Category Archives: Goals

A New Week

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The Last Obstacles in the Mogollon Mudder June 7th, 2014 Photo by Connie Cockrell

The Last Obstacles in the Mogollon Mudder June 7th, 2014
Photo by Connie Cockrell

So much is going on with me personally and in the world, it almost makes me want to unplug from the TV and Internet. Plane crashes, child kidnappings, school shootings, it is all very sad. I always seem to be asking myself what those people were thinking. My hubby’s response is generally, “They’re crazy.” I guess that’s it. They’re crazy.

My mom hasn’t been well so I worry about that too. She has a series of tests coming up and with any luck a treatment will result that lets her get back her strength and breathing. I hope so. I talk with her just about daily. She spent the weekend with my second brother and his family. A mini-vacation so to speak. She’ll go home tomorrow morning.

I picked an early Sun Gold cherry tomato yesterday and one ripe blueberry. They never made it to the house. I ate them right there in the garden, still warm from the sun. Doesn’t get better than that.

Saturday I went to the Farmer’s Market and attended the Monster Mogollon Mudder. For those who don’t know, it’s a 5K run with obstacles that you have to climb or crawl over or through. Lots of mud pits along the way. A friend of ours was entered of over 400 entrants, twice the size it was last year. A good crowd of spectators was there, as well. The above picture is from that event.

I’m still editing Revolution. It’s going slowly because I’m also taking a writing class that is heavy on the planning work and writing my flash stories for Fridays. I put out a newsletter a couple of days ago. I made an offer to those readers. Want to know what the offer was? Sign up for the newsletter. Those readers get a few perks that others don’t. June is planning month for the July Camp Nano. I still don’t have an idea. I was thinking about my Gulliver Station series and started to wonder what kind of marketing I could do for it. One idea is a little shamrock pin, similar to the one Meg gave Jo to wear to show that she is part of the Underground. Another idea is a ship patch, for the Adirondack. The Adirondack features in both Hard Choices and Revolution. What do you all think? Would either of those be of interest to you?

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Please sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. Want to know how to get a free copy of each new 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. Want to be a beta reader? Sign up for the newsletter! I’ll give you a free copy. All I ask is a review on the e-tailer or Goodreads site of your choice.

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here.  Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

Hard Choices: A Gulliver Station Story released May17th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

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Antro-Calendar- Cinco de Mayo by Golden Druid via www.deviantart.com

Anthro-Calendar- Cinco de Mayo by Golden Druid via www.deviantart.com

Cinco de Mayo in America seems to mean having a big party with tex-mex food and margaritas or Mexican beer. I’m all for parties, tex-mex and margaritas, don’t get me wrong. But it’s a celebration of Mexican victory over France’s imperialism. I’m all for independence so yeah, a celebration is in order. Hubby and I will be having chicken tacos/burritos for dinner. The lines blur at my house over those two things. Not to worry. It will be tasty no matter what flour or corn conveyance we use.

This month I’m continuing the writing habit with my writing site’s May Story a Day. I’ve committed to writing at least 10 stories this month. Yep, we don’t hold ourselves strictly to a story a day. What I love about this is that at the end of the month, I have a lot of stories drafted. Some I publish right away on my blog, if they’re flash fictions. But I don’t hold myself to flashes. Some stories go longer and those or my favorite flashes, go into my pile of stories that I send out to magazines, ezines and contests.  Still trying to make a name for myself and attract an audience/fanbase. In the meantime, I’m still writing. While I am writing, I’m doing the final edit for my next book to be released, Hard Choices. I am still looking to release the end of May so as my daughter says, I need to get crack-a-lackin’.

April’s Camp National Novel Writing Month, https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in  is done and I made some sort of math error so didn’t write 50K words, which was my goal. No matter. I finished my novelette, 2 short stories and made a big dent in my novel.  I’m still writing on that and on my 2YN novel about Mrs. Claus.  I’m solidifying a habit to sit down and write 1000 to 2000 words per day. Editing though, not my favorite thing.

The local area has entered the summer season. The first craft fairs have been held, the local artist community has held its annual tour around town to various artists homes, and yard sales are proliferating like mushrooms after a rain.  Things get busy in my little town in the summer.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Please sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information.  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. I don’t send newsletters out often so sign up and get those cool things I save just for newsletter recipients.

