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.

Writing, Meetings, Personal Appearance: Monday Blog Post

Posted on January 18, 2016 by conniejean

Draft front cover: Kindred Spirits

I’m still recovering from bronchitis. However, on Sunday, I went with the morning walk group and even though it was thirty-seven degrees, didn’t cough all that much. The walk was about three miles. I’m thinking about doing the hike on Tuesday with the Payson Packer C group. That’s the group I usually hike with and which my hubby leads. We’re going south, where it’s warmer but into a canyon with a year round stream. Since snow is still melting off of the mountains, I know that stream is going to be running high and we have to cross it several times. Hmm, I’m up for it breathing-wise but do I want to chance getting wet in an icy cold stream. I’ll decide Tuesday morning, I think.

Other fun stuff this week includes my usual Monday morning meeting with three other authors that live here in Payson. I love our Power Hour meeting. Also, this week is the Tuesday hike which I’ve already mentioned, and Wednesday is the monthly Arizona Professional Writer (APW) Rim Country Chapter meeting. We have a great speaker, D’Elen McClain, who’s going to speak on using social media to build our author platforms. It should be fun. Then on Thursday, I’m at the APW Phoenix chapter meeting where I’m on a panel with three other authors to talk about self-publishing. Full details are here.

My story, Bell Ring, was rejected again and is out again. My poem was rejected as was Eavesdroppers. I’ve sent Eavesdroppers back out. It’s harder to find a good poetry market. Cross your fingers for me that they’re all accepted. Kindred Spirits came back from the editor’s hands on Sunday morning. I took a brief look at the edits on Sunday but I’ll be using this week and next to make changes. I’m also looking for reviewers to send 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! Above is a draft of the front cover. What do you think?

I re-read my unfinished draft of Mystery in the Woods and am pleasantly surprised at how much it doesn’t suck. I distinctly remember being very discouraged with it in July, part of my reluctance to get back into it. Now that I know it isn’t as bad as I remembered, I can get going on it again I’d like to have that first draft completed by the end of January. I know that’s ambitious but it’s already at 35,000 words, halfway done.

I’ve started a new short story, Vision Quest. It’s set in my Brown Rain series and Alyssa is heading off on a vision quest in Spring, just before they leave their winter home with the Ogonqwa in the Kindred Spirits book. The story is for an anthology being put together by fellow students in a recent on-line class for building our author platforms. The theme is Journeys and what better story for me than one set in my Brown Rain universe where every book is a journey? The deadline for submission is end of March but I know I’ll have the story done long before that deadline.

Last Wednesday (the 13th) my new website feature, author interviews, went live. The first author was B. C. Mathews. She was a wonderful visitor to my website. I hope you enjoyed reading about her. I’m posting an interview twice a month, so the next one will be January 27th, Katharina Gerlach. At the end of the interviews are links to each author’s website, Amazon page or wherever else they have stories for you to read. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I am enjoying having these excellent authors on my site. Enjoy!

As soon as the Santa’s Christmas giveaway was over, the Lovestruck Authors Giveaway began. There are over 40 authors involved in this giveaway so there are books and prizes galore! I have put up my book, Recall, 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.

Last week I mentioned I opened up my Instagram account. I’ve also opened a Periscope account. I haven’t posted a video yet, though. Do any of you use Periscope? Maybe you use Youtube? Do you like watching videos from your fav authors? If you do, what would you like an author to talk about? Maybe you’d like something more interactive, like a Google Hangout chat? Tell me what you think.

January’s newsletter is coming out soon. Click here to sign up for my 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. Don’t delay signing up, you’ve already missed out on two great offers. Sign up now so you don’t miss out.

Monday Blog Post: Prepping for Vacation

Posted on September 28, 2015 by conniejean

Mohawk Harvest Co-Op Storefront, Gloversville NY.

We’re getting ready to drive across the country to my old hometown of Northville, NY. We’re stopping along the way to visit with some friends. We should be in Northville by the 8th. I’m looking forward to this. It’s our first vacation in two years. Also, we haven’t been back to Northville since we moved to Arizona five years ago. We’re way overdue for a visit.

