Tag: Fiction
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In the Quiet Between Songs: Introducing Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen
There are stories we write with plot, and stories we write with silence. Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen is one of the latter. Set in 1980s Boston, this short story follows Jim, a nineteen-year-old who walks into a party already knowing he doesn’t belong—and walks out changed in ways he’ll never quite…
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On Borrowed Light: Shifting Perspectives as a Storyteller
On Borrowed Light: A Note from the Author In most of my stories within the Garratyverse, Jim Garraty holds the narrative reins. We share a lens—male, introspective, fumbling toward clarity—and over time, that alignment has become both natural and intuitive. Writing from Jim’s point of view is like tuning an old, familiar radio: I know…
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Ten Reasons to Visit the Garratyverse
A World of Memory, Music, and Moments That Matter There’s a place between what was and what might have been—a world shaped not by grand gestures, but by silences, missed chances, and the echo of melodies we carry for years. Welcome to the Garratyverse. Spanning the tender novella Reunion: A Story and its deeply introspective…
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Where Fiction Begins: The Making of Marty
She first walked into the story in jeans, a white blouse, and Keds sneakers—shy, late for chorus, and clutching a schedule change form like it held her whole academic future. I didn’t know then that she’d become the emotional center of Reunion: A Story and Reunion: Coda. I didn’t even know her name. What I…
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Longest Day, Shortest Royalty Check… But Who’s Counting?
Friday Afternoon, June 20, 2025 – Miami, Florida Hi, everyone— A few notable highlights from this first official day of summer: Now for a little personal update: Kindle Direct Publishing has processed my April royalties, and I’m set to receive a not-so-whopping (but still smile-worthy) $78.21. Most of that comes courtesy of Reunion: Coda, though…
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The (Almost) Unexpected Novel: Reunion: Coda and Writing Out of My Comfort Zone
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Ever since 1978, I’ve dreamed of writing a novel. Not The Great American Novel, mind you. I’m smart—and trained—enough to recognize that when I put in the effort, I’m good at what I do. Otherwise, I’d keep my scribblings—or tap-tap-tap-tappings—to myself, far from public view. Yet I’m also realistic: I’ve got a ways to go…
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From Typewriter Dreams to Storytelling Realities: A Writer’s Journey
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Blogging, Books, College Life, Coral Estates Park (Miami-area Neighborhood), Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in Miami….Again, Life in South Florida, Miami-Dade Community College, Miami-Dade Community College, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, South Miami High School in fiction, South Miami Senior High School, Writing a First Novel, Writing as a CraftLate Morming/Midday, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, Miami, Florida “But there’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours…
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Blending Personal History and Fiction: Jim Garraty’s Commencement (A Reunion: Coda Excerpt)
Forty-two years ago today, I sat in a sea of white robes at the Gibson Center, alphabetically wedged between beauty and blemishes, equal parts restless and terrified. Years later—during the depths of a snow-blanketed New England winter—I wrote this chapter of Reunion: Coda, channeling the bittersweet chaos of that June afternoon. Jim Garraty, ever the…
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Writing, Weather, and the Unexpected Turns
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Creative Writing, Florida Weather, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Madison (NH), Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: Coda, Summer 2024, Summer 2025, Weather in New HampshireAfternoon, Thursday, June 12, 2025 – Miami, Florida Hi, all. Today was Laundry Day, Part Two of the week—bedding on Day One, clothes today. It wasn’t difficult; I know my way around washers and dryers. But it did throw off my usual morning blog-writing routine. As a result, I’m posting this later than planned and…
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Selling Stories, Writing the Next One, and the Art of Not Sitting Still
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Book Reviews, Books, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Writing a First Novel, Writing as a CraftAfternoon, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, Miami, Florida “Don’t wait for the muse. As I’ve said, he’s a hardheaded guy who’s not susceptible to a lot of creative fluttering. This isn’t the Ouija board or the spirit-world we’re talking about here, but just another job like laying pipe or driving long-haul trucks. Your job is to…
A Certain Point of View, Too 