Thursday, July 17, 2025

On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club: Unspoken (The Dust Series, Book 1) by Jann Alexander


Unspoken
(The Dust Series, Book 1)
By Jann Alexander


A farm devastated. A dream destroyed. A family scattered.

And one Texas girl determined to salvage the wreckage.


Ruby Lee Becker can't breathe. It's 1935 in the heart of the Dust Bowl, and the Becker family has clung to its Texas Panhandle farm through six years of drought, dying crops, and dust storms. On Black Sunday, the biggest blackest storm of them all threatens ten-year-old Ruby with deadly dust pneumonia and requires a drastic choice —one her mother, Willa Mae, will forever regret.


To survive, Ruby is forced to leave the only place she's ever known. Far from home in Waco, and worried her mother has abandoned her, she's determined to get back.


Even after twelve years, Willa Mae still clings to memories of her daughter. Unable to reunite with Ruby, she's broken by their separation.


Through rollicking adventures and harrowing setbacks, the tenacious Ruby Lee embarks on her perilous quest for home —and faces her one unspoken fear.


Heart-wrenching and inspiring, the tale of Ruby Lee's dogged perseverance and Willa Mae's endless love for her daughter shines a light on women driven apart by disaster who bravely lean on one another, find comfort in remade families, and redefine what home means.


Publication Date: 3rd July 2025

Publisher: Black Rose Writing

Pages: 368

Genre: Historical Fiction


    Praise 

"Reminds me, in tone, of Texas classics like The Time it Never Rained and Giant. I loved it. Alexander is a great new talent in the genre of Texana."
W.F. Strong, author, Stories From Texas

An Interview with Jann Alexander

What inspired you to start writing?

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, while blogging on all a creative mix of topics, I transformed my lifelong storytelling habit into writing novels. 

What was the hardest part about writing this book?

Wrangling ten years of historical research into one novel was by far the most challenging thing about writing Unspoken. When I left the east coast for Austin, Texas, twenty years ago, my newfound zeal for Texas history emerged. Researching, and organizing what I found, was a passion that overtook me for years. In the stories from the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in the U.S., I found historical events which shocked me, and historical figures I admired. 

Eventually the little-known histories I’d uncovered renewed my urge to write this novel, which quickly became the length of two. When faced with the task of paring that down, ruthlessly, a series was born. Unspoken is the first book in The Dust Series, and now, the sequel (working title: Overdue) nears completion, awaiting my final edits. 

Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?

I know Ruby well, and I’m very fond of her tenacity, her quirks, her independence, and always, her resourcefulness. If she gets in trouble, she will find her way out — as the mother of a beloved historical celebrity described her own daughter in Unspoken. And Ruby took that to heart. I admire her ability to adapt, and recognize her found family will sustain her in the absence of the one she longs for. I am awed by her fierceness, and gratified when she eventually allows herself to love and be loved.

If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?

Younger actors, not well-known yet, but with the spunk and spirit to play Ruby and her brother, Will, are Kathryn Prescott and Jacob Lofland; both appeared in the AMC series, The Son, 2017-2019. Amy Adams, or Jennifer Lawrence, would do a fine job as Willa Mae in her youth, and in her descent. 

What do you hope your readers take away from this book?

In the 1930s and 1940s in Unspoken, I explore themes of upheaval, betrayal, family estrangement, families lost and found, homelessness, and poverty — the news we wake up to in today’s headlines. Today, as then, humans endure and survive, even thrive, with a quiet resilience — as they did during the Great Depression, the 1930s Dust Bowl, world war, and beyond. When tragedy strikes now, as it did then, the most resourceful ones (often, the women) have the tenacity and spirit needed to persevere. I hope readers reflect on what it takes to meet challenges head-on, while holding tight to hope, love, and family. 

Buy this Book

Book Trailer


Jann Alexander


Jann Alexander writes characters who face down their fears. Her novels are as close-to-true as fiction can get.

Jann 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. As a former art director for ad agencies and magazines in the D.C. area, and a painter, photographer, and art gallery owner, creativity is her practice and passion.

Jann's  lifelong storytelling habit and her more recent zeal for Texas history merged to become the historical Dust Series. When she is not reading, writing, or creating, she bikes, hikes, skis, and kayaks. She lives in central Texas with her own personal Texan (and biggest fan), Karl, and their Texas mutt, Ruby.

Jann always brakes for historical markers.




Wednesday, July 16, 2025

On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club: The Standing Stone on the Moor (Talbot Saga, Book #3) by Allie Cresswell

 


The Standing Stone on the Moor
(Talbot Saga, Book #3)
by Allie Cresswell



Yorkshire, 1845.


Folklore whispers that they used to burn witches at the standing stone on the moor. When the wind is easterly, it wails a strange lament. History declares it was placed as a marker, visible for miles—a signpost for the lost, directing them towards home.


