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The best gift I ever received as a writer

December 2, 2025 /

If the hordes of people at our local mall are any indication, it’s holiday season, so I’ll get into the spirit and write a post about gift-giving. Specifically, I’m going to write about the best gift I ever received as a writer.

But first: This post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) blog hop. On the first Wednesday of every month, we IWSG-ers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome co-hosts this month are Tara Tyler, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, Liza, and Natalie Aguirre. Each month our fearless leader (Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh) gives us an optional question to answer. This month’s question is, As a writer, what was one of the coolest/best gifts you ever received?

I’m going to answer this month’s question, but I’m going to cheat–or, to put it in a more academic way (because I am, in fact, an academic–anyone want to form a committee?1), I’m going to subvert expectations. I’m not going to list any of the usual recommended gifts for writers: notebooks, pens, notebooks, books about writing, notebooks, tranquilizers, or notebooks. I’m not going to list any material things at all. How’s that for subversion? Can I say I’m a subversive? That sounds so much cooler than, “unpublished writer.”

Anyway.

The best gift I’ve ever received as a writer is this: support. Especially from my husband. Not only does he not give me grief for locking myself in my office while ignoring the house, the garden, and my family to type out the misadventures of cantankerous fictional people; he actually encourages me. “How’s your writing going?” “Working on any new stories?” “Wanna brainstorm story ideas?” He’s my biggest cheerleader, and I am so very grateful.

Virginia Woolf wrote, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” I’m going to be arrogant enough to disagree with her, at least a little bit. More important than either of those is a supportive family. You can write at the kitchen table if your family supports you enough to give you the space to do so. Money is great, because you aren’t likely to be able to support yourself with your writing unless your first name is Stephen and your last name is King, but money alone won’t give you the space and encouragement to press on (unless you use it to buy a home of your own and hire a cheerleader).

I think a lot about something JA Jance has written about. Her first husband was a writer, and he more or less forbade her to write, because there could only be one writer in the family, and that would be him. Fortunately for the crime fiction genre, she had the good sense to send him packing and start writing. I also think about Charlaine Harris, another giant of crime fiction as well as urban fantasy, and how her husband bought her a typewriter and encouraged her to write. And then I wonder how many people never start writing because their spouses and/or kids and/or parents think it’s stupid and pointless and they’re being selfish for spending time on something like writing when they could be vacuuming or washing dishes or working for pay.

If you want to succeed at anything, surround yourself with supportive people. That support really is the most precious gift you can receive.

And also? Avoid committees.

A dispatch from the query trenches

I’m still querying my first novel, a time travel romance/romantic suspense called Vanishing, Inc. Here are my query stats as of today:

  • Queries sent: 69 (20 more since last month’s post – yay me!)
  • Rejections: 27 (8 more since last month)
  • Partial requests: 2 (yeah, I got another partial request!!!!)
  • Outstanding queries: 40

I also submitted my manuscript to Harlequin for their Afterglow line (they accept submissions from unagented authors). I may search for a few more agents to query, then start querying small presses in a couple of months.

Personal stuff

I spent a long weekend in Monterey with a friend a few weeks ago, and we spent a lovely day exploring Big Sur. I really should write a separate post about that trip, but I probably won’t, so here are a few pics:

Point Sur Light Station
Big Sur
Big Sur in fog

The memery

Merriam Webster’s Threads account is a hoot.

If you know, you know.

Why, oh, why do writing ideas come to me at the most inconvenient times? Hey muse, ya drunken floozie, why don’t you show up when I’m, I dunno, sitting at my computer, attempting to write?

And finally:

I’m outta here. I have an early committee meeting in the morning.

Footnote

(I did say I was an academic)

  1. Just before starting this post, I drafted a committee charge. Yes, really. Also: I decided that “committee” would make an excellent collective noun for academics, as in, “Look, Bob, a committee of academics.” [If Bob knows what’s good for him, he’ll flee before he gets assigned to a subcommittee.] That thought sent me to Google to see if there is, in fact, a collective noun for academics. The first few links were serious responses: faculty, professoriate, etc. After those I discovered an amazing thread on r/professors that includes these gems:
    • A complaint of professors
    • A profundity of professors
    • A bombast of professors
    • A malcontent of students (I actually think a malcontent of professors would be more accurate. Don’t believe me? Attend a meeting of a faculty senate. Any faculty senate. Source: used to be a faculty senator.)

