Welcome to Pairings

On This Day 90 Years Ago, the Biggest, Baddest, Blackest Dust Storm of Them All Struck the Texas Panhandle — and set the stage for the opening of my historical novel, Unspoken (A Dust Novel) ... on Black Sunday: April 14, 1935.

Nearly a century ago, the unthinkable happened: The U.S. was five years into the biggest ecological disaster we'd ever known.

UNSPOKEN shines a light on women driven apart by disaster who persevere, with themes of estrangement and upheaval that still resonate today.

In the 1930s, these women captured Texas on film—the good, the bad, and the truly ugly.

When First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt met a Texas dust storm in 1939, her encounter gave me an idea for my historical novel, Unspoken

All it took in 1885 to build Houston a city library was a book club, begun by women with a desire for "intellectual culture."

Just when you get used to land, lots of land, and starry skies above, Texas shows you something else. Take a Panhandle road trip in photos.

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.

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.

How to amp up your photos: Think in threes when you lift your camera to your eye, squint and shoot.

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.

Looking for some unique new traditions? Here are seven ways to celebrate Christmas Texas-Style, like they do in Austin, Texas.

There are miles and miles of Texas, and you can learn a lot about what Texans love about their great state in six days on the road.

Hitting the road is part of my creative process. And I never pass by a historical marker without braking.

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.

Don’t Fence Me In by Jann Alexander ©2014 Existential Question: Does Texas have more wildflowers than fences? Answer: Maybe....

Texas Is So 21st Century Eat the Natural Meat by Jann Alexander © 2014 Texas Has Alternatives to Wally’s World Venison World, Not...

Top to Bottom in the Dome ©2014 Jann Alexander There are architectural interiors so impressive that they demand photographs—even if the...

Though the Terlingua ghosts are long gone, the visitors still flock to the town's Chili Cookoff and visit the historic final resting place

Road trips have an appeal that goes way back in time, and roadside oddities abound for time travelers willing to take a fork in the road.