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March is over?? What the actual !@#$%
Today is the last day of March, and I have no idea where the month went. I also have no idea where January and February went, or where 2022 went, or where my youth went. I’m not alone in my inability to perceive time accurately. At least once a day here at Camp WTF, Long-Suffering Husband or I will say something like, “It’s Friday? How’d that happen?” or, “Damn, we’re old. How’d that happen?” Kind of like Groundhog Day but with more whining. So today, let’s look back at March. Maybe if I have a record of what happened, I can wrap my head around the idea that another month…
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Tucson Festival of Books and Left Coast Crime
Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the internet… I’m baaaaacccckkkkk! I don’t think I’ve taken a 2-week hiatus since I started this blog, but the last few weeks have been cuh-razy. I’ll save the full recap for my end-of-the-month post next week, but this week we’ll talk about: Here we go: Tucson Festival of Books Tucson Festival of Books, affectionately known as TFOB to the regulars, is the third-largest book festival in the USA. (Or so I’m told–I don’t have a citation to support this statement. Why yes, I am an academic. Why do you ask?) It’s held on the University of Arizona campus every…
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New short story published in Trouble in Tucson
New short story published! My new short story, “Adam Carmona and the Case of the Saguaro Ripper,” has just been published in the Trouble in Tucson anthology. What’s it about? Thanks for asking! When Det. Adam Carmona of the Tucson PD arrives at the scene of the Saguaro Ripper’s latest grisly killing, the details look the same as the last 5 murders–until Carmona recognizes the corpse. Here’s the beginning: On a bright January morning, Detective Adam Carmona of the Tucson PD exited his unmarked SUV and surveyed the latest scene. Another killing, the sixth in as many months. “Detective Carmona,” one of the uniforms inside the cordon of tape called.…
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More Snow in Tucson!
It snowed in Tucson! Again! That’s twice now this winter, in case you’re keeping track. We didn’t get much here in Midtown, but my colleagues who live a little higher up had several inches on the ground. We had to be content with this: If it hadn’t been a snow day, I’m sure my neighbors would have wondered about t he ctaking pictures of their yards. I wish I’d been off work yesterday so I could drive out to Saguaro National Park. They got several inches. Article of the week Sometimes I share interesting articles or videos I run across in the course of farting around on the internet doing…
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Author Envy, or Damn, I Wish I’d Written That
Do you ever read a novel, a story, or even a sentence that wows you so much, you wish you’d written it? That’s author envy, and it’s what we’re going to talk about in this month’s post for the Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop. In case you’re new here, 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 March co-hosts are Diedre Knight, Tonya Drecker, Bish Denham, Olga Godim, and JQ Rose. We’re also given an optional question we can answer in our posts; this month’s question is: Have you ever read a line in novel or…
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Farewell, February
February is almost over. I’m going to say that again to see if I can make myself believe it. February. Is. Almost. Over. Weren’t we just stowing our holiday decorations and ringing in the new year? Anyway. No matter how much I try to deny it, it’s almost March, and for reasons I haven’t entirely figured out, I have about 1.4 gazillion major work deadlines in the first 20 days of next month. So expect shorter blog posts for the next few weeks, because it’s going to be hard to fit them in around work and losing my mind. Now, where were we? Oh, yeah–February. This post is part of…
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Snow in Tucson and the monthly book round-up
The big news this week: it snowed in Tucson! A whole half an inch! Yeah, I know, all you East Coasters and Midwesterners and Canadians are rolling your eyes like Linda Blair rolling her head, but we don’t get much cold white stuff down here in Satan’s Anus. Let me have my moment, will ya? But before we get to my moment: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer, and the What’s On Your Bookshelf Challenge, hosted by Sue, Donna, Jo and Deb. Grab a mug of cocoa, curl up under a cozy blanket, and let’s enjoy winter in Tucson! OK, back to the snow. By the time I got…
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Why I don’t do Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is next week. Whoop-de-do. That spiny heart in the photo above is a nice encapsulation of my feelings about Buy-A-Bunch-Of-Pink-Crap day. So’s this: Yes, I’m a Grinch about V-Day, which seems odd for someone who occasionally writes romance. I believe in love, I know the anniversary of my first date with Long-Suffering Husband (Feb. 15). Hell, I can even be a hopeless romantic sometimes, though I keep that nonsense to myself so I don’t ruin my reputation as a crusty hater of all things pink and candy-hearted. But Valentine’s Day? I have some trauma around that day. And I’m going to share it with you, right here and…
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Saguaro National Park East
This week we’ll revisit the east unit of Saguaro National Park (see here and here for previous posts with pictures of this lovely place). I have friends in town and joined them for a leisurely hike in the park last weekend. We’ll also have the usual meme-y silliness. But first: Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! This week’s post will be short, because a) I’ve spent most of the week working, and you probably don’t want to hear about all the exciting meetings I’ve attended, and b) I have to leave for another exciting meeting shortly. Mica View picnic area…
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New year, new writing progress
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…
Janet Alcorn
Suspense | Horror | Romance
