Welcome to Pairings

When Mark Twain advised to write tight, he surely hadn't been enchanted by the Buzz Words of 2014. Read on for my Fable of Our Times.

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

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.

Do rainy days always get you down, or are they the best days for creativity?

Don’t let fear become the biggest influence in your creative life. Find your commitment to painting and writing by delving into your fears.

Life provides obstacles, but you can choose what you focus on

In 2006 I wrote this ode to my creative spirit, "Artist's Poem," and found renewed inspiration.

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...