Tag Archives: Book for Sale

Mystery at the Reunion, National Novel Writing Month, Shout Out: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

My cozy, Mystery at the Reunion, might be a good fit for you. The InkShares site is new to me and I’m still learning how to use it. I’ve put chapters from the story up over there as well as some alternative chapters that may bring the story even more to life. Since the story is in a contest, I can win the contest by getting people to read the story. Here’s the link. https://www.inkshares.com/books/mystery-at-the-reunion. I’d appreciate it if you’d go over and have a read. The book is open for comments, so if you like something, don’t like something, let me know!

Gulliver Station box set for Smashwords is live. I’ve included links to all of the ebook spots where I sell my books at the bottom of this page. I’m still working on the paperback version. I’m having a fight with Amazon on the cover, a technical glitch of some sort. And in the formatting, I’ve run into a weird hurdle that puts the last page of every chapter in the middle of the page. I thought I had the pagination error beat but no. That’s not working either. At any rate, you can now get it in ebook for a very nice price. Enjoy.

https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/australian_gold_nugget_by_nerodesign.jpg

National Novel Writing Month, NaNo for short, has begun and I’m over 7k into my first book, Gold Dreams. I need to finish it up, then start on my All About Bob series. Lots to do there as well.

A reminder that I’ve finished my 2019 calendar. Arizona is such a beautiful place and a calendar of pictures from central AZ fits in so well with my Jean Hays series, I really just can’t resist sharing. Now that it’s completed, you can find the calendar on Lulu. Just click on the link and purchase as many copies as you want for yourself, friends and family. Feel free to share the link, and this post!

Next appearance is in December, the Mesa Book Festival. That’s December 8th. You can find all of the details at https://mesabookfestival.com/.

Shout Out

I want to say a big hi to my author friend Anne R. Tan, also a mystery author. She’s promoting her new book, Smoldering Flames and Secrets, a Raina Sun mystery over on the Books2Read site at https://books2read.com/RainaSun7. Really! Go check it out.

Giveaways:

The 2018 Halloween giveaway is now closed. There’s $80+ as a Grand Prize Paypal cash, plus books and other prizes and as soon as I get the info, I’ll tell you who won! A Christmas one is coming out soon, so stay tuned for that.

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.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. It is finally up on all of my other retailers in ebook format. You can buy it at Amazon, Apple, 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.

 

Happy Hour: Daily Blog Post

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Hey!

Saturday was Happy Hour. This is a get together with a lot of other people to enjoy a pot luck, some music and dancing and a glass of wine or two. In previous years it has been held monthly but this year there just weren’t enough volunteers to do that so it was held last night and we had a ton ‘o fun. I did anyway. I’ve been looking forward to this all summer. Picture above.

I managed some work on my Gulliver Station box set on every day but Friday and Saturday and made a lot of progress. Since Saturday have finished formatting the Smashwords edition and updated the Kindle edition. Monday I uploaded both and they should be available to download now.

It’s just 1 week until the Northern Gila County Fair. I love county fairs and hope that if you’re in the area, you can come by and see the fabulous work our local ranchers, farmers, backyard gardeners and crafters do. The horse show was yesterday, the 25th. You can find out more about our fair at www.NGCFair.com.

That’s it for today! Hope your Tuesday is just fantastic!

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon 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 my 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.

The Week Begins: Daily Blog Post

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Just for fun!

 

Hey!

Monday was busy. Hubby had blood tests at 10am. He’s had stomach problems (an old issue), which have resurfaced over the last week. The docs are trying to identify the current problems.

I had a book festival meeting, also at 10am. We went over status of where each department is at this point and reviewed the feedback from authors and attendees. Lots of good comments there and a few good ideas for improvements. Then I went to lunch with one of the committee members and her husband. That was fun.

On the box set, I have one more book to edit and I can update the Amazon copy, publish the Smashwords copy, then re-format for the paper box set and get that uploaded. There is an end in sight! Yay!

A reminder: The 2018 Authors/Bloggers Summer Giveaway is in progress at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/. There’s $80 as a Grand Prize Paypal Cash and 27 books and 27 prizes available to win.

That’s it for today!

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon 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 my 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.

A Writer’s Job: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

It’s possible that you wonder why, as a writer, I cannot get stories to you faster. I understand. It seems to take a really long time for me to produce and publish your next favorite series book. To be honest, it feels like a long time for me, as well.

A look at my current to do list might let you in on what’s going on. These are not in any kind of order. Just how they occurred to me as I was making the list.

