Category Archives: Blog

Daffodils, Allergy Season, Giveaway: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

The above picture is of my mini daffodils. That is the surest sign of Spring, don’t you think? Their little yellow heads bobbing in the spring breeze, even if it is cold, just makes a person think of warmer weather. Other signs of Spring are that the flowering plum trees are starting to bloom. It’s nice to drive down the street and see a pink flowering tree in nearly every yard. There are other trees which bloom in white. While I don’t know what kind of tree they are, they’re just covered in white blossoms and the whole street, well, neighborhood, is just delightful to see. But all of that means that the pines, spruces, willows, cedars, and for me, even worse, are the junipers all in full pollen producing mode. I’m a mess of watery, itchy eyes, constantly running nose, and sneezing and coughing while I try to breathe. This time of year, nearly ¾ of the people I know are suffering. I love Spring but the pollen, not so much.

On my new plant-based lifestyle, I’ve been pretty successful over the last week. I did some shopping after watching all of those vegan Youtube videos, and picked up a number of condiments, veggies, and even some prepared meat and cheese substitutes to try out. Breakfasts and lunches have hardly changed. What has changed is that there is vegan bread. Much of the gluten free bread I’ve been buying has egg in it, so I am again label checking to find bread that doesn’t have egg. I’ve tried some of the meat substitutes. The other night I made a vegan Shepard’s Pie using Beyond Meat crumbles. The “meat” had a smoky flavor, perhaps a little too much but it blended well with the mushrooms, carrots, celery, onion and garlic in the filling. The potato mash on the top used vegan butter, yes, that’s a thing, and I thinned it with veggie broth. The whole thing was delicious. Even the hubby, who is not on the vegan bandwagon, gave the meal a thumbs up. You may ask, “What do I miss?” Eggs. I do miss having eggs for breakfast. I have tried using tofu as a scrambled egg substitute but since the hubby isn’t eating it, I ended up eating the mixture, as breakfast tacos, breakfast sandwich, on a plate with other things, and so on. After the 4th day I was sick of it. Nothing’s perfect, I guess. The other problem is that this is a small town in the middle of nowhere. No restaurant offers vegan options. I have to modify anything I order to eliminate the meat and dairy products. That means I’m mostly eating lettuce with the random piece of tomato or slice of cucumber. Hardly the delight one expects when eating out. Oh well.
Stay tuned!

Giveaways:

The Valentine’s Day giveaway is still live. There are 14 authors involved this time so a lot of great books and prizes are up for grabs. Go to my link, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter. The group is skipping this year’s St. Patrick’s Giveaway, but are putting together the Spring giveaway, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Where will I Be?

The Desert Foothills festival in Scottsdale. Mark your calendar for June 4th, 9am to 2pm at the Holland Center, 34250 North 60th street. See you there. This is the first annual festival and I’m looking forward to it.

 


Phoenix Fan Fusion, is back scheduled for its normal time, Memorial Day weekend. Even more fun, it’s the event’s 20th anniversary! I’ll be there in Artists Alley, at table number B821. The website does not yet have a map up of the lower-level sellers area but when they do, I’ll post the link. I’ve made my hotel reservations! https://www.phoenixfanfusion.com/.

 


Payson Book Festival planning is in full swing. We have a wonderful lineup of authors attending. We’re still finalizing registrations but I’m sure readers will be pleased with the wide variety of genres we have available. Check out the website’s Meet the Authors page to see who will be there selling their books. We’ll be in Payson at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino ballroom on July 23rd, 2022 from 9am until 2:30pm.

CokoCon is a traditional science fiction/fantasy convention in Phoenix, Arizona, September 2nd through the 5th. Adult memberships are $50 each. Children are $25. Only 500 memberships will be offered! I’m not selling at this event, but I will be there to chat with you if you happen to come out. Contact me through my website or facebook page to schedule a meet up! Check out their website at http://www.cokocon.org/2022/.

