Janet Alcorn

Janet Alcorn

Suspense | Horror | Romance

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Short story “Proof Text” published in Kings River Life

My short story, “Proof Text,” was just published in Kings River Life! “Proof Text” is a short suspense piece about an exhausted farm wife who must finish one essential chore.…

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March 11, 2025

“The Fourth Man” won a prize!

My short story, “The Fourth Man,” won second prize in the Arizona Mystery Writers annual short story contest! The Jim Martin Memorial Short Story Contest recognizes short mystery, suspense, and…

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December 22, 2023

Writing Your Own Destiny (interview on the Mysterious Goings-On podcast)

Want to learn how to start writing fiction and use short stories to further your writing career? In a recent interview I did for the Mysterious Goings-On podcast, I talk…

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December 10, 2023
  • Arizona,  Photos,  Weekend Coffee Share

    Sentinel Peak, Enchanted Hills, and Valentine’s Day nonsense (Weekend Coffee Share #25)

    February 11, 2022 /

    Good morning, and happy Friday! This week we’re going to trek to the west side of Tucson for a visit to Sentinel Peak (also known as “A” Mountain) and Enchanted Hills Trails Park, then complain about Valentine’s Day. But first: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! If you have a blog and want to interact with some cool people, join us!

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    Janet Alcorn

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    Joshua Tree Forest, writing news, books, and more pandemic memes (Weekend Coffee Share #30)

    March 18, 2022

    Hosting a write-in and trying to finish a book

    October 14, 2022

    A visit to Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, Arizona

    December 9, 2022
  • Arizona,  Music,  Photos,  Weekend Coffee Share

    Agua Caliente County Park + 80s fun (Weekend Coffee Share #24)

    February 4, 2022 /

    I did diddly squat last week, so for this week’s coffee share, we’re going to time travel back to good ol’ 2021. Buckle up! Yeah, sorry, no DeLorean for us. How much money do you think a librarian makes, anyway? Hop in the back of my 23-year-old pickup, and let’s go. But first: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Pretend we’re having coffee together, and I’m boring you to tears with photos and reminiscences.

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    Janet Alcorn

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    Pueblo ruin, stacked red sandstone, showing multiple rooms and windows

    The Ancient Pueblo Ruins of Wupatki National Monument

    July 6, 2021

    Sweetwater Trail, flower pics, and a fresh batch of memes (Weekend Coffee Share #34)

    April 15, 2022
    Mural and lettering on side of grey stucco building. Painting of steam train in on tracks in desert landscape writing: "1880, Greetings from Willcox Arizona, Cattle Capital of the World."

    Visiting Willcox, Arizona + a few updates

    August 12, 2023
  • IWSG,  Writing

    The importance of being influenced (#IWSG)

    February 2, 2022 /
    Insecure Writer's Support Group badge

    The word, influencer, makes most of us think of self-absorbed wannabe celebrities sharing their carefully-curated lives on Instagram or Tik Tok. (Nice work if you can get it, I suppose.) But we all have influencers. From the time we’re born, the people in our lives shape us in all kinds of ways. One of the things I find both fascinating and terrifying is how a stray remark, a quick interaction, can have a profound effect on another human being. None of us fully understands the power we have over others just by going about our daily business. I’ve written on here a few times about how I got a late…

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    Janet Alcorn

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    Insecure Writer's Support Group badge

    Dispatch from the query trenches

    March 4, 2026
    Insecure Writer's Support Group badge

    20 years of blogging: a look back

    April 2, 2024
    Insecure Writer's Support Group badge

    How to keep writing when the writing gets tough

    June 1, 2022
  • Music,  Weekend Coffee Share

    January in the rearview mirror (Weekend Coffee Share #23)

    January 30, 2022 /

    Lately I’ve been by turns baffled and terrified at how fast time is passing. 2022? Shouldn’t that be the title of a sci-fi movie? But here we are, almost a month into that sci-fi year, and I find myself in a weird, reflective mood. The last week or so has been… odd. I feel like the fog in my life has lifted, and I’ve found my blue sky again. Cheesy? Yup. But true. I’ve come to realize I’ve spent the last quite a few years just slogging through life. They’ve been hard years–lost my mom, lost one of my best friends, watched my husband suffer through multiple painful surgeries, and…

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    Janet Alcorn

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    Ironwood National Monument (Weekend Coffee Share #27)

    February 25, 2022

    The August wrap-up: Steel Panther and gastroenterology fun

    September 2, 2023
    Last in Line at the Rialto in Tucson Arizona

    Busy April: Last in Line Concert and Tucson Travel

    April 28, 2023
  • Weekend Coffee Share,  What's On Your Bookshelf

    Books, Tunes, and Memes–What Else Could You Possibly Want? (Weekend Coffee Share #22, What’s on Your Bookshelf #2)

    January 21, 2022 /

    Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer and What’s on Your Bookshelf, hosted by Retirement Reflections. Let’s get these link parties started! First up:

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    Books, laughs, and more (Weekend Coffee Share #26, What’s on Your Bookshelf #3)

    February 18, 2022

    If it weren’t for COVID, I’d have no news at all

    May 13, 2022

    Wupatki National Monument + the usual nonsense

    June 11, 2022
  • Flower of the Day,  Garden

    Skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus)

    January 20, 2022 /
    Yellow blossoms that look like calla lillies rising from lily-like green leaves, spattered with raindrops

    Posted for Cee’s Flower of the Day photo challenge. Need more flowers in your life? Check out Cee’s blog as well as my flower of the day posts.

