Category: Creative Writing
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Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Buy ‘The Jim Garraty Chronicles’ Omnibus
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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, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), The Summer of Two MoviesTop 10 Reasons Why You Should Buy The Jim Garraty Chronicles Omnibus Thursday, October 1, 2026 – Orlando, Florida 1. Because Jim has been around longer than most streaming services. Jim Garraty first showed up during the latter days of the Reagan Administration—back when phones had cords and “binge-watching” meant staying up past midnight. I’ve…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Two Steps Forward…One Giant Step Back….
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. I hope your Hump Day — the last one in September, which feels impossible because I’m pretty sure July was last week — has treated you well. Here in the Eastern time zone, my Wednesday is already half gone; it’s almost 1:30 PM as I type…
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And the Horse You Rode in On: Killing My Darlings (Again)
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 – Orlando, Florida “The writer must have a good imagination to begin with, but the imagination has to be muscular, which means it must be exercised in a disciplined way, day in and day out, by writing, failing, succeeding and revising.” – Stephen King “In writing, you must kill all your…
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Have a Good Monday!
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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, And the Horse You Rode In On, Blogging, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series)Monday, September 28, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. I’m running behind schedule on this sunny, warm afternoon in Central Florida. Aside from yesterday’s arrival – in the late afternoon hours – of my hardcover copy of The Jim Garraty Chronicles, I don’t have much in the way of news. I also need to work…
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A Hardcover on the Way, and a Hint of Fall in the Air
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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, Autumn 2026, Autumn in Florida, Books, Creative Writing, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Madison (NH), Personal Thoughts, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Winter (2023-2024)Sunday, September 27, 2026 – Orlando, Florida It’s early afternoon on this last Sunday of September 2026. The current temperature is 82°F (28°C) under sunny skies, but with 37% humidity and a southeasterly breeze blowing at 5 MPH (8 Km/H), it feels more like early summer than early fall. The oppressive heat of this past…
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Hope with a Receipt
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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, And the Horse You Rode In On, Conservatism in the U.S., Creative Writing, Life in the United States, Personal Thoughts, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series)Saturday, September 26, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Writing fiction—telling stories—is hard work. There: I said it, and my shoulders already feel lighter. Say it with me, people: storytelling, especially when you’re trying to earn a living from it, is not a career one chooses lightly. It does not arrive with a pension plan, sensible shoes,…
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How a ‘Simple’ Story About High School and Lost Love Became Something More
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Book Reviews, Books, Creative Writing, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Writing a First Novel, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftWhen I finally sat down to write my first serious work of non-genre fiction since my college creative-writing class, the plan—if I’m being generous enough to call it one—was simple: tell the story of a high school romance that never quite got off the ground. As I’ve explained elsewhere—including in a behind-the-scenes interview two years…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Sometimes I Have Good Writing Days, Sometimes I Don’t
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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, And the Horse You Rode In On, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Writer's Block, Writing a First Novel, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftWednesday, September 23, 2026 — Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. I hope your Wednesday is treating you kindly. In stark contrast to Monday’s highly productive writing day, I have to admit that yesterday’s new word count was…zero. Not zero‑ish. Not “I almost wrote a sentence.” Zero. But honestly? At this point in my writing life, I’ve…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Getting a New Tale Off to a Good Start
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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, And the Horse You Rode In On, 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)Yesterday, I officially began writing And the Horse You Rode in On — and it feels good to say that out loud. This one has always announced itself as a novella, not a novel pretending otherwise, and I’m letting it be exactly what it wants to be. The story takes place in the mid‑1970s, back…
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Starting Here, Starting Now….
Monday, September 21, 2026 – Orlando, Florida “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Hi, folks—and happy new workweek, if that’s the sort of thing one can say before the coffee has fully reported for…