 

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery 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 Releases:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. You can also see all my books on http://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 or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote my books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Getting a Crown, Other Authors, Healthy Eating: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

The 7th I’m scheduled for a crown. Not the pretty kind that the Queen of England gets to wear. The kind that has 2 or 3 people in your mouth with sharp implements. I’ve put it off for years but unless I want more trouble, I decided to go ahead and get it done. Adulting at its’ best.

Desert Burro at Oatman

Do you all follow other authors? I do. They get up to all sorts of things. They travel to places where their stories are set. They go to conferences in cool places like New Orleans or Miami. They have birthday parties and anniversaries and everything gets shared on their author page. Why? Because all of those experiences eventually get into their stories. I love following my favorite authors. All this to say my husband and I, after a long Covid delay and even longer than that, to be honest, have finally booked a couple of nights in Laughlin, Nevada. What’s there you ask? A river cruise on the Colorado river, complete with music and dinner, for one thing. Oatman, a historic small desert mining town complete with the descendants of the original burros. There’s gambling, of course, but after I lose about $40 I’m done with that. But like it’s big sister, Las Vegas, there are shows in Laughlin, and those can be fun, too. We’re doing that at the end of March and I’m looking forward to it. I figure it’s been about 4 years since we’ve taken any sort of vacation. Time to expand our horizons.

Still working out the vegan lifestyle. I found a facebook group of vegans in my hometown, and lots of people I know belong to this group. How cool is that? I’ve also been watching quite a few Youtube videos about vegan meal preparation. I find I need those videos to help me change my mindset about meals. I’ve been cooking for decades and it’s second nature on meal cooking in the old way. It’s not automatic for vegan cooking. I have to really think about it. So it’s helpful to watch videos on vegan dinners, vegan meal prep, vegan snacks, the whole thing. Last night I just skipped eating dinner because I had nothing in the refrigerator ready to go. Thinking about what to make was too much. So I just skipped the whole thing. I shouldn’t do that, of course, so I’m getting the fridge and pantry stocked and if nothing else, I could make some sort of vegan stir fry in a hurry, without a lot of fuss.

Stay tuned!

Giveaways:

The Valentine’s Day giveaway is still live. There are 14 authors involved this time so a lot of great books and prizes are up for grabs. Go to my link, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

 

Where will I Be?

The Desert Foothills festival in Scottsdale. Mark your calendar for June 4th, 9am to 2pm at the Holland Center, 34250 North 60th street. See you there. This is the first annual festival and I’m looking forward to it.

Phoenix Fan Fusion, which dropped the January proposed date and is back scheduled for its normal time, Memorial Day weekend. Even more fun, it’s the event’s 20th anniversary! I’ll be there in Artists Alley, as soon as I find out my table number, I’ll post it here and on my website. I’d better make my hotel reservations! https://phoenixfanfusion.com/

 

Newsletter Sign Up:

 

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery 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 Releases:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. You can also see all my books on http://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 or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote my books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

 

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Crazy month, Orchid News, Healthy Eating: Monday Blog Post

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Eagle catching fish by Randy Cockrell

 

Newest News:

What a crazy month. I had something schedule every day the last 3 weeks. A couple of things were fun, but most were volunteer work or doctor visits. This last week of February is much slower which is a relief. I did sign up for a new book festival, the Desert Foothills festival in Scottsdale. I know the organizer, and this is her first festival. I think it will be great. Mark your calendar for June 4th, 9am to 2pm at the Holland Center, 34250 North 60th street. See you there.

An update on my orchid. The 6th bloom has opened. Did I mention I’d been giving it African Violet fertilizer? It seems to be doing okay.

Still eating healthy. Changed from raw vegan to just vegan. I really missed hot meals at supper time. I just couldn’t get warm. I’m doing much better on this plan. It’s tough to go out to eat though. Most places only have a salad as a vegetarian option. Most don’t do vegan at all unless they’ll let you make modifications to your meal. Still, it’s easier than raw food vegan, so there’s that. I’m down about 13 pounds since the beginning of the year, so I’m pleased. I’ll be more pleased when I do my blood tests in the middle of March and I see some changes to liver, thyroid, and other numbers that went wonky. Celiac will do that, so we’re hoping the change of diet will put everything right.

