{"id":726,"date":"2026-07-30T03:50:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T03:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/?p=726"},"modified":"2026-07-30T03:50:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T03:50:19","slug":"a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/","title":{"rendered":"A Visit to Cuba, But First A Shout-Out To My First Followers"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had the good fortune to be able to fly to Cuba from Key West and visit Hemingway’s Finca Vigia. It was an awesome trip.<\/p>\n

But before I write about it, and post the pictures I took, I want to give a shout-out to all my original followers on Goodreads. Any writer will tell you that it is always gratifying to have people follow your work. Writers don’t want to exist in a vacuum. We need the life-giving air of opinion, of criticism, of adulation, of love, of hate, of recognition. Otherwise, why publish? Why put your work out there? Any writer who nonchalantly declares he doesn’t care what others think is a liar.<\/p>\n

In my case, for that is obviously the example I can give the most honest answer, I know that I write non-commercially: no formulas, no pandering to current trends. Yet, I always want to know how any reader of my work interprets it, and how it aligns with with his\/hers own life experience. Hey, we get one run through this life. I write what I see; I love to hear what others see.<\/p>\n

So, my original followers:<\/p>\n

Donna<\/a><\/p>\n

Mishenko<\/a><\/p>\n

Anne<\/a><\/p>\n

Anita<\/a><\/p>\n

Rhian<\/a><\/p>\n

Geza Tatrallyay<\/a><\/p>\n

Abel Maniquis<\/a><\/p>\n

Melly Mel<\/a><\/p>\n

Lynne Moody<\/a><\/p>\n

Lisa Sieber<\/a><\/p>\n

Andy Lutz<\/a><\/p>\n

Theresa Griffin Kennedy<\/a><\/p>\n

JC<\/a><\/p>\n

Jan Baily<\/a><\/p>\n

Amy Case<\/a><\/p>\n

Joni Marie Iraci<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

If any of my original followers wishes to reach out, feel free at dgu5656[at]gmail.com. I’m always happy to touch base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the good fortune to be able to fly to Cuba from Key West and visit Hemingway’s Finca Vigia. It was an awesome trip. But before I write about it, and post the pictures I took, I want to give a shout-out to all my original followers on Goodreads. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA Visit to Cuba, But First A Shout-Out To My First Followers - David Grant Urban<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Visit to Cuba, But First A Shout-Out To My First Followers - David Grant Urban\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I had the good fortune to be able to fly to Cuba from Key West and visit Hemingway’s Finca Vigia. It was an awesome trip. But before I write about it, and post the pictures I took, I want to give a shout-out to all my original followers on Goodreads. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"David Grant Urban\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T03:50:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T03:50:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Grant Urban\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Grant Urban\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/30\\\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/30\\\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Grant Urban\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/staging\\\/6484\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/882b69900e7cfbd41168820c8e892dae\"},\"headline\":\"A Visit to Cuba, But First A Shout-Out To My First Followers\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-30T03:50:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-30T03:50:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/30\\\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":255,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/30\\\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/30\\\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/30\\\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Visit to Cuba, But First A Shout-Out To My First Followers - David Grant Urban\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/staging\\\/6484\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-30T03:50:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-30T03:50:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/staging\\\/6484\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/882b69900e7cfbd41168820c8e892dae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/30\\\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/30\\\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/30\\\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Visit to Cuba, But First A Shout-Out To My First Followers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/staging\\\/6484\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/staging\\\/6484\\\/\",\"name\":\"David Grant Urban\",\"description\":\"Literary noir and road novels from San Diego to East Tennessee.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/staging\\\/6484\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/staging\\\/6484\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/882b69900e7cfbd41168820c8e892dae\",\"name\":\"David Grant Urban\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6604d7abb5cd3a081771618b68ceeda8931f5305591102ab19fc5e47983e351b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6604d7abb5cd3a081771618b68ceeda8931f5305591102ab19fc5e47983e351b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6604d7abb5cd3a081771618b68ceeda8931f5305591102ab19fc5e47983e351b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Grant Urban\"},\"description\":\"David Grant Urban is an award-winning novelist whose work explores journeys, resilience, and the American road. His debut, \\\"A Line Intersected\\\" (2017), is a literary noir thriller set in San Diego. His second novel, \\\"A Road Wanting Wear\\\" (2023), a gritty motorcycle adventure, took First Place in Literary Fiction at the 2023 Firebird Awards and was a finalist for the Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Awards. Kirkus Reviews praised his \u201cmasterful\u201d depiction of a biker\u2019s life, dusty locations, and the exhilaration of the open road. A San Diego native who spent years living an itinerant life\u2014cross-country by bicycle and rail, and two years aboard a sailboat\u2014Urban now makes his home in East Tennessee. He continues to write short fiction and is at work on a sequel to his first novel.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\",\"David Grant Urban\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/davidgranturban.com\\\/staging\\\/6484\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Visit to Cuba, But First A Shout-Out To My First Followers - David Grant Urban","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Visit to Cuba, But First A Shout-Out To My First Followers - David Grant Urban","og_description":"I had the good fortune to be able to fly to Cuba from Key West and visit Hemingway’s Finca Vigia. It was an awesome trip. But before I write about it, and post the pictures I took, I want to give a shout-out to all my original followers on Goodreads. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/","og_site_name":"David Grant Urban","article_published_time":"2026-07-30T03:50:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-30T03:50:19+00:00","author":"David Grant Urban","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Grant Urban","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/"},"author":{"name":"David Grant Urban","@id":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/#\/schema\/person\/882b69900e7cfbd41168820c8e892dae"},"headline":"A Visit to Cuba, But First A Shout-Out To My First Followers","datePublished":"2026-07-30T03:50:17+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-30T03:50:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/"},"wordCount":255,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/","url":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/","name":"A Visit to Cuba, But First A Shout-Out To My First Followers - David Grant Urban","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-07-30T03:50:17+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-30T03:50:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/#\/schema\/person\/882b69900e7cfbd41168820c8e892dae"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/2026\/07\/30\/a-visit-to-cuba-but-first-a-shout-out-to-my-first-followers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Visit to Cuba, But First A Shout-Out To My First Followers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/#website","url":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/","name":"David Grant Urban","description":"Literary noir and road novels from San Diego to East Tennessee.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/#\/schema\/person\/882b69900e7cfbd41168820c8e892dae","name":"David Grant Urban","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6604d7abb5cd3a081771618b68ceeda8931f5305591102ab19fc5e47983e351b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6604d7abb5cd3a081771618b68ceeda8931f5305591102ab19fc5e47983e351b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6604d7abb5cd3a081771618b68ceeda8931f5305591102ab19fc5e47983e351b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David Grant Urban"},"description":"David Grant Urban is an award-winning novelist whose work explores journeys, resilience, and the American road. His debut, \"A Line Intersected\" (2017), is a literary noir thriller set in San Diego. His second novel, \"A Road Wanting Wear\" (2023), a gritty motorcycle adventure, took First Place in Literary Fiction at the 2023 Firebird Awards and was a finalist for the Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Awards. Kirkus Reviews praised his \u201cmasterful\u201d depiction of a biker\u2019s life, dusty locations, and the exhilaration of the open road. A San Diego native who spent years living an itinerant life\u2014cross-country by bicycle and rail, and two years aboard a sailboat\u2014Urban now makes his home in East Tennessee. He continues to write short fiction and is at work on a sequel to his first novel.","sameAs":["http:\/\/davidgranturban.com","David Grant Urban"],"url":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"featured_media_urls":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":730,"href":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions\/730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidgranturban.com\/staging\/6484\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}