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here.  Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

The Challenge: A Gulliver Station Story released March 23rd! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

Cover Reveal for Hard Choices

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Hard Choices Cover art by Connie Cockrell

Hard Choices
Cover art by Connie Cockrell

 

Check it out! What do you think? The book itself will be out the end of May. I still have editing to do on it. Overall, it’s a very short novel and a four related short stories. It’s set in the Gulliver Station timeline between The Challenge (released end of March 2014) and Revolution, which is slated for release end of July 2014.  I’m still contemplating the arrangement of the short stories.  Here’s a blurb about the book:

A short novel with four short stories, Hard Choices looks at life on Gulliver Station in the time after The Challenge. Weather in the Biosphere is a tale about two cousins, who make an ill-timed mistake. Methane Breathers considers communications difficulties between two different species. Growing up is full of hard choices as Cassandra Madison in The Conversion discovers. Barrie has lost his job and must play the game for his family to survive as you’ll read in Dedication Day. The title story, a short novel, takes a look at life on Gulliver Station from an outsider’s point of view.  Between ships, Jolene Harris enjoys leave by herself when things go horribly wrong. Will she live to reach her new ship, The Adirondack?

April’s Camp National Novel Writing Month, https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in  is in its third week. I’m plugging away on my novel, still unnamed. As of yesterday, I’m at 32,000 words, well on my way to my goal for 50K words. There’s still a lot of writing to be done but it looks as though I’ll meet the challenge!

My rhubarb has made it through the dry winter here in central Arizona. I think it needs at least another year before I cut any stalks.

The root canal took five shots of novocaine and two hours but the dentist was quite pleased with the results. I still have some jaw ache from the procedure but it’s slowly going away. It’s nice to take a drink of room temperature water and not wince from the pain.

My project to collect my mom’s history by using To Our Children’s Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come by Bob Greene and D.G. Fulford is ongoing. Not every phone call to my mom has time or opportunity to ask questions but it is moving along. My brothers and sister are going to like this.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Go ahead and sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. 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.

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here.  Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

The Challenge: A Gulliver Station Story released March 23rd! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

Halfway Point in April 2014 Camp NaNo

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Writing in the Evening by ksiaz via www.deviantart.com

Writing in the Evening by ksiaz via www.deviantart.com

Tomorrow will be the halfway point for the April Camp National Novel Writing Month, https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in . So far I have finished a novelette and two short stories. I’m now working on my novel, still unnamed but it’s a fantasy. I set my goal for 50K words and as of Sunday afternoon, I’m over 21,000words. There’s still a lot of writing to be done!

I bought fresh seeds today. I can plant cold hardy stuff like peas and beans now. The rest will have to wait for warmer weather. My Meyer lemon tree has another round of blossoms coming. This is the third time it’s blossomed since January. I have some tiny lemons growing from the last flush. Hopefully I’ll get more on this go round.

I have to go to the dentist on Wednesday, I have a tooth ache under a crown. The dentist says I need a root canal. Yay me! A root canal. Anyway, I’ve had this ache for about a month; it’s time to get it taken care of.

I bought To Our Children’s Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come by Bob Greene and D.G. Fulford a very long time ago. It’s a list of questions around the person’s personal data, family life, work life, ancestory and so on.  I dug it out of my book case and began asking my mother questions from the book.  If I ask a few questions every day, (I call her everyday anyway) soon I’ll have enough information to put a memoir together for her. I’m liking this project.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Go ahead and sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. 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.

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here.  Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

The Challenge: A Gulliver Station Story released March 23rd! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

200th Blog Post!

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Celebration by Star Maiden, PatriciaRodelaArtist, ©2007-2014 PatriciaRodelaArtist

Celebration by Star Maiden, PatriciaRodelaArtist, ©2007-2014 PatriciaRodelaArtist

This is my 200th blog post! I’m amazed to be honest. When I started this I never expected to have much to say. I’ve discovered I have a lot to talk about with you all. Thank you for coming back every week!

