An APW Chapter Meeting, Book Reviews: Monday Blog Post

Posted on March 8, 2020 by conniejean

Newest News:

Last week was a whirlwind but everything was accomplished! This week I have only one meeting. That’s our Rim Country Chapter of the Arizona Professional Writers. We have a lot of fun and learn interesting things about the writing and publishing world at these monthly meetings. This month is what I like to call a sharing month. We give our members and guests a chance to talk about what they’re working on. Everyone always has such interesting stories and they work on such a wide variety of projects from poetry, scripts, plays, inspirational work, general fiction, mysteries, romance, westerns, scifi, fantasy and so much more. This includes peoples non-fiction work like newspaper and magazine articles and memoirs. If you’re in
Rim Country, we’d love to see you at the meeting on Wednesday at 1pm. If you’re not in Rim Country, find a writer’s group near you and join in. It’s good to come out of our heads for a little while.

Since I’ve become an author, I know how important it is to give authors a review of their books. So, I have been doing that with every book I read. Right now, I have 3 books read that I need to write quick reviews for. Two of the books are James Patterson, Alex Cross novels. One is Sweet Confections by Danyelle Ferguson. I post these reviews on Amazon, BookBub, and on Goodreads. After I write them it’s easy to copy and paste the reviews on each platform. How about you? Do you write reviews for the books you’ve read? I know I appreciate every review. Hinty, hint!

Giveaways:

Hooray! The St. Patrick Day giveaway is now live! This is one of our shortest giveaways so be sure to click on the link right away. As always, we ask that to win, you follow us on one or more of several social media, or our newsletters, or our websites. You don’t have to join all of them, but to find out more about the many wonderful authors, you’ll want to do that. Here’s the link. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ or go to https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2703c98f110/ Sign up today!

Where will I Be?

Pine Library, 6124 W. Randall Place, Pine AZ, Friends of the Library meeting, April 27^th at 1pm. More info to follow.

Phoenix Fan Fusion, May 21^st – 24^th.

Payson Book Festival, July 18^th at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino, Payson AZ.

CokoCon 2020, September 4 – 7^th, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Phoenix Tempe, 2100 S Tempe, AZ

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:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is up on Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, (Direct link doesn’t work, copy the URL and paste it into your browser, or go directly to Kobo.com and search for Gold Dreams, Connie Cockrell), and Smashwords. The print version is available on Amazon. 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 or BookBub. Your review is critical to help me promote the 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.

Washington’s Birthday, Slave Elf Goes Live!: Monday Blog Post

Posted on February 18, 2019 by conniejean

Newest News:

Happy Washington’s Birthday! This was President’s Day’s old name. I do hope everyone is having a wonderful three-day weekend and are safe out there whatever fun thing you’re doing.

Slave Elf is back, edited and the ebook versions ready to release on Amazon and Smashwords! I’m so excited about this release. Amazon releases tomorrow, the 19^th and on Smashwords, the 28th. It is still on pre-order at Amazon and at Smashwords, if you want to be sure to get it now.

It’s also up on Booksprout for an advanced reader copy (ARC) at https://booksprout.co/arc/10825/slave-elf. I do require at least one review. Only 20 copies available.

The paperback version will be out as soon as the whole cover is completed. Maybe even tomorrow. So if you enjoy reading your books in paperback, it will be ready for you. And if you are a Dr. Who fan, check out my Slave Elf ad, (toward the bottom of the home page, in the middle set of ads). Starting Tuesday, the ad will say Released! instead of Coming Soon!

The next project I have going is Gold Dreams. I went through the edits, and the story is looking pretty good! I need to get that formatted so the cover for it can be finished. Next week, though. I have to get Slave Elf onto Amazon this week!

Giveaways:

The Valentine’s day giveaway is now over and there are 45 prizes to give away and 45 books. The grand prize is $135 in Paypal cash. A winner’s list will be out soon, and I’ll let you know who won my prizes.

A St. Patrick’s Day giveaway will run soon. Stay tuned for that or check out my giveaways page on my website.

