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Pairings by Jann Alexander include creativity, inspiration, books, writing, photography, art, history, travel, Texas life, lore and more
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The Dust Storm That Stopped A First Lady
When First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt met a Texas dust storm in 1939, her encounter gave me an idea for my historical novel, Unspoken

Jann Alexander
Mar 105 min read


How Does Art Connect Us?
How does art connect us? Because humans are hard-wired to make connections, art connects us to one another, and to the whole wide world.

Jann Alexander
Mar 73 min read


Exploring the Untold Stories: The Power of Women in Historical Fiction
For Women's History Month, we're reading the stories of women once marginalized or totally overlooked in historical fiction

Jann Alexander
Mar 35 min read


How to Build a Library, circa 1885: Start with a Book Club
All it took in 1885 to build Houston a city library was a book club, begun by women with a desire for "intellectual culture."

Jann Alexander
Feb 242 min read


Milestones That Call for Celebration
There's a Magic to Celebrating Milestones...and It Begins With Champagne (and Books About It)

Jann Alexander
Feb 163 min read


How to Make Space for What Counts
Quitter's Day has come and gone, and with it, 80% of our 2025 New Year Resolutions. It's not too late for this smoother means to success.

Jann Alexander
Jan 206 min read


When Inspiration Strikes, Authors Hit the Keys
How does inspiration strike? For these authors, it's the random events in everyday life that sparked ideas for their novels.

Jann Alexander
Jan 64 min read


Debunked: Top Five Excuses Writers Give For Not Using Scrivener
Here’s why Scrivener can easily become your go-to tool for organizing your research and writing and pictures.

Jann Alexander
Dec 12, 20245 min read


The Irony of Surpassing Yourself
It’s ironic many extra words writers have to cut once they hit the magic length historical novels are: 100,000 - 120,000. Cue the angst.

Jann Alexander
Dec 12, 20242 min read


The Next Best Thing To Time Travel
When you’re researching historical fiction, it would be so much easier to rev up the Time Machine. Here's how I did without time travel.

Jann Alexander
Dec 11, 20242 min read


Three Things Scrivener Can Do You Probably Haven’t Thought Of
Whether you’re a Scrivener power user or a beginner, here are a few things Scrivener can do that you probably can’t do without.

Jann Alexander
Dec 11, 20245 min read


Suspense That Takes Us to The Edge
Read my review of DAMAGED by Cam Torrens, which delivers the fast-paced, all too real-life suspense prequel Tyler Zahn fans await.

Jann Alexander
Dec 6, 20242 min read


Focus Only on What You Are Writing Now
Henry Miller's own Eleven Commandments of Writing helped him maintain his focus on work in progress. Can they help with yours, too?

Jann Alexander
Dec 4, 20241 min read


How Four Words Got Me Back on the Writing Track
Here's how four words that will become your mantra can help to keep you on the writing track.

Jann Alexander
Dec 1, 20244 min read


In Praise of Historical Fiction
The popularity of historical fiction with book clubs has soared. Read why in my conversation with historical author Janis Robinson Daly

Jann Alexander
Nov 25, 20246 min read


How to Be a Texan: Lessons in Texana
Let's say you're not from Texas. (Cue Lyle Lovett) But you got here quick as you could. Now you want to learn how to be a Texan. Here's how.

Jann Alexander
Nov 6, 20243 min read


Untangling the Past
Kay Smith-Blum's debut, TANGLES, spans two timelines and two star-crossed narrators in the dark shadow of radiation contamination, during th

Jann Alexander
Nov 1, 20242 min read


Reading Outside My Comfort Zone
Reading (and writing) historical fiction is generally my jam. But there are lots of other novels that nudge me outside of my comfort zone.

Jann Alexander
Nov 1, 20242 min read


What It’s Like
"The work never never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with" — William Faulkner

Jann Alexander
Mar 10, 20232 min read


Three Surprising Sources for Writers ISO Ideas
Inspiration strikes in strange and unexpected ways. But when it doesn’t strike, there are three tricks to juice it along.

Jann Alexander
Mar 6, 20233 min read
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