Picture of Grumpy Cat with tinsel on her head and a banner headline reading, "HAPPY NEW WHATEVER JUST DON'T SCREW IT UP"

The 2023 Highlight Reel: Writing, Travel, and More

December 29, 2023 /

I’m one of those weird people who enjoy reading everyone’s annual navel-gazing posts: what I accomplished this year, cool things I did/places I went this year, etc. So as I usually do this time of year, I set out to write mine. I’ll start with my first post of 2023, I said to myself. What were my intentions for the year? How did last year’s accomplishments stack up to this year’s?

And now I need a stiff drink. And it’s only 7 AM. And I don’t even drink.

When I wrote last year’s post, I complained that 2022 wasn’t one of my more productive years and selected persevere as my word of the year for 2023. My friends, I was even less productive in 2023 and I completely forgot about my word of the year by the end of January. So if you’re looking for a 2023 recap post that will make you feel better about your own life, this one might be it.

But first: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer, and What’s Been on Your Calendar, hosted by Sue, Donna, Jo and Deb. Have a seat, grab a treat, and let’s wrap up 2023.

Writing

I really struggled to persevere with my writing. Here’s a summary of what I was able to accomplish:

  • “Adam Carmona and the Saguaro Ripper,” a thriller short story I wrote in 2022, was published in Trouble in Tucson, an anthology published by the two Arizona chapters of Sisters in Crime in conjunction with the annual Left Coast Crime conference.
  • “Mourning Doves,” won best in category for poetry in the Arizona Authors Association annual literary contest.
  • “The Fourth Man” won second prize in the Arizona Mystery Writers annual short story contest.
  • I got back on track with revising my second novel, Delta Dawn. Progress is SLOOOOWWWWWW, but it’s actual, consistent progress. I’m about 25% of the way through a massive revision.

I also invested some time in education, networking, and promotion this year:

  • I attended the Left Coast Crime conference, which was held here in Tucson, and met a bunch of my fellow crime writers. I also appeared on a panel called Packing it All in a Short Story.
Panelists at Left Coast Crime panel called Packing it All in a Short Story: Alan Orloff (moderator), Janet Alcorn, Gay Toltl Kinman, Stephen D. Rogers, and Kate Thornton
“Packing it All in a Short Story” panel at Left Coast Crime. L to r: Alan Orloff (moderator), me, Gay Toltl Kinman, Stephen D. Rogers, and Kate Thornton
  • I was a guest on 2 podcasts: Big Blend Radio and Mysterious Goings-On.
  • I attended the virtual Write Now conference, including a pitch session with an agent. The agent requested my manuscript but sent me a form rejection a couple of weeks ago. *sigh* Ah, well, at least I have a little experience pitching now.
  • I was elected president of the Tucson chapter of Sisters in Crime.

Blogging

I posted a bit less often this year to make time for other things (like resting), but I’ve kept the blog up fairly well. Here are my most popular posts of 2023:

Travel

My year in travel is a little less pitiful than my year in writing. Highlights:

  • Tracy, Stockton, and Sacramento in January (a/k/a How I got COVID on my winter vacation). See some pics of the California Delta here and here (and one below).
  • Willcox and Chiricahua National Monument in August (here and here)
Woman standing under large rock formation
Along the Echo Canyon Trail
Las Vegas Sphere lit up like an emoji, yellow with a surprised face with street traffic in foreground
Sphere, Las Vegas
Looking up at the underside of the Space Needle, which is glowing in the late afternoon sun.