I’ve been prepping for the April Camp National Novel Writing Month, https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in . This is a writing challenge but unlike November’s 50K word in the month challenge, I can set any word goal I want. I have a novelette to finish, two short stories to write, and a novel to do. I’m going to set my goal for 50K words. Lots of writing to be done!

I’ve been doing some gardening. I had to begin watering too. We’ve only had one rain storm since December and it was barely a tenth of an inch. We still get frost in the mornings though so I can’t plant a lot yet. However, things like spinach, lettuce and other cold hardy things can be planted. I’ve been eyeing pansies for the flower tub in my front yard. They’re extremely cold hardy and will look good out there for a very long time.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Go ahead and sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. 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.

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here.  Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

The Challenge: A Gulliver Station story released March 23rd! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

Kobo: Both A New Start and The Challenge are up on Kobo. I’m linking to The Challenge on this blog but you can check my author name for other books available on each of the above links.

As of this writing Apple still doesn’t have The Challenge up so I’ve linked to A New Start. It may be up by the time you try it.

Am I Hitting My Goals?

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GOAL_by_oscarsnapshotter

GOALby oscarsnapshotter

Photography / Urban & Rural / Gardens, Parks & Cemeteries

It’s been awhile since I talked about my goals for 2014 and how I’m doing reaching them. Let’s check my progress.

I have as a goal every week to post to my blog every Monday and Friday. I missed a Monday in February. Just a lot of stuff on my writing plate and forgot it. However, I haven’t missed a flash fiction story post on any Friday. That makes me happy.  I also update my Facebook author page, ConniesRandomThoughts at least twice per week. That’s good for my readers, you get the latest information. Finally there’s my goal to post something on Google+ and Twitter three times per day. That usually works out unless I’m out all day or I go to bed early. I make it most days.

Lessons are moving along. I am almost caught up with my 2YN lessons. I’m only one behind right now. I also started a new Holly Lisle course, Create a World Clinic. It’s a tough course so I’m moving through the lessons pretty slowly. On the other hand, I’m learning a lot.

As for my writing, I published A New Start on January 31st and have finished editing my draft of The Challenge. It is now with beta readers. The cover for it is finished. I just need it back from the readers so I do the final edits. I should have that ready in time for the late March release. Yay!

My Leprechaun story, Lost Rainbows went too long to be submitted to the Zoo Anthology. So I wrote another story, Color Breakdown, and submitted that. I need a couple more scenes at least to finish Lost Rainbows, one of which is a battle scene. This may take me some time but I hope to release it for the teen or pre-teen market in the fall.  Unfortunately I don’t have any short stories written that I like well enough to submit to the Writer’s of the Future. Maybe next quarter.

I still have to write an article for the Forward Motion ezine Vision For Writers. (Now available on Smashwords! Check it out here.) However, I do have several topics to research and write about. I’ll have something submitted to the ezine soon.

I have not begun outlining stories for the May Story A Day challenge or a novel for April’s Camp NaNo. I do have a couple of book ideas and a few pages of notes for each of them. I might still be able to pull off an April Camp NaNo.

So that’s it. Some wins, some losses. A pretty good record so far for 2014.

If you didn’t sign up for my newsletter this month, you missed out on a giveaway of my newest book, A New Start.  So don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. Go to the button on the right side of the blog or go to my Newsletter tab to sign up. Or sign up here.

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here.  Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

A New Start: A Gulliver Station story released January 31st! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

Kobo: Not Available Yet

Goals for 2014

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In a short form, my goals are very similar to the ones I set up in 2013. I made specific goals by month and after I did them, realized there was a lot I didn’t put in there.

I didn’t mention getting into better shape. I’m good at sitting at the keyboard and getting my words in for the day. Not so good at getting out of the chair and moving. I know that regular exercise, not just once per week, will make me a better author and person. The same dedication is required and I know I’ll feel so much better for it.

More travel is a goal. Last year hubby and I did only a couple of small trips. I’d like to do a few more, time and money being the critical items here. Travel expands the mind, opens one up to new ways of thinking. Camping especially. The quiet of mountain, wood or ocean, time away from electronic devices, is critical. I need more of that.