Forced from their homeland by the potato famine, a group of itinerant Irish refugees sets up camp by the stone. They are met with suspicion by the locals, branded as ‘thieves and ne’er-do-wells.’ Only Beth Harlish takes pity on them, and finds herself instantly attracted to Ruairi, their charismatic leader.


Beth is the steward of nearby manor Tall Chimneys—a thankless task as the owners never visit. An educated young woman, Beth feels restless, like she doesn’t belong. But somehow ‘home’—the old house, the moor and the standing stone—exerts an uncanny magnetism. Thus Ruairi’s great sacrifice—deserting his beloved Irish homestead to save his family—resonates strongly with her.


Could she leave her home to be with him? Will he even ask her to?


As she struggles with her feelings, things take a sinister turn. The peaceable village is threatened by shrouded men crossing the moor at night, smuggling contraband from the coast. Worse, the exotic dancing of a sultry-eyed Irishwoman has local men in a feverish grip. Their womenfolk begin to mutter about spells and witchcraft. And burning.


The Irish refugees must move on, and quickly. Will Beth choose an itinerant life with Ruairi? Or will the power of ‘home’ be too strong?


Publication Date: June 20th, 2025

Publisher: Allie Cresswell Ltd.

Pages: 400

Genre: Historical Romance


An interview with Allie Cresswell


What inspired you to start writing?


I was an avid reader from an early age, reading my way through the entire junior section of the local library by the time I was ten. Story just enchanted me, and so when we were tasked with writing our own stories in school, I couldn’t get enough of it. I didn’t write any fiction while I was at university but in 1992, as a young, effectively single mum, feeling a bit bored and intellectually stagnant, I began my first novel. It took me ten years to write. I think what enthrals me is the fact that I create something from nothing. Where my characters did not exist, where their world and their stories were not, now, they are.


What was the hardest part about writing this book?


The same as always. Starting. I don’t plan out my plots. I’m what’s called a panster, which means I wing it by the seat of my pants. I never know the end of the story from the beginning, just setting out is a huge challenge. I liken it to exploring an unfamiliar landscape accompanied by a group of strangers (my characters) who may—or may not—turn out to be reliable. Stepping out on that first day takes courage.


But also, this book has several scenes that take place at a coal mine, and researching the operation and construction of a mine in 1845 was quite challenging.


Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?


Frank. He is a relatively minor character, the taciturn brother of the main protagonist, but I do feel very fond of him. Firstly, my dad was named Frank. He died in 2010, a few months before I married my second husband. Dad was the rock of our household, the only male, the provider, the moral compass, fun, wise and reliable. Mum could be volatile but Dad was as steady as a rock. I never saw him lose his temper. He was kind. I know he was very proud of his girls, my sister and me, and he loved his four grandchildren. It makes me sad that he didn’t get to meet his great grandchildren, or to see how happy my husband Tim has made me. He only read a couple of my books before he died, but I know he would be proud of those too.


My character Frank is like him in temperament but revealed hidden reserves of passion I never suspected in my dad.


If your book was to be made into a movie, who would you cast in it?


What an excellent question! Beth, my heroine, is twenty-eight. I had Charlotte Riley in my mind but I find she is a little old for the role. What about Georgie Henley, who played Lucy in the Narnia series?


For Ruairi, Emmett J Scanlan has the right look, but is also a bit too old. Do you think Paul Mescal might be free?


My book has a character with a learning disability. Dónall was deprived of oxygen at birth and has the intellectual age of a child whilst inhabiting the body of a young man in his early twenties. He plays a central role in the plot, but he is a character with a disability rather than a “disabled character”.  Zach Gottsagen is the actor I would choose to play his role.


What do you hope your readers take away from this book?


I hope the characters stay with them long after they have read the last page, and that they have an urge to visit Yorkshire, walk the moors and seek out the strange hollow where Tall Chimneys lies. I hope they gain just a little insight into what it is to be forced to leave your homeland and seek a life in a place that does not welcome you. I hope they ask themselves—and talk to each other about—what, or where, or maybe who, ‘home’ is.

And, of course, I hope they rush to my website to find out about the other books in the series!



Buy this Book

Universal Book Link



Allie Cresswell


Allie has been writing fiction since she could hold a pencil. She has a BA and an MA in English Literature, specialising in the classics of the nineteenth century.

She has been a print-buyer, a pub landlady, a bookkeeper and the owner of a group of boutique holiday cottage but nowadays she writes full time.
 
Allie has two grownup children, five grandchildren and two cockapoos but just one husband, Tim. They live in the remote northwest of the UK.

The Standing Stone on the Moor is her sixteenth novel.


Social Media Links:



On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club: Unspoken (The Dust Series, Book 1) by Jann Alexander

Unspoken (The Dust Series, Book 1) By Jann Alexander A farm devastated. A dream destroyed. A family scattered. And one Texas girl determined...