Category: Writing a First Novel
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A Case of Literary Serendipity: Two Writers, Two Novels – One Year Apart
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, All the Words I Kept Inside, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Book Reviews, Books, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), Perfect, Personal Thoughts, Poetry, Pooja (P.J.) Gudka, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Spring 2026, Spring in Florida, Writing a First NovelSunday, April 5, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hello, everyone—and Happy Easter to all who celebrate! I hope your day is filled with chocolate eggs, laughter, and good company. It’s another hot, sticky spring morning here in Central Florida. The sun is playing peekaboo behind the clouds, and the thermometer already reads 82 ° F (28 °…
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Tempus Fugit: One Year After ‘Reunion: Coda’
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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, Life in Madison (NH), Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), Life in South Florida, Life in the Tampa Bay area, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Spring 2026, Spring in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two Movies, Writing a First Novel, Writing and EditingSaturday, April 4, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. It’s the first weekend of April 2026, and it’s off to a torrid start. As I write this, early in the afternoon, it’s 84°F (29°C) under partly sunny skies. With humidity at 44% and an east‑southeast breeze at 8 MPH (13 km/h), the heat index is already…
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On Writing and Storytelling: A Dispatch from the Battle of the Errant Subheads
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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, Florida Weather, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Spring in Florida, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two Movies, Writing a First Novel, Writing and EditingWednesday, April 1, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hi there! Today in Central Florida, we appear to have skipped spring altogether and leapt straight into a steamy prelude to summer. As I write, it’s just before noon on April Fool’s Day 2026, but the weather isn’t joking around—79 ° F (26 ° C), mostly sunny, and humid…
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Sunday Drizzle, Story Edits
Sunday, March 29, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. It’s a warm, gray‑shrouded early spring Sunday here in my corner of Orange County on this last weekend of March 2026. The kind of day that feels like it’s holding its breath — not quite bright, not quite gloomy, just wrapped in a soft, humid hush.…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Elementary School That REALLY Wasn’t
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in Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Books, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in South Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High School, Writing a First Novel, Writing and EditingThe Elementary School That REALLY Wasn’t (A Funnier Follow‑Up) So, remember how I said I fixed the Kinloch Park reference in Reunion: Coda, and everything was good and tidy and ready for KDP? Yeah. About that. It turns out Jim and Mark’s elementary school wasn’t just mentioned once in the Prologue. Or twice. Or even…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Elementary School That Wasn’t
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Books, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Reunion Duology, Reunion: Coda, Writing a First Novel, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftSaturday, March 28, 2026 – Orlando, Florida The Elementary School That Wasn’t “When you write a book, you spend day after day scanning and identifying the trees. When you’re done, you have to step back and look at the forest.”—Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft I woke up not long after 7…
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On Friendship, Fiction, and Pre‑Ordering ‘Perfect’
There are moments in a writer’s life when the creative world feels a little smaller, a little warmer, a little more human. Today was one of those moments for me, because yesterday morning I clicked “Pre‑Order” on a book I’ve been quietly rooting for since the day its author first mentioned she was writing it.…
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Remembering the Springs I’ve Known
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Blogging, College Life, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Life in Bogota, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Madison (NH), Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in Miami….Again, Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), Life in South Florida, Life in the Tampa Bay area, Life in the United States, Miami-Dade Community College, New Hampshire Weather, Personal Thoughts, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Spring 2024, Spring 2026, Spring in Florida, Writing a First NovelRemembering the Springs I’ve Known Friday, March 20, 2026, Orlando, Florida “She turned to the sunlightAnd shook her yellow head,And whispered to her neighbor:‘Winter is dead.’”— A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young Spring has arrived again, at least according to the astronomical calendar. I turned 63 a little over two weeks ago, just four…
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Bridging Two Stories: An Excerpt from ‘Reunion: Coda’
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Audiobooks, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Stefan (Steve) Lee, Writing a First Novel, Writing as a Craft✨ Introductory Note for the Excerpt When I first wrote Reunion: A Story back in 1998, I believed it was complete—a self‑contained tale about a man haunted by a moment he never fully understood. I didn’t know then that I would return to Jim Garraty’s world decades later, or that the emotional fault lines of…
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On Writing and Storytelling: A Year of Stories, Memory, and Gratitude
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Audiobooks, Blogging, Book Reviews, Books, Brandon Padilla, Bryan Haddock, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Personal History, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Stefan (Steve) Lee, Writing a First Novel, Writing as a CraftA Year of Stories, Memory, and Gratitude Marking the 11‑Month Anniversary of Reunion: Coda and My 63rd Birthday March 5th is a meaningful date for me this year—not only because I’m turning 63, but because it marks eleven months since Reunion: Coda first stepped out into the world. When I released it last April, I…
A Certain Point of View, Too 