My poem won a prize!
Back in September I shared that my poem, “The Future Held in Store,” was a finalist in the Arizona Authors Association annual literary contest. Well… it won third place! I’m excited because I’m pretty inexperienced as a poet. This is the first time I’ve ever let anyone else read one of my poems, let alone submit one, so yay! I’m bummed I had to miss the awards banquet due to COVID exposure), but I didn’t get COVID, so that’s another reason to celebrate.
And now I just noticed they put my real name rather than my pen name on the certificate. Oh, well.
I have a little more news, a few pics, and the usual batch of meme-y silliness, but first: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! Have a seat, grab a treat, and let’s get to it.
More writing news
- I’m almost done with the Christmas horror story I’ve been working on for the last couple of months (yes, I’m slow). It’s now in the hands of my #1 horror beta reader, Long-Suffering Husband. I hope to submit it in the next couple of days.
- The weekly write-in I host is going strong! We meet every Saturday morning (9-10 AM EST/6-7 AM PST with optional social time a half hour before). So far there are just three of us, so there’s room for you! See this post for information on how to join. You can write anything–a novel, a blog post, your grocery list, whatever. Join us!
Javelinas in the ‘hood!
Normal neighborhoods have squirrels and stray cats and maybe a band of marauding raccoons that make a huge mess on trash day. Our Tucson neighborhood has a plague of rabbits (seriously… so. many. rabbits), squirrels, red-tailed hawks, the occasional bobcat, approximately 654,922 pigeons, and… these guys:
Those are collared peccaries, better known as javalinas. They’re adorable–and mean and destructive. Sorry for the lack of picture quality–my son snapped these pictures with his phone from a distance because javalina will attack people. You can learn more about javalina from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
You might be wondering if we live in the country or at the edge of wild land. We do not. We live in midtown Tucson, an area that’s been urbanized for over 70 years.
Welcome to Arizona.
Memes!
This week’s theme is Random Crap I Found When I Should Have Been Writing. Here we go:
Yep. Also that doll hair doesn’t grow back when you cut it.
Too late. I need to fix up my enclosure, because I’m going to have a houseguest in a couple of weeks. Thank goodness for houseguests. If it weren’t for them, I’d live in total squalor.
Truth. I’ve been such a slug this week, my Fitbit has started calling local cemeteries to comparison shop for pre-need burial plots.
In keeping with this theme, there’s this:
And this:
And in keeping with my tradition of saving the worst for last, I’ll apologize for this one up front:
You’re welcome.
22 Comments
Kathleen Howell
CONGRATULATIONS! Fantastic news! And you had me at Christmas horror! Can’t wait to check that out. I have a few spooky Christmas titles on my TBR this year. Will have to look up javalinas – never heard of them. Wow. They sound kind like the way possum can act. They can mess you up like a cornered raccoon.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! If you like Christmas horror, check out the annual Deathlehem anthologies. Great stuff in those!
Bobbiem91
Congratulations on your win. I’d like to have something to submit for next year. My healthy eating and exercise is probably about on par with yours. My walking shoes have started going without me it’s so bad.
Janet Alcorn
LOL. I’ve actually made some big improvements to my diet, but no one will ever mistake me for a health nut.
trentpmcd
Congratulations on the poem! The javalinas is cute, but not sure I want to run into one. As far as critters, a few times I almost literally ran into bears around here (actually “here” = New Hampshire, I’m on cape cod now.) The occasionally make it into town.
Hope you are havign a great weekend!
Janet Alcorn
I almost literally ran into a mama bear and cubs in the Yosemite high country once. Cool… but scary.
Hope you’re having a great weekend too!
Susanne
Congratulations on the poem!!
And I definitely think you and I have the same history with Barbie dolls…?
Janet Alcorn
Thanks!
csuhpat1
Very nice. Congrats to you.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks!
S.E. White
Congratulations! Also . . . essential oils. BAHAHA
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! And yeah, essential oils: canola, olive, peanut, corn, sesame… 😉
leannelc
Great news about the poem Janet – poetry is very subjective, so to have come third on your first attempt is pretty fabulous. I had never heard of javalinas before, so I learnt something new today – weird looking creatures!
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! Poetry is definitely subjective–and darn hard to write!
Javelinas are weird looking. I think they’re adorable, so I’ll probably end up in the emergency room someday because I tried to pet one.
Writing Sparkle
I have never heard of javalinas. It reminds me of an oversized guinea pig and a small boar. I can’t say I would be very happy to see it running around my neighbourhood though. Great post, thanks for the virtual coffee, Janet.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! They do look like miniature wild boars, which makes sense since peccaries are New World pigs. They’re so dang cute.
Yinglan
Congratulations on your poem! 🙂
Janet Alcorn
Thanks!
Joanne
Congrats on your award!! I had not heard of javalinas before… and yeah we mostly just deal with stray cats, neighbor’s dogs, and raccoons.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! I hadn’t heard of them either till I moved to Arizona. This place is weird.
Natalie
Congratulations on your poem! That’s fantastic news. Javalinas, bobcats, hmmm…Interesting urban wildlife you have there 🙂 Thank you for your weekend coffee share.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! And yeah, we do have some interesting urban wildlife. Quite a change from when I lived four hours north and 5000 feet higher. Up there we had elk roaming the neighborhood (and deer and skunks and raccoons and porcupines and the occasional mountain lion).