Tag: Love
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On Writing and Storytelling: When Memory Supplies the Dialogue
When Memory Supplies the Dialogue One of the strange things about writing a story set fifty years ago is discovering what memory decided to keep. Not necessarily the important things. Sometimes what survives is a voice. I’ve been working on Chapter Five, “Home Turf,” of And the Horse You Rode in On…, my current Jim…
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Changing Cards, Changing Chapters
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in Autumn 2026, Autumn in Florida, Blogging, Family History, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Madison (NH), Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), Life in South Florida, Life in the Tampa Bay area, Life in the United States, Miami-Dade Community College, Personal History, Personal Thoughts, Personal Thoughts, Semester in Spain Program, Semester in Spain Program – CCISChanging Cards, Changing Chapters Yesterday, I did something that should have been utterly mundane. I took my New Hampshire state ID out of my wallet and replaced it with my new Florida one. That’s it. One little plastic card came out; another little plastic card went in. And yet, for a moment, it felt weird.…
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Musings on My Mother’s 98th Birthday
Saturday, October 17, 2026 – Orlando, Florida “I can pinpoint that as the single happiest moment of my life, because I realized then that Mom would always have my back. It made me feel giant. I raced back down the concrete ramp, faster than I ever had before, so fast I should have fallen, but…
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More October Reveries
Friday, October 16, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Tomorrow would have been my mom’s 98th birthday. My feelings about that are, well, complicated. She died 11 years ago in the South Florida townhouse we had called home for more than 37 years, after a long and painful struggle with dementia, depression, kidney problems, and the other…
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October Reveries
Tuesday, October 13, 2026 – Orlando, Florida October has always been a difficult month for me. Its arrival brings a chill that has little to do with the weather; before the calendar has turned its first few pages, I can already feel the weight of memory settling in. Whether I choose to dwell on the…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Two Steps Forward…One Giant Step Back….
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Hi, everyone. I hope your Hump Day — the last one in September, which feels impossible because I’m pretty sure July was last week — has treated you well. Here in the Eastern time zone, my Wednesday is already half gone; it’s almost 1:30 PM as I type…
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Hope with a Receipt
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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, Conservatism in the U.S., Creative Writing, Life in the United States, Personal Thoughts, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series)Saturday, September 26, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Writing fiction—telling stories—is hard work. There: I said it, and my shoulders already feel lighter. Say it with me, people: storytelling, especially when you’re trying to earn a living from it, is not a career one chooses lightly. It does not arrive with a pension plan, sensible shoes,…
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How a ‘Simple’ Story About High School and Lost Love Became Something More
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Poland, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Book Reviews, Books, Creative Writing, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), Writing a First Novel, Writing and Editing, Writing as a CraftWhen I finally sat down to write my first serious work of non-genre fiction since my college creative-writing class, the plan—if I’m being generous enough to call it one—was simple: tell the story of a high school romance that never quite got off the ground. As I’ve explained elsewhere—including in a behind-the-scenes interview two years…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Stepping Up to the Plate…for the Fifth Time
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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, Book Reviews, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Personal Thoughts, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Royalties, Royalties, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two Movies, Writing as a CraftSunday, September 20, 2026 – Orlando, Florida “The scariest moment is always just before you start.”― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Hi there, Dear Reader! I woke up this morning to one of those small but welcome surprises that occasionally drift into a writer’s inbox: a notification from Amazon Accounts Payable.…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Making of an Unplanned Literary Series
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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, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two Movies, Writing as a CraftThursday, August 20, 2026 – Orlando, Florida Every story—or, in this case, every collection of stories—begins somewhere. It may start with a flash of inspiration, a lingering memory, a familiar-looking person or place, or even an old college creative-writing assignment that suddenly makes you want to revise, expand, and share it. In the introduction to…