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    Janet Alcorn

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    Closeup of velvet pod mimosa blooms in various stages, from buds to bright pink open flowers to faded light pink flowers

    Velvet-pod Mimosa (Mimosa dysocarpa)

    August 16, 2021

    Survivors of the first frost

    December 18, 2021

    The weekly update: bobcat sighting, books, garden pix, and a small batch of memes

    May 21, 2022
  • Arizona,  Photos,  Weekend Coffee Share

    Gila Bend, Arizona travels, a few laughs, and a great tune (Weekend Coffee Share #21)

    January 14, 2022 /
    4 dark grey rocks covered in whitish-grey petroglyphs

    Happy Friday, friends! In last week’s edition of the Weekend Coffee Share, I shared pictures of our visit to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, part of our short winter break road trip. This week I’ll share pictures from Day 2, along with a few laughs that have crossed my screen this week, and, well… you’ll just have to read to the bottom to find out the rest. But first, welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. This week, she’s shared some incredible dinosaur murals. Don’t miss ’em!

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    Flowers and Sunsets–and a Tragedy on my Campus

    October 7, 2022

    Saguaro National Park East during a wet monsoon

    August 26, 2022

    A Visit to Mission San Xavier del Bac

    July 14, 2023
  • Arizona,  Blogging,  Photos,  Short Stories,  Weekend Coffee Share

    New story published, Organ Pipe Cactus trip, blog recap, recap, and New Years memes (Weekend Coffee Share #20)

    January 8, 2022 /
    Creosote, teddy bear cholla, ocotillo, and saguaros in foreground with rust-brown colored mountain in background in late afternoon light

    Happy New Year, friends! I hope everyone had wonderful winter holidays. And a big thanks to Natalie the Explorer intrepid hostess of the Weekend Coffee Share! Thanks, Natalie, for helping me connect to so many awesome bloggers like yourself. Writing News–my latest short story is published! My big writing news: My Christmas horror story, “Woe is Me, Poor Child, for Thee,” has been published in the annual Deathlehem holiday horror anthology. See the linked post for deets. SQUEE!

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    Janet Alcorn

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    meadow of dry grass in front of forested hills

    Lockett Meadow, writing news, memes, and more

    June 25, 2022

    A visit to Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, Arizona

    December 9, 2022

    Joshua Tree Forest, writing news, books, and more pandemic memes (Weekend Coffee Share #30)

    March 18, 2022
  • IWSG,  Writing

    When to start a writing career? The second best time is now (#IWSG)

    January 5, 2022 /
    Insecure Writer's Support Group badge

    The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” Chinese proverb This post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group monthly blog hop, co-hosted this month by Erika Beebe, Olga Godim, Sandra Cox, Sarah Foster, and Chemist Ken. This month’s optional question is: What’s the one thing about your writing career you regret the most? Were you able to overcome it? Before I get to this month’s question, I want to share some exciting news with my IWSG friends (and anyone else who missed my announcement last week): I’ve published another short story! It’s a Christmas horror story, published in this year’s Deathlehem anthology, The Colour…

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    Janet Alcorn

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    Read these 6 Books to Improve Your Fiction Writing (With a Sex-Related Bonus)

    August 4, 2021
    Collage featuring logos for BlueSky and Threads, photos of a spool of blue thread and a blue sky, and screenshots of Janet Alcorn's profiles on BlueSky and Threads

    Threads and BlueSky: New Social Media Options for Writers

    October 31, 2023
    Insecure Writer's Support Group badge

    3 ways I’m finding my way back from a writing slump

    February 5, 2025
  • Writing

    2021: My year in writing

    January 1, 2022 /

    2021 was an eventful year in my writing career. I published some stories, made some progress, endured some frustration, and learned, learned, learned. Such is the life of a developing writer. I hope you’ll indulge me in a little year-end navel-gazing. I enjoy these kinds of posts from other writers, because it helps me see behind the curtain of their careers and get a more realistic understanding of what a year in a writer’s life can look like. And as I mentioned in my last year-end retrospective post (State of the blog and most popular posts of 2021), I find it helpful to do some annual stock-taking to evaluate my…

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    Janet Alcorn

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    7 things I love about reading (and writing) crime fiction

    October 4, 2022

    Hosting a write-in and trying to finish a book

    October 14, 2022

    2023 is off to a weird start

    January 15, 2023
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