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New year, new writing progress

January 31, 2023 /

Welcome to my first IWSG post of 2023! (Because I’m a huge dork who forgot to post in January.) The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writers Support Group day, on which we insecure writers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome February co-hosts are  Jacqui Murray, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Gwen Gardner. Please stop by and leave them some comment love.

Each month our fearless leaders provide an optional question we can answer in our posts. This month’s question is: If you are an Indie author, do you make your own covers or purchase them? If you publish trad, how much input do you have about what goes on your cover? I’d love to answer that question, but to do that, I’d have to have actually published a book, which I haven’t. Well, OK, I have an academic book in press under my real name, for which I was given a batch of stock photos to choose from for the cover, but I think the fiction world operates a bit differently.

So instead of talking about book covers, I’ll share a few writing updates. Some of this will be old news for people who visit my blog on days other than IWSG Day. Y’all can skip ahead to the memes if you want. (And if you always skip ahead to the memes… don’t tell me that. You’ll hurt my delicate author fee fees.)

Publications

In my December IWSG post, I shared some cryptic updates. I can be less cryptic now.

  • My thriller short story, “Adam Carmona and the Saguaro Ripper,” will be published in Trouble in Tucson, an anthology by members of the Grand Canyon and Tucson chapters of Sisters in Crime created for this year’s Left Coast Crime conference, appropriately titled Trouble in Tucson. If you’re a crime fiction fan and want to upgrade your weather for a few days, come on down to Tucson and join the fun! I’m told we’ll have an opportunity to sign our stories, which will be a first for me. I’m going to have to practice signing my pen name, lest my real name slip out instead. This is possibly the best problem I’ve ever had.
  • My suspense short story, “Walk Me Home,” won first place in the Arizona Mystery Writers annual short story contest. Read it (free) here along with the other winning stories.

Progress on the Revision from Hell

Some of you may know that I’ve been working on my second novel, Delta Dawn, in fits and starts for over 3 years. I’m happy to report that I’m finally feeling like the revision is coming together! I’m in the final stages of gathering all my notes and ideas and getting ready to do a massive rewrite. I’ve been struggling to stay motivated with this project, but, at least for now, I’m feeling positive and even excited.

The message here is: writing slumps don’t last forever. I’m so glad I kept slogging away, even though I was discouraged and unmotivated.

Writing Memes

OK, enough about me. Let’s laugh!

Also if it was part of a complex, layered, and twisty plot I haven’t figured out.

Probably because I spend half my time doing this:

Some reassurance for those of us who are anxious about our lack of writing progress:

More reassurance: even the great masters broke the rules.

Oh, crap. I think I might be a Shakespearean villain.

While we’re on the subject of Shakespeare:

Shakespeare also wrote amazing secondary characters.

This next one may not be Shakespearean, but I’d pay good money to watch it:

And finally, even though it’s frustrating and painful, writing does have its moments:

Mmmmm…. yeah, baby. Let me read you again.

And on that disturbing note… I’m out. Happy IWSG Day! May your enthusiasm, skill, and determination defeat your insecurities today and every day.

And when you read it, may your prose make you moan (in a good way).

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15 Comments

    • Janet Alcorn

      January 31, 2023 at 6:15 pm

      Me too! And sometimes authors create new series starring those side characters, which makes my day!

  • Bobbiem91

    January 31, 2023 at 2:15 pm

    Like the meme on Googling synonyms for ordinary words–do that a ton. Sometimes the mind just can’t come up with something different.

    Hint: if you are an Indie writer—don’t do your own covers–seriously. Just find some premades or pay that 100 for a cover that doesn’t look like your 5th grader did it. Unless you understand the designs for your genre–don’t do your own covers.

    • Janet Alcorn

      January 31, 2023 at 6:14 pm

      Totally agree about not doing your own covers. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and bad/amateurish-looking covers don’t make a good one.

  • joylenebutler

    January 31, 2023 at 3:02 pm

    Congratulations, Janet. Never get tired of hearing that, okay? Another quote for you: “Being a writer is easy, all you have to do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Hemingway.

    • Janet Alcorn

      January 31, 2023 at 6:14 pm

      Thanks! And yeah, some days it really does feel like bleeding. At least we’re past the typewriter days though!

  • Elizabeth Seckman

    January 31, 2023 at 9:28 pm

    Congratulations! And best of luck on the massive rewrite. I kinda like rewrites…they’re like putting together a massive puzzle with a kitten who enjoys batting the pieces across the floor.

  • diedre Knight

    February 5, 2023 at 3:27 pm

    Hi, Janet!

    And undead is what I’ll have to be before I finish my current WIP, I guess 😉 Great memes. Congratulations on all of your accomplishments – you’re on a roll! Maybe this will be the year I rejoin the writing groups I so enjoyed. I was last a member of Az Mystery Writers, until Covid. I bet I’ve seen you around.
    Happy writing!

    • Janet Alcorn

      February 5, 2023 at 4:02 pm

      It would be fun to see you around! I moved to Tucson in 2020, so I have no experience with any of my groups pre-COVID. I joined Arizona Mystery Writers last summer and the Tucson chapter of Sisters in Crime in 2021. Both are great, and both are starting to meet in person again. AMW is meeting on Saturday. Come join us!