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Showing posts with the label Reunion: A Story

Friends Bond Over Beer (an Excerpt from 'Reunion: Coda')

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Cover art design: Juan Carlos Hernandez   In this excerpt, Jim Garraty (our narrator/protagonist) is lying on his bed, listening to the original Broadway cast recording of West Side Story and trying to keep it together after an emotionally trying day that included his high school graduation ceremony. It's 8:00 PM on Friday, June 17, 1983, and Jim has just decided to not replay the cassette of music from the classic 1957 reimagining of Romeo and Juliet, choosing instead to be alone with his thoughts.  The final strains of "Finale" seemed to linger, stretching out to touch the edges of eternity before they dissolved into the quiet of my shadowed room. The tape in the GE 3-5104 cassette player, a Christmas gift from Mom, hissed its postlude, then snapped off with a decisive "Click!" that punctuated the silence. I toyed with the idea of replaying the tape—Marty's graduation gift to me, a treasure trove of melodies and memories. I'd managed to keep my composu

A Quick Update from Madison, New Hampshire's Newest Transplanted Floridian

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Photo by the author  Hi, everyone. Well, I’ve been in Madison, New Hampshire for 12 days now, and even though that sounds like a long time, I’m still in the process of getting settled in at my new place of residence. I did hope that after my first week here I’d be ready to begin working on Reunion: Coda after more than a month of not working on it, but I require at least some peace of mind so I can tackle creative writing projects as complex as a novel, and right now, I don’t have that. As of December 27, 2023 I am still trying to adapt to a colder climate than the one I left behind in Florida, dealing with homesickness and the feelings of sadness and even resentment that lurk in my heart, and learning to be patient with the pace of the setting up process, which depends greatly on how much time others have available to assist me.  As a result, my brain is already challenged by “simple” writing projects such as blog posts; I don’t yet feel up to the task of getting into the fi

On Writing & Storytelling - Reunion: Coda Update: The Story Moves Forward As Chapter 11 Ends, Chapter 12 Begins

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      Hi, all.   Just a quick update to say that last night I completed the fourth and final scene of Chapter 11 in Reunion: Coda. Sure, right now it's still in "first draft mode," but I'm just content with the knowledge that after more than a month of trying different approaches to the scene, I finally "cracked the code" - as it were - of how to present this deceptively simple-looking part of the chapter. (It never ceases to amaze me how this scene, which I thought would be easy because it's based on a plot point introduced in Reunion: A Story , took me nearly two months to write.) Here's an excerpt from the scene, which also puts me over both the 50,000-word mark and the 120-page mark in the novel’s manuscript. If Hollywood told my story like a movie, it would go something like this: I’m a smart and nerdy senior at South Miami High School, class of '83. I love history and music, and I have a crush on Marty, the most beautiful girl in the choru

An Embarrassment of Riches: 'Reunion: A Story' Not Only Gets a Video Trailer, But Also a New Review!

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 Hi, everyone!  Well, as the header for this post points out, I was fortunate this week because Reunion: A Story now has a book trailer on YouTube!  This two-minute-long video was created by my friend Juan Carlos Hernandez and Popcorn Sky Productions, with some input from me (I provided the excerpt in the narration, and I got to pick the musical cue), and an awesome voice performance by Juan's son, Anthony James Hernandez. Everyone who's watched it and given me feedback on it has said they like the video because the mix of images, music, and narration pulls them into the story.  Whether the video will help boost sales of Reunion, I haven't a clue. I hope it does...cos it's really a brilliantly done promo! Ah, but wait! There's more! This morning, my friend and fellow former Epinions reviewer, Patti Aliventi, posted a review of Reunion on her WordPress blog Thoughts from the Mountaintop. It wasn't her first go-round at reviewing my novella; when I published the s

Coming Soon: A Trailer for 'Reunion: A Story'

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(C) 2023 Popcorn Sky Productions/ADG Books  Hi, everyone.  I am pleased to announce that my friends at Popcorn Sky Productions (Juan Carlos Hernandez, Adria K. Hernandez, and Anthony Hernandez) are wrapping up work on a trailer for my novella Reunion: A Story.  Featuring a mix of motion and still pictures, music, and a short voiceover based on a short section from the novella, this trailer is, as you might expect, a quick but visually powerful promo for the first book in the Reunion Duology.  I watched the "rough draft" a few times after Juan sent it to me via WeTransfer. I liked it, although there was one still photo that didn't look "right." It's an easy fix, Juan says, and he said that the finished video should be up tomorrow.  I'm so excited! I'll share the finished trailer here as soon as it's up on YouTube. 

