Tag: family
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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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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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The Last Smile
Afternoon, Friday, July 18, 2025, Miami, Florida “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speakknits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break.”― William Shakespeare, Macbeth Today isn’t a good day—not because it’s a “sad anniversary” sort of day, though it is that too—but because daily life feels unusually heavy. I’m overwhelmed by…
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My In-Between Day – June 16, 1983 (A Tempus Fugit Gig)
Afternoon, Monday, June 16, 2025, Miami, Florida “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”― L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between 42 summers ago… June 16 fell on a Thursday in Anno Domini 1983. I don’t, of course, remember what the weather was like that day, although I recall that earlier that week, on…
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Father’s Day Without a Father….
A Father’s Day Without a Father I don’t remember my father. At times, I think I glimpse a fleeting mental snapshot—a vision resembling an old photo slowly fading in a family album—of a dark-haired man holding the infant version of me in his strong, tanned, and hairy arms. The hopeful part of me likes to…
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Tempus Fugit: Recalling the Early Summer of 1975
Afternoon, Sunday, June 8, 2025, Miami, Florida I was 12 in the summer of 1975. I can’t say I had a terrible childhood; I lived in a nice house in Westchester (an unincorporated neighborhood in the Greater Miami metro area) with my widowed mother; a house, needless to say, that had a more placid, stable…
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Sunday is…’hot sun day’ in Miami (Bonus: My Belated Entry to Kymber’s Get to Know You #67!)
Late Morning, Sunday, June 8, 2025, Miami, Florida It’s another scorchingly hot early summer day in South Florida, even though the sun has only been up a couple of hours on this first full weekend of June 2025. As I write this, it’s not even 9 AM, and the temperature is 83°F (28°C) under mostly…
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Tempus Fugit: The Seventh Day of the Sixth Month…and Summer Memories from 1975
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Coral Estates Park (Miami-area Neighborhood), Creative Writing, Family History, Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in Miami….Again, Life in South Florida, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Summer 1975, Summer 2025, Summer in Florida, Tempus fugit, Things I MissMidday/Early Afternoon, Saturday, June 7, 2025, Miami, Florida “The summer stretched out the daylight as if on a rack. Each moment was drawn out until its anatomy collapsed. Time broke down. The day progressed in an endless sequence of dead moments.” ― China Miéville, Perdido Street Station It’s the seventh day of June – and…
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Musings for Mother’s Day 2025: Of Mothers, Sons…and Books
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Beatriz Diaz-Granados, Blogging, Creative Writing, Family History, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in Miami….Again, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: CodaLate Morning, Sunday, May 11, 2025 (Mother’s Day), Miami, Florida Mother’s Day has long been a complicated holiday for me. My mom, Beatriz Diaz-Granados, has been gone for nearly a decade, and while time has softened the sharp edges of grief, her absence is still deeply felt. I internalize these feelings, rarely speaking or writing…
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Of Sons, Mothers, and Mother’s Day PTSD
Late Afternoon, Saturday, May 10, 2025, Miami, Florida Hi, everyone. Sorry, I’m late, but sometimes, rarely, yes, but sometimes – it’s difficult to come up with a good topic for a blog post. Especially when I’m busy with other stuff, such as doing laundry, which is how I spend part of my morning and midday.…