Today I am celebrating the first anniversary of my debut novel BYCATCH. What a fantastic year it has been. The book reached thousands of readers worldwide, was carried by several... Continue Reading →
Happy Birthday
Posts
Bycatch by Alexander Blevens — Clarion-Ledger / Hattiesburg American Mississippi Books Page — Alexander Blevens
A review by Timothy T. Isbell published on June 19, 2022 Bycatch by Alexander Blevens — Clarion-Ledger / Hattiesburg American Mississippi Books PageBycatch by Alexander Blevens — Clarion-Ledger / Hattiesburg American Mississippi... Continue Reading →
Diaspora
One of the fictional characters in my forthcoming novel Bycatch is Anh Truong, a young woman who came to America as a tiny girl during the collapse of South Vietnam... Continue Reading →
Writing Inspiration
Inspiration for my debut novel Bycatch flowed from many sources, including my childhood memories of the Vietnam War, time in service with the Air Force, acquaintances in the Biloxi seafood... Continue Reading →
Cousin Ida’s Biloxi Dress
In 1936, my mother, Barbara Drake, age twenty months, was photographed in North Dakota in a dress she received from her great aunt, Ida May Detwieller Leiter, who lived in... Continue Reading →
Dere on de By-you
Translating the northern European traditions of St. Nicholas to the warm climate of the Gulf Coast was a challenge I faced when my children were young and now continues with... Continue Reading →
How a Shrimp Trawler Works – Video
Friends, my debut novel, Bycatch, is coming out early 2022. The book features shrimp fishermen in Biloxi, Mississippi. To get you up to speed, I have posted this seven-minute video... Continue Reading →
Our Lady of La Vang
For centuries, Biloxi has been a melting pot of cultures and peoples from all over the world. This statue of Đức Mẹ La Vang (Our Lady of La Vang), the... Continue Reading →
White Shrimp
The fall white shrimp season has just peaked in the Gulf waters near Biloxi, Mississippi. Captain Nam of the Lady’s Y, a 95-foot trawler, readied his vessel this morning in... Continue Reading →
Veteran’s Day
Happy Veteran’s Day has never sat well with me. There is nothing happy about enlisting soldiers to go off to war. Respectful, thankful, indebted, venerational, these are adjectives more aptly... Continue Reading →