Little Story Develops Ambitions
When a Modest Little Story Develops Ambitions Writers make plans. Stories, apparently, find this adorable. When I started And the Horse You Rode in On…, I had what I thought was a perfectly reasonable idea of what it would become. It would be a modest story, roughly comparable in length to Comings and Goings: The…
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Halfway There, and the Horses Are Getting Restless
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, And the Horse You Rode In On, Autumn 2026, Autumn in Florida, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), The Jim Garraty Chronicles: A Life Told in Four Movements, The Summer of Two MoviesTuesday, November 3, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone, and welcome to another exciting episode of A Writer’s Life. Today has been a better day than yesterday, at least weatherwise. It rained a little while I was sleeping last night, but even though it was cloudy and mostly gray when I got up around eight…
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I Hate Marketing, So Here’s a Free Book
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), The Jim Garraty Chronicles: A Life Told in Four Movements, The Summer of Two MoviesSunday, November 1, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, there! I am, as longtime readers probably know, not exactly a natural-born marketing person. Nevertheless, I occasionally have to put on my Author-With-Something-to-Sell hat. Except this time, technically, I’m not selling anything. From Monday, November 2 through Friday, November 6, 2026, the Kindle edition of The Jim…
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A Friendly Reminder
Sunday, October 25, 2026 – Orlando, Hi, everyone. I just want to remind you that I’m not merely a Florida man with a blog. Actually, I have two blogs, since my original A Certain Point of View site on Blogger is still out there. I’m also a working independent author with actual books to sell.…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Stories Hiding Behind the Stories
Saturday, October 24, 2026 – Orlando, Florida The Stories Hiding Inside the Stories If you’re one of the Constant Readers of this blog (thank you, by the way!), you doubtlessly know that I’m working on the fifth book of The Jim Garraty Chronicles. More specifically, it’s the fourth long-form standalone work. The Jim Garraty Chronicles:…
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No ‘Fair Weather’ Friend is He: Constant Reader Profile – Juan Carlos Hernandez
Thursday, October 15, 2026 – Orlando, Florida This is one of my best friends from South Miami Senior High, actor-director Juan Carlos Hernandez. We met in Drama class during the 1982-83 school year; he was a junior who liked performing, and I was a senior who needed an elective because I’d taken Economics and Government…
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October Reveries
Tuesday, October 13, 2026 – Orlando, Florida October has always been a difficult month for me. Its arrival brings a chill that has little to do with the weather; before the calendar has turned its first few pages, I can already feel the weight of memory settling in. Whether I choose to dwell on the…
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On Writing and Storytelling: When Fiction Meets Reality – an Excerpt from ‘Reunion: Coda’
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Books, Creative Writing, Life in Florida, Life in South Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High School, The Jim Garraty ChroniclesWhere Fiction Meets Reality – An Excerpt from Reunion: Coda If you’re a regular visitor here, you may know that several episodes in my Jim Garraty stories draw on my experiences at South Miami Senior High from late August 1980 to mid-June 1983. Jim’s academic path, however, is vastly different from mine. He is college-bound…
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On Writing and Storytelling: From Brain to Book: The Strange Magic of Making Stories Real
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Books, Creative Writing, Family History, Jeronimo Diaz-Granados, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Writing as a CraftFrom Brain to Book: The Strange Magic of Making Stories Real This morning, I picked up the hardcover edition of The Jim Garraty Chronicles and felt something I’ve felt many times before, but never quite this sharply: a kind of quiet awe. The weight of the book, the texture of the cover, the solidity of…