I must make more time to connect to family. I lost a family member during the Christmas holiday and the funeral was a few days ago. It’s so easy to say I’ll call them, or message them, or text them, or visit them tomorrow. Don’t wait. Do it today.

Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. Go to the button on the right side of the blog or go to my Newsletter tab to sign up. http://conniesrandomthoughts.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8c24bb15bdf9245512f722298&id=0a097feea0

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here: https://www.smashwords.com/interview/conniecockrell  Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

Links to Christmas Tales will lead you to my author page on each site where my other published work is available:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/christmas-tales/id761282885?mt=11

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Tales-Connie-Cockrell/dp/1494200570/ref=la_B009O6199C_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385963121&sr=1-4

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-tales-connie-cockrell/1117497310?ean=9781494200572

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/christmas-tales-3

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/379010

A Year in Review 2013

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It feels like 2013 has been a wild ride, as far as my writing is concerned. I’ve taken several writing classes this year and I can tell my story telling has improved considerably. I’ve settled into blogging twice per week, on Monday and Friday. That rhythm works for me and I don’t feel like I’m spamming my followers. So here’s how I did.

As far as I can tell I wrote a Flash Fiction Friday story every week and updated my Blog and Facebook Fan page (both titled ConniesRandomThoughts) weekly.  I added a monthly blog post for the Forward Motion site called Merry-Go-Round blog. My post is the 18th of every month. I missed one of those as well.

I started the Y2N class (2 Year Novel) with Lazette Gifford and kept up the weekly lessons until November when the National Novel Writing Month and then the holidays knocked me off track. I’m behind about 8 lessons right now so it’s still possible for me to catch up.

I outlined short stories for May Story A Day challenge. The challenge for this year was to write ten short stories. I managed six last year. I finished the May Story a Day challenge with 12 stories. Not every one of them was a gem but I’ve set them aside to fix them up and publish them. On short stories, I’ve been writing them all year in addition to the Flash Fictions and novels.

In addition, I began revising my November 2012 NaNo story, TriPoint Station. I had to rename it: Gulliver Station, Hard Choices and began outlining the first book in the series, Gulliver Station: A New Start, in Scrivener. The series continues with The Challenge, drafted in July and Revolution, drafted in November.

I struggled with Scrivener. I’m still a beginner and am pretty sure I’m not using a fraction of the tools available to me in the program.  Other programs I’ve learned this year are Gimp and SketchUp. The last two I use to make my own book covers. Thank goodness my husband loves to take pictures. His pictures are used on my covers.

I also wrote, How To Design an ebook Cover. That became my Vision submission for August. My submission in December to Vision was, Gerunds, the -ing words. Funny story. The Gerund article came about through a short story critique. One critiquer mentioned that I used too many gerunds. High School English class was a long time ago. The research I did to fix that problem became the article. Thanks to the critique, my writing is now stronger.

My goal for 2013 was to publish 4 books.  I epublished, A Trio of Animal Tales in January. Recall revision was finished in February! I decided to self publish. I published it May 27th. I continued to revise stories for a collection I called Halloween Tales and wrote a fifth one so there would be 5 stories in the book. Release was the 30th of September.  I released Christmas Tales November 17th. It was a little stressful, releasing a book in the middle of NaNo but I managed to get it done.

My story After The Storm was rejected by Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show magazine so I submitted it to Asmiov’s Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine, where it was rejected also.  I entered a Scribophile contest with Generation Bug and was not selected as the winner but I had enough confidence in the story to enter it in the Writers of the World contest for the 3rd quarter. I did not win. I sent Where the Brown Things Are to WotF (World of the Future: a science fiction magazine that has a quarterly contest to select the best stories for the mag.) I wasn’t supposed to find out until January if I won but they worked fast and I found out I was not accepted in December. Sigh. I’ll try and write something to submit in January. I submitted a story, The Reunion, to a contest held by the Southwest Authors. I found out in October that I did not win that one either. I still haven’t heard back from the Tucson Festival of Books (The Reunion) or the Arizona ONE-BOOKAZ Goes Digital eBook Writing Competitions  (Generation Bug) on my submissions. I’m going to cross my fingers. I also have Someone Else is Living Here out to the Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition. I’ll hear from them in February 2014.