Work and general life stuff

  • The book on library leadership I co-edited with a colleague came out in May!
  • I applied for a position in my library that would have been a significant promotion. I didn’t get it, but I made it to the last round of interviews and enjoyed the process.
  • I served as a moderator for a session at the Tucson Festival of Books with author David Quammen. So much fun!
  • Live music! For the first time since COVID! I made it to 2 concerts here in Tucson: Last in Line and Steel Panther.
Andrew Freeman, frontman for Last in Line
Spyder, bassist for Steel Panther

It’s been interesting to scroll back through a year’s worth of blog posts. Whenever I’m not working, I struggle to balance chores and errands with writing, reading, travel/recreation, gardening, and resting/recuperating. On any given weekend, there’s time for maybe 3 of those at most. What I need to remember is that over a whole year, I can cover all of them. And I mostly did in 2023.

Looking ahead to 2024

For 2024, I’m going to keep my goals modest, because, honestly, I’m exhausted. Here’s what I’m hoping to do in the coming year:

Writing goals

  • Finish my current revision of Delta Dawn and get it out to a couple of beta readers
  • Take a writing workshop. Not sure which one yet, but it’s time to get back into investing in my growth as a writer.
  • Write a short story for the Arizona Mystery Writers annual contest
  • Write a short story to submit to Deathlehem. I didn’t do that this year, and I wish I had.
  • Post here on the blog regularly, though I may dial back my participation in link parties to take some pressure off myself.
  • Figure out what to do with my first novel, Vanishing, Inc. Do I want to continue querying agents? (not really) Query small presses? (probably) Self-publish? (maybe) What I don’t want to do is leave it banished in the bowels of my hard drive for another year.

Personal goals

  • Take at least one trip this summer to somewhere cooler than Arizona (as in, pretty much anywhere that isn’t Arizona).
  • Get back into a semi-regular exercise routine. I did this for several years but fell off the wagon bigtime last year.
  • Explore more of Tucson rather than going back to the same old places or lying under my ceiling fan, whining about the heat.
  • Read 70 books. My goal this year was 75, and I’m going to fall about 10 books short. I want to spend more time reading and less time scrolling social media on my phone.
  • Maintain my streak on Duolingo (I’m learning Spanish). Right now it stands at 588 days.

That’s… pretty much it. I need to be kinder and gentler with myself this year: modest goals, steady progress, less self-castigation.

The memery

I should spend the next 20 minutes hunting up clever New Years memes, but in keeping with my goal to be kinder to myself, I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to share some of the random nonsense accumulating on my hard drive.

First, a few seasonal goodies:

Change the wine to chocolate, and I’m in.

As long as we’re looking ahead:

*shudder*

Looking ahead to when I go back to work next week:

Truer words were never memed.

And finally, my one and only New Years resolution:

Happy New Year, everyone! May 2024 be your best year yet.

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32 Comments

  • csuhpat1

    December 29, 2023 at 6:20 pm

    Looks like you had a great year and you got to visit lovely Tracy, Ca (Sorry, but my kids grew up there when there mom and me spilt up and they didn’t like it) but you went to Seattle which is cool.

    Happy 2024 to you and your family.

    • Janet Alcorn

      December 30, 2023 at 6:43 am

      Thanks! So many of us start the new year with the best of intentions yet don’t make the changes to our lives necessary for new activities to become habits (myself included).

  • Joanne

    December 30, 2023 at 8:06 am

    It sounds like you were fairly productive to me! Oh, and our stores had Valentine’s day things up before Christmas even came this year so that meme is pretty darn accurate…

  • Astrid

    December 30, 2023 at 8:59 am

    Wow, thanks for telling me you weren’t productive and that if I wanted to feel good about myself, I should read your post then writing a post that showed you were totally awe-inspiring! Good luck on your 2024 goals.

    • Janet Alcorn

      December 31, 2023 at 8:02 am

      Sorry, that really wasn’t my intention. This really was a slow writing year for me, especially compared to the previous 2. I think I’m burning myself out and need to find a better balance.

      • Astrid

        December 31, 2023 at 2:12 pm

        Oh yeah, I realize my comment sounds a bit sarcastic indeed. Apologies if I offended you. I really hope you’ll find some balance in 2024.

