Summer, Garden, Writing, : Monday Blog Post

Monsoon River in my Back Yard

Newest News:

Hooray! Saturday we had rain. For us, it was a welcome relief. The moisture helped fire fighters keep the forest fires under control and maybe even gain some ground. I know my garden was thankful and the birds and animals as well. The rain marked the start of what we in the southwest call monsoon season. Yesterday’s rain was very gentle. That’s not usual for a monsoon. During a regular monsoon rain the water comes gushing out of the sky like from a firehose. Start to finish, the storm may only last half an hour but it will drop inches of rain, flooding washes and streets and stranding people in place until the water recedes. It’s exciting to watch from safely inside the house. Terrifying to see when you’re driving around town.

Tomatoes

My garden is galloping away. I’ve had to tie up my tomatoes as they’re starting to sprawl all over. The cucumber, cantaloupe, and zucchini plants are all a healthy green and in bloom. I can’t wait for the fruit to come.

burned_out_building_by_chisatowatanabe-d8mdbcd via DeviantArt.com

Did you see my Friday story? The Doomsday Vault. What did you think? I was writing to a prompt from another author and I had too many ideas for it. I ended up with something I wasn’t very happy with but put it up anyway. I guess I can use it as an example of working to a deadline. I hate to miss posting a story on Fridays.

If you’re one of my mystery readers, I’ll remind you that I’m in a cozy mystery book bundle, Cozy Winter Reads.  The Bundle Rabbit link is:   https://bundlerabbit.com/b/cozy-winter-reads and you can get the bundle in whatever format you’d like. Just $7.99 for six books!

Giveaways:

The 2018 Authors/Bloggers Spring Giveaway at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ ends this week. So many free books and prizes, you’ll be amazed. Click the link to get to the Rafflecopter.

Shout Out:

Author CA Asbrey

Today I want to give a shout out to an author friend of mine, C.A. Asbrey. She’s the author of The Innocents historical mystery series. C.A.Asbrey developed a deep interest in early forensics and detection methods working in the field. She researched early detectives and the tools available to them for years before developing her characters. They are compelling versions of real people, all her crimes are based on fictionalized versions of real crimes, and the methods used to solve them were available to detectives at the time. She likes her mysteries twisty, complex, and intricate; through a fog of history and a touch of light humor. The Innocents book 2, Innocent as Sin, is about to be published and I had the chance to read it. I loved it. The forensic details were fascinating, and she has a well-rounded story to go with it. Set in the west, her main character is a female Pinkerton detective and encounters all of the prejudices and biases you’d expect for that day and age. I find her a compelling character and the hints of her backstory are tantalizing. There’s a love interest, an outlaw and his outlaw uncle, that create a great conflict as well. I’m reminded of the series Moonlighting and Castle. I hope you’ll enjoy the series.

Where Will I Be?

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

My next event adventure is the Payson Book Festival. www.PaysonBookFestival.org. We’re completing the final touches and now heavily promoting the festival. It’s again at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino ballroom. The organizer there is so wonderful to work with. At any rate, we’ll have 80 authors, entertainment, children’s story times (yep, more than one!) and of course the casino has great food in it’s restaurants. Hope to see you there.

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.

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Newest Book Release:

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.

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.