Quick updates (Weekend Coffee Share #13)

November 6, 2021 /
Stylin’ barrel cactus in my neighborhood

Just a few quick updates for the Weekend Coffee Share (hosted by Natalie the Explorer) this week, because I’m swamped today. I hope to get back to my usual debauchery next week.

So why am I too busy for a lengthy chat this week? Because:

  • I spent a chunk of yesterday catching up with friends on Zoom (yay! Not quite an in-person coffee share, but pretty dang great.)
  • This morning I have a couple of writing-related webinars from Sisters in Crime, including a gathering for the class I mentioned in last week’s post. The other is on crime scene investigations. Fun! (yes, we writers have an odd definition of, “fun.”)
  • And this afternoon, Long-Suffering Husband (who survived his desert campout without being bitten or stung by anything or stampeded by a raging herd of rabid antelope) and I are going to Phoenix for the Arizona Authors Association Literary Awards Banquet. Why? Glad you asked! The event will recognize finalists in the 2020 and 2021 literary contest–including li’l ol’ me! My short story, “Collateral Damage,” won first place in 2020, and my novel, Delta Dawn, is a finalist this year. Hopefully the event will give me some consolation, since I wasn’t chosen for Pitch Wars this year.

How about y’all? What are you up to this weekend?

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14 Comments

  • Gary A Wilson

    November 6, 2021 at 8:25 pm

    Hi Janet.

    This weekend, I’ve been a good writer and have progressed my long story, the SciFi about a David and Goliath space battle. I finally got through 2 paper draft edits and the list of to-dos is getting very small. I really want it to stay below 15K words and am close to pulling it off.

    I also progressed that darker story I wrote about i last weekend’s coffee share. You and several other shook the muse loose and some great progress was made with a near full rewrite.It’s still dark, but now it’s not obscene, just dark. It is still the most graphically unpleasant thing I’ve ever thought about publishing, but I have plenty of time to sand down the worst spots. This story is rarely far from my attention and thoughts. I either have to finish it to move on or abandon the thing.

    On the other hand, I like the number of surprises that are going to be in it. so redemption of this wad of words may yet happen.

    Congrats on the award.

    And how did I miss that you’re a librarian? I always suspected that all those quiet, mousey gals who we stand up and the stewards of our beloved books had a secret darker side to the persona they normally wear at work.

    You, my bookish friend, are busted!

    Thanks for pushing me the right direction on that story. I’ll get this thing molded into something shareable yet. Many thanks,

    • Janet Alcorn

      November 11, 2021 at 4:28 pm

      Sorry for the oh so late reply! This week got away from me. I’m glad to hear the dark story is coming together. Without darkness, we can’t appreciate the light. Also, for many of us, reading and writing dark stories is cathartic.

      We librarians are an interesting bunch. Most of us violate the mousy stereotype in at least one way. When I was a student worker mumble mumble years ago, my boss told me I was too loud to be a librarian. I’ve embodied that phrase as a point of pride ever since.

      • Gary A Wilson

        November 11, 2021 at 5:17 pm

        Ha…
        I’ll bet you are one of those librarians who:
        wears a R&R t-shirt under her sweater,
        takes the sweater off out in the aisles,
        and her glasses,
        walks up behind a group of behaving teenagers,
        starts a ruckus,
        disappears back around the end of the aisle, puts the sweater and glasses back on,
        walks the rapid & annoyed librarian walk around to approach the now rowdy teenagers from the other direction to give them hell for being so loud.
        I’d love to be your score keeper. . .

        • Janet Alcorn

          November 11, 2021 at 8:43 pm

          I’m a medical librarian, so I don’t deal with rowdy teenagers very often. In the early days of public Internet, at the beginning of my career, I did have to explain to a bunch of high school boys why they couldn’t bookmark p*rn on the library’s computers. That was a fun conversation. They were far more embarrassed than I was.

  • Angela

    November 7, 2021 at 11:18 pm

    It’s always great to catch up with friends, the webinars sound like a lot of fun! And congratulations on the award! How exciting! ? I hope you have a great week!