From brushstrokes to backstories, Jann Alexander shares her stories and inspiration.
What:
I’m an author who specializes in time travel. My first novel, Unspoken (The Dust Series), stars historic Texas and a female character who faces down her fears in a story that’s as close-to-true as fiction can get.
Why:
I’ve been a creative spirit for as long as I can remember, beginning as a child who wrote stories and drew fashion designs. When I became an art director for ad agencies and magazines in the D.C. area, I turned to design, and later on, as a painter, photographer, and art gallery owner, fine art was my practice, creativity my passion. For my third act, I while blogging on all a creative mix of topics, I transformed my lifelong storytelling habit into writing novels.
How:
My newfound zeal for Texas history emerged when I left the east coast for Austin, Texas, twenty years ago. The unknown histories I uncovered during years of deep research renewed my urge to write a novel, and one became two with two more in progress. The hidden history of the double whammy that hit the Texas Panhandle, when dust storms raged and the Great Depression made millions destitute, was compelling enough to become my first published historical novel, Unspoken (A Dust Novel), due out July 3, 2025.
In exploring themes of upheaval, betrayal, family estrangement, families lost and found, homelessness, and poverty —the news we wake up to in today’s headlines — I found things were no different in the 1930s Dust Bowl, which are borne out by the characters, emotions, and events in Unspoken.
“Fans of Kristen Hannah’s Four Winds will devour Unspoken, Jann Alexander’s tale of Ruby Lee’s gritty Texas Dust Bowl journey.
—Cam Torrens, award-winning author of the Tyler Zahn series
Bio:
Jann Alexander is the author of the historical novel, Unspoken, set in the Texas Panhandle during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression eras, and her first book in The Dust Series.
Jann writes on all things creative in her weekly blog, Pairings. She’s a 20-year resident of central Texas and creator of the Vanishing Austin photography series. Jann’s lifelong storytelling habit and her zeal for Texas history merged to become the historical Dust Series. She always brakes for historical markers.
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Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a wrangler of words and big messy feelings in fiction and poetry.
In the Context of Love | Gordy and the Ghost Crab | Sleepwalker
Love and Other Incurable Ailments, coming 10/27/2026 from Regal House Publishing
Connect with Linda on social media: LinkTree