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2024 is off to a strong start: the January recap
Welcome to my first What’s Been on Your Calendar post of 2023! I went into my holiday break last month recovering from COVID, exhausted, and struggling to figure out how to rebalance my life so it wouldn’t grind me into fine powder by April Fool’s Day. Then I rested, took a short road trip, spent some time in nature… and felt renewed. January has been the best month I’ve had in awhile. I’m not sure what made the difference but my money’s on rest and spending time really thinking about how best to prioritize the many demands on my time and energy. I’m also not sure how long this new…
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2023: My Year in Books
In this third and final of my 2023 lookback posts (read the first 2 here and here), I’ll take a quick look at my year in books (because nothing is more popular on the internet than a middle-aged librarian’s navel-gazing about her reading list). But first: this post is part of the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer, and What’s on Your Bookshelf, hosted by Sue, Donna, Jo and Deb. Have a seat, grab a treat, and let’s get to it. My year in books As with writing, I struggled a bit with reading in 2023. Basically, I struggled to be productive in 2023 outside of my day job. I don’t know if…
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2023: my year in writing
I covered the highlights of my year in writing in my last post, but I’ll add more detail here, in my first post of 2024 for the Insecure Writers Support Group. My IWSG posts attract a different audience from my routine weekly posts, so I think it’s OK to repeat a little. If you read my last post, feel free to skip to the memes (I’m pretty sure half my readers skip to the memes anyway, but don’t tell me that–you’ll hurt my delicate writer fee-fees.) Before we proceed to my authorial navel-gazing: The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writers Support Group day, on which we insecure writers…
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The 2023 Highlight Reel: Writing, Travel, and More
I’m one of those weird people who enjoy reading everyone’s annual navel-gazing posts: what I accomplished this year, cool things I did/places I went this year, etc. So as I usually do this time of year, I set out to write mine. I’ll start with my first post of 2023, I said to myself. What were my intentions for the year? How did last year’s accomplishments stack up to this year’s? And now I need a stiff drink. And it’s only 7 AM. And I don’t even drink. When I wrote last year’s post, I complained that 2022 wasn’t one of my more productive years and selected persevere as my…
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Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!
No exciting news in this post, no travel pics, probably not much snark (but fear not–there will be memes). So if there are no announcements, no travel pics, and no snark (!!), what will be in this post besides memes? My sincerest wish that you and yours have the happiest of holidays. You, dear reader, are the reason I devote the better part of a weekend morning attempting to be amusing on Al Gore’s internet. Your time and your comments mean the world to me. So, from my house to yours: Those of you who know me through the Weekend Coffee Share (hosted by Natalie the Explorer) may have noticed…
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An interview with author C. Lee McKenzie
I’m excited to feature my first-ever author interview on this blog! Read on for an interview with C. Lee McKenzie, a multi-published author of young adult, middle grade, and adult fiction and a fellow member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. And speaking of the IWSG: 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 co-hosts this month are C. Lee McKenzie, JQ Rose, Jennifer Lane, and Jacqui Murray. Stop by their blogs and leave them some comment love! Each month, the IWSG provides an optional question for us to answer in our posts. This month’s optional question:…
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A post-Thanksgiving hike in Sabino Canyon
Instead of participating in the Hunger Games Black Friday shopping, Long-Suffering Husband and I hiked in Sabino Canyon, a gorgeous natural area at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. And you know what happens whenever I hike in the desert: Cactus pics! Also trail pics and rock pics and blue Arizona sky and… But before we get to all the Sonoran Desert wonderfulness: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! Grab a treat, have a seat, and let’s get to it. A fall hike in Sabino Canyon We’d planned to take the tram into Sabino Canyon, but apparently the rest of Tucson…
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Let’s talk books!
Before I started this post, I browsed a few other entries in the What’s on Your Bookshelf link party. Everyone is talking about cozy holiday reads with titles like Christmas by Candlelight and The Christmas Spirit and covers featuring festively-lit buildings nestled into blankets of snow. And what am I reading? Obsession, a book by former FBI profiler John Douglas on the psyches of killers, rapists, and stalkers. Oh, and the memoir of a former New York medical examiner. Ho, ho, homicide, baby. My reading list for the last month also suffers from a distinct absence of holiday cheer. But before we get to that: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee…
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An award-winning poem and a visit to Seattle
A more-exciting-than-usual week here at Camp WTF. Long-Suffering Husband and I just got back from Seattle. I was there for a work conference; he was there for the coffee. Then as soon as we got back, I got the news that one of my poems won an award in the Arizona Authors Association Annual Literary Contest. Yay! But before we get to all that: This post is part of the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Grab a treat, have a seat, and let’s get to it. “Mourning Doves” won Best in Category My poem “Mourning Doves” won Best in Category in the Arizona Authors Association annual literary…
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Threads and BlueSky: New Social Media Options for Writers
Writers are told we need to “build platform”–have websites, grow our email lists, and build community on social media. Many of us have invested many hours over several years to grow a following on the Site Formerly Known as Twitter, only to watch one egomaniacal billionaire destroy that site piece by poorly-redesigned piece. I’m still on there (for now; follow me @ja_alcorn), but I’m engaging less and less as the most interesting people leave the platform and the bigots and haters take over. Instead, I’m trying out Threads and BlueSky, two new social media options for writers. I’ll share my experiences with both platforms in a minute, but first: The…
Suspense | Horror | Romance
