AJAlansonAuthor

I, like many of my people, wake in the morning and plan my day. While falling asleep at night, I size up all I’ve achieved—and all I didn’t. Sounds pleasant, positively Puritan, as though Ben Franklin should have a cute rhyme about it, like, “Raise your head, mind the chores. Close your eyes, judge your worth.” This ritual is not so much a tradition in my upbringing as it is a law. That said,…

Writing the twelve-book arc of The Admiral Inn Mysteries has been, among other adventures, a Tip-o-the-Iceberg experience. For every tidbit of true history in the books, mountains of research is compiled. My writing and research partner is putting together the files behind the running back themes floating around the Admiral Inn. Enjoy! Fact of Fiction: Smugglers of Maine

This weekend, Connecticut Book Festivals has put together a two-day-only affair at Westbrook Outlets, 314 Flat Rock Place, Westbrook, CT! This is such a clever idea and fantastic opportunity for member independent authors and readers alike. Like magic, the store will appear out of the mists at 11 am each morning, Saturday, April 18th and Sunday April 19th, and fade away each afternoon at 4pm.…

Humans across cultures and time often name themselves by what they “do.” Jerry Herder, Oliver Miller, Joe Carpenter, well, loosely saying, but you get the point. And not only in the European traditions but this naming convention is found around the world. Of course, not all Smiths make stuff. These names were passed down as surnames for lineage or clan association, but my point is many humans –…

I will be signing my books at the Velvet Mill in Stonington, Connecticut on March 21st from 11-4. If you’ve never been, this is a really great shopping district with boutiques, eateries, and a farmer’s market. Oh, and 48 Authors with piles of books. Join us!

My eyes, glued to the screen, squint. “It that real? Are his abs even possible? The internet these days is like some navy SEAL training camp for my Nasty Aunt Eunice alter ego. I’m straining to catch the tiniest mistake, to find a flaw, to nitpick (and with great glee) any wrinkle, beauty mark, or scar, because I’m hunting for humans. Everywhere, in everything, the bastardization of reality…

I caught a commercial the other day that gave me a giggle—not because it was funny but because humans are so weird. This fake celebrity woman was selling something at a mock press conference, peppered by questions under strobing photo flashes and I don’t even remember the product. Just the duck lips. The immovable forehead. The skin stretched back to her hairline. And I thought: what a time to be…

Last week, one of my friends posted a cartoon to my timeline about writer’s block. I don’t know if he jinxed me, but it came at a time when I had pushed back from drafting the 11th book in The Admiral Inn series because I just wasn’t feeling it. I would sit down to write my quota—and I did—but the scenes were lifeless, boring, and each day fast became an exercise in diminishing returns. Now, I…

Twenty-six years after I had sent these pastels as gifts, they came back to me with a request: take them to a framer and have them matted, glassed and framed. Because I had created these candid portraits of three sons over the course of a year and each time, mailed them off, this moment a couple of weeks ago was the first time I had seen them again in a quarter century, and the first time I had…

I came across the phrase the other day, “Building Character,” as in whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but the first time through, I read it wrong because I have a “building” character. And for anyone who knows the admiral’s mansion in my books, that building builds character, too. A few surprises cropped up after I started The Admiral Inn 12-book series. I’d like to say I planned out…

I have a quick routine of gathering bits of news before I start my day. Just a wee few headlines so as not to stomp on my muses and go back to bed. After all, it is around 3:30 in the morning. A couple weeks ago, in one such quick glance, I spit-take my coffee with a quote: “Authors have been protected for a long time, we are very well cared for, but we need to think about our other partners,…

I slide into my side of booth, the tattered vinyl seat catching on my pants, and settle into a funky egg joint for breakfast. For an A.M. writer like me, I’m not often out of the house for breakfast, let alone dressed before noon, but today is special. Today is our anniversary and where else would a couple of ex-physicists start the day than surrounded by tiny Dr. Who phonebooths painted into the…

Each year I try to make gifts for everyone. That’s the puzzle. Even as they are opening their packages on Christmas morning, I’m thinking, “What should I do next year?” Now I still end up buying stuff because frankly that purchased gift is simply more suitable and it’s all about the other person, right? But the process of thinking of my people throughout the entire year, settling on a design and…

I set out to paint in oils for the first time in over 25 years, wondering what I would remember, fearful of what I have forgotten, but most of all, curious about how a quarter century of experiences would color my canvas. As creatives, we collect our stories every second we’re walking through our days – and through more than a few strange dreams – until something starts to gel in the back of our…

Grab A Wolf!

We stand on the shoulders of giants – heckling, ribbing, needling giants. Anyway, I seem to. With our daughter in Germany for a year, I wanted to do something for her host family to commemorate that one Christmas when our families were improbably linked. She and I racked our brains and finally came up the idea for me to sketch a little watercolor of a photo taken from her surroundings. Now, this…

We stand on the shoulders of giants – heckling, ribbing, needling giants. Anyway, I seem to. With our daughter in Germany for a year, I wanted to do something for her host family to commemorate that one Christmas when our families were improbably linked. She and I racked our brains and finally came up the idea for me to sketch a little watercolor of a photo taken from her surroundings. Now, this…