You can find my books at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell. Just scroll down and select the book or books you’re interested in.

Stay tuned!

Giveaways:

The Valentine’s Day giveaway is still live. There are 14 authors involved this time so a lot of great books and prizes are up for grabs. Go to my link, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

 

Where will I Be?

Just took a look at my Where Will I Be page on my website and realized that it’s woefully out of date. I had the Tempe FanCon this last weekend and totally enjoyed all of the great cosplay costumes people young and old wore. Next up is Phoenix Fan Fusion, which dropped the January proposed date and is back scheduled for its normal time, Memorial Day weekend. Even more fun, it’s the event’s 20th anniversary! I’ll be there in Artists Alley, as soon as I find out my table number, I’ll post it here and on my website. I’d better make my hotel reservations! https://phoenixfanfusion.com/

 

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery 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 Releases:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. You can also see all my books on http://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 or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote my books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

 

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Payson Book Festival, Orchid Bloom, Healthy Eating: Monday Blog Post

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The PBF from 2019

 

Newest News:

Writing is going slowly as this is the time of year I’m accepting registrations for the Payson Book Festival. The festival is now scheduled for July 23rd, 2022 at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino ballroom. The process for accepting the registrations is a bit time consuming. Check the registration for changes if this is a returning author, add them to the group email, add them to the spreadsheet, email them with their acceptance and ask for the bio, picture and book covers they want on the website. Assign them a table spot. Receive the files and save them to this year’s folder then email them to the website manager to put on the website and to the program manager so we can print a program. Then if there’s an issue, and that happens about 60% of the time, a sometimes long email string tracking the problem to resolution. Add to that this year’s internal problem of a glitch in the website registrations that doesn’t allow many of the authors to even get to the registration page. That’s still being worked on. So aside from this blog, not much writing going on. But mark your calendar for July 23rd. We’d love to have you come to our book festival and meet all of the authors.

An update on my orchid. The 3rd bloom has opened.

On the eating healthier front. I’ve now spent one week on my new eating plan. Saturday night was a loss as I ate a cold chicken thigh and gluten free box mac and cheese. Neither of those are on my diet unless you count chemically laden mac and cheese as vegan. Anyway, Sunday I was back on it. I have to remember to eat more. When you cut so much fat from the diet, it takes a lot of fruit and veggies to keep you full longer. It’s weird to have to eat so much after decades of training myself to eat less.

You can find my books at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell. Just scroll down and select the book or books you’re interested in.

Stay tuned!

Giveaways:

The Valentine’s Day giveaway has gone live. There are 14 authors involved this time so a lot of great books and prizes are up for grabs. Go to my link, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

 

Where will I Be?

Just took a look at my Where Will I Be page on my website and realized that it’s woefully out of date. I had the Tempe FanCon this last weekend and totally enjoyed all of the great cosplay costumes people young and old wore. Next up is Phoenix Fan Fusion, which dropped the January proposed date and is back scheduled for its normal time, Memorial Day weekend. Even more fun, it’s the event’s 20th anniversary! I’ll be there in Artists Alley, as soon as I find out my table number, I’ll post it here and on my website. I’d better make my hotel reservations! https://phoenixfanfusion.com/

 

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery 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 Releases:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. You can also see all my books on http://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 or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote my books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

 

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Orchid Bloom, Healthy Eating, Word of the Year: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

I was very pleased to find a second bloom on my orchid. The picture is above. It’s very satisfying to see, as I was pretty much convinced I was never going to be able to get that plant to flower again.

