Category: Garratyverse
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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: 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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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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On Writing and Storytelling: The Comfort of Lasagna, the Weight of Goodbye
By the time I began writing Reunion: Coda in the spring of 2023, I was facing an uncomfortable truth: this was my third attempt to write a novel since 2015 and my fourth attempt overall. Each previous project had stalled out somewhere between ambition and exhaustion. I knew I couldn’t afford to abandon another one.…
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“The Morning I Became Someone Else” — A Poem from Jim Garraty’s POV
Every so often, while revisiting Reunion: A Story and Reunion: Coda, I find myself returning to the emotional fault lines that shaped Jim Garraty long before he ever set foot in Cambridge or New York. Graduation Day 1983 is one of those fault lines — the day when childhood ended, adulthood began, and the girl…
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The Garratyverse: Official Guide to the Books by Alex Diaz‑Granados
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Brandon Padilla, Bryan Haddock, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Stefan (Steve) LeeThe Garratyverse is a literary universe created by Alex Diaz‑Granados, centered on the life of Jim Garraty and the quiet, formative moments that shape who he becomes. Told through interconnected stories that blend memory, nostalgia, emotional intimacy, and the quiet heroism of everyday people, the Garratyverse explores how small encounters and long‑carried regrets echo across…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Playing Catch-Up After Replacing a ‘Dead’ PC
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Spring 2026, Spring in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two Movies, Writing as a CraftMonday, April 20, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hello there, dear readers! It’s a moody, blustery Monday here in Central Florida, the kind of day when clouds gather like gossiping neighbors and the wind seems intent on rearranging every stray leaf. As I write this, early afternoon is upon us. The thermometer reads a friendly 75°F (24°C),…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Back at the Desk, One Restart Later
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Computers, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Lenovo C560 All-in-One PC, Lenovo IdeaCentre (PC), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, The Jim Garraty ChroniclesFriday, April 17, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. I’m writing today’s update from my new Lenovo IdeaCentre, which arrived yesterday morning right on schedule. With help from my landlady, Nina, I had it unboxed and set up in no time. Like my previous two Lenovo desktops, it’s an all‑in‑one machine — no tower, no cable…
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Goodbye, IdeaCentre. Hello, Unexpected Debt
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Computers, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Garratyverse, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Lenovo – IdeaPad S340 15″ Touch-Screen Laptop, Lenovo C560 All-in-One PC, Lenovo IdeaCentre (PC), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Spring 2026, Spring in Florida, The Jim Garraty ChroniclesTuesday, April 14, 2026, Orlando, Florida It’s early afternoon on this second day of my workweek, and as I sit here typing, I feel like I’m baking in a sunny spring oven. The weather gods have decided to turn up the heat, blessing us with 82˚F (28˚C) and a humidity that seems determined to hug…
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On Writing and Storytelling: When the Spark Won’t Catch
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Audiobooks, Books, Brandon Padilla, Bryan Haddock, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in the United States, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Spring 2026, Spring in Florida, Stefan (Steve) Lee, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two MoviesTuesday, April 7, 2026, Orlando, Florida It’s a gray, sodden spring day in Central Florida, the kind that feels more like November than April. As I write this, it’s just shy of noon. The temperature sits at 66°F (19°C), a light rain drifting across the neighborhood like a half-hearted curtain. The forecast promises more of…
A Certain Point of View, Too 