On Tour with Vacancy: Secrets and Second Chances in Small-Town Texas
Vacancy joins The Dust Series! Read all the latest plaudits and praise the second book in The Dust Series, Vacancy, is garnering
The Big One, from KIRKUS. Verdict: GET IT!
"A heartbreaking, engaging melodrama with memorable characters and a hopeful conclusion."
From the KIRKUS Editorial Review:
Excerpted: "Alexander’s prose convincingly captures the atmosphere and dialect of a small Panhandle town, where everyone knows everyone else and gossip spreads with the speed of the dry wind, with brutal judgment always quick to follow. She delivers a poignant tale of people dealing with grief, guilt, secrets, and transformations, as well as unexpected relationships." READ MORE at KIRKUS REVIEWS
Literary Titan Gold Book Award for Vacancy
"The characters don’t simply represent social problems. They have private hopes, blind spots, humor, pride, and complicated loyalties."
Excerpted: "Vacancy will appeal most to readers who enjoy emotionally intense small-town fiction, family dramas told from multiple viewpoints, and stories about women rebuilding their lives after abuse, bereavement, and public scrutiny. It’s also a strong choice for book clubs." READ MORE at LITERARY TITAN
Literary Titan Gold Book
Award Recipient:
Vacancy: Secrets and Second Chances in Small-Town Texas by Jann Alexander
Twelve Book Bloggers Review Vacancy:
Reviews from the LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE CAMPAIGN:
SYBRINA'S BOOK BLOG |  | |
BOYS' MOM READS | ||
IT'S NOT ALL GRAVY | ||
THE BOOK'S DELIGHT | ||
READING BY MOONLIGHT | ||
THE PAGE UNBOUND | ||
AMES FOR THE STARS | ||
BOOK FIDELITY | ||
REBECCA R. CAHILL | ||
LSLL BLOG | ||
STOREYBOOK REVIEWS | ||
JOANNE EASLEY |
“The belief that although we will endure some difficulties in our lives, we can endure and come out much stronger from it." —Book Fidelity
Excerpted: "This story is deep with small town atmosphere and many complicated feelings. There is a lot of heartbreak in this story twisted with small town judgment and secrets. Ultimately, however, Vacancy showcases the strength of its characters by having them face the truths they are afraid to accept. As much as this story breaks you, it also focuses on healing and the opportunity to rebuild. And this is what gets me about this story because the women are at the center of it. So many of the complex feelings are directly because of the tragedies Helen and Charlene experience. My take away from Vacancy is the hopeful energy that I was left with when I finished the story. The belief that although we will endure some difficulties in our lives, we can endure and come out much stronger from it." READ MORE AT BOOK FIDELITY
Authors Guild Member Spotlight: Jann Alexander
"Writing is how I express myself, and it’s how I make sense of life’s complexities and challenges."
Q: Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world?
Writing is how I express myself, and it’s how I make sense of life’s complexities and challenges. A world without writing is impossible to imagine: the written word has educated and entertained humans for centuries, and it has the power to make us think and understand one another.
Q: What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block?
I’ve never experienced writer’s block, but I have experienced a lack of energy for writing. When I have been overloaded emotionally or even physically, and I can’t bear to sit at my Mac, I take time away to read, rest, or reconnect as needed. It usually takes just a day of tending to myself and I am reinvigorated to write and create.
Q: What is your favorite time to write?
I prefer to workout or tend to marketing and admin tasks in the mornings, have a nutritious lunch, and settle in for the early afternoon until evening to write.
Q: What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers?
I can’t beat Elmore Leonard’s sage advice to leave out the boring parts. Of course, the tricky thing about that is being a good judge of what’s boring to readers, since it may not be boring to me. In that case, I employ my editor’s wisdom: Write to find answers to your questions.
Q: What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age?
We have so many ways to share our work and our genuine selves, and we have so many avenues for discovery. The fun is in trying them out! —Interview from AuthorsGuild.org
Vacancy Earns Five Stars from Readers' Favorites
"Both characters received a second chance at happiness, and I could not wait to see if it would be their happy ever after."
Excerpted: "Helen and Charlene both had emotional scars that changed into hope throughout the book. Both of them received a second chance at happiness, and I could not wait to see if it would be their happy ever after. I had a hard time putting the book down; I was too afraid I would miss something. The writing was engaging, and emotions, grief, and struggles were handled with utmost care. The book is beautifully written, with all the components to be a winner." READ MORE AT READERS' FAVORITES
"Tragic but beautiful, a superbly-crafted close-to-truth story that will tug at the heart strings and leave you feeling you were part of it"
Excerpted: "The author has reinforced the theme of women needing to confront the vacancy in their hearts by setting the novel around an aging motel that always had vacancies. As Helen and Charlene battle to find strength, acceptance and a second chance at love, the scarred veteran son of the motel owner engages in a struggle to restore the motel to its former glory. This parallel adds depth to a story that is filled with emotion and is certain to tug at any reader’s heartstrings. It’s a story that is as beautiful as it is tragic. ... Jann Alexander brought the characters and the scene to life so beautifully that I felt I was part of it." READ MORE AT REEDSY DISCOVERY
Moving Forward: Interview with Jann Alexander
Literary Titan Asks, What Was the Inspiration for Vacancy?
"I like to explore what motivates people to do what they do, and that theme is an especially ripe one to untangle."
Q: Vacancy follows a widowed teacher, a mother trapped in an abusive relationship, and the people around them as tragedy, misunderstanding, and compassion collide in a struggling Texas Panhandle town. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
In 2005, two articles on the front page of a major newspaper’s Metro section jumped out. One story was joyful, the other horrific, and the characters in each were unrelated. But I was inspired to meld them together into one novel, to explore the complexities of each situation. I chose the Texas Panhandle setting for its small-town environment, where scenarios of second chances, and tragedies nobody saw coming, were believable.
Q: Helen’s concern for Jillie is compassionate but also complicated by grief, regret, and longing. What interested you about exploring the line between helping someone and imposing your own needs on them?
It’s human nature to want to help people in trouble, and often that “help” comes in the form of advice and worse. I’ve seen well-intentioned people try to make up for what they lack, by forcing what they need on a more troubled person, in the guise of help. I like to explore what motivates people to do what they do, and that theme is an especially ripe one to untangle.
Q: Hartless and the Jack of Diamonds motel feel almost like characters themselves. What did the Texas Panhandle setting allow you to express about isolation, hardship, and renewal?
The Texas Panhandle has a wide span of treeless land broken by cactus, mesquite, tumbleweeds, and an endless sky. That can make you feel very small. In-between towns, you’ll travel for miles on cracked two-lane roads and be lucky to see another pickup pass by. Again, that can make you feel very alone. That kind of terrain implies isolation and hardship just by its geographical features and distances. And then you’ll be rewarded with the most glorious, colorful sunsets, that go on forever, that can make you feel reborn.
Q: The novel offers hope without suggesting that grief, abuse, or trauma can simply be erased. What did you most want readers to understand about forgiveness, accountability, and rebuilding a life?
People who suffer abuse and trauma don’t let go of it easily, and may be affected by it still, years later. Like the characters in Vacancy, in real life people learn there’s no way out, it’s just a long irregular journey where moving forward, despite the pain, is the only place to go. —Interview from LiteraryTitan
Find Author Jann Alexander:
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