While we’re in upstate NY, I have scheduled a book signing in Gloversville, NY at the Mohawk Valley Cooperative on Main Street. That’s a picture of the store front at the top of this post. I’ll be there Saturday, October 10th from 9am to Noon. I hope to see you there. Bring one of my books or buy it there and I’ll be happy to sign it.

Author Friend Boost! Margaret McGaffey Fisk. Her newest book is, Gifts, The Steamship Chronicles Book Three. Here’s a description.

Sam has never been happier than aboard this merchant ship in the middle of the ocean. Most of the crew accepts her despite knowing about Sam’s Natural abilities. They tease and scold as if she were one of their own, even letting her listen to their tales. She’d do anything to stay, but the captain has made it clear: Come the next port, her voyage is at an end.

Sam’s presence has cost Nat so much, but he’d do anything to have her stay. Still, Nat knows the captain made the only possible choice in these circumstances. The sailors view Sam as a good luck charm now, but as soon as something goes wrong, they could turn on her. Transforming Sam into a boy and giving her Nat’s share of the profits means she’ll have a decent chance on shore as long as she stays in control. Nat likes neither image of her future so struggles to come up with a better plan.

You can find more about Margaret at: http://margaretmcgaffeyfisk.com/

Writing progress: I’ve made some progress on my Zoe Ohale outline for NaNo. It’s still a long way from finished. I did get another chapter written on Mystery in the Woods. It’s moving, albeit slowly.

Marketing: As an indie author, I’m responsible for marketing my own work. It can be a challenge but I keep my eyes and ears open for new opportunities to tell people I’m out here and have some stories they might like to read.

One great opportunity is that my author friend D’Elen McClain (wickedstorytelling.com) has started a new website to connect readers to authors. It’s called Indie Books Direct at http://indiebooksdirect.com/. The site, free to readers, has a tab that lists all of the authors on the site. The reader just clicks on the author’s name and a link takes them directly to the author’s website or sale page. If you want to find authors in a particular genre, click on one of the several genre pages to find authors that have stories in that genre. It makes things so easy for readers! The site is still under construction but we’d love to have you come browse. Let us know how you like the site. Official grand opening is November 1st!

On Saturday I found a promotion that will start right after Halloween is over. It’s called Santa’s Authors Christmas 2015 Giveaway. On 1 November, the party starts. I’ll give everyone the details for signing up to win free books and prizes. Mark your calendar because you won’t want to miss out on this. The below picture is my promo ad for the event. What do you think?

Christmas Giveaway Poster

I have finished writing the Friday Flash stories for October. There are five new stories all scheduled and waiting to post. The theme I wrote to is Halloween. I just had to do it. LOL! I still must get my October Chicklets in the Kitchen post written and scheduled. Last Thursday I attended the Strawberry Author’s group meeting and gave them an overview of CreateSpace and how it works. They liked it so much they’ve asked me to come back the end of October and talk about editing. Hoo, big fun!

I’m totally up on conniesrandomthoughts.com. I’ve put a notice up on my WordPress blog so my readers can find me. Be sure to follow me at my new website. I stopped posting to the WordPress site (www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com) after Friday August 7th.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

I published my September newsletter on Saturday. Did you miss it? Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website blogs. If you like the content, please encourage your friends to sign up, too. Don’t delay. The October newsletter is coming out soon. 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, or Smashwords today! You can also see all of my books on www.ConniesRandomThoughts.com, Books tab. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it. 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 Blog Post: Website Update

Posted on August 17, 2015 by conniejean

Garden Produce by Connie Cockrell

Update on the new website: managed to get a follow button posted so you all can receive the blog posts. That has been a major headache for me but I’ve finally figured it out. It’s now the top thing on the right-hand side of the home page. After that is the follow buttons for other social media. Don’t be shy! Go ahead, follow me on those as well!