        • Janet Alcorn

          January 2, 2024 at 8:38 am

          No offense taken. I was just worried that I’d come off as one of those insufferable humblebrag people. Truly not my intention. I’m my own worst critic, and it shows in this post.

  • trentpmcd

    December 30, 2023 at 11:15 am

    I may do a navel gazing post early in the new year, but did not do one for my coffee share post. On the other hand, for 2023 I completed some super difficult projects at work that ate all of my energy and I… Hmm, did I do anything else? At least you did some writing stuff and traveled (and caught Covid while traveling – I caught it in 2022 while in Scotland…)
    Not only do we have our own candy, we got revenge in a movie…
    Have a Happy New Year!

    • Janet Alcorn

      December 31, 2023 at 8:01 am

      Yeah, work definitely took a lot of my time and energy. I’m also getting less and less excited about working all the time—and writing is also work.

      Happy New Year!

  • Barbara Ann Mealer

    December 30, 2023 at 11:59 am

    You did a ton of stuff in writing and traveling–so don’t beat yourself up.

    Do a bit more querying to agents. Look for those looking for your type of book. You know the drill. The author for Where the Crawdads Sing–400 queries–and it’s a best seller.

    Places to go–Take a week or so and go to Glacier National Park or Zion (which is closer) or Brice Canyon or the Painted Desert and the Petrified forest (you can do them both in one day) I also loved Yellowstone. Those were the ones that were fantastic to see. I also enjoy going over Wolf Pass to Colorado and to Mesa Verde. If you like history, Fort Apache which is closer to you than me.

    Or you can do like I do–find a back road and get lost.

    • Janet Alcorn

      December 31, 2023 at 8:00 am

      Glacier is gorgeous—would love to go back there. Same with Zion and Bryce. We visited Petrified Forest and some other places in that area several times when we lived in Flag. Such interesting country! I loved Yellowstone too and would love to go back. I have some unused flight credit on JetBlue so might fly back east this year and explore upstate NY and maybe Montreal.

  • Jo

    December 30, 2023 at 1:20 pm

    I’m with you – I love reading these end of year wrap-up posts … although I’m still working on my own. You had a productive 2023 – and achieved a heap … here’s to 2024 – and working out what you want to do with Vanishing, Inc. Happy new year.

    • Janet Alcorn

      December 31, 2023 at 7:56 am

      Thanks. I agree—then I read a post from some guy who wrote 50 short stories last year, getting many of them into good markets, and I think I’m hopeless.

  • Sue from Women Living Well After 50

    December 31, 2023 at 1:48 pm

    Hi Janet, thanks for linking up with us at #WBOYC and sharing your highlight reel for 2023. I find these posts are a wonderful way to reflect on the year and also to highlight experiences or memories that we may have forgotten. Happy New Year to you x

    • Janet Alcorn

      January 2, 2024 at 8:39 am

      Thanks for hosting! And yes, the best thing about writing this post was taking the time to reflect on the year, relive fun experiences, and take some lessons into the new year.

  • Natalie

    December 31, 2023 at 6:40 pm

    Hi Janet, I think you’ve accomplished a lot while working full-time. Thank you for your weekend coffee shares and humour throughout 2023. Happy New Year!

  • Debbie

    January 2, 2024 at 10:56 pm

    Hi Janet, I always enjoy your posts and reading end of year summaries – your year sounds quite productive to me. I do admire all the writing you get done and hope you get to find some balance in 2024! Thanks for joining us for #WBOYC and for sharing the memery 🙂

  • Karen

    January 4, 2024 at 5:21 am

    Happy New Year. 2023 a good year overall. I enjoyed looking back at your pictures. Lots of good things planned for the new year 2024.

  • Esther O'Neill

    January 8, 2024 at 5:33 am

    Duolingo – German. Must. The year began with a renewed invite to Vienna –
    Brilliant friend, we’d be friends if she lived in – (better not name anywhere else.)
    Duolingo, sign up now…. Thanks