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
  • IWSG,  Writing

    #IWSG: Gimme that sweet, sweet deadline

    December 1, 2020 /

    Happy IWSG Day! For those who are new here, I participate in the monthly Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop. This month’s optional question is: Are there months or times of the year that you are more productive with your writing than other months, and why? I’ve been mulling over this question for a few days, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m more productive with my writing when a) I’m not dealing with a major life event (like moving… sigh… we’ve been here a month, and the house is still full of boxes) and b) I have a deadline. Time of year, by itself, doesn’t seem to make much…

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    Janet Alcorn

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

    January 5, 2022
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    On inspiration and perspiration

    May 3, 2023
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    How to receive feedback on your writing without letting it crush your soul

    May 4, 2022
  • Arizona,  Photos,  Stream of Consciousness Saturday

    #SoCS: Our choices make our lives (with bonus pics from Saguaro National Park)

    November 28, 2020 /

    This post is part of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday blog hop. Linda Hill posts a prompt every Friday; this week’s prompt is: “opt.” Use it as a word or find a word with “opt” in it and base your post on that. Yesterday my husband and I opted out of unpacking, organizing, and cleaning. Instead of doing those responsible adult things, we opted to explore the western unit of Saguaro National Park, about a half-hour’s drive from our new home in Tucson. I read a lot of self-help books, because I want to be the best version of me than I can, and I have a lot of dreams I want…

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    Janet Alcorn

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    Dispatch from Up North, Part 2: Bootleg Lake, Arizona

    September 30, 2022
    Spiny cactus with 2 pink flowers and one red bud emerging from top and sides. Petals are light pink around the edges with a dark pink stripe in the middle. Center of flowers is yellow with a green frond-like thing sprouting from the center.

    Pincushion cactus flower in Sabino Canyon outside Tucson, Arizona (#FOTD)

    August 10, 2021

    Desert flowers and the monthly book roundup

    April 21, 2023
  • Stream of Consciousness Saturday

    #SoCS: What a day! (rinse, repeat)

    November 7, 2020 /

    This post is part of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday blog hop. Linda Hill posts a prompt every Friday; this week’s prompt is: Find a word containing “jour” or use it as is. Bonus points if you start or end your post with that word. Jour is French for, “day.” I thought so, because the phrase, “du jour,” is pretty common, but I Googled it just to make sure, because God forbid I make a bigger idiot out of myself than usual… in print… on the internet. If you’d like to learn more about the word, see the Wiktionary entry. Yes, I am a librarian. Why do you ask? So……

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    Janet Alcorn
  • Photos,  Travel

    Utah escape/escapades – Bryce Canyon

    October 17, 2020 /

    Several of my more recent posts have been about moving, because, well, we’re moving. Specifically, we’re moving to Tucson, AZ, in a little over a week. As I write this post, I am surrounded by boxes, and my sinuses are irritated by all the dust I’ve stirred up while packing and cleaning. I’m excited about this move and my new job (which I start on Monday–yikes!), but even though I see this move as a big positive, it’s still stressful. There are a thousand little details to keep track of and so, so much work to do. This will be our third big move in a little over a decade,…

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    Janet Alcorn

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    Flowers and Sunsets–and a Tragedy on my Campus

    October 7, 2022

    Ironwood National Monument (Weekend Coffee Share #27)

    February 25, 2022
    Las Vegas Sphere lit up like a yellow emoji with a surprised face

    Pics of the Las Vegas Sphere – and books

    October 20, 2023
  • IWSG,  Writing

    #IWSG: Writing, work, and the highway to hell

    October 7, 2020 /

    Happy IWSG Day! For those who are new here, I participate in the monthly Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop. This month’s optional question is: When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like? First, sorry for missing September, y’all. Please don’t kick me out of the IWSG club. There’s a lot going on in my life right now (see my last few posts if you’re interested–but, spoiler alert, I’m moving), and I couldn’t get…