I picked peaches from my tree on Saturday. There are some left, hard to get to. I’ve decided the birds can have those. Also on Saturday I picked a good number of cherry tomatoes, several cantaloupe, two zucchini which have gotten too big, and one New Mexico chili still green. The chili received full sun and had some sun scald so I decided not to wait for it to turn red but to pick and use it on tonight’s dinner. I put the cherry tomatoes in a bowl on the counter. We all love to go over there when we’re trolling the kitchen and grab a handful to snack on. Yummy.

Author Friend Boost! D’Elen McClain. She has just released her newest book, Dragons Live for Ever. Here’s a description.

It’s Tahr, my silver dragon’s turn to find happiness. And of course it doesn’t come without him growing up and changing his perspective. It seems like I’ve been waiting so long to tell his story. I also hope I answer many of the questions readers have had about my world building.

Just a little secret… I take you on a quick trip back to Bastian, Laryn, Sarn and Tahr’s youth and also relive the day the curse began. The story has been in my head and it was so nice to have it come alive.

I’m going to miss these characters so much. Eventually I’ll need to drop in and see how they’re doing and I promise to share the experience with you.

I humbly ask my readers to leave a review where you purchased the book. It’s the nicest thing besides buying my work that you can do for me. Thank you and enjoy Tahr and his adventure as he discovers his mate in his own back yard.

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Z2QH7H6
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00Z2QH7H6
iBooks: http://tinyurl.com/qxt58hc
Nook: http://tinyurl.com/nck4lju

I have been checking out the indie publishing site Draft 2 Digital. A site that helps put an author’s manuscript up on electronic book sales sites. I may try it for my next book. It looks helpful and a good many other authors have recommended it highly. As a reader, you probably won’t notice anything different but for me, the reduction of formatting time will be a tremendous thing.

Betrayal Moon for the Forward Motion anthology is at the editors. I should hear from them this week. The deadline for that story is September 1st and I’m close to that now. I finished turning Gold Dream into a short story. I’ve been letting it simmer for a week to give myself some perspective before I start my first edit/rewrite pass. I have a limited number of words to work with, 8,000, and the story is nearly at the limit so I’ll have to be careful with my edits. That deadline is September 15th so I need to get in gear on this one too. This week I’ve gone back to writing Mystery in the Woods, the second book in the Jean Hays series that I started in July. I managed nearly 4,000 words on it this week and have enjoyed getting back into that story.

I’m totally up on conniesrandomthoughts.com. I’ve put a notice up on my wordpress blog so my readers can find me. Be sure to follow me at my new website. I’ve stopped posting to the wordpress site (www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com) after Friday August 7th.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

I put a special offer up in my July newsletter. Did you miss it? Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website blogs.

Monday Blog Post: Birthday News

Posted on July 20, 2015 by conniejean

Payson Book Festival, Banner, Chamber of Commerce

Payson Book Festival Banner at the Chamber of Commerce

There’s only 7 more days until the festival and we’re finalizing all of the tiny details required to be completed before we have our author Meet and Greet on Friday and the Festival on Saturday. Banners have been hung around town. TV, Radio, Blog and Newspaper interviews have been conducted all over Arizona. Posters are up. We’re ready! I hope you can make it to Payson on July 25th, 9am – 4pm, and stop by the festival to say hello!

If you missed any of the interviews or media releases or want to read the proclamation, click here to find everything.

So Friday was my birthday. A hiking friend of mine had her birthday a week earlier. We’re the same age. Twins! So we had a joint birthday party on Saturday. We belong to many of the same groups so we sent out an email to all of our friends to join us. We had a blast. Burgers and dogs, salads, cake, cookies, watermelon and oh, way too much food! Below is a picture from the party.

Birthday Cake for Connie and Ruth

Mystery at the Fair is released! I’m happy that I have it done and was able to buy copies to have for the Book Festival. So far it’s only up on Amazon. Soon I’ll have it up on other sites: Apple, Barnes and Noble, and a few others.