On a positive note, I submitted a short story, Dogs and Cats, to the Forward Motion site, http://www.fmwriters.com/zoomfm/, for their 2013 Anthology, Cats Eyes. The story was accepted and came out in September. https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/books/book-detail-page?ie=UTF8&bookASIN=1493638475&index=default

My story, Just Add Copper, was submitted to the How To Think Sideways Anthology, The Adventure of Creation, and accepted in June. The anthology was published in mid-August. Some great short stories in various genre’s by some great authors. http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Creation-Foreword-Sideways-Anthology/dp/3956810007/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378051491&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Adventure+of+Creation

I participated in the April Camp NaNo and wrote the first draft of Gulliver Station: A New Start. I’ve signed up on a different site, http://julnowrimo.com/ for my July efforts. Several of my Forward Motion friends love the site so I thought I’d try it out for the next book in the Gulliver series. The big news in November, was of course, National Novel Writing Month (NaNo for short). I drafted out the last of the Gulliver Station series, Revolution.

I signed up for and completed a Holly Lisle Flash Fiction course. That generated 5 flash fiction stories for May Story a Day. Lazette Gifford’s SciFi Class was not announced, so that goal was deleted. I  listened to a webinar with Guy Kawasaki, hosted by CreateSpace. The seminar, How to Sell More Books with Social Media ran 1hour and 13 minutes. It’s on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=135KGCLqC6Q The third class of the year was, Mugging the Muse by Holly Lisle, https://howtothinksideways.com/. I learned a lot about myself and how to write better. If you’re a new writer or an experienced author, check out her courses. Some are even free! The fourth class was on marketing for my books. I looked at some free training video’s by Jeff Walker, recommended by Holly Lisle. I was not able to take his course. But, based on the free information he published, Holly put together an author-centric, free, self-monitored course on marketing. Which resulted in a Holly Lisle class she calls, The Ugly Baby Workshop, a marketing type course. One of the items in that challenge is to release a book. My Christmas book was that project. The course is about how to do a new product launch, so the book and the below domain name are part of that launch.

I joined the July promotion on Smashwords.com with my book, Recall. It was a month long promotion, free to download. It was downloaded a lot, which was encouraging. The hope was they’ll like the book enough to come back and buy one of my other books. At the end of December, I haven’t seen that happen. Something to consider for 2014.

Using the Guy Kawasaki information from July, I began a marketing campaign to post regularly, twice per day on Twitter (@ConnieCockrell) and Google+. That’s been going well. I find something fun or interesting or cute or about my book(s) or someone else’s book coming out and post. In December I began making a late night post, 9 or 10pm that may reach the Asian market. Who knows if getting my name out there will generate sales, but a Google+ and a tweet only take a minute or two. I’ll see over the next few months if anyone from the Asian region begins following my blog or Facebook page.

Based on the marketing classes I took some steps to improve my professional presence. I took the plunge and bought a domain name and set up my own publishing house: 2ndWindPress.com.  What was exciting was filling out the on-line form. It asked for my organization and my position. I, with more than a bit of a thrill, typed in 2ndWindPress and Publisher. I know, I’m easily entertained, but my heart actually beat faster.

I went to the local Chamber of Commerce and got my Doing Business As (DBA) form. How did this affect me? I have a nifty logo and publishing house name to add to the spine of my books. It sets me up as a professional. It confirms that I’m serious about my writing and getting my books published.

I made quite a few changes to my blog as part of my new marketing plans. I changed the background color from boring gray to a more festive Autumn color. I added some new links to friend’s blogs and a sign up for a newsletter for my fans. Followers get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. They can go to the button on the right side of the blog or go to my Newsletter tab to sign up. To make that happen I had to sign up for Mail Chimp.  I also updated my Google+ page and my Twitter account. If you aren’t a follower or friend on those sites I’m looking to build my communities there as well.

Late in November I took on a Chuck Wendig challenge on his blog, www.terribleminds.com. Participants write a 200 word section of a story each week. The first week you create your own 200 word beginning and post it. The next week one or more participants pick a beginning not their own and add another 200 words. By the end of week 5, each participant will have worked on 5 different stories in 200 word increments, making a 1000 word finished story. I participated each week. I posted each story on my blog in the Friday Flash Fiction spot. I plan on going back to the Chuck Wendig site and find the completed stories I contributed to and post them on my blog in January.

