Category: Movies
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On Writing and Storytelling: Reviews Matter! (A Lot! Really!)
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Books, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion: Coda, Reviews, Writing as a Craft✍️ Echoes and Endings: What Readers Are Saying About Comings and Goings By Alex Diaz-Granados When I released Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen, I didn’t expect fanfare. It’s a quiet story — 51 pages long — about a first-time encounter that isn’t quite romance, isn’t quite nostalgia, but something softer, more…
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Writing Intimacy with Reverence: A Scene from ‘Comings and Goings’
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Billy Joel, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Love, Sex, & Relationships, Music, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda🛋️ Writing Intimacy with Reverence: A Scene from Comings and Goings There’s a scene in Comings and Goings that still lingers with me—not because it’s dramatic, but because it’s quiet. It’s Jim Garraty, nineteen, sitting in Kelly’s apartment in Mission Hill, letting the world slow down long enough to feel something real. It’s a moment…
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Music Album Review: ‘Great Performances: Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez/Fantasia para un gentilhombre’
🎼 Echoes of Spain: A Journey Through Rodrigo and Albéniz with John Williams There’s something quietly transcendent about hearing the guitar sing in the hands of John Williams. Not the film composer, but the Australian virtuoso whose fingers seem to coax memory itself from the strings. In Great Performances: Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez/Fantasia para un…
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Book Review: ‘Star Wars: Cloak of Deception’ (2001)
Star Wars: Cloak of Deception By: James Luceno Publisher: Del Rey/Penguin Random House Year of Publication: 2001 (First Edition), 2002 (Paperback) Genre: Space Fantasy/Politics, Star Wars (Legends) Publisher’s Blurb: From New York Times bestselling author James Luceno comes an all-new Star Wars adventure that reveals the action and intrigue unfolding directly before Episode I: The Phantom Menace.Mired in greed…
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Music Appreciation: My First Encounter with Berlioz’s ‘Symphonie Fantastique’
🎼 A Fever Dream in Five Movements: Remembering My First Encounter with Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique One of the most memorable experiences from my college years—now four decades ago—took place on a rare cool afternoon in South Florida. I was sitting in my Humanities class at Miami-Dade Community College, where Professor Jay Brown, a talented musician…
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Book Review: ‘Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream’
Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream By: Sam Staggs Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin Publication Year: 2003 Genre(s): Film history, Making of Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood history, Classic cinema 🎬 Book Review: Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard by Sam StaggsEven if you’ve never seen the film, the drama behind it is…
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Music Album Review: ‘Billy Joel – 52nd Street’
52nd Street Revisited: Billy Joel and the Art of Returning There’s something hauntingly familiar about the first album that makes you feel seen. For me, it was 52nd Street—acquired through teenage negotiation, a bulky eight-track cassette wrested from my sister when she moved out. At the time, “My Life” felt like rebellion’s anthem, its defiance…
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Music Album Review: ‘Superman: The Movie – Original Sound Track (1987 CD Edition)
💫 Superman: The Movie (1987 CD Soundtrack Review & Reflection) Before Rhino Records unveiled its deluxe 2-CD edition 25 years ago, the 1987 Warner Bros. release was the lone CD version of John Williams’ score for Superman: The Movie. Conducted by Williams and performed by the mighty London Symphony Orchestra, this abridged album still captures…