A Public Service Announcement: I Am, Regardless of Naysayers, a Writer, or: Opinions Don't Equal Facts

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  I don't know why, but apparently, there are some folks who need to be reminded that "opinions" stated as "facts" are not really facts.  I don't care if a person firmly believes something as ridiculous as "you're not a real writer because you don't have a publisher behind you" or any such nonsense.  This is my official position on the topic:  My New Resolution: I will no longer listen to anyone who says, “You’re not a real writer.” I write every day. That makes me a writer. I studied journalism at both South Miami High and Miami-Dade College. Even won an award for my work on the college student newspaper during my freshman year. That, too, makes me a writer. I’ve written for clients, and I have also been paid by websites for my writing. That makes me a professional writer. I have  two self-published books available for sale on Amazon  and Barnes & Noble (online store only, though!). A third book is in the works. That makes me a writer,

On Writing & Storytelling: A Quick Update on the Revised Edition of 'Reunion: A Story'

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© 2018, 2023 Alex Diaz-Granados via Kindle Create/ADG Books  I just wanted to let my readers know that the latest edition of Reunion: A Story is now available on Amazon and the online version of Barnes & Noble. I have been uploading corrections to Kindle Direct Publishing off and on since March, cos whenever I see a typo or misspelled word, I must correct it, even if no one else notices.  I last sent a batch of minor edits earlier this week, but even though I was told by KDP that the updated version had gone "live" on Monday morning (at least, for the Kindle edition), it takes up to three days (sometimes longer) for the changes to make their way through the KDP pipeline and be incorporated into existing books.  The view from the Kindle Create app. I don't (fingers crossed) expect to make any further corrections, so this edition of Reunion: A Story is the definitive version of the first part of the Reunion Duology.  A caveat: Of course, Kindle readers get free updates

An Excerpt from 'Reunion: A Story' (Book One of the Reunion Duology)

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(Photo by the author) If you're a regular reader of A Certain Point of View, you might recall that I'm currently writing my first novel, Reunion: Coda, the second book in the duology that started with my novella, Reunion: A Story (2018, Kindle Create/CreateSpace Independent Publishing).  Just in case you are new to this space, though, here's the back cover summary of Reunion, plus an excerpt from my favorite scene in the novella:  It is June 1983. Jim Garraty is a senior at South Miami Senior High. He's a staff writer for the school paper, a college-bound scholar who plans to become a historian and author of books on military history. He's well-liked by his peers and teachers, and his future looks bright.  But as commencement draws near for the Class of 1983, Jim must deal with unfinished business. The girl he loves from afar is also graduating, and rumor has it that she is going away for the summer before starting college in the fall.  Worse still, Marty doesn'

A Scene from The New Story (Not the Final Version)

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  “There’s a Place for Us”: South Miami Senior High School/Music Department Wing, Chorus Practice Room   I entered Room 136 shortly after the last school bell of the day – the “dismissal bell,” as it was officially called – rang at 2:30 in the afternoon. As always, the hallways in all three floors of South Miami High School’s yellow bunker-like building were full of 10 th , 11 th , and 12 th graders skedaddling from their sixth-period classes and, with the exception of those of us who participated in after-school activities and clubs such as yearbook production, the then-new Cobra Media Production club, basketball, baseball, and other spring term sports teams’ practices, and music students who needed to practice their instrument or singing, were eager to either go home or go to their first part-time jobs outside of school. For five, maybe 10 minutes, the hallways and staircases echoed with the sounds of (mostly) sneakered feet pounding on the floor and loud, cheerful teenaged voic

A Non-Spoiler Peek at 'The New Story' - A Winter's Day at Central Park

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  A Moment in the Park   Maddie and I walk in Central Park, feeling the sun on our faces and the snow crunching under our feet. It's a beautiful day for late February. The air is crisp and fresh, and even though the forecast calls for more snow later, perhaps as early as tonight, right now the sky is a bright blue. Just right. We've been here for a while, exploring the park and its wonders. We've seen so many things. So many people. So much diversity. We've seen children of all colors building snowmen and dogs of all breeds chasing squirrels. We've seen couples of all orientations cuddling on benches and seniors of all backgrounds feeding pigeons. We've seen athletes of all fitness levels jogging and biking and skating. We've seen artists and musicians and performers of all kinds. We've heard a symphony of sounds. A harmony of noises. A melody of music. We've heard birds singing and leaves whispering. We've heard cars honking and sire

The Last Song: Bing Reimagines a Pivotal Scene from 'Reunion' in the Style of Jennifer Egan

