Writing news and the monthly book post
I have writing news! And I read some books! And it’s cold in Tucson!
C’mon, at least pretend you’re excited. My delicate writer’s ego bruises easier than an overripe heirloom tomato. And if you humor me, you get memes.
OK, fine, you get memes anyway.
Let’s get this party started before I make a bigger idiot of myself. 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 treat, have a seat, and let’s get to it.
Brrrrrr….
Greetings from Tucson, where it’s 30F, and we’re all whining about being cold. This is the part of the post where the Canadians, New Englanders, and Midwesterners roll their eyes and whip out those tiny violins. But:
And yes, I really have been walking around in a winter coat with the hood up. Hopefully we’ll return to our regularly-scheduled weather bragging next week–before I develop hypothermia.
Writing News!
I’ve been teasing some writing news for awhile now, not because I’m an attention-seeking jerk (ahem) but because I had to wait for everything to be official. The i’s are dotted and t’s crossed, so now I can share.
- My short story, “Walk Me Home,” won first prize in the 2022 Jim Martin Memorial Short Story Contest sponsored by Arizona Mystery Writers! It’s available as a free download on their contest winners page. I’ll be making a separate post about this to pin to the top of my blog, probably later this weekend.
- My short story, “Adam Carmona and the Saguaro Ripper,” will be published in the 2023 Left Coast Crime anthology, Trouble in Tucson! The anthology will be distributed to attendees at Left Coast Crime, a crime fiction fan conference that will be held here in Tucson in March and also available for sale on Amazon. More details coming once it’s published. And I’ll be attending Left Coast Crime, so if you are too, let me know, and let’s meet up.
I’ve shared before that this has been a rough year for me, writing-wise, so this kind of external validation means a lot.
Holiday News
Heads-up that the Weekend Coffee Share is going on hiatus for two weeks. I’ll still be blogging, but I probably won’t stick to my weekly schedule. In fact, since I’m taking a couple of weeks off work, I may randomly post random nonsense whenever I feel like it. I get in trouble when I’m unscheduled.
Let’s Talk About Books, Baby!
It’s hard to believe it’s already been a month since the last What’s On Your Bookshelf post. I’m tired of living life on fast forward. Can we slow down? Please?
Anyway. On to the books. Here’s what I read since last month’s post:
- A Killing Fire – Faye Snowden. In this modern-day noir, the daughter of a serial killer is now a cop trying to catch a killer. Snowden writes so well, bringing the fictional town of Byrd’s Landing, Louisiana, and its characters vividly to life.
- Birds of Prey: The Harlan Coben Challenge – C.J. Box (editor). This Audible Original features short stories by some of the best thriller writers out there (Kathy Reichs, Robert Dugoni, Hank Phillipi Ryan, and more). Available only in audio from Audible.
- A Stolen Life – Jaycee Dugard. Dugard was kidnapped when she was 11, raped repeatedly, and held captive for 18 years in a backyard in Antioch, CA. I read her book as research for the novel I’m revising, which involves a serial killer who preys on preteen girls. She’s not overly graphic, and the book is well-written and gives some interesting insights into the psychology of both her and her captor. But it’s difficult to read. I had to take breaks pretty regularly because of the subject matter.
- Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot: How to Write Gripping Stores That Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats – Jane Cleland. Excellent. I want to reread it with a highlighter and take detailed notes. So helpful.
- Down a Dark River – Karen Odden. Wonderful historical mystery! Michael Corravan, bare-knuckled boxer from Whitechapel turned Scotland Yard detective, hunts a serial killer in 1878 London. Odden has an incredible gift for including sensory details without slowing down the narrative. I felt like I could smell the river water and feel the rattle of carriage wheels over cobblestones.
Memes!
Pretty sure this meme has ruined The Hunger Games for me.
I can’t believe they omitted a square of toilet paper from the image on the left. Does this person even read?
There’d better be fava beans on the menu and Chianti on the wine list.