It’s peach harvesting time in Rim Country. Photo by Randy Cockrell

How many of us keep thinking we need to eat healthier? *Raises my hands and waves like a demented being!* On top of that, I’ve been seriously considering not only going back to being vegetarian, but going vegan. I’ve decided it’s time. I’ve started a raw food vegan way of eating. Will it last? I don’t know. Do I feel better about not eating animals who seem to have just as much fun with life, when we allow it, as we do? Yep. I’m certainly not hungry on this diet. And all of the food is really tasty. Kiwi, mango, banana, apple, dates, papaya, crisp green salads with cucumber, tomato, sweet peppers, and so much more. Nothing heavy. Nothing that makes me feel bloated. I’m loving it. I committed to go for a month then assess how I feel. Told my doc about it and she gave me a thumbs up. This is related to my next thoughts.

Word of the Year. I’ve done these before. Choose a word that will be my “catch word” for the year. One year it was the word Fortune, as I was embarking on doing some things that would help out my author business and selling of books. I’ve chosen other words in other years, but nothing that really grabbed me. I chose one in December of 2021 for this year and I could never remember it. I might even have talked about it here. However, all month the word Abundance has been rising to the top of my thoughts. The above mentioned new diet features abundance in all the fresh and tasty fruits and veg available to me, even here in the heart of Arizona, where aside from household gardens, no crops are grown at all. I find that amazing, how much beautiful food and produce is right in my local grocery stores. So I’m claiming the word Abundance and making that my word of 2022. What is abundant in your life?

You can find my books at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell. Just scroll down and select the book or books you’re interested in.

 

Stay tuned!

Giveaways:

The Valentine’s Day giveaway has gone live. There are 14 authors involved this time so a lot of great books and prizes are up for grabs. Go to my link, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

 

Where will I Be?

Just took a look at my Where Will I Be page on my website and realized that it’s woefully out of date. I had the Tempe FanCon this last weekend and totally enjoyed all of the great cosplay costumes people young and old wore. Next up is Phoenix Fan Fusion, which dropped the January proposed date and is back scheduled for its normal time, Memorial Day weekend. Even more fun, it’s the event’s 20th anniversary! I’ll be there in Artists Alley, as soon as I find out my table number, I’ll post it here and on my website. I’d better make my hotel reservations! https://phoenixfanfusion.com/

 

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery 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 Releases:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. You can also see all my books on http://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 or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote my books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

 

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe, I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Gardening in January, Tempe FanCon: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

It’s not the normal time for gardening but I feel like sharing a breakthrough on the houseplant front. My brother-in-law gave me an orchid 3 years ago on the death of my mother. It was a lovely plant and the blooms stayed alive for a long time. Ever since then I’ve been trying to get it to rebloom. This is the year. It finally sprouted a flower stalk about Thanksgiving and it’s been taking it’s own sweet time budding out. But now, as you can see from the picture, I’m going to have flowers in the near future. I used some African Violet fertilizer on the plant and watered it a little more heavily than recommended to get the flower stalk. I hope I can replicate the flowering next year! Anyone else have success with orchids? What did you do?

Tempe FanCon is January 29th and the link is below. It is an outdoors event so safer for those worried about covid. I’m hoping for a nice day with no wind, how about you! Again, this is a great spot to find a new to you author and give them a read. See you there.

You can find my books at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell. Just scroll down and select the book or books you’re interested in.

 

Stay tuned!

Giveaways:

The Valentine’s Day giveaway has gone live. There are 14 authors involved this time so a lot of great books and prizes are up for grabs. Go to my link, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

 

Where will I Be?

I’ll be at the Tempe FanCon on January 29th from 10am until 4pm. You can find all the info about it at https://www.tempepubliclibrary.org/event-calendar/tempe-fancon. We’ll be outside, in the Library plaza, so dress for the weather.

 

Newsletter Sign Up:

 

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery 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 Releases:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. You can also see all my books on http://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 or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote my books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

 

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe, I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Happy New Year, Smashwords Sale, Tempe FanCon: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

Happy New Year to you and all your family and friends. I sort of skipped over the end of year review and just took those last 2 weeks of December off. Now it’s January and it’s traditional to plan out what I plan for this year. Hmm. I had big plans for 2021, and few if any of them were accomplished. One thing was to update the Gulliver Station series covers and make minor corrections to the interiors. Actually, the interiors did get updated as well as the 1st book in the series cover. So I plan on completing that task. The hardest part was getting the updated cover into Amazon. The program they use for that has become extremely finicky, which is why after book 1, I took a break from the project. Time to pick that back up.

I also feel extremely guilty about how long it is taking to get book 4 of the Jean Hays series out of the door. I plan on working on that as well. Then there’s my All About Bob series. Four out of the 5 planned books are written, and half of the last book is written. Nothing has been edited. With luck and some ambition, I’ll finish the last book and get them all to the editor. Publishing? Maybe end of year? It is 5 books, well, novellas, after all.

I also started a new book in my western series during November’s National Novel Writing Month. I got about 10,000 words into it and love the story but again, just ran out of ambition. I left Zeke and Mary in Phoenix and they have to get from there to Los Angeles and then San Francisco, buy a ranch and start their new life. The trip for them has been exciting so far. We’ll see what other calamities occur.

Thank you Smashwords customers for supporting the hard work of Smashwords authors and publishers. Several of the books I had up for sale were “purchased” and I hope they were enjoyed enough to buy the rest of each series. As a reminder, leaving a review on Smashwords, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, or other book purchase points means a great deal to me, the author. It doesn’t have to be much, just, “I liked it,” would go a long way.

You can find my books at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell. Just scroll down and select the book or books you’re interested in.

Stay tuned!

Giveaways:

The Pumpkin Posse Authors Halloween Giveaway and the Christmas Giveaway is now closed! As soon as the winner names are drawn, I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, we’re setting up the Valentine’s Day giveaway. There are 21 authors involved this time so a lot of great books and prizes are up for grabs. Once it’s active, go to my link, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

 

Where will I Be?

I’ll be at the Tempe FanCon on January 29th from 10am until 4pm. You can find all the info about it at https://www.tempepubliclibrary.org/event-calendar/tempe-fancon. We’ll be outside, in the Library plaza, so dress for the weather.

 

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery 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 Releases:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. You can also see all my books on http://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 or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote my books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe, I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Smashwords Indie Book Sale, Market News, Christmas Prep: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

The fifth annual Smashwords End of Year Sale starts this Friday, December 17, and runs through January 1. For these last two weeks of the year, tens of thousands of indie ebooks will be priced at exclusive discounts of 25%, 50%, 75%, and even free.

Starting December 17, you will find the sale prominently promoted at the top of the Smashwords home page, from which you can enter an entire section of our store dedicated to participating titles.

These sales are always a lot of fun. It’s the time of year we see virtual shopping carts filled to the brim with dozens, sometimes even hundreds of new books as you try new authors and stock up on favorites.

Thank you Smashwords customers for supporting the hard work of Smashwords authors and publishers.

You can find my sales at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell. Just scroll down and select the book or books you’re interested in. Happy holidays everyone.

I’ll be at the Twilight Tuesday Christmas Market on the 14th. They’re open 3pm until 6pm. Dress warm, folks. See full details below.

Christmas Parade 2021

Mailed my daughter’s gifts and a box to my youngest brother today. Tree is up and hopefully some decorations are on it. I’ve been receiving Christmas cards though I don’t have mine out yet. The days are frosty in the morning but on Sunday, the local temperature was 52 degrees and sunny. A perfect Arizona winter day.

Stay tuned!

Giveaways:

The Pumpkin Posse Authors Halloween Giveaway is now closed! As soon as the winner names are drawn, I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, hop on over to the page with the following link and get in on the new giveaway, Oh What Fun It Is To Read prizes. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

 

Where will I Be?

The Twilight Tuesday Christmas Market this year will run from November 9th, 3 – 6pm to December 21st. I have obtained two appearance dates, when I only expected one so I’m pretty happy about that. I had a booth date of November 23rd, and one for December 14th. Come on by, check out our version of a European Style Christmas market and enjoy.

 

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery 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 Releases:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. You can also see all my books on http://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 or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote my books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

 

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe, I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Common Grounds Market News, Electric Light Parade, Christmas Prep: Monday Blog Post

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Payson Walking Pine Tree handing out candy at the 2021 Electric Light Parade by Randy Cockrell

 

Newest News:

Saturday was a busy day for me. From 9am till 2pm, I was at the Common Grounds Christmas Market. I shared a booth with an Arizona Professional Writers author friend Chrisann Dawson. We talked to a LOT of people and sold some books. The weather was fantastic. If you were able to come by, thank you. If you missed it, I’ll be at the Twilight Tuesday market on Dec 14th. See all the details below.

Common Grounds Xmas Market 2021

At 5pm on Saturday, we met up with some friends of ours and their family for our town’s Christmas parade. It was fun going with 3 young, rambunctious boys. They loved everything! The picture above is of our town’s walking pine trees. The group participates in several events each year promoting our area’s tourism. They’ve been in quite a few electric light parades in the state and appeared in parades for many football games.

Now, like many of you, I need to finish decorating inside my home. The outside is now done. There is baking to do, candy to make and I need to get the presents for my daughter in the mail soon. I don’t have my Christmas cards done yet either. No matter, what ever gets done will be fine and whatever doesn’t get done can be done next year.

Stay tuned!

Giveaways:

The Pumpkin Posse Authors Halloween Giveaway is now closed! As soon as the winner names are drawn, I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, hop on over to the page with the following link and get in on the new giveaway, Oh What Fun It Is To Read prizes. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

 

Where will I Be?

The Twilight Tuesday Christmas Market this year will run from November 9th, 3 – 6pm to December 21st. I have obtained two appearance dates, when I only expected one so I’m pretty happy about that. I had a booth date of November 23rd, and one for December 14th. Come on by, check out our version of a European Style Christmas market and enjoy.

 

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery 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 Releases:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. You can also see all my books on http://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 or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote my books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe, I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

California Dreams Status, Common Grounds Market News, Giving Tuesday: Monday Blog Post

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Santa and Mrs. Claus at my town’s opening of the Christmas Season. Photo by Randy Cockrell

Newest News:

Poor Zeke! Nothing written last week. I think I’m still full from Thanksgiving Day feasting. This week I’ll get Zeke and Mary on their way.

Ready for sales. Decorated for Christmas. Photo by Connie Cockrell

On Saturday I’m at the Common Grounds coffee shop Christmas Market! I’ll be sharing a booth with outstanding author Chrisann Dawson. We’ll be there from 9am – 2pm. Details about the event are below. Hope to see you there.

As the founder and director of the Payson Book Festival, I want to invite you to help support the festival. We’re quite frugal with the money we bring in but even so, there are things we’d like to do but can’t because we are operating on the barest of margins. I’ve set up the non-profit on the Giving Tuesday website. So on Tuesday, if you’d be so kind as to donate to our charity, I know I and the whole committee would appreciate it. On Tuesday, donations are matched, doubling the effectiveness of your generosity. You can donate at https://www.facebook.com/donate/840706753266302/ Thank you in advance!

Stay tuned!

Giveaways:

The Pumpkin Posse Authors Halloween Giveaway is now closed! As soon as the winner names are drawn, I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, hop on over to the page with the following link and get in on the new giveaway, Oh What Fun It Is To Read prizes. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

 

Where will I Be?

The Twilight Tuesday Christmas Market this year will run from November 9th, 3 – 6pm to December 21st. I have obtained two appearance dates, when I only expected one so I’m pretty happy about that. I had a booth date of November 23rd, and one for December 14th. Come on by, check out our version of a European Style Christmas market and enjoy.

In between my two Twilight Tuesday Christmas Market events, I’ve signed up for an outdoor market event at our local coffee shop, Common Grounds. That date is December 4th and runs 9am – 2pm. Common Grounds is in Payson at the corner of Colcord and Wade Lane.

 

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery 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 Releases:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. You can also see all my books on http://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 or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote my books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

 

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe, I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.