Payson Book Festival – Monday Blog Post

Part of the room at the Payson Book Festival

The book festival was last Saturday the 22nd. We had 80 authors there and about 582 visitors. Luckily it was at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino because it rained. It inevitably rains in Arizona in July, it’s monsoon season. We’d been very lucky the last 2 years at the Gila Community College but sooner or later, it was going to rain and I hated thinking about people and their books and art work out in the rain. Hooray! I’m glad we moved inside. There were presentations in two rooms, a children’s writing workshop, children’s storytimes and the band Windstrum on stage providing background music. Everyone, visitors and authors, seemed to have a good time.

Yellow squash hiding from the sun

Out in the garden I’m harvesting yellow squash almost daily. Pretty soon friends and neighbors are going to start getting surprise packages on their doorsteps. The tomatoes, the Early Girls, anyway, are beginning to ripen. I need to dig up the potatoes but it’s rained every day for the last ten days. The garlic in the big pot needs to be dug up too. Sigh. It’s just too wet. A strange thing to say in Arizona.

You can see my Brown Rain book cover on the banner!

I’m still waiting for the editor to get Tested back to me. I sent off an email asking for the status. I’m still stalled on my cover. I cannot find the notes for either First Encounter or The Downtrodden. I’ve looked all over the house several times now and can’t find them. The files have to be somewhere, my house isn’t that big.

Giveaways:

Would you like to win free ebooks, other prizes, or a $130 in Paypal cash? Drop by https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ and click on the Rafflecopter link for the Summer Blockbuster Giveaway.

An annual giveaway on the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale has one more week to run. You can go to my author page or search for Troubled Streets, Mystery at the Fair, First Encounter, or A New Start. Use code SW100 to claim these books for free on the checkout page. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/category/1/newest/1 to browse all of the books on sale. Lots of great stories are ready for you!

Shout Out:

Author Roger Naylor

Today’s shout out goes to author Roger Naylor. Roger writes travel books and in a new direction, has just published a new book, The Amazing Kolb Brothers of Grand Canyon. He was asked by the Grand Canyon historical society if he’d write the book and he said yes. The Kolb Brothers is an amazing story and you’ll be glad to read it. It was a fascinating time in the canyon’s and the west’s history. You can check it out at  http://www.rogernaylor.com/. Check out the Books tab.

Where Will I Be?

Check my website, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/where-will-i-be/ for my next engagements.

My next public appearance will be at the Pine Fall Festival October 14th and 15th. On both days I’ll be in the Community Hall with a few other authors selling and signing books with the antique dealers. On Saturday is the annual chili cook-off. Saturday hours are 9am – 5pm and the chili cook-off starts at 11am. Be there at 11am. The chili usually runs out by noon. Buy a ticket, taste the chili, vote for your fav top three! My hubby is usually there with his version. Sunday the hours are 9am – 4pm. Lot’s of crafters will be there and the weather is lovely in October. Come on by and say hello.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on both the regular and the Brown Rain newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

Mystery at the Book Festival released June 1st and I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords, today! You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.