A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

© 2025 Alex Diaz-Granados Afternoon, Thursday, June 12, 2025—Miami, Florida Every author hopes their work will resonate with readers. We spend months—sometimes years—crafting stories, refining themes, layering emotional depth, and ensuring the characters feel like real people. Then, when the book finally makes its way into the world, we wait. We hope readers connect with it. We wonder if the themes we wove into the narrative will come across as intended. And above all, we hope someone out there will get it —not just enjoy the book, but truly understand what it was trying to say. That’s why reviews matter. This week, I received one of those deeply gratifying moments when Pooja’s review of Reunion: Coda went live on Amazon. Though she lives in Nairobi, she posted the review on Amazon.ca due to regional account restrictions. Still, no matter where it appears, it’s a review that means something . Among her observations: "I appreciate that his writing is incredibly intelligent...

Clockwise, from bottom left: Jim Garraty (2000 timeline); Maddie (2000 timeline), and Jim Garraty (early 1980s timeline).      📚 **Dear Friends and Readers,** I wanted to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to each and every one of you who has purchased a copy of my novella, *Reunion: A Story*. Your support means the world to me, and I am truly humbled by the way you've embraced this little book of mine. Writing *Reunion* was a labor of love—a journey of late nights, countless revisions, and moments of self-doubt. But seeing it in your hands, knowing that my words have found a place in your hearts, fills me with immense joy. To those who left reviews, shared the book with friends, or simply reached out to say how much they enjoyed it—thank you. Your encouragement fuels my passion for storytelling, and I'm inspired to keep writing more tales that resonate with you. Cover designed by Juan Carlos Hernandez And now, for those who wanted more of Jim, Mark, and Marty...

Photo Illustration: Pixabay Hi, there, Constant Reader. Well, it's Saturday, May 2, and it's late morning here in my corner of Florida. The current temperature is 71℉ (22℃) under mostly sunny skies. Looking at the forecast, it looks like it's going to be a warm, sunny day, with temperatures expected to reach a high of 84℉ (29℃), dropping at night to a low of 63℉ (17℃). No rain is expected to fall in our area today. Well, here we are in the fifth month of 2020, and we Floridians are still hunkering down in our homes due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Sadly, the Sunshine State is governed (for lack of a better word) by the Republican Party, and our governor, Ron DeSantis is a Donald Trump loyalist who is rarin' to reopen the state for business ASAP. This is not an attitude unique to our state; other Southern (and Republican-dominated) states like Tennessee and Georgia are reopening some businesses, although this is pretty much asking for trouble, as ...

© 2003 Modern Library Books. Cover Designed by Wendy Lai. Illustration © Bettman/CORBIS On August 19, 2003, Modern Library, an imprint of publishing giant Random House, published the paperback edition of Grant S. Wood's The American Revolution: A History. As the title states, Wood's modest-sized work is a one-volume overview of the late colonial period in the 13 colonies on the East Coast of North America, the growing strains between the colonists and Great Britain, and the resulting War of Independence (1775-1781) and its aftermath.  Originally published in 2002 as a hardcover, Wood's book is not a detailed, blow-by-blow look at the quarter-century-long span between the end of the French and Indian War and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. What readers will get instead is a scholarly (but still fascinating) summary of the economic, philosophical, and political forces that drove the Founding Fathers and about one third of the total population in Brit...

(C) 2018 Quirk Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) When I used to post regularly at the late and unlamented “writing” site Bubblews, I often shared short lists of movies I watched, albums I listened to, or books that I read. If I remember correctly, my summer reading list for 2013 was one of my most popular Bubblews posts.  Why this was so I’m not sure; perhaps because it was a list and  not  a comparatively complex article or review. (Not that I ever wrote anything at Bubblews that requires a master’s degree in English to comprehend, but most people on the Internet tend to shun complex articles or reviews. That’s just how the world is nowadays.) I was going to post a review today, but I haven't felt very creative or passionate enough to get to do that, so here's another reading list instead. What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions,  Randall Munroe Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges 1944,  Antony Beevor The Fleet at Flood...