Me, every time I go to a library:
Also me in a library:
Speaking of used bookstores… Me in the writing section at Bookman’s a couple of weeks ago:
Also the day I discovered the crime fiction section in my university library. I want to build a blanket fort in the aisle and live there.
The books in my home office can relate to this one:
I literally did that last night. Someone should develop a men’s cologne that smells like new books. Guys, you’d have nerdy girls like me climbing you like a tree.
And finally:
How about y’all? Reading anything good this weekend? I’m reading Blind Journey: A Journalist’s Memoirs by Jack Hawn, fellow Arizona Authors Association member and former journalist for the LA Times.
39 Comments
Marsha
Thanks for the reading tips, Janet. I always enjoy your posts. I hope you thrive as a writer in 2023. I’m still blogging, Writer’s Quotes Wednesdays until the very end, so if you’d care to join me, you’ll keep me company through the cold mornings when our temps up in Prescott are in the teens! Yikes! Our California neighbors are enjoying highs of 60s -70s – and to think we left all that to come to a better climate! 🙂
Janet Alcorn
Thanks–I might do that!
I don’t miss those high country winter temps. I whined all winter in Flagstaff.
Marsha
I would whine in Flagstaff. I’m not quite so whiney here. 🙂
Retirement Reflections
Hi, Janet – Congratulations on the success of your short stories. That is awesome news!!! Thank you for joining us at What’s On Your Bookshelf. I always look forward to your posts — and your memes.
Stay warm!!
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! I’ve become best buddies with my shawl and heating pad 🙂
Writing Sparkle
Congratulations on your writing!
I plan to do a coffee share the next 2 weeks even though there is no link up, so if you pop in please leave me your link in the comment section so I can visit you back. Happy holidays, Janet.
Janet Alcorn
Cool! I’ll probably do them too. It’ll be a good time for looking-back-on-2022 posts. Happy holidays to you too!
Joanne
That book scented cologne comment nearly had me spitting out my iced tea! LOL. Oh I can so relate to that. I have to really hold myself back from not walking out of the library with a box of books (oh, wait! I’ve done that!!). I can’t believe it’s warmer here than there! It “warmed up” to 40 today and I am loving this slightly less cold rainy weather that chased away all our snow.
Janet Alcorn
LOL! Maybe I should go into the men’s cologne business 😉
I’ll always be grateful to the librarians in my hometown library who let me ignore the checkout limit when I was a kid and take as many books as I wanted. Many times I carried out a stack half as tall as me.
We’ve made it to 55 today! Big improvement over the last 2 days. I’ve stopped whining about being cold… for now.
Jo
Congratulations! Why is it that external validation means so much even though we know logically that it shouldn’t matter… but it does. Again, congratulations. As always your memes are hilarious & as for books, Down a Dark River could just end up on my TBR. Thanks for linking up and merry Christmas.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! I don’t know why external validation means as much as it does, but it probably has something to do with my raging case of imposter syndrome. Ah, well. No one ever accused writers of being paragons of emotional health 🙂
Merry Christmas to you too!
Jo
I hear you on imposter syndrome too. Heavy sighs.
Deborah
Congratulations on your short story success!!!
I also like the sound of The Killing Fire. Definitely my sort of book. I love thrillers.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! A Killing Fire is great, and the second book in the series either just came out or is coming out very soon.
Sue from Women Living Well After 50
Hi Janet, well done and congratulations on your two short story wins. It’s been great to have you join us with your recommendations each month and I look forward to you joining us in 2023 for more #WOYBS. I enjoy crime and thrillers so will be adding The Killing Fire to my list. x
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! A Killing Fire is great, and the next book in the series either just came out or is coming out very soon.
Jennifer Jones
Congratulations on your short story being published Janet. I’ve put the Harlan Coben on my TBR. As usual your memes made ne laugh
Janet Alcorn
Thanks!
