Last month, I was honored to receive First Place in the Novel Category for my latest manuscript, Arkansas Black, in the William Faulkner Literary Competition. Pictured, I am receiving my... Continue Reading →
Happy Birthday
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
Alligator
The steep cattail edge dropped into a tea-colored pool, just inland from the coastal dunes. Sunlight bounced off the burnt-amber bottom to a depth of two feet, then vanished in... Continue Reading →
Spoils of My First Book
More about this later . .