Newest News:
It’s been a crazy week at the Cockrell house. The new patio has been constructed and over the last couple of days, hubby has painted the inside stucco wall to match the stone and is considering an art project to paint Arizona-themed pictures on there. Should be interesting. I’ll take pictures.
I’ve also been working on one author friend’s cover and another author friend’s formatting. Neither is quick to do but both of them want their books for the upcoming Payson Book Festival so I’m going as fast as I can to make it all happen.
My book, Zoe Ohale, is now with the editor. I won’t get it back until mid-July. I’m looking at cover designers because I just can’t do the cover myself this time.
Speaking of covers, my Mystery at the Fair cover has gone live on Amazon. I love the new look, don’t you? http://www.amazon.com/Connie-Cockrell/e/B009O6199C.
I’m also going to promote a new online magazine, www.ArizonaRimCountryOutdoors.com. They talk about all the great things to do here in Rim Country AND they have pages with local art, stories, and more. Check out their site. I have a story up there now.
Giveaways:
The Spring Into Reading giveaway closes TODAY. I have links to it on my facebook, twitter, and website pages. This giveaway I offer a free ebook, First Encounter, 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 ways to enter. You could easily win a prize. If you haven’t entered yet, please enter today and every day.
Shout Out:
Author L. H. Whitlock
The Author Interview segment this week is the wonderful L. H. Whitlock. I’m very happy she agreed to be interviewed. She’s a fellow science fiction author and has her series, Galactic Battle, in progress. I think you’re going to like her work. Can’t wait till Wednesday? Check out her author page on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01F4IG8VW.
Garden News:
The recent heat has made everything in the garden start growing like crazy. I put the string trellis up on the bean bed so they have somewhere to grow up. The butternut squash is still a no show. I suspect the squirrel. I’ll try and plant again. The Swiss Chard has finally popped up and if the squirrel will leave it alone, I should have a nice little patch that will keep us in fresh chard the rest of the summer. The two tiny zucchini were not ready to pick on Saturday. Disappointing but I’ll get over it. How’s your garden doing?
Where Will I Be?:
July 23rd is the Payson Book Festival, partly funded by the Arizona Humanities. 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. Check us out on Twitter: @PaysonBookFest, and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PaysonBookFestival/.
9th annual Fall Festival in Pine, AZ. October 8th and 9th. http://pinestrawberrybusinesscommunityaz.com/fallapple.html. I’ll be there all weekend as part of the local author book signing. My hubby will be there as part of the chili cook-off at noon on Saturday. There are also crafters and a very excellent antique show scheduled, not to mention music and food!
Want more details about these events? Click here for more information.
Newsletter Sign Up:
Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up prizes on both the regular and the Brown Rain newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team! I’d love to see you there.
Newest Book Release:
I’m in the middle of the Zoe Ohale editing. If you’re a Brown Rain Series fan, I think you’ll like Zoe Ohale. You may remember a short story I published on my blog on 8/20/15, Extra Baggage. That was the second story about Zoe. The first, Betrayal Moon, is in the Forward Motion anthology, due out in the next couple of weeks. Just 17, Zoe has been an orphan living on the streets of Baia Mare since she was 12. Street smart and fiercely independent, Zoe has been offered the chance to move back into legal society by the police officer that arrested her a few months ago. But first, she has to help protect the little kids in her group, help her friend save her father from assassination, and find a criminal ring that just stole all of the physical credits being delivered to the Planetary Bank of Baia Mare. The book, the first of a series, should be out in August, if I can find time to work on it between the Book Festival and the Fair.
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.