Camp NaNo progresses. I’m not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to hold two major functions, release a book, and write 50K in a month but there you go, certifiably crazy. As of today I have over 30,000 words. I’m working on the second Jean Hays series book, Mystery in the Woods. When will it be out, you ask? No idea. I have two other books, that I wrote in April, waiting for editing. Maybe you can tell I’m not as enthusiastic about the editing and rewriting part as I am about writing the first draft.

The garden is looking wonderful. I’ve picked four zuchinni already and harvested the potatoes. Now I’m in the process of not water the bed where the mint has run amok. I’m going to have to let that bed go until I can dig out all of the mint. The tomatoes are looking good even though none are ripe yet. This is Tomato Hornworm season so I have to carefully examine the plants. The damage a tomato hornworm can do is incredible.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

I have a special offer going up in my newsletter, sign up today! Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website.

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, or Smashwords today! If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote their books. Thanks in advance.

Monday Blog Post: Memorial Day Weekend

Posted on May 25, 2015 by conniejean

Hummingbirds, Bees, Feeder, Randy Cockrell

Hummingbirds vs Bees by Randy Cockrell

So how was your Memorial Day weekend? Do anything fun? Go camping? Have the whole family over for a BBQ? My town’s Farmer’s market opened for the first time this season on Saturday. Mom and I went early, saw all the stalls, some new, many returning again. She bought a huge cinnamon bun from the local bakery and we both bought tamales from the tamale lady to eat for breakfast. I had the green pork and she had the red pork tamale. Yummy in my tummy. On Sunday, hubby, me and my mom went to the Pine Craft Fair. Randy had the Navajo Taco to eat. One of our hiking friends was a volunteer making them. So that was fun. Then we had what hubby and his brother call a Taco Feast on Sunday evening. The two brothers had fun reminiscing about taco night when they were boys.

This month’s challenge is called May Story A Day, May SAD, and I committed to write 10 stories for the month and actually shoot for 12. As of the 23rd, I have 9 stories written, most of them are flashes but there are a couple of short stories in the mix, too. In my other writing group I’m still keeping up with my 5 minutes per day writing challenge. I have missed a day or two but I’ve been diligent about putting something on the screen every day.

Last week I mentioned that I’ve upgraded my my website. I now have a basic site up and running at www.conniesrandomthoughts.com. Notice there is no more wordpress in the URL. I’ll be closing down www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com. Last week I asked you to go check up the new site and follow that before you lose out on weekly stories and my writing updates! Unfortunately, the site subscribe button was missing. I’ve spent many hours this week putting a subscribe button on there as well as social media follow and share buttons. I’m not a web site developer or a programmer but I’ve got things operational. Take a look.

My editors at Silver Jay Media helped me cut the final 600 words in my short story, Eavesdroppers, and it’s now in their capable hands for the final line and copy editing. If you’re thinking that it’s quite a process, you’re correct. At any rate, soon the story will be as good as I can make it and I’ll send it off to a contest. I’ll keep you posted on it’s progress.

The Payson Book Festival is at www.PaysonBookFestival.org. Check out the site, especially the Meet the Authors tab. Is your favorite author listed? If not, come and find a new favorite author. Mark your calendar to come to Payson for July 25th to meet us. We’d love to chat with you.

Today’s picture is of our hummingbird feeder. Somehow tiny cracks developed in the bottom of the feeder. The leaking nectar attracted the bees. It went on like this for several days and the hummingbirds were not happy. Anyway, Friday, hubby took the feeder down and repaired the cracks. No more nectar for the bees. The hummingbirds are happy. The bees got a head start on their honey making.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

If you’re interested, click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website.

Lost Rainbows released January 25th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

Monday Blog Post: Anyone have a Super Bowl Hangover?