AuthorShow.com – a note to myself to apply to the audio and visual podcast program that provides some exposure for authors. (Marketing)

Brown Rain Covers – I have them done, just want to update the interiors to match Tested’s interior. (Marketing)

Brown Rain Interiors – Yep, see above. (Marketing)

Gulliver Box Sets – What I’m currently working on. (Marketing)

Pre-Order Slave Elf – Get the story Slave Elf up on multiple platforms/sites as a pre-order. (Advertising)

Edit Slave Elf – (Editing)

Amazon Affiliate – Re-apply to Amazon for affiliate status. That way people coming to my author page or a book page, can continue their other Amazon shopping and I get a tiny cut at no additional expense to my readers. (Cross-Promotion)

Set up Amazon AUS, NZ, CAN – Officially set up my author page and books on these country sites for more exposure to English speaking readers. (Marketing)

Set up Optimize Press – This is a site that gives me assistance in setting up my marketing pages. (Marketing)

Pinterest Class – This is a Mark Dawson beta class that I have not been able to access despite the fact it appears on my class page. I’ll have to contact someone to get it to open for me. I’d love to learn how to use Pinterest to expand my reader base. (Marketing)

SAM – this is actually a book festival reminder that as a non-profit organization I have to annually re-certify that our organization is tax-exempt. (Volunteer)

Post Review – I had a nice review of Tested from Reader’s Favorite. I need to post it on my Tested pages (Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords) (Advertising)

You may notice there’s no reminder to write. I don’t need a reminder to write, it’s always in the back of my mind. I need to write a flash fiction to post every Friday and current writing projects include finishing It’s All About the Music, (plus 2 more to make 5 in that series), a horror story for December deadline, and edits for both Mystery at the Reunion and the 2nd Zoe Ohale story, Troubled Campus.

I’m also scheduled for a book selling/signing on September 15th, October 13 – 14th, and December 8th. So I need to inventory my on-hand books to see what needs to be ordered. I sold quite a few at the Payson Book Festival and need to re-supply.

It’s obvious I do a lot of tasks that are marketing oriented. I need to if I want my reader numbers to grow.

And that’s it! Lots to do and all of it needs time and energy. Some days I just want to play games on Facebook.

Giveaways:

The 2018 Authors/Bloggers Summer Giveaway is in progress at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/. There’s $80 as a Grand Prize Paypal Cash and 27 books and 27 prizes available to win.

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.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon 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.

Gulliver Box set, New Ice Cream Maker, Gardening: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

So, I have the Smashwords copy of the Gulliver Station Box set formatted and the table of contents linked. I’m going to go through it today to try and get rid of the punctuation and grammar errors I see in there so when I do the paperback version, it will be cleaner. I’ll update the Kindle copy as well. It’s a tedious process, folks, so please bear with me.

Ice Cream Maker

I mentioned a few of days ago that I was buying a new ice cream maker because I couldn’t find the motor and paddle for my old one. Well, the Cuisine Art maker came, and Saturday I made a new batch of vanilla paleo ice cream. I put it into the maker and it worked beautifully. Hubby tried it Saturday night and while he declared it wasn’t as creamy as regular ice cream, it was good. Better with the addition of fresh, cut-up peaches, of which we’re swimming. That’s a whole ‘nother story.

The garden is going strong. I have peaches. Lots and lots of peaches and they all ripen at once. So we give away a lot to friends. The a good many I’ll blanch, peel, and cut into slices to freeze. The freezing part is easy. Lay the slices out on a freezer paper lined baking sheet and put in the freezer. The next day, loosen them from the paper, put into a gallon freezer bag, and you’re done. Unless of course, like me, you have several more containers of fresh peaches in the fridge. Then it’s round two! The picture is of 2 containers already washed, and my gathering basket of just picked peaches, before they get their bath.

Giveaways:

The 2018 Authors/Bloggers Summer Giveaway is in progress at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/. There’s $80 as a Grand Prize Paypal Cash and 27 books and 27 prizes available to win.

The Smashwords’ site’s Summer/Winter Giveaway is over. I hope you had the chance to get many of my books for free or at a significant discount. Now you can find a list of all of my books at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell and in whatever ebook format works for you.

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.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon 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.

Gardening, Community Notices, Gulliver Box Set: Daily Blog Post

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Hey!

I meant to post this yesterday but lacked a picture so was waiting for it to arrive from a friend. Then it was dinner, then tv, then bed. Forgot all about it. Anyway, here’s yesterday’s and today’s post.

