Ep. 43 A Trifecta of Books, Bluegrass, and the Backstretch with D.C. Alexander 4-29-20

 There is a collective sigh of disappointment that you can hear in our hometown this week. The Kentucky Derby race is always run the first Saturday of May; except this year. I checked the weather and it looks like it will be beautiful this Saturday, 79 degrees and sunny, and there are no horses to be run.

But now that you’ve had your Kentucky Derby primer from Carrie and I, we can all still celebrate this event quarantine-style, with a book and maybe a glass of bourbon. Our guest today, D.C. Alexander, is doing his part to help. D.C. is originally from Seattle but has eagerly adopted Louisville as his hometown. He is a former federal agent turned author who has written several mystery novels with the setting of his most recent being right here in Kentucky.

Blood in the Bluegrass takes place the week before the Kentucky Derby and begins with the murder of an up and coming horse jockey. But as mysteries often do, things get complicated with horse breeders, bourbon distilleries, corruption, and old money.

D.C. talks to us about why he thinks Louisvlle is a great locale for a novel, what book he read in his 20s that turned him from a book-loathing kid to a full-fledged bibliophile, and how long trips in his car in rural Colorado started him on the path to writing.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre
Secret Louisville by Kevin Gibson
Chasing the Monkey King by D.C. Alexander
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Dune by Frank Herbert
Rough Magic: Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race by Laura Prior-Palmer
A Pearl in the Storm by Tori Murden McClure

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Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.