Posted on February 2, 2015 by conniejean

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

Cover for Lost Rainbows by J.A. Marlow

I just finished watching the Super Bowl. I chose to root for the Patriots because I’m from upstate NY. No other reason. Imagine my delight that they won. My 2nd brother, I have 4 of them, was rooting for the Seahawks. Sorry Bro. I invited my husband’s brother down from the neighboring town and the four of us, Hubby, me, mom and Bro-in-law, had a good time chowing down on pulled pork sandwiches and chicken wings and coleslaw. Brother-in-law brought a coconut cream pie for dessert. Yummy. A good day all around.

I have finished getting Lost Rainbows up on both Smashwords and CreateSpace so you should be able to find the book on Amazon at the very least. I put the first chapter out last month on my newsletter. You didn’t get it? Sign up for the newsletter on my blog, www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com. You’ll get the scoop on what I’m writing much earlier than I post it here.

Today I’m headed for Phoenix with a bunch of hiking friends. We’re going to ride our bikes on a Greenway path from Scottsdale to Tempe Town Lake and back again, about 30 miles. I think I have lost my mind but we’ll see. Tuesday is the regular hiking day and it’s a 7 mile hike. Yep, I’m thinking I need an evaluation. Hopefully on Wednesday I’ll be still walking.

On the writing front. I’m still working on the first draft of my All About Bob series, It’s a College Thing. The title sucks, I hope by the time I finish it something better will occur to me. I have seven scenes left to write so it will be a novella, unless in revision it becomes something else. This remains to be seen. I’m also editing the NaNo novel from November, Mystery at the Fair. I have a lot of irons in the fire, for sure. Want special updates and offers? Check out signing up for my newsletter.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Lost Rainbows released January 25th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

Blog Post: Last Monday of 2014

Posted on December 29, 2014 by conniejean

Gold fish in large Tank by Randy Cockrell

It’s the last Monday of the year. I hope your Christmas was merry and bright. My daughter and her boyfriend came down from Flagstaff to visit both sets of families. Of course we all overdosed on turkey dinner. They got it twice. Presents were exchanged. I received books I’ve had on my list. I’m already a third of the way through one. We have had a quiet weekend. Sunday I spent time exploring a program called Daz3D. Its basic program is free with extra things you can buy to expand the options. I went through a lot of tutorials and spent an hour playing with it. It will take some time to learn how to create backgrounds, people/creatures, and effects. Check it out at Daz3D.com.

The garden is finished till growing season. I spread compost and planted onion and parsley seed. I should see activity in February or March, depending on the weather. The bed that’s overrun with mint, I spent a lot of time pulling roots, twice! But there’s still mint in there. I’ll have to be very diligent about pulling it up every time I see some poking its head up. In the meantime, I have a 2 foot square of grass that we planted for the dog who is now gone. I’ll drop some roots in there and see how they do. The square is surrounded by hostile ground, the hard, rocky, clay soil of my yard. It should stay contained there pretty well.

This week we have an invite to a New Year’s Eve get together and a New Year’s Day brunch. Both are pot lucks and I have my recipes selected. I’ll need one or two more ingredients so I’ll go shopping today for what’s still needed. Oh! I’ll take pictures of one of them and share it on another blog I where I post. It’s called Chicklet’s In the Kitchen on WordPress. I am scheduled to post on the 25th of every month.

On the writing front, I’ve been editing a short story called After Math. It’s been shopped out to three different contests and was rejected each time. I’ve revised it and sent it to a Content Editor for review. Once I get it back and make final changes, I’ll submit before the end of February deadline for that contest. I’m also working on my leprechaun story, called Lost Rainbows. That’s been edited and I’ll be passing it out to my beta readers this week. I hope to have it published by the end of January. If you’re interested in following this process more closely, sign up for my newsletter. Special offers show up there you may be interested in receiving.

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!

Writing Platform? Do I have One?

Posted on October 18, 2014 by conniejean

Phoebe at Park by Randy Cockrell

When I saw this month’s topic, to be honest, I was baffled. I didn’t know what that meant. So, being a modern woman I went to the internet to get some help. I stumbled on http://www.be-a-better-writer.com/writing-platform.html and checked out the definition there. Here’s the first paragraph on their page.