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    Janet Alcorn

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    November 5, 2024
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    3 ways I’m finding my way back from a writing slump

    February 5, 2025
  • Stream of Consciousness Saturday

    #SoCS: Old and new

    October 3, 2020 /

    This post is part of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday blog hop. Linda Hill posts a prompt every Friday; see https://lindaghill.com/2020/10/02/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-3-2020/. This week’s prompt is “new/old.” Use either or both of the words “new and old” any way you’d like. Bonus points for starting and ending with either one. Old house, new house, old job, new job, old place, new place. This weeks’ prompt is timely. As I’ve written in my last two posts, I’m in the process of relocating from Flagstaff, AZ to Tucson, AZ for a job at the University of Arizona. This week I became more seriously focused on wrapping things up at my old job. My…

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    Janet Alcorn
  • Stream of Consciousness Saturday

    #SoCS: Boxes, boxes, boxes!

    September 26, 2020 /

    This post is part of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday blog hop. Linda Hill posts a prompt every Friday; see https://lindaghill.com/2020/09/25/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-26-2020/. This week’s prompt is “container.” Use the word “container” any way you’d like. Or think about a container of some kind and write about it. Enjoy! I almost didn’t do a Stream of Consciousness Saturday post today, because I am super-busy. Then I looked at the prompt and had to write, because the prompt connects nicely to why I’m super-busy: I’m moving, and I’m supposed to be putting stuff in boxes. And, duh, boxes are containers. I could wax metaphorical about how moving makes you put your whole life in…

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    Janet Alcorn
  • Stream of Consciousness Saturday

    #SoCS: To be uncollared

    September 12, 2020 /

    This post is part of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday blog hop. Linda Hill posts a prompt every Friday; see https://lindaghill.com/2020/09/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-12-2020/. This week’s prompt is “collar.” Use it as a verb, a noun, or metaphorically. One of my first thoughts when seeing this week’s prompt was that a collar is a form of restraint. We put collars on dogs to restrain and control them. Police collar suspects. I suspect my mind went immediately to the idea of restraint, because I’m entering a new chapter of my life, and I want to be less restrained. I’ve accepted a new position in a new city (Tucson, Arizona), and we’re in the process…

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    Janet Alcorn
  • Vanishing, Inc.

    #SoCS: The pros and cons of time travel

    August 15, 2020 /

    This post is part of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday blog hop. Linda Hill posts a prompt every Friday; see https://lindaghill.com/2020/08/14/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-15-2020/. This week’s prompt is “pro/con. Talk about the pros and cons of anything.” Some of you may know that I’m revising my first novel, a time travel romance called Vanishing, Inc. It’s about a young teacher who flees across the country to escape an abusive husband and lands in a tiny mountain town in Arizona. She finds what she thinks is the perfect home, a turn-of-the-last-century stone cottage. It comes with an overly-friendly landlady–and a visitor from another time. So, since time travel has been on my mind lately, let’s…

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    Janet Alcorn

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    Successful pitch session and more writing news

    October 8, 2023
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    Blurbs, pitches, loglines, and other book marketing necessities I suck at (#IWSG)

    November 3, 2021
  • Blogging,  IWSG,  Vanishing, Inc.,  Writing

    #IWSG: Genre-morphing–and a question for my readers

    August 5, 2020 /

    Happy IWSG Day! For those who are new here, I participate in the monthly Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop. This month’s optional question is: Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn’t planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance? Before I get to this month’s question, I have a question for anyone reading this post: Would you be interested in a series of posts loosely related to self-help for writers? I’m not talking about over-the-top, Stewart Smalley style self-help but rather some practical ideas from self-help literature, applied specifically to writing. I’ve been looking for a focus…

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    Janet Alcorn

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

    January 8, 2022

    2023 is off to a weird start

    January 15, 2023

    Celebrating 4 years in the IWSG

    September 5, 2023
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