The Hi Jolly Memorial, Quartzite AZ by Randy Cockrell

You may have noticed that this post is up later in the day than usual. I have a reason. Hubby and I were in Quartzite over the weekend. If you know anything at all about traveling, you know that checking into a hotel wifi is a certain recipe for getting your accounts hacked. So, no logging in for me. It wouldn’t have mattered. I was also sick. I have an appointment this afternoon to see my doc but I’m pretty sure she’s going to say I have bronchitis. This is the second time in nine months. Ugh. Just about half of the people I know locally have this ‘creeping crud’ so I’m in good company. I just wish I could breathe. Cherry on top, hubby’s now getting sick. Yeah!
Some news, what’s in my brain enough to mention it. The 2016 Payson Book Festival is opening author registration today. The seats are already going fast. If you are an author and would like to attend this festival of books, go to www.paysonbookfestival.org/Authorregistration. Review the criteria and download and send in your application. NOTE! This is only open to Arizona authors.
I managed to get some words in last week on my Friday Flash Fiction (see https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/2016/01/jaguar-tale-flash-fiction-friday-post/) I wrote a flash before Jaguar Tales, called Bell Ring and liked it so much that instead of posting on my blog I decided to do some polishing on it and send it on the rounds. I sent it out to three authors whose advice I respect and they all agreed it had a shot. I’ll keep you posted on its progress. Thankfully, I also managed about 4k words on the Zoe Ohale story. I’m nearly done, perhaps even this week if I can work through my bronchitis fog. In the meantime, Kindred Spirits is in the editor’s hands. I should be hearing back from EJ (SilverJayMedia.com) in a week or two. I nearly have the cover completed for Kindred Spirits. I’m polishing up the back of the cover blurb. 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.
Santa’s Authors Christmas 2015 Giveaway also known as the Winter Wonderland of Books Christmas Giveaway is now over. Over one hundred thousand people entered! Wow! Anyway, drawings for winners are on-going. I’ll let you know who won my two Brown Rain Series books and the Christmas Tales book. I cannot express how much I appreciate all of you who signed up for my website, newsletter, Google Author page and Facebook page. Thanks for participating.
You didn’t get to participate in the Christmas Giveaway? Good news. We’re starting a new giveaway in a few days. It’s called the Lovestruck Authors Giveaway and runs from a TBD date in January through Valentine’s Day. Here’s a picture. I’ll post the links as soon as they’re ready.

The Next Giveaway

I mentioned earlier that hubby and I went to Quartzite AZ over the weekend. Despite my non-stop coughing, I managed to see one or two things. First, we were driving around the neighborhoods and found a yard with both roadrunners and quail. Here’s a picture.

Roadrunner Quartzite AZ by Randy Cockrell

At the top of this post is a picture of the Hey Jolly memorial. If you like rocks, Quartzite is the place to be in January. One rock show after another runs until late March.

One of the many Malachite tables at the Rock Show, Quartzite, AZ by Randy Cockrell

The weather is warm, or, at least, warmer, and the people are friendly. If you haven’t been, you should schedule it. Quartzite is a mecca for winter RV’ing. There is a Super 8 hotel in town, though, if you don’t have an RV.
I published my December 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 blog posts. If you like the content, please encourage your friends to sign up, the newsletter is sharable, send it to whomever you think will like it. Don’t delay signing up. You’ve already missed out on two great offers. The January 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, 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.