Tag: Books
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Writing ‘And the Horse You Rode in On…’: ‘Take a Jacket’
Writing “And the Horse You Rode in On…”: “Take a Jacket” One of the pleasures of writing And the Horse You Rode in On… has been discovering connections I didn’t consciously put there. That happened again today. I’ve moved the story into 1977. Jim Garraty is still in sixth grade, still eleven years old, and…
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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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November Has Other Plans
November Has Other Plans November comes softly here,without snow,without bare branchesscratching at a gray sky. Florida does not surrender summerso easily. Instead,there is a cooler morning,a window cracked open,a sweater needed before breakfastand carried by noon. The rains come less often.The puddles, naturally,do whatever they want. And somewhere betweenone season and anotherI began a modest…
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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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Six New Readers, One Work in Progress, and a Return to 1976
Six New Readers, One Work in Progress, and a Return to 1976 The free Kindle promotion for The Jim Garraty Chronicles: A Life Told in Four Movements is over, and six readers downloaded copies during the promotion. To those six readers: thank you. I hope you enjoy meeting Jim Garraty, his friends, and the various…
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Six Readers, One Grateful Author, and a Few Hours Left
Last Call: The Jim Garraty Chronicles Is Still Free Until Midnight Just a quick reminder: the free Kindle promotion for The Jim Garraty Chronicles: A Life Told in Four Movements ends tonight at 12:00 AM Pacific Standard Time. And before it does, I want to say thank you. Six readers have taken me up on…
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How I Finally Stopped Getting Torpedoed in ‘Sea Power’
How I Finally Stopped Getting Torpedoed in Sea Power Sometimes the best way to solve a tactical problem is not to shoot faster. Sometimes it’s to stop steaming directly toward the submarine that would very much like to ruin your day. I’ve been playing the Crossing the Line ’86 campaign in Sea Power: Naval Combat…
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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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Rainy Monday, New Readers, and Back to The 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, 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, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), The Jim Garraty Chronicles: A Life Told in Four Movements, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftMonday, November 2, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, all. It’s the first Monday in November 2026. Outside, it is a cool, damp, cloud-shrouded day that’s meant for staying indoors (except, perhaps, to check the mailbox), eating a hot lunch, and, in my case, getting ready to work on The Book. Right now, the temperature is…
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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…