Another aside: Why don’t I get much writing done? Because Reddit exists.

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27 Comments

  • Crystal Collier

    December 3, 2025 at 7:12 am

    Aw! I love that! Support is the best gift any of us can receive — in whatever we’re pursuing.

  • cleemckenzie

    December 3, 2025 at 11:00 am

    You got me to laugh out loud, Janet. “Anyone want to form a committee?” As a former academic, I can relate 100%.

    Your choice of the best gift is perfect. It fits the spirit of this blog hop and the season. May you and yours enjoy special time together this holiday season.

    • Janet Alcorn

      December 4, 2025 at 8:16 am

      Right?! Where 2 or 3 academics are gathered, a committee will form. Add 4 or 5 more, and you’ll get a subcommittee. My alma mater even had a Committee on Committees!

  • Jenni Enzor

    December 3, 2025 at 3:31 pm

    Support is wonderful, but also many writers have been successful without it. Perhaps it’s the I’m going to prove it to them mentality. I do have a supportive family, though, so I’m very thankful for that.
    Your pictures of Big Sur were beautiful. We went to Monterey a couple years back, but it was overcast the whole time, so I never got to see the view.

    • Janet Alcorn

      December 4, 2025 at 8:17 am

      It’s possible to succeed without support, but it’s a lot easier with it. I’d have a hard time loving and respecting someone who didn’t care enough about me to encourage me to succeed.

      Monterey can get cloudy and also foggy. We lucked out in having an absolutely gorgeous day.

  • mlouisebarbourfundyblue

    December 3, 2025 at 3:44 pm

    Support is wonderful, Janet! I have it too, and I write at the kitchen island with the tv on. My husband is very patient! You are doing a great job of putting yourself out there. Cheers to you! 🥂

  • Rebecca Douglass

    December 3, 2025 at 10:04 pm

    I agree about the value of a supportive family. My husband was definitely my biggest cheerleader, and couldn’t wait to tell people we met that I was a writer. Treasure it.

    For what it’s worth, I was briefly an academic, and my husband taught his whole career at SFSU, so I do know what you’re talking about!

  • jlennidorner

    December 4, 2025 at 12:37 am

    Support is most certainly vital to authors. That’s probably what draws us to the IWSG.

    Don’t miss an opportunity to write why you like (or dislike) a book!
    Have a wonderful holiday season. ⭐

    J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) @JLenniDorner ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge

  • patgarcia

    December 4, 2025 at 6:00 am

    Hi,

    I agree. Support is the best thing you can if you’re a writer. I’m happy you got you husband.
    Have a Merry Christmas and a safe crossover into 2026.
    Shalom shalom

  • Barbara Mealer

    December 4, 2025 at 5:51 pm

    Support is great. My husband won’t even bother me if I’m at the computer.
    As to the committees–they are useless entities that will destroy anything productive. Most committees get nothing done and serve no useful purpose. And yes, I’ve been on several and got off them by being obnoxious and sarcastic and actually promoting doing some useful.

    • Janet Alcorn

      December 8, 2025 at 7:54 am

      Some committees really are useless. I’ve been on a good many that actually accomplished something, but I’ve definitely experienced the pointless ones as well.

  • C.D. Gallant-King

    December 5, 2025 at 9:08 am

    Support is wonderful, even if it’s ass-backwards. My family has always been supportive, thought it sometimes doesn’t appear so on the surface.

    Father: “This is pretty good. What did you plagiarize it from?”

    Wife: “You should read this, she’s a better writer than you.”

    Father-in-Law (talking about my latest book): “It’s not bad, you know, if you’ve got nothing better to read.”

    Wait, what was I talking about?

  • Esther O'Neill

    December 7, 2025 at 9:53 am

    Most of all, my husband’s unfailing support… a transformation, after my original family dismissed the idea of attempting to write, because I’m not a writer.

    Committees ? Avoid ? Definitely.
    Committees and meetings are why we still, almost in 2026, don’t have a phone signal, Why not ? Because we’d need a mast that people might be able to see.
    Like that 900ft plus mast in Paris ? The one people might cross the world to see ?

    • Janet Alcorn

      December 8, 2025 at 7:56 am

      The not-in-my-backyard people can be ridiculous. I get not wanting an eyesore in your community, but there are cell towers that aren’t hideous, and being able to communicate with the rest of the world is kind of important. Sorry you’re dealing with that.