I’m really starting to love short story collections, especially mysteries and thrillers. I think my attention span is getting shorter 🙂
Janis @ RetirementallyChallenged.com
Congratulations! I’m looking forward to reading your short story.
We are all the way down to 64 degrees here and I’m ready to turn on the heater.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! I hope you like it.
We turned on the heat over a month ago, because we’ve become wimps.
Bobbiem91
Be happy you are in Tucson. 7 F is not my favorite temp. That was this morning. I really like the bookmark meme. I’ve use toilet paper as a bookmark. Currently reading Veryln Klinkenborg’s book “Serveral Short Sentences about Writing.” 204 pgs of short sentence but filled with really good advice. “A Holiday by Gaslight” by Mimi Matthews a historical romance as a change of pace, I tried reading at work–it didn’t work.
Janet Alcorn
7–ugh. I remember those single-digit temps from Flagstaff. Glad to be here (though I’ll sing a different tune in the summer).
“Several Short Sentences About Writing” sounds interesting!
Natalie
Janet, Congratulations on the success of your short stories. That’s fantastic news. Your memes made me laugh as usual. I did not roll my eyes about 30F 🙂 Stay safe and warm. Thank you for your weekend coffee share. Happy holidays!
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! Happy holidays to you too!
leannelc
Hi Janet – congrats on the short stories being published and for the big win. Loved your memes as usual and I hope the temperatures are warming up a little for you. Merry Christmas from sunny Australia. 🙂
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! Definitely getting warmer (finally). Merry Christmas to you too!
Scribble and Scran
Love your book memes, especially the one for the new books at the bookstore. I do not need anymore cookery books….but can’t help myself!
Janet Alcorn
I love cookbooks! I don’t love cooking, though, so I try not to buy them. They’ll just sit on my shelf, lonely and ignored.
trent
Congratulations on your writing news! Both good! Of course, with your other news, yes, I do have my violin out. lol Cool you get two weeks off, though. Yeah, my wife never has to give that look, but my TBR pile? Guilty as charged.
Janet Alcorn
Our poor, long-suffering TBR piles 🙂
joylene butler
I know without a doubt that I could not read A Stolen Life. But it’s a story that needed to be told. It makes me very angry. Which is why he choose such young girls; he knew they couldn’t fight back. What a world. Your Memes are as always: hysterical.
Janet Alcorn
I suspect it was cathartic for her to have a chance to tell her own story in her own way after all those years without control over her own life. It makes me angry too—cases like hers but also how common rape is and how rarely rapists suffer any real consequences.
Gary A Wilson
Hi Janet –
I loved, “Walk Me Home”. expertly crafted, wonderfully delivered and very satisfying wrap-up. Loved how you told the story through her thoughts.
I may have found a typo though – Did you intend the following “I’ms” as a mangled version of “I’m”?
Regardless – I’m so glad you were recognized and rewarded for this gem of a story.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! And yeah, that’s a typo. I edited and re-editing that thing a zillion times and missed it. Opened it up the day it was posted on the web and spotted the typo in about 10 seconds. *sigh*
Susanne
I’m probably included in that group of Canadians and whatnot who would laugh about people in Arizona being cold! I complained all the time when we had our cold snap here but I also couldn’t help but laugh when I read on the news that they cancelled 50-something flights and were going to put together an emergency meeting because of… -1C.
That’s some truly lovely writing news you have there, congratulations on your prize!!
Janet Alcorn
Thanks so much! And yeah, an emergency meeting for -1C seems ridiculous even to me.
Kathleen Howell
CONGRATULATIONS!! That is wonderful news! I’ll be heading over to check out your short story. Wow, 30F is frigging COLD for you AZ folk! Ugh, stay warm! I’ve been losing myself in Christmas horror this month and have happily wrapped up my GoodReads goal of 25 books! Don’t laugh. 🙂
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! And yeah, it is cold for us. I’ve turned into such a weather wimp.
Got any Christmas horror recommendations? It’s such a fun subgenre.
Julie
Congratulations on winning the Short Story contest!