“Having a writing platform means that you have an audience, and that you have some vehicle in place to reach that audience when you have books to sell. This platform is as important to those not yet published as it is to established writers.”

Oh! Yeah, how am I contacting people, selling books, putting my name out there? Good question. The site offers thirteen things you should or could do to create a rounded “platform”. If you’re interested in what they suggest, check out the site. However, we get all of this same information right here on Forward Motion. Here are a few of the things I do.

Aside from writing the next book, which is the number one suggestion, I started a blog. One day I’ll turn it into a regular website but for now, until I start earning money from my books, the blog does much of what a website will do for me. It forces me to write to my audience on a regular basis. I’ve settled on two days per week, Monday and Friday. Friday’s are for a flash fiction piece. It tends to be a little rough. After all, I’m putting out a story a week! But that regularity helps me be consistent. Don’t think I gained a lot of readers right off the bat, it took a long time and I still have fewer than 500. Monday posts are for getting to know me. I share news about my garden, my writing, my family, my hobbies. I’ve focused my blog on my readers, not other authors. You won’t find author tips there but you may find a recipe to use the abundance of your garden.

I have business cards for my writing. That’s another suggestion. When I mention that I’m an author, people want to take a look at what I’m writing. A business card makes it easy. I use the cover of my most recent book as the graphic and usually print ten or so at a time with my facebook page and blog page listed so people can find me. When do I buy business cards? See the next paragraph.

To get more exposure, do an author signing, or a reading at the local library, or give a presentation to a local group. An author signing can be at a book store, the local library or in my case, a local craft fair. I made sure I had plenty of professional looking business cards made up, they cost about $10, and I had a postcard made as a give away at my table. It’s good to offer a little something extra to those that buy your book. And it’s nice to have something with your info on it to give those who look interested but don’t buy right that minute.

Another thing I’ve done is help other authors. I had a lot of help in my path to learn how to be an author. Now, I feel confident enough to help other authors. Being generous with my knowledge helps others and who do you think they’ll mention to their readers when they talk about how they became successful? This is a good place to mention that you can use your website or blog platform to help authors advertise their books. Give them a platform or give them a review. It’s all good.

There are a lot of other ways to add to your writer’s platform. Some I have the time and competence to do, others I’ve not tried yet. If you’re a reader, how do you feel about going to your favorite author’s website? If you’re an author, what do you do to build your writer’s platform? Feel free to leave a comment in the comment box below.

About the picture above. I was looking for a picture of puzzlement. I didn’t find any I liked but I did come across this picture of a little chihuahua I know, Phoebe. It was so cute I had to use it.

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!

Fun Times In August

Posted on August 4, 2014 by conniejean

Revolution: last book in the Gulliver Station Cover Reveal by Connie Cockrell

My friend Selena Laurence is releasing her new book, Buried, today. A picture of her book cover is below. You can find it at:
B&N –> http://bit.ly/1qXpeyt
iTunes –> http://bit.ly/1ra0NeJ
Goodreads –> http://bit.ly/1kQkPpw
#JuanAndBeth — with Selena Laurence.

We had a wonderful rainy thunderstorm on Saturday. The air cooled down, the rain fell, the plants became very happy. Yay for rain!
Well I completed Revolution’s formatting and put it up on Amazon, Kindle, Kobo, CreateSpace and Smashwords. I’m very excited. I have a good deal for you if you’re a subscriber to my newsletter. Want to get on it? Sign up in the next five days and I’ll get you in on it too!
The Northern Gila County fair is in a month. We’ve been working with the printer to publish the Fair books and I’ve been updating the website, www.NorthernGilaCountyFair.com, to correct out of date information. The site is still a work in progress but at least the information is correct. LOL! Do you attend your local county fair? What do you like the best about it?
Thanks for stopping by my blog today.
Like any author, my books sell based on reviews. Would you be interested in getting a free copy to review for me? 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. Let me know you’d like to be a reviewer on Goodreads or the e-tailer 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.
Revolution: A Gulliver Station Story released August 1st! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!