Janet Alcorn

Janet Alcorn

@janetalcorn.bsky.social

Author (crime fiction, horror, and romance), librarian, gardener, very amateur photographer, 80s rocker chick. I write and I grow things. http://janetalcorn.com. Sign up for my newsletter to get a free story.

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Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

Sign up for my newsletter and get a free copy of "Collateral Damage," a short story about a hard-edged postapocalyptic survivor who's about to face the toughest challenge of his life. #ShortStory Pic is of a postapocalyptic pre-enactor camp in the Arizona desert--the setting for "Collateral Damage"

Janet Alcorn reposted

Maurice Broaddus
@mauricebroaddus.bsky.social

1) I'm on the board of the Ray Bradbury Center 2) I am co-editing a new anthology (with Carrie Cooper, Assistant Director of the Ray Bradbury Center and public humanities scholar).

Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

Better late than never, I'm sharing my blog post for the Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG). One of these months, I'm actually going to share it on IWSG Day. But not this month. #WritingCommunity janetalcorn.com/frail-but-to...

janetalcorn.comFrail but tough women and nosy but loving neighbors: my favorite character archetypes - Janet AlcornNow that I’ve been writing for awhile, I can see patterns in my own work: I love to include music (and wish it were less expensive to include song lyrics), I’m a sucker for a good revenge story, I wri...
Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

Just read an excellent article on @janefriedman.com about how authors can use Pinterest for marketing. Key takeaway: pins have a lifespan of years rather than minutes to days and can generate steady traffic without constant attention. janefriedman.com/pinterest-is... #WritingCommunity

janefriedman.comPinterest Is My Best-Kept Author Marketing Secret | Jane FriedmanPinterest isn’t just for recipes, DIY projects, and home decor—it’s also a goldmine for authors who understand how it really works.
Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

This month, the Insecure Writers Support Group is talking about what we wish we could change about the publishing industry. Here's my post, but I encourage you to check out some others too. Lots of interesting, informed opinions. #IWSG #WritingCommunity janetalcorn.com/3-things-id-...

janetalcorn.com3 things I'd like to change about the publishing industry - Janet AlcornWhenever authors gather, we will complain about the publishing industry. Guaranteed. Why? Let me count the ways (because most of us can count those ways a lot more easily than we can count the money w...
Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

Critiquing someone's work is an art. Be specific enough that your feedback is actionable without telling them how to write the story or crushing their soul. One of my fellow #IWSG members wrote a great post on how to critique effectively. emaginette.wordpress.com/2026/05/06/i... #WritingCommunity

emaginette.wordpress.comIWSG 138: The Power of FeedbackQuestion What was the most inspiring feedback you received from readers, including agents, editors, and beta readers? My answer Immediate reactions like laughing or cringing. Knowing I connected th…
Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

Sharing my monthly blog post/update - how my novel in progress got its name, my latest query stats, and some pics from a recent trip to Yosemite. Stop on by! janetalcorn.com/2026/03/31/h...

janetalcorn.comHow my novel, Delta Dawn, got its name - Janet AlcornIf you’ve been hanging out here in my little cobweb-infested corner of the interwebs for very long, you know that I’m currently revising a domestic suspense novel called Delta Dawn. Inspired by this m...
Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

I just sent my 100th query! I've had 5 partial/full requests, one of which was rejected. The other 4 are still outstanding. Here are my stats as of today: #QueryTrenches #AmQuerying #WritingCommunity

Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

New month, new post for the Insecure Writers Support Group (#IWSG). This month we’re talking about rereading our old work. For me, the words sound familiar, but I have no idea where I got the idea to write them. Inspiration is fleeting. #WritingCommunity janetalcorn.com/2026/02/03/w...

janetalcorn.comWhat it's like to reread my old work - Janet AlcornThis week on the IWSG blog hop, we’re talking about rereading old work. What’s it like to reread my old work? Before I dive into that: This post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) bl...
Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

Current query stats. Some more rejections in January as agents catch up on backlogs. I'm nearing the end of my list of agents to query for this book. Waiting for a few more to open, then moving on to small presses if one of my outstanding submissions doesn't pan out. #QueryTrenches #AmQuerying

Janet Alcorn reposted

Pawel Swidlicki
@pswidlicki.bsky.social

It is profoundly ironic that the whole stated purpose of mass gun ownership in the US - which carries it with the associated cost of frequent mass shootings, including in schools - is to protect against oppressive tyrannical government and yet...

Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

Time for another episode of Janet's Query Stats. Picked up a few more rejections since my last update, including a rejection on a full--but I also got another full request. And yes, I'm still checking my email every 1.7 seconds. Send help. #QueryTrenches #AmQuerying #QueryingAuthors

Janet Alcorn reposted

SinCWorldWide
@sincworldwide.bsky.social

15 MINUTES TO SPRINT! Get your WIP ready! Not familiar with social media sprints? Check out the outline on the graphic. Not a SinC member? You can participate in the January Jumpstart for 5 Zoom sprints a day through the end of the month for only $15! Register here: https://twp.ai/4itVG3

Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

When I was a kid, Christmas wasn't always merry at my house, but some happy memories stand out. I'm upcycling this post about the time my amazing mom brightened Christmas with cardboard, Styrofoam, and spray paint. Merry Christmas, BSky friends! janetalcorn.com/2021/12/25/m...

janetalcorn.comMy earliest Christmas memory: meat trays, cardboard, and Krylon - Janet AlcornOne of my earliest Christmas memories, involving ornaments made from scraps of cardboard, styrofoam, eucalyptus, and spray paint.

Janet Alcorn reposted

Fay Thompson, Author/Artist
@faythompsonauthor.bsky.social

Writing well happens through regular, intentional practice. It is like any other skill, practice improves quality. You should be writing daily and feel low pressure and low stress when doing so. Face the page until you no longer fear its emptiness. It is just opportunity. #writingcommunity #booksky

Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

I got another partial request!! And racked up a few more rejections too, all part of the process. Here are my query stats as of this morning. Onward. #QueryTrenches #AmQuerying #WritingCommunity

Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

A colleague pointed me to this paper, which I'm sharing here because 1) it's fascinating and kind of wonderful that you can use poetry to trick genAI into breaking its own rules, and 2) Adversarial Poetry would be an amazing band name. #Poetry #AI arxiv.org/abs/2511.15304

arxiv.orgAdversarial Poetry as a Universal Single-Turn Jailbreak Mechanism in Large Language ModelsWe present evidence that adversarial poetry functions as a universal single-turn jailbreak technique for Large Language Models (LLMs). Across 25 frontier proprietary and open-weight models, curated po...

Janet Alcorn reposted

Joanne Harris
@joannechocolat.bsky.social

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 33788: Don't front-load your work with unnecessary backstory and intricate worldbuilding. Give your readers only as much as they need to engage with the plot and characters, and let them discover the rest as and when they need it...

Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

Query stats so far. I sent a handful of queries back in 2021, realized my manuscript wasn't ready, and resumed querying in earnest this year. It's rough out there, folks. #AmQuerying #WritingCommunity

Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

Point Sur Light Station. It’s owned by the Coast Guard and only open for tours 3 days/week, 2 tours/day. My friend and I were lucky enough to arrive 15 minutes before a tour was starting. Fascinating place with incredible scenery. #BigSur #California

Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

My November #IWSG post is up! And there are memes. #WritingCommunity

janetalcorn.comMy So-Called Writing Life: expectations vs. realityI love books about the writing life. In fact, they are one of my favorite ways to procrastinate from living the writing life (by, you know, actually writing). I want to know every famous writer’s writing routine, favorite beverage while writing, where they wrote, what they wrote with, even the name of the human/animal/epic tragedy that inspired them to write. Writing is a vocation that inspires awe. We like to imagine that it involves some kind of magic (and really, I’m half convinced Stephen King’s works are actually written by a sentient Ouija Board, because he’s clearly channeling something). So let’s talk about the writing life, or at least my writing life (please share yours in the comments, and if you have a sentient Ouija Board, may I borrow it? Pretty please?) 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  Jennifer Lane, Jenni Enzor, Renee Scattergood, Rebecca Douglass, Lynn Bradshaw, and Melissa Maygrove. Each month our fearless leader (Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh) gives us an optional question to answer. This month’s question is, When you began writing, what did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has this experience presented you with some surprises along the way? My So-Called Writing Life: In the Beginning Back in 2019, about 5 years into My So-Called Writing Life, I wrote about my fantasy writer life vs. the (spoiler alert!) much less impressive reality. That post is called Living the Dream, and it might give you a chuckle. As for how I really imagined life as a writer back when I first started: I’m not sure. I don’t think I imagined it at all. I just… started. (The story of why I started is in my first-ever IWSG post, Talent is Overrated.) A little ways in, though, I developed a near-daily writing practice, read everything I could get my grubby fingers on about writing fiction, joined a writing group, and began to make real progress. Look at me, living my dream! Look at me, writing everyday just like Uncle Stevie and his sentient Ouija Board told me to! Look at my self-discipline and commitment to my craft! Day after week after month after year. Writing every day, blogging every week, finishing a novel, starting another novel, writing and publishing short stories. I was doing it, baby! How’s that saying go? Oh, yeah: Pride goeth before a fall. My So-Called Writing Life Episode 2: Reality Bites The fall came in 2023 in the form of: burnout. So much burnout. Also disillusionment. Querying my first novel didn’t go well, I was stalled out on revising my second novel, and I started to wonder: what’s the point? Why am I giving up my mornings and weekends to an activity that is exhausting and frustrating? I kept going, but my motivation was on life support. Then came 2024. I was going to finish the Revision from Hell. I was going to self-publish my first novel if I couldn’t find an agent. I was going to get my lifelong dream back on track, baby! Then I got sick. Then I took a new executive-level job, packed up my life, and moved back to my home state of California–and didn’t write for the rest of the year except for IWSG posts. Now 2025 is almost over. I’ve been learning how to manage a demanding job, a chronic illness, and the rest of my life, including writing. I’m trying to rebuild my routines in a more sustainable way, and my enthusiasm and joy are returning. I’m querying my first novel again, this time with some significant improvements to the book, and I’ve even gotten a partial request. I’m still working on the Revision from Hell, and I’ve made slow but substantial progress. I’m moving forward. So, to come back to this month’s question: I imagined my life as a writer would be one of steady forward motion, just like the productivity gurus promise. Burnout and writer’s block were for lesser mortals. My surprise was learning that I am actually a lesser mortal and am not, in fact, invincible. I have been humbled, but I’m still soldiering on. Writing update Querying Much of my focus since September has been querying my time travel romance/romantic suspense mashup, Vanishing, Inc. Here are my query stats so far (including an early attempt in 2021): My plan is to query agents through mid-January, then a few small presses. If at that point I still have no good prospects, I will start the process of self-publishing. I believe in my story, and I think at least a few other people will like it. I don’t care that much about money; I just want it to be read. Fresno LitHop I made a rare public appearance last month, reading from my short story, “Walk Me Home,” at Fresno LitHop. (I wrote about this story in last month’s IWSG post, along with the terrifying real-life event that inspired it.) Note: my public appearances are rare, not because I’m a mysterious recluse but because I am a nobody. Anyway, here’s me at Mi Cafesito in Fresno, reading from “Walk Me Home”: Yes, I do have a bad case of RBF (Resting Bitch Face) – why do you ask? Special shout out to Marsha Ingrao at Always Write, who drove up from Visalia for my reading. Marsha and I have been blogging friends for years but had never met in person. I wish we’d gotten a picture together. Thanks, Marsha, for supporting me! The memery I wasted a bunch of time on Reddit a couple of weeks ago and harvested tons of memes from the r/meirl subreddit. My loss of time is your gain of laughs. Today’s theme: Me in real life, just like the subreddit says. Here we go: After decades of caregiving, I am now allergic to responsibility. I’ve gone so far off the deep end, sanity is a distant memory. And finally, anyone with the misfortune to be at my local Planet Fitness yesterday can attest to this one: That’s it for me this month. Drop a comment and tell me about your writing life. Or your life in general. It’s bound to be more interesting than mine. May your perseverance always be stronger than your insecurity (or may you find a sentient Ouija Board. Whatever it takes to get the job done.)

Janet Alcorn reposted

Robert Reich
@rbreich.bsky.social

An estimated 15.7 million workers use SNAP. It’s a lifeline for those in low-wage jobs. Meanwhile, CEOs are paid 280x as much as the typical worker. Don’t be angry at workers for using food stamps. Be angry at the corporations paying them so little that they need them.

Janet Alcorn reposted

Ron Filipkowski
@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social

Today, Mike Johnson will keep the House adjourned for the 84th day out of the last 96. 12 days of work in over 3 months. With full pay and benefits. The senate has been working, so this is not about the shutdown. It is about avoiding a vote to release the Epstein files.

Janet Alcorn
@janetalcorn.bsky.social

James Clear shared this quote in his newsletter this week, and it really resonated with me. I'm a bit of an introvert, but I also know I need other people. This quote is a great reminder that if we don't want to be lonely, we have to put forth effort to be in community.