Welcome to Pairings

Inspiration comes from many places. No use pretending it all comes out of our heads with no other stimulation. We rely on influences.

There’s a saying in real estate, that it’s all about location. Location. Location. Location. It’s just as true in writing historical novels.

The Narrow View | iPhoneography by Jann Alexander © 2016 Behind the camera lens, you’ve got a choice. Your view can be narrow, focused...

For every action, there is a reaction. Which makes choosing the right actions pretty important, even when the actions are pretty...

Click to Tweet This Your first novel will always be your favorite, because of your innocence when you wrote it, though it is unlikely to...

The Rain on the Plains by Jann Alexander ©2015 On an especially rainy, chill day  (where the view from my window echoes the one...

16 Dreaded Adverbs , According to the Hemingway Editor Adverbs are terribly out of favor , and I frankly cannot understand why. I...

Beachgoers by Jann Alexander ©2014 When I look back upon a year , I look at it in terms of numbers. Numbers of photographs, that is. And...

All On Board by Jann Alexander ©2014 A minimalist on board a Florida yacht finds a cool drink and some shade and not much else beneath...

Do you believe in signs? Sometimes they really speak to me. Other times, they’re . . . well, they may have a modicum of truth, but they...

Drink Miller by Jann Alexander ©2014 Pop Beer Quiz! Pop a beer to answer a few questions about it on this holiest of beer-drinking days....

Having trouble getting into the studio to create? Here are a few tried-and-true tricks I’ve developed. Trot these out when you need that...

Tell a lifelong news junkie  she can’t read the morning news? Anathema. Since high school, as newspaper editor, my wakeup routine was...

Shooting The Perfect Mexican Martini by Jann Alexander ©2014 How to Shake the Perfect Mexican Martini: 1 part 100% agave blanco tequila...

Finding Zen by Jann Alexander ©2014 The benefits of being mindful are many and well-noted. But perhaps not so acknowledged is the way...

Maine Pattern by Jann Alexander ©2013 What does a photograph mean to me? To you? Photographs, like all art, elicit our emotions and our...

“My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.” ―  Anaïs Nin Anais Nin by Elsa Dorfman , c. 1970s Though she...

Open by Jann Alexander © 2012 “Art is everywhere: in nature, in architecture, in literature, and more. It’s anywhere we see beauty and...

Water Colors by Jann Alexander © 2010 “Life forms illogical patterns. It is haphazard and full of beauties which I try to catch as they...

Artists with cameras are trying to create something that’s fresh, new, distinct. It’s what creative people do—no matter the medium.