You know I like my gardening. Above and below are two pics from the garden. Above are a basket full of peaches I picked this morning. There’s still this many and more on the tree. Below is a picture from the melon patch. That’s hubby’s thumb in the picture. The little melon beside the big one are the biggest in the patch. The rest are all tiny little buds yet. The one melon plant is taking up an entire 4X4 foot garden bed and creeping over the sides and across the yard. So glad I didn’t succumb to temptation and plant anything else in that bed.

One of the things that fills the writer’s well of creativity is normal life. We do occasionally venture out of our writing caves and get some daylight. And besides, I mean, really, is there anything more useful to a writer’s characterization of a protagonist or other character than to be aware of the reactions of the people around them? Of course not.

Concurrent with that is being aware of community events. These events provide the little details that can be used in a book to make the whole story come to life.

In that vein, I want to talk about two local events that are coming up that feed that need for my own writing.

 

One is the upcoming Northern Gila County Fair. (I based some of my book, Mystery at the Fair, on my volunteer time with this fair.) This year we’re trying out a talent show. If you’re in the area, come and try out. There are still several dates available to do that. Here’s the flyer. In the meantime, mark your calendar for September 5th – 7th, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, to come and see the fair.

Then, September 15th, is the Christopher Creek Car Show. I plan on being there in a vendor booth talking to readers and selling and signing books! (Sorry, no flyer available yet.)

That’s it for today!

The Gulliver Station ebook box set released July 30th, 2018. You can buy it at Amazon 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.

Gulliver Station Box Set, Brown Rain Series, Slave Elf: Daily Blog Post

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Hey!

So I put the Gulliver Station Box set up on Amazon Kindle and it went live, Monday morning. Of course, in my efforts to reformat the set for Smashwords, I found some errors. So, I’m going to finish reformatting for Smashwords then copy the file over to the Amazon Kindle site, to correct that file. That means you can buy it now on Amazon Kindle if you don’t mind hyphenated words not being hyphenated and other esoteric errors like that, or wait. I’ll have that file corrected by the end of the week. Then I’ll be working on the paperback version, should you be interested in that.

Then, it’ll be time for the reformatting of the first 3 Brown Rain books. I did interesting formatting in book 4, Tested, that I’d not done before and I want to bring the first 3 books up to that standard. Plus add the new covers. So there’s that.

In the meantime, I’m doing my 1st pass edits on Slave Elf. Since I have a cover, I’m thinking of putting that book up on pre-sale. To decide, I need to estimate when the edits will be done and allow time for the interior formatting. There’s the Northern Gila County Fair in September for me to consider as that’s a week-long time commitment. Lot’s to think about there.

That’s it for today!

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.

Giveaways, Gulliver Series Box Set: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

I’m working on re-editing and reformating my Gulliver Station series as a box set in both ebook and paperback formats. It’s slow going as I apparently don’t know how to use a comma. Also, I’m catching little typo’s. It’s coming! Really it is.

I have Mystery at the Fair in a bundle called Cozy Winter Reads and has five other authors in it with me. The Bundle Rabbit link is:   https://bundlerabbit.com/b/cozy-winter-reads and you can get the bundle in whatever format you’d like. I can hardly wait to read all of these new to me other authors. Hope you enjoy it. Just $7.99 for six books!

I never did get started on the edits for Mystery at the Reunion or my new Zoe Ohale story. So much work to do, only 24 hours in a day.

I did, however, figure out how to automate getting my books into the hands of readers for reviews. I’ve started with Tested, my newest release. Twenty copies were available and two are already taken. So if you’d like an Adavnce Reader Copy of Tested and to write a review for me, go to https://booksprout.co/arc/1639/tested. You’ll have to join but it’s free. You can follow me there so you get updated on every new release!

Giveaways:

So check out https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ and click on the Rafflecopter link to enter the 2018 Authors/Bloggers St. Patrick’s Day Giveaway. Books, ebooks, jewelry and more is being given away. You don’t want to miss out.

Also happening this month are two other giveaways.

 

First up is a March Fantasy Madness giveaway. That started on March 1st over on Book Funnel. Tons of fantasy stories up for grab for just signing up for author newsletters. If you love Fantasy, this is the giveaway for you. Here’s the link: http://www.autumnwriting.com/march-fantasy-madness/. Click on the book you are interested in and it takes you right to the purchase page.

Next, starting March 16th, is a Mystery promo. I’m in that with Mystery at the Fair, if you haven’t read it yet. But there will be a lot of other mystery authors in the promo as well. A link for that will be up closer to the date.

Shout Out:

Author Holly Lisle

Today I’m giving a shout out to Holly Lisle. If you like scifi and fantasy, she’s an author you should read. Hear what she has to say about herself.

I’ve been writing