This has been a long post. I’m actually surprised at the number of classes I’ve taken (5) and stories and books written and released. (1 novel and 3 collections published and over 96 stories and novels written). It’s been a full and fruitful year. I hope yours was too.

I wish you all a very happy, productive New Year!

Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. Go to the button on the right side of the blog or go to my Newsletter tab to sign up. http://conniesrandomthoughts.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8c24bb15bdf9245512f722298&id=0a097feea0

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here: https://www.smashwords.com/interview/conniecockrell  Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

Links to Christmas Tales and which will lead you to my author page on each site where my other published work is available:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/christmas-tales/id761282885?mt=11Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/christmas-tales-3

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Tales-Connie-Cockrell/dp/1494200570/ref=la_B009O6199C_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385963121&sr=1-4

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-tales-connie-cockrell/1117497310?ean=9781494200572

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/christmas-tales-3

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/379010

Merry Go Round Blog Tour: Favorites

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The Down the Street Art Gallery, December 2013

The Down the Street Art Gallery, December 2013    Photo by Randy Cockrell

Right off the top, Christmas is my favorite holiday. I decorate the outside and the inside of the house. I bake cookies, my favorite is called Mexican Wedding Cakes, and make candy. My favorites there are toffee, peppermint patties, and chocolate truffles. Yummy.

Pasta is a big favorite of mine. Saturday is designated Spaghetti Night at my house. I make the red sauce from scratch and cook it all afternoon. That is unless I make Spaghetti Carbonara. That is a big favorite but all of that egg, cream, cheese, and bacon make it a health hazard. So I keep that dinner offering to about four times a year.

I have a favorite genre too. That’s SciFi for sure. Fantasy runs a very close second. The ability of a book or a series to transport me to another world is the best feeling ever. I know it’s a good book or series when I reach the end and I’m flipping those last pages looking for more. The story will stick with me for days, and I wish I were in that world for real.

I like this time of year. It’s a time for reflection on what’s happened over the course of the year. Did I meet the goals I set? Have I made progress in my endeavors? Even better, it’s a time to plan for the future. What can I change to reach my goals in the new year? Should I set different goals for myself? Should I ease up a little and make more time for smelling the roses?

How about you? What are your favorite things? What are you proud of from this year’s activities? What do you plan on doing differently next year?

The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, travelling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com!  Up next: Jean Schara!

December Madness

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I finished the first pass through the first book of my Gulliver Station series. There’s a lot of changes and updates to make. In addition I still have to design the cover. I release the first book of the series at the end of January so stay tuned for the announcements. Lots and lots to do!

Christmas stuff  update. I made the fondant for my peppermint patties and made chocolate covered toffee. I cut the base of my Christmas cards. I still have to make the decorations for the cards and stamp the insides.  Then of course, there’s the addressing and mailing. Hope to get those cards in the mail by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest.  Still to do for candy and cookies are truffles, roll out the fondant, cut in circles and dip in chocolate for the peppermint patties. I also make Russian Teacakes or some people call them Mexican Wedding Cakes or even Snowballs. They’re a tradition of mine and it wouldn’t feel like Christmas without them.  By December 16th that all has to be made and boxed up and boxes put together with gifts and the candy/cookies to send to my Mom and my son-in-law.

After that it’s my husband’s birthday and we’re having a host of people over for a party. Somewhere in there I have to wrap gifts. I did get the tree up and the house decorated.  Check that off of the list.

Links:

Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. Go to the button on the right side of the blog or go to my Newsletter tab to sign up. http://conniesrandomthoughts.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8c24bb15bdf9245512f722298&id=0a097feea0

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here: https://www.smashwords.com/interview/conniecockrell  Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

Christmas Tales released November 17th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Amazon or Smashwords today!

Links:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/christmas-tales/id761282885?mt=11

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Tales-Connie-Cockrell/dp/1494200570/ref=la_B009O6199C_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385963121&sr=1-4

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-tales-connie-cockrell/1117497310?ean=9781494200572

Kobo: Still loading.

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/379010