Tag: Jim Garraty
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Metadata, Subheadings, and Other Monday Mischief
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Audiobooks, Blogging, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Stefan (Steve) Lee, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, Winter in FloridaMonday, February 16, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hi there. It’s late morning here in my corner of Orange County, and from my bedroom window it looks like one of those chilly—by Florida standards, anyway— late‑winter days. My Weather app says it’s 66°F (19°C) under cloudy skies, with a feels‑like temperature of 68°F (20°C). Not exactly beach…
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On Being Seen: A Few Thoughts After an Appreciative Review
On Being Seen: A Few Thoughts After an Appreciative Review Every so often, something happens in a writer’s life that stops you mid-stride—not because it’s loud or dramatic, but because it’s unexpectedly kind. Today brought one of those moments. A fellow writer and blogger, Paul Schingle, published a review of Comings and Goings – The…
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On Writing and Storytelling: When Jim Garraty First Realizes What His Heart’s Been Trying to Tell Him (Reunion: Coda)
When Jim Garraty First Realizes What His Heart’s Been Trying to Tell Him Long before Jim Garraty ever found the words for what he was feeling, there were moments—small, ordinary, almost forgettable to anyone else—that rearranged something inside him. This is one of the earliest. Not a confession, not a dramatic turning point, just a…
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When Fiction Shops Local (Even If the Store Doesn’t Stock the Book)
When Fiction Shops Local (Even If the Store Doesn’t Stock the Book) There’s a moment at the start of the Jim–Maddie arc where Maddie walks into the Moonglow Club carrying a Book Culture bag stuffed with Jim’s books. Jim, of course, has no idea. He only sees a refined stranger with caramel hair, a sky‑blue…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Excavating a Lost Branch of the Garratyverse
Excavating a Lost Branch of the Garratyverse A reflection on the story that almost was Every long-running fictional universe has its ghost trails—the paths nearly taken, the drafts that flickered briefly before vanishing, the characters who stepped forward only to retreat into the wings. Within the Garratyverse, one such spectral branch is The Best Years…
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‘Leaving the Party’: An Excerpt from ‘Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen’
Leaving the Party – An Excerpt from Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen Some nights begin with promise and end with the unmistakable scent of regret—usually stale beer, cheap speakers, and someone else’s bad decisions. Jim Garraty has survived more than a few of them, but in this moment from Comings and…
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The Night Jim Garraty Kept Someone Up Reading
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Audiobooks, Bryan Haddock, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Stefan (Steve) Lee, The Jim Garraty ChroniclesWhen a Reader Reminds You Why You Write Every so often, something happens that cuts through the noise — the sales dashboards, the algorithms, the endless comparisons to writers with marketing budgets the size of small nations — and brings you back to the heart of why you sit down to tell stories in the…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Why Jim Garraty Isn’t ‘Self-Insertion’ or a Gary Stu
Why Jim Garraty Works: On Writing a Flawed, Decent, and Believably Human Protagonist Every writer eventually faces the same quiet accusation — sometimes whispered, sometimes shouted: “Is this character just you in disguise?” And if the protagonist happens to be male, introspective, and emotionally literate, the dreaded label lurks in the shadows: Gary Stu. When…
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A Holiday Shopper’s Guide to…’Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen’
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in ACX, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Books, Bryan Haddock, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: CodaBut I kept that night. I kept the way she looked at me afterward, the way her thumb traced circles on mine, the way she said, “You were here. That’s what matters.” ― Alex Diaz-Granados, Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen : A Jim Garraty Story With Christmas 2025 less than a…
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The Quill and the Lyre: Music and ‘Comings and Goings’
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Music, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Audible, Billy Joel, Bryan Haddock, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, Music & Concert Specials, Pathetique Piano Sonata (Adagio cantabile), Reunion DuologyEvery story has its soundtrack. For Comings and Goings, the most overtly relevant piece isn’t tucked away in a concert hall—it’s right there in Billy Joel’s “This Night”, spinning from Kelly’s stereo in Mission Hill. Yet, at the heart of this pop ballad lies Beethoven’s Adagio cantabile, whose timeless melody Joel borrowed and reimagined, creating…
A Certain Point of View, Too 