Tag: romance
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A Holiday Shopper’s Guide to…’Reunion: Coda’
“A writer hopes never to offend, but if he must, pray let him offend the gods before the reviewers.” ― Chila Woychik, On Being a Rat and Other Observations “Writing fiction, especially a long work of fiction can be difficult, lonely job; it’s like crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a bathtub. There’s plenty of opportunity…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Themes, Subtext, and the Uninvited Guests of Fiction
Themes, Subtext, and the Uninvited Guests of Fiction Thursday, December 11, 2025 — Orlando, Florida I don’t believe every novelist consciously aims to send a message for readers to ponder about themes or social issues. Sure, on some level, we authors create stories reflecting human needs and desires, exploring our religious, philosophical, and political beliefs,…
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On Writing and Storytelling: Writing Romance Without Reading Romance
📖 Writing Romance Without Reading Romance: Why Reunion: Coda Works I’ll admit something: when I started writing Reunion: Coda, I worried. I don’t, as a general rule, read romance novels. My shelves are filled with history, memoir, and fiction of other stripes, but not much in the way of “romance.” So when I realized my…
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On Writing and Storytelling: When a Reader Sees You
When a Reader Sees YouReflections on a Review That Resonated There’s a quiet kind of joy that comes when a reader truly sees your work—not just the plot or the prose, but the emotional architecture beneath it. Dawn Pisturino’s recent review of Reunion: A Story did just that. She saw Jim Garraty not as a…
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The Twins from Different Families: Male Friendship and Emotional Architecture in ‘Reunion: Coda’
The Twins from Different Families: Male Friendship and Emotional Architecture in Reunion: Coda Romantic love may haunt the pages of Reunion: Coda, but it’s male friendship—quiet, loyal, and emotionally fluent—that gives the novel its ballast. Jim Garraty’s bond with Mark Prieto isn’t just a subplot; it’s a mirror, a refuge, and a reminder that intimacy…
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Book Review: ‘Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer’
Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer Author: Mari SanGiovanni Publisher: Bywater Books Year of Publication: 2006 One of my personal tenets: never trust back-cover blurbs. So when Mari SanGiovanni’s debut novel, Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer, came with a bold “Warning: This Book May Have You Laughing Out Loud in Public,” I…
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From a Journalism Major’s String Book: – Before Jim and Marty, There Was Maria
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, College Life, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in South Florida, Miami-Dade Community College, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Student Journalist, Student NewspaperI was 24 in the spring of ’87—still holding onto the hope that someday, somehow, math would make sense to me. Spoiler: it didn’t. Not then, not now. Even the so-called “remedial” kind felt like trying to read sheet music in the dark. But while numbers left me bewildered, words felt like home. I was…
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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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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…
A Certain Point of View, Too 