In the meantime, I’m in a promotion with 19 other women writers on Book Funnel. You can check out the books here. There are romances, mysteries, shifter stories and even a non-fiction. Don’t miss out. These are all free for a short time.

Where will I be?:

I have a speaking engagement at the March 2^nd PEO International meeting in Goodyear, AZ. See the above flyer for all of the information. You can find out more about PEO International at http://www.PEOInternational.org.

If you are a fan of most any genre, I’m participating in an on-line cyber conference here: http://owscycon.ourwriteside.com/about-ows-cycon/. The event is May 17^th through May 19^th. There are discussion forums, author giveaways, and so much more. Check out the link and sign up to participate. Sign up also gets you news on what’s happening and when. So sign up today. You might just be the person we want to have in our panel discussion!

Newsletter Sign Up:

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:

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. It is finally up on all of my other retailers in ebook format. You can buy it at Amazon, Apple, 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.

Christmas, Book Review, Mom: Monday Blog Post

Posted on December 24, 2018 by conniejean

Newest News:

Whoo, Whoo! Christmas Eve is here! I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday. Whatever your family tradition, I wish you peace, love, and happiness.

Often I am honored to receive a book from another author and by accepting them, I get to immerse myself in all sorts of wonderful stories. Recently, I’ve finished The Angel’s Daughter, by Jody Sharp. It’s the first book in her Mystic Bay series and I was just blown away by the premise. Here’s how Jody describes it:

A secret lies in Mystic Bay California and only two people know it. First there’s Hannah O’Ryan, a tender curly-headed half-angel. Then there’s her father, Gabe an effervescent, teddy bear of a full-blooded angel. And it’s up to Hannah to keep the secret safe. But she’s made a colossal mistake telling her ex-boyfriend and writing Professor, Sam Blakley. Now he’s written a book exposing the secret to the world. What will happen to her angel father? What can Hannah really do to stop this? With her special tears, animal ESP and a surprising gift she doesn’t know she has, will Hannah be able to thwart Sam’s efforts? With her new love Josh and her beloved Mystic Bay behind her, Hannah finds her very angelness can make all the difference. Maybe she’ll even get to fly again like she does in all her dreams.

I loved the premise and the story and what a great read for Christmas time. Or, really, anytime you want a full dose of charming, heart-warming, and wonderful. The book is a 2017 winner of 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading by TheAuthorsShow.com, so it’s not just me saying this is a great book. Pick it up at the Amazon link above. You won’t be sorry.

Mom has been doing well this past week. As I’m writing this, she’s in her room, looking at old photo albums. She’s looking forward to Christmas and is quite comfortable.

Giveaways:

There’s still time to get in on the Christmas Giveaway! We have $120 in PayPal cash as the Grand Prize and from the individual authors, 81 books and 81 prizes. Hoo! Get in on it quickly! You can go here to check it out. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/

Newsletter Sign Up:

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:

Tested Has a Review!: Daily Blog Post

Posted on July 24, 2018 by conniejean

Hoo!

I submitted Tested for a review on Reader’s Favorite and a review has come back to me. A Five Star Review!!!!

You can read it here: https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/tested.

And you can share it, of course! Now the only question is should I get the 5-Star stickers to go on the book?!?!

Also, here’s a picture of a Chihuahuan Earless Lizard.

There is apparently a mom, dad, and baby lizard occupying our front yard. They like to perch on the rock piles and do push ups.

That’s it for today!

Tested released January 31st 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.

Cozy Winter Reads, Mystery Giveaway is Live, Looking for Reviews: Monday Blog Post

Posted on March 19, 2018 by conniejean

Yellow squash hiding from the sun

Newest News:

Mystery at the Fair is in a book bundle called Cozy Winter Reads and has five other authors in it with me. The Bundle Rabbit link is: https://bundlerabbit.com/b/cozy-winter-reads and you can get the bundle in whatever format you’d like. I can hardly wait to read all of these new to me other authors. Hope you enjoy it. Just $7.99 for six books!

