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On inspiration and perspiration
I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o’clock every morning. Attributed to William Faulkner People who aren’t writers (a/k/a normal people) like to talk about inspiration. Where do you get your ideas? What inspired that story? A few will ask about writing routines, and I figure they’re aspiring writers looking for some magic formula for finishing the Great American Novel. I’ve been writing fiction for only about 9 years, but already I’ve figured out there’s no magic formula, no combination of creativity exercises + daily routines that will magically put words in a document and turn them into a good story. What does put…
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Busy April: Last in Line Concert and Tucson Travel
I’m still trying to figure out where March went, and now April is almost gone. I think the months pass so quickly for me because I’m a) old and b) busy. This post will be a quick slice-of-life view of the past month here at Camp WTF. It’s also part of the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer, and What’s Been on Your Calendar, hosted by Sue, Debbie, Donna, and Jo. The Day Job I don’t talk a lot about my day job on here, because I’m trying to keep my writing life separate from my professional life (hence the pseudonym). But it’s been a big month for me on…
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Desert flowers and the monthly book roundup
I’ve been neglecting my blogging lately. I’ve now missed two weekly posts in the last month, though I have an excuse other than working: I’ve been having fun! My friend Laurel visited last week, and we hiked and explored and went to a concert, and now I’m collapsed in an exhausted heap, struggling to make my hands move enough to type. Well, OK, I’m not quite that tired. And I have enough pictures for at least a month of posts. I still need to sort through them all, so this week I’ll just share a few featuring one of my favorite photographic subjects: desert flowers. But before I get to…
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Plants in space! (and plants in my yard)
Plants in space! I’ve been waiting all week to write that headline. In case you’re new here, I work for the University of Arizona. Last week we had our annual faculty cookout (my first one, since I started my job during pandemic, and it’s hard to have a cookout over Zoom) at one of the university research facilities here in town. When we weren’t stuffing our overeducated faces with amazing Mexican food, we were offered tours of some of the research facilities. Long-Suffering Husband and I took a tour of a laboratory where scientists are studying how to grow plants to support a human mission to Mars or the moon.…
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Taking stock of my writing career
So there I was, minding my own business, when along comes the April IWSG question to make me get all self-reflective. 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 April co-hosts are Jemima Pett, Nancy Gideon, and Natalie Aguirre. We’re also given an optional question we can answer in our posts. This month’s question is: Do you remember writing your first book? What were your thoughts about a career path on writing? Where are you now and how is it working out for you? If you’re at the start of the…
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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…
Janet Alcorn
Suspense | Horror | Romance
