Tag: South Miami Senior High School
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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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Dear Reader, Let Me Tell You a Story…About Homecomings and Memories (a ‘Reunion: Coda’ Excerpt)
Revisiting the Past: Two Sequences from the Coda of Reunion: Coda Returning home is rarely a simple act. It carries the weight of memory—both cherished and bittersweet—and forces a confrontation between who we were and who we’ve become. In Reunion: Coda, Jim Garraty’s journey back to Miami is more than a physical return; it’s a…
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Dear Reader, Let Me Tell You a Story of…Warm Spring Mornings and a Novelist’s Odyssey
Late Morning, Friday, April 18, 2025, Miami, Florida Hi there! As I sit here enjoying the beautiful, summer-like spring morning in South Florida, I can’t help but feel grateful for the sunshine. The current temperature is a pleasant 79°F (26°C), warmed by mostly sunny skies. Even though the humidity is at 58%, and there’s a…
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Dear Reader, Let Me Tell You a Story…: Where Memories, Music, and Fiction Cross Paths
The Winter Concert: A Glimpse into ‘Reunion: Coda’ In various chapters of Reunion: Coda, I’ve sought to weave together echoes of my past and the vibrant, emotional textures of high school life. This particular excerpt comes from “The Winter Concert,” a chapter based on my memories of South Miami Senior High School in the early…
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Dear Reader, Let Me Tell You a Story…About the Characters and Settings in ‘Reunion’
Q: Is Reunion: A Story inspired by real people and events, or is it purely a product of imagination? A: It’s a mix of both. When I began crafting this story in the mid-1980s, the primary setting was always South Miami Senior High, my high school in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Even in its earliest form—a…
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Writer’s Shop Talk: Venturing into Fiction: My Journey from Journalism to Novel Writing
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Blogging, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in Miami….Again, Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), Miami-Dade Community College, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: CodaNavigating the Quirky Seas: From Journalism to Zany Fiction Adventures Even though I’ve been writing for many years—having studied journalism in high school and majored in it at Miami-Dade Community College (now Miami-Dade College)—and have penned thousands of articles, reviews, and blog posts, my ventures into fiction have been few. The first two pieces—a short…
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Writer’s Shop Talk: Your Assignment for Today – Describe Emotions Without Using ‘Feelings’ or ‘Feel’
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Mrs. Quincy, a beloved music teacher, announces her acceptance of a position at The Juilliard School, marking her last day at South Miami High. The students react with shock and sorrow, as her news disrupts their plans for the upcoming Spring Concert. Emotions run deep as everyone grapples with her departure.
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On Writing & Storytelling: The Facts Behind the Fiction in ‘Reunion: A Story’
Five summers ago – seems like it was a lifetime ago – I decided to self-publish Reunion: A Story, a novella I wrote in stages between 1986 and 1998, through Amazon’s CreateSpace Independent Publishing division (now Kindle Direct Publishing). It wasn’t my first self-published work; that would be my collection of movie reviews originally written…
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On Writing & Storytelling: ‘Reunion: A Story’ – Genesis of a Novella
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, Creative Writing, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in South Florida, Life in the United States, Passage of Time, Personal History, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Sex, South Miami Senior High SchoolLike most writers, I’m often asked questions along the lines of “Where do you get your ideas from?” and “How did you write this story?” So, to give you some idea of how Reunion came to be and what it’s about, here are some questions and answers related to my novella. The Premise: It is February 1998. 33-year-old…
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Musings & Thoughts for Saturday, June 17, 2023, or: Commencement + 40 Years – A Tempus Fugit Piece
It’s mid-afternoon on Saturday, June 17, 2023. It’s a hot (90°F/32°C – but feels like 114°F/45°C!) early summer day in Lithia, Florida. We’ve already reached the forecast high of 90°F/32°C), and although the forecast for the Tampa Bay area calls for light showers, it’s still mostly sunny and worse, extremely humid outside. Definitely a stay-indoors-unless-it’s-absolutely-necessary…
A Certain Point of View, Too 