If you’d like an Advance Reader Copy of Tested and to write a review for me, go to https://booksprout.co/arc/1639/tested. There are only 18 copies left so hurry. You’ll have to join but it’s free. You can follow me there, so you get updated on every new release!

Gardening. It’s time, here in central Arizona to trim my roses back and prep for the gardening season. We’re still getting hard frosts, here, so still a tiny bit early to plant but it’s coming!

Giveaways:

As of Friday, March 16th, our Book Funnel Mystery Giveaway is live. I’m in that with Mystery at the Fair, if you haven’t read it yet. But there are 35 other mystery authors in the promo as well. The link is: https://books.bookfunnel.com/free_mystery/sfaebm0djq. This won’t last long so get your books today!

Then check out https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ and click on the Rafflecopter link to enter the 2018 Authors/Bloggers St. Patrick’s Day Giveaway. Books, ebooks, jewelry and more is being given away. You don’t want to miss out.

Also happening this month is a March Fantasy Madness giveaway. That started on March 1st over on Book Funnel. Tons of fantasy stories up for grab for just signing up for author newsletters. If you love Fantasy, this is the giveaway for you. Here’s the link: http://www.autumnwriting.com/march-fantasy-madness/. Click on the book you are interested in and it takes you right to the purchase page.

Shout Out:

A shout out today to my mom who has just been released from the hospital. Hi, Mom! Glad you’re back home!

Where Will I Be?

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

I’m excited to say I’m booked for the Payson Women’s Wellness Forum on April 28th, 2018. What’s more healing that getting lost in a novel! I’ll be there all day and you can buy, and I’ll sign, any of my books. SciFi, Fantasy, Cozy Mystery and more. You can find tickets at https://www.mhafoundation.com/upcoming-events.html

Newsletter Sign Up:

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:

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 paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Giveaways, Gulliver Series Box Set: Monday Blog Post

Posted on March 5, 2018 by conniejean

Newest News:

I’m working on re-editing and reformating my Gulliver Station series as a box set in both ebook and paperback formats. It’s slow going as I apparently don’t know how to use a comma. Also, I’m catching little typo’s. It’s coming! Really it is.

I have Mystery at the Fair in a bundle called Cozy Winter Reads and has five other authors in it with me. The Bundle Rabbit link is: https://bundlerabbit.com/b/cozy-winter-reads and you can get the bundle in whatever format you’d like. I can hardly wait to read all of these new to me other authors. Hope you enjoy it. Just $7.99 for six books!

I never did get started on the edits for Mystery at the Reunion or my new Zoe Ohale story. So much work to do, only 24 hours in a day.

I did, however, figure out how to automate getting my books into the hands of readers for reviews. I’ve started with Tested, my newest release. Twenty copies were available and two are already taken. So if you’d like an Adavnce Reader Copy of Tested and to write a review for me, go to https://booksprout.co/arc/1639/tested. You’ll have to join but it’s free. You can follow me there so you get updated on every new release!

Giveaways:

So check out https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ and click on the Rafflecopter link to enter the 2018 Authors/Bloggers St. Patrick’s Day Giveaway. Books, ebooks, jewelry and more is being given away. You don’t want to miss out.

Also happening this month are two other giveaways.

First up is a March Fantasy Madness giveaway. That started on March 1st over on Book Funnel. Tons of fantasy stories up for grab for just signing up for author newsletters. If you love Fantasy, this is the giveaway for you. Here’s the link: http://www.autumnwriting.com/march-fantasy-madness/. Click on the book you are interested in and it takes you right to the purchase page.

Next, starting March 16th, is a Mystery promo. I’m in that with Mystery at the Fair, if you haven’t read it yet. But there will be a lot of other mystery authors in the promo as well. A link for that will be up closer to the date.

Shout Out:

Author Holly Lisle

Today I’m giving a shout out to Holly Lisle. If you like scifi and fantasy, she’s an author you should read. Hear what she has to say about herself.

I’ve been writing with intent to publish since January 1st, 1985 when my New Year’s resolution was to write a novel before I turned twenty-five (ten months later, more or less).

I hit my resolution with a few days to spare, but the book, Hearts In Stitches, sucked. I wrote a LOT after that, accumulating a big shoebox with well over a hundred rejection slips in it before anybody decided I was good enough to pay for fiction.

I actually started selling in 1991, and I broke in with with the fantasy novel Fire In The Mist (which won the Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel), and with a couple of sonnets I sold to the SF magazine Aboriginal.

It was a long hard slog between intent and realization.

It’s been a rollercoaster ever since.

But I love telling stories. In fiction, I’ve found the work I want to do for the rest of my life.

You’ll find a little more about me by reading the rest of the About pages at www.HollyLisle.com. Frankly, though, there’s much more of who I really am spread across the writing articles and sprinkled through the heart of my fiction and sprawled all over the damn place in my weblog, Pocket Full of Words.

I am not my work. But my work is me.

Where Will I Be?

Check my website, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/where-will-i-be/ for my engagements through 2018.

And, on Memorial Day weekend, I’ll be at the renamed Phoenix Comic Fest. (formerly Phonenix Comicon) I’ll be in Author Alley at tables AA928 and 930 with author Marsha Ward. If you’re coming to Arizona, stop on by and say hello. I’ll be in costume this year! We can take a picture together. Tickets for the Fest are already on sale.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on both 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! I have a contest running on my newsletter now. 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:

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 paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

April Camp NaNo 2016: Monday Blog Post

Posted on April 4, 2016 by conniejean

Oh! Oh! Oh! It is April Camp NaNo and as of Sunday, I’m over four thousand words into my new book, Mystery at the Book Festival. Camp NaNo is a slightly different take on the November event. At Camp NaNo, we choose our desired word goal count. Some people choose just 5,000, some, like me, push for that 50,000-word goal. I’m already looking forward to digging deeper into my main character, Jean and her best friend, Karen. In Mystery at the Book Festival, Jean and Karen, both big readers, learn more about authors and book writing and publishing than they ever wanted to know. I think you’ll like the story.

Me, Begging for Reviews
Photo by Brenda Warneka

I have not received any notice of reviews yet, the new contest I started last week. Missed last week’s blog? Reviews, you say. What’s up with that? Well, in the publishing world, reviews are everything. They are a measure of my audience involvement, my ratings. My several ratings on Amazon and other book-sellers is predicated on my reviews. How many, how good are they? It’s a thing. Other places actually count the number of ratings I have. If I don’t have “enough” reviews, they don’t want to take my ads or other promotional materials. So for an author, reviews are a big deal. So here’s the contest. If you have read or read one of my books, drop a review for it on your platform of choice. It doesn’t matter to me where you put the review. It also doesn’t matter to me what kind of review it is. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love a good review but that’s not what I’m asking for. I’d like an honest review from you on how you liked my book, whichever one you read. Back to the contest. You write a review. Put it where ever you’d like. Send me a link to your review. In a couple of weeks, I’ll do a random number generator choice of the people who’ve done a review and you win! Prize? An ebook of mine of your choice. Contest ends April 10th. I’ll announce the winner here on this blog and on my newsletter on the 11th.

Author Arlene Hittle

Just so you know—my next author interview is romance author Arlene Hittle in two days on Wednesday, April 6th. She’s a wonderful author and her books are sweet. You’ll want to hear what she has to say.

Tomato Seedlings and Rosemary Cutting

On the gardening front, we had a big cold front move through and it did indeed drop some snow on us. Those tomato seedlings were safely inside. But now the forecast is for warm sunny days. It’s time for me to get the compost on the garden beds and get planting. The rosemary is a sprig I had cut to use with a chicken dish a month ago. I didn’t need that sprig, but thought I would later. I stuck it in a glass of water and not using it, the cutting rooted. So, I’ve stuck it in a pot of dirt. I think I’ll give it to a friend. She doesn’t have rosemary growing in her garden, yet! Who doesn’t need rosemary growing in their garden?