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Image Credit; Pixabay   The Last Song   By OpenAI in the style of Jennifer Egan, based on my novella, Reunion   Marty leaned against the piano, her fingers tracing the keys. She looked at me with a mix of nostalgia and regret. “Can you believe it?” she said. “This is it. The end of the line.”   I shrugged, trying to act casual. I didn’t want to admit how much it hurt to say goodbye. We had spent three years in this chorus room, singing our hearts out, sharing our dreams and fears. We had become more than friends. We had become a duet.   “Aren’t you going to miss it?” she asked.   “Of course I will,” I said. “But life goes on, right? We have to move forward.”   She nodded, but I could tell she wasn’t convinced. She had a wistful look in her eyes, as if she wanted to freeze time and stay here forever.   “I wish we could have sung that song together,” she said.   “Which song?” I asked, playing dumb.   She gave me a playful punch on the arm. “Don’t pretend you don’t know. The one we we

Bing's AI Chatbot Reimagines the Plot of 'Reunion: A Story' in the Style of Edgar Allan Poe

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  Earlier today I asked Bing's AI Chatbot to reimagine the plot of my novella Reunion: A Story as a poem in the style of 19th Century writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe. Bing obliged me; this is what it produced:  In June of '83, young Jim Garraty A senior at South Miami High A staff writer for the school paper, he A scholar bound for college nigh But as commencement draws near Jim must deal with unfinished business The girl he loves from afar will disappear And rumor has it she'll be gone for the summer, no less Worse still, Marty doesn't know How deeply Jim's feelings for her are Unless he tells her so But when opportunity arises, Jim hesitates afar Now 15 years later, James Garraty An up-and-coming history professor Respected by his peers and literary But true love eludes him no lesser Reunion is a tale of regret and loss Of friendship and choices made A glimpse into a life that leaves us at a loss And leaves us questioning our own crusade. © 2018, 2023 Alex Diaz-Gr

On Writing & Storytelling: I FINALLY Received My Copy of the Revised Edition of 'Reunion: A Story'

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Well, here it is... Reunion: A Story (2nd Rev. Ed.) Photos by the author.  Nearly 40 years after my high school graduation... 37 years after I first wrote the dream sequence which became the foundation for Reunion.... And 25 years after I first cobbled Reunion together in my Miami bedroom while listening to the soundtracks from Titanic and Saving Private Ryan... The saga of Reunion: A Story is now complete.  Today, the paperback edition of the revised version of my novella arrived from Amazon, thus ending the nine-day-long process of fixing some issues that were present in the original 2018 edition. Both the Kindle and print editions are now in sync, plus Reunion now has a better, more story-centered cover., a Table of Contents, a copyright page, a new dedication, and an epigraph!  For a longer post on this topic, please go here!

On Writing and Storytelling: It's Official! The Revisions are Done, and 'Reunion: A Story' is Now Live on Amazon! (Now, Buy a Copy...Please!)

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The paperback edition's new cover. © 2018 Alex Diaz-Granados  After seven days of proofreading, revising, uploading fixes, and then waiting for the edits to “take,” the second edition of Reunion: A Story is live and available on Amazon as both a Kindle e-book or traditional paperback. It took longer than I expected, but that’s because I had to repeat the process several times; every time I thought, “Oh, good. Everything looks fine. I’m done,” I would wait till Amazon emailed me to let me know my book was “live” in Kindle Direct Publishing’s (KDP) servers and ready to order. I would then read Reunion, find more mistakes I’d missed on the previous copy-editing pass, unpublish the book from Amazon, and start over. Well, with all those uploads, one on top of the other, the updating slowed to a crawl, and the edits only appeared on the Kindle version in small increments and over a period of four days. The view from the Kindle Create app. Notice that it shows a preview of how Reunion

On Writing & Storytelling: The Woes of the Impatient, Impetuous Author

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The new cover art for the Kindle edition of my novella. ©2018 Alex Diaz-Granados and KDP.              Reunion v. 1.0 As I mentioned in my most recent blog post, I spent all last weekend and Monday (and up to early Tuesday morning) revising my novella Reunion: A Story.  I wrote the original version sometime in 1998, using much of an old writing exercise from a creative writing course I took back in 1987 as a foundation for the story. For many years, I transferred the Microsoft Word file with the original draft of Reunion from one computer to another but never did anything useful with it. Oh, I showed it to potential girlfriends and other friends who I thought might enjoy it. I even asked one of my business writing clients to print one copy for me; she owned a printing shop, and since I wasn’t asking for a hardcover edition, she gladly granted me that small boon. (I later loaned that copy to a neighbor, but I never got it back.) As the third anniversary of my mother’s death appro