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Literary genres that are not for me
One of my author bios reads something like, “Janet writes everything from romance to horror, because genres are suggestions, right?” In my rather brief writing “career,” I’ve written: romantic suspense with time travel (see what I mean about genres being suggestions?), a post-apocalyptic short story (subscribe to my newsletter for a free copy), romance, and suspense/mystery/thriller–and even a few poems and personal essays. So when I saw this month’s IWSG question, What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why?, I had to pause and think: Is there anything I absolutely wouldn’t write? Yeah, there is. But before we get to that: Happy IWSG day! I…
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Saguaro National Park 2: Critters and Flowers
Last week I took you on a virtual hike in the east unit of Saguaro National Park, where the desert is green and lush from all the rain we’ve had. This week we’re going to get up close and personal with plants and critters. But first: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! And since I have so many flower pics in this post, I’m also linking up with Cee’s Flower of the Day photo challenge. Lace up your boots, pour your coffee in a Thermos, and let’s hit the trail!
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Saguaro National Park East during a wet monsoon
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that we’ve had lots of rain, and the mountains are greening up. Well, we’ve had more rain, and the mountains are even greener, and Long-Suffering Husband and I finally made time to get out and enjoy them. And you, lucky reader, get to tag along. But first: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Lace up your hiking boots and grab your water bottle–we’re going to do some Sonoran Desert hiking!
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Risking my life for new bookcases
Last week I shared that I was planning to spend a long weekend installing new bookcases in my home office. Friday morning I ordered 2 Billy bookcases from the Tempe IKEA, and Long-Suffering Husband and I headed out on I-10 in my pickup to get them. The first thing to note here is that neither of us thought twice about driving 100 miles to buy bookcases. Well, he probably did, but he’s lived with me for over 35 years, so he didn’t bother to argue. The next thing to note is that the weather forecast called for dust storms and thunderstorms. Our solution? Pack a tarp and go anyway. I…
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Summer in Tucson part 2: more rain, more sunsets, more bats
Monsoon season is in full swing down here in Satan’s Anus. We’ve had rain almost every night this week, including a wall shaker of a thunderstorm Monday night. The mountains are greening up, the weeds are taking over, and we even have mosquitoes and humidity. It’s like Georgia down in here–but with cactus. I love it (well, except for the weeds and mosquitoes). Look at all that green! The Santa Catalinas don’t look like Mount Doom anymore! And there’s even grass! Water truly is life. And then there are the sunsets. These were taken last night in the Catalina foothills. It was a little too dark for my iPhone camera,…
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Late summer in Tucson–it’s hot and there are bats
Today I’m going to introspect about late summer and take you on a visit to a local bat colony. Feel free to skim past the narcissistic navel gazing and go right to the bats. But first: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! Grab a treat and let’s go bat-watching!
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No serial killers this week, because that would be too exciting
This week’s update will be short and serial-killer-free (unlike most of the rest of my July posts–apparently it’s serial killer month here at Camp WTF). I could make a bunch of exciting-sounding excuses: I’m flying to Fiji in an hour! I need to prepare for a call with an agent who wants to represent me! I have an appointment with a financial advisor to help me figure out what to do with my lottery winnings! Right. Uh huh. Here’s the sad truth: Exactly two exciting things happened this week. We bought a new freezer. It rained. Kids, that’s what you have to look forward to when you hit middle age:…
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A bomb threat and more serial killers
The title of this week’s post–A Bomb Threat and More Serial Killers–makes my week sound waaaaayyyyyy more exciting than it actually was. In fact, Long-Suffering Husband, Son, and I have all felt lousy all week, so we haven’t done much. Plus–and I know this will come as a huge shock–it’s seriously hot here in Arizona in July, so my goal has been to do as little as possible and avoid going outside. Part of that goal–the not going outside part–was thwarted big time earlier this week, unfortunately. I’ll get to that in a minute, but first: welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! It’s also What’s…
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Of books and serial killers (with gratuitous complaints about the Arizona heat)
No, this post isn’t about our resident backyard serial killer of tomatoes. That little beast has disappeared, because it’s now too hot here in Satan’s Anus for the tomatoes to produce fruit. Instead, they’re wilted and sad, hoping desperately for temperatures below 100F. Kind of like me. But the plants and I shall hope in vain, because our forecast for the weekend looks like this: At least we might get some rain. Maybe. But don’t worry, I’m not going to spend the rest of this post complaining about the weather. I’m saving that topic for next week. This week it’s time for the monthly What’s on Your Bookshelf Challenge, hosted…
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Gambel’s quail family returns to my backyard
After last week’s excitement, this week has been quiet. After scrambling to meet a couple of submission deadlines, I’ve been slacking recovering this week and focusing more attention on a work-related writing project (a colleague and I are editing a book). I also co-hosted the Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog hop this month. My post is called, No, I Don’t Want to Live in a Fictional World. I think it’s funny, but I’m one of those dorks who laughs at her own jokes, so… Another bit of news: I’m starting a newsletter to support my nascent author business. To subscribe, drop your email in the subscription box at the top…
Janet Alcorn
Suspense | Horror | Romance