The Spring Into Reading giveaway has started. I have links to it on my facebook, twitter, and website pages. I offer a free ebook or for second prize, a $5 Amazon card. There are other prizes as well. Over a hundred prizes plus a grand prize. It’s not hard to enter and there are multiple times to enter. You could easily win a prize. Enter today and every day.

Speaking of the Spring Into Reading giveaway, I want to give a shout out to my winners of the Luck o’the Authors giveaway. My first prize winner was Petr Kristek and he won a free ebook. My second prize winner was Belinda Clemons who won a necklace and earring set. I want to thank both of them so much for participating in the giveaway. I’m glad these great fans won these prizes. Don’t forget to enter the Spring Into Reading giveaway.

Bookmark and Charms Swag

The owl charms and the book marks I ordered have come in. I plan on attaching the charms to the book marks to give away to book purchasers at the events I attend. Aren’t they cool!? The April 16th event at the Tempe Library is free but the June MysteryCon is a 2-day event with just a $35 entry fee for BOTH days. Sign up for that now. Mention my name on the registration. I may have a special gift for people who’ve registered in advance and visit me at the event. I am making special prizes for a drawing for those who have registered in advance and noted my name on the registration. I need to know in advance, though, so register today. Look below or at my website, Where Will I Be tab for specifics.

Speaking of appearing, if you get my newsletter you may have clicked on my link to my newest YouTube video. (The video is something only newsletter people receive.) I know! I have a YouTube channel. I didn’t even realize I was setting one up! Anyway, you can see my hair is getting a little shaggy. Sometime this week I’ll be getting it trimmed so I don’t look like a sheepdog at the Tempe Book Festival.

Where will I be? Here’s the scoop.

April 11th at 3pm Arizona time I’ll be on the January Jones Sharing Success Stories web talk radio show. Have you heard me there? Don’t miss out.

April 16th I’ll be at the Tempe Public Library book festival where I’m on a panel talking about Science Fiction and World Building. I’m looking forward to meeting you there.

June 2nd and 3rd I’m at the Scottsdale MysteryCon, Death and Deception in the Desert. I’m giving a presentation there as well on writing a mystery. Tickets for both days are only $35. I do hope you can make it to that one. Here’s a flyer telling all about it.

July 23rd is the Payson Book Festival. I’ll be at my table all day, ready to talk to YOU! I hope you can make it as we will have over 70 authors attending as well as music, food, author presentations and workshops. It will be stupendous! www.paysonbookfestival.org and click on the Meet the Authors tab.

Want more details about these events? Click here for more information.

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. If you are a Brown Rain series fan, I’ve created a list just for you! If you join my regular newsletter, that’s all right too as I’ve put sign-up prizes on both. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. My next newsletter is being drafted so sign up today. The YouTube video I just made about Kindred Spirits will be in the newsletter. Just a note. I’m going to be sending out newsletters more frequently. Be prepared for fun and contests!

Kindred Spirits released on March 14th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Gumroads or Chatebooks today! You can also see all of my books on www.ConniesRandomThoughts.com. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote the books on their sites. Thanks in advance.

Keeping up the Pace: Monday’s Blog Post

Posted on January 25, 2016 by conniejean

D’Elen McClain at APW January meeting

Hiking and bronchitis update. I did not go on last Tuesday’s hike. As expected, the water was running high and fast. At least two hikers slipped on wet, algae-covered rocks and landed in the stream. I’m still coughing. It seems as though I cannot get my lungs clear. I continue to take the allergy meds the doc gave me and use the puffer to open airways. The hope is that with the airways open, the congestion left in my lungs can be coughed up. I hope so. I’m beginning to worry about using that puffer every day. This Tuesday’s hike is to the south of Payson. I’m planning on going on that. I haven’t been hiking since the week after Christmas. I need to get out of the house!

At last week’s monthly Arizona Professional Writer (APW) Rim Country Chapter meeting our speaker, D’Elen McClain, spoke on using social media to build our author platforms. We had a great turn out for the talk and a lot of enthusiasm from several people on using Twitter. The Thursday APW Phoenix chapter meeting panel on self-publishing was also very well attended. There was a lot of interest by traditionally published authors and even self-published authors on what our experiences were with the process.

My story, The Reunion, was rejected but FreezeFrameFiction.com included their reader’s comments on what they felt didn’t work with the story. That kind of feedback is invaluable and I’m very grateful that the publisher took the time to provide it. If you’re interested, you can find more about the company at http://freezeframefiction.com/ or on Facebook at facebook.com/freezeframefiction.

Kindred Spirits is still in edits. I’m glad my editor is so thorough but it takes time to get through everything. I’m still looking for people interested in receiving an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) for a review. If you’d like to be an ARC reader and do a review for me, let me know. You do not have to have read the first two books of the series to enjoy the third book. I may have it whipped into shape by the end of January for a February release. So if you’d like an advance copy, let me know today!

Mystery in the Woods is moving forward. After a review of my scene cards, I realized one of the plot lines had been left hanging. I am fleshing out that part of the story and continuing to write on it. My enthusiasm for my Jean Hays story has been renewed. I hope to have this book out in late May so I can bring it to the June MysteryCon in Scottsdale, June 3-4. More on the conference later in this post.

Vision Quest, the short story set in the Brown Rain series I mentioned last week is finished. Not only was it a fun little story but I used it to foreshadow upcoming series books. When the anthology comes out, I’ll let you know so you can buy a copy.

My next Author Interview posts Wednesday, January 27th, and is on author Katharina Gerlach. I hope you enjoy reading about Katharina as much as I did.

The Lovestruck Authors Giveaway is well underway. There are over 40 authors involved in this giveaway so there are books and prizes galore! I have put up my book, Recall, signed, as my first prize and an Amazon Gift card as my second prize. The grand prize is $150 in Paypal cash. Go to www.conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways to enter the Rafflecopter. I cannot express how much I appreciate all of you who sign up for my website, newsletter, Amazon Author page and Facebook page. Thanks for participating.

I’ve updated my Where Will I Be page on my website. The MysteryCon I mentioned above is on there with details about how to attend. Also listed are all of my planned January Jones, Sharing Success Stories, web-radio interviews. As other events come up, I’ll post them there. Oh! Just saying that made me remember that I didn’t put the Payson Book Festival on there. The festival is on July 23rd, 2016 again at the Gila Community College campus. I hope you can make it here. We already have a fantastic array of award winning authors attending, some from last year and there are several new authors attending this year. Mark your calendar. I’d love to see you at our Book Festival.

I put out the January newsletter on Saturday, the 23rd. I have a couple of contests in there. Click here to sign up for my newsletter. If you missed it, leave a comment in the sign-up form and I’ll send you January’s newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website blog posts. If you like the content, please encourage your friends to sign up, the newsletter is shareable, send it to whomever you think will like it. You’ve already missed out on two great offers. Sign up now so you don’t miss out.

Mystery at the Fair released July 15th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Gumroads or Chatebooks today! You can also see all of my books on www.ConniesRandomThoughts.com. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote the books on their sites. Thanks in advance.

Monday Post: Mixed Bag of News

Posted on January 26, 2015 by conniejean

e-book Cover, Lost Rainbows, J.A. Marlow

Cover for Lost Rainbows by J.A. Marlow

Review of The Self Publisher’s Ultimate Resource Guide by Joel Friedlander and Betty Kelly Sargent

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Finally, a resource guide for indie authors. A few of the suggestions I was aware of but there are so many more listed in this essential guide. I love how the book is broken into logical parts as the independent author goes through the writing and publishing process: Prepare, Publish and Promote. As always, the indie author must do their own research and choose the options and people they want to work alongside with care and take all due diligence. Now the hardest part will be picking from so many wonderful options. Thanks Joel and Betty. Well done.

And even more for my writing friends, I’m posting this link to Donna Fasano’s blog Author Donna Fasano: In All Directions, http://donnafasano.blogspot.com/2015/01/facebook-offers-authors-call-to-action.html . As you can read from the post and the comments, not all author pages on Facebook have this button yet. Even more interesting is that I never noticed the Offer, Event tab on the Status block. I clicked on it and a new window opens allowing me to create an offer for my books. Also very cool. I haven’t used it yet so don’t know if I would have to pay Facebook but it’s something to look into.

Now news for my readers. I’m finishing up the formatting of Lost Rainbows. It’s just about ready to appear in your favorite ebook or paperback on-line book vendor’s site. But surprise, I’m going to try something a little different. Since Lost Rainbows is appropriate for children, I’m going to serialize the book and post it chapter by chapter on a website called Wattpad. Wattpad is a reading site marketing to young people. So, it will appear there. I’ll be posting the link sometime in the next week. If you don’t want to read it chapter by chapter, it’ll be at your fav on-line book vendor’s. And by the way, that’s the cover, up there at the top. Many thanks to J.A. Marlow for the wonderful design.

I’m on the calendar to speak at the Rim Country Arizona Professional Writer’s monthly meeting on February 18th at noon in the Payson Library community room. I’m going to talk about my self-publishing adventure. The meeting is open to the public so if you’re in town, come on over. I’ll have a selection of books available to purchase.

The garden is sleeping, though as the weather warms up here in Central Arizona, a few hardy things will start poking their heads up. I’m looking forward to the parsley, onions, and maybe Swiss Chard to taking the lead in the garden but probably not until late in February. In the meantime I’m still able to cut and use fresh sage and rosemary.

If you like food, stop by the Chicklets in the Kitchen blog. I just posted a meatloaf recipe over there. http://chickletsinthekitchen.com/2015/01/25/gluten-free-meatloaf/

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

The Downtrodden: a Brown Rain Story released November 22nd! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

More News on Where I’ll be and Other News from my Life

Posted on November 17, 2014 by conniejean

Bird on Fence by Randy Cockrell

The picture is of a western jay sitting on my back fence. The neighbor’s tree is in the background in full fall color.

I updated my Where I’ll Be page on my blog. http://conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com/where-will-i-be/. I’ve just lined up an author signing here in Payson for November 29th. The Swiss Village shopping strip has a Christmas kick-off the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving. On Saturday the 29th, the biggest day of the three day event, I’ll have a tent set up to sell and sign my books. I have invites out to a few other authors, so I’m hoping there will be four of us there to say hi and sign books. The event starts at 10am and runs until after Santa leaves, probably 9pm. Hope to see you there.

I’m still doing well on my National Novel Writing Month challenge. I’ve passed the halfway point and to be honest, I’m really getting into this story. Estimated release date? Maybe March. I’ll see how the revisions and editing go.

My book, The Downtrodden, book two of the Brown Rain series came back from the editors and I’ve made all of my corrections. Now I need to format it and get it put up on Amazon and other places. As usual, I’d love to have some reviews. Sign up for my newsletter and tell me you’d like to do a review and I’ll send you a free PDF file of the book. Go to the button on the right side of the blog or go to my Newsletter tab to sign up. Or sign up here. Use Control, Click to access the link.

We started having a cold snap two days ago so I brought my lemon tree, my bay leaf tree, my jade plant and my daughter’s plant inside. I picked all of the rest of the tomatoes and peppers, sweet and hot. Once we get a really hard frost, I’ll go out and clean up the garden beds for the winter.

I mentioned last week I’m getting ready for my mom to come and live with me. Saturday I found a used chest of drawers. It is in very good shape. I’ll paint it to match the bed and put it in the room we’re prepping for her. I’m so excited.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

First Encounter: a Brown Rain Story released September 18th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

ConniesRandomThoughts

Thoughts and Activities About My Writing

Category Archives: Book Reviews

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More News on Where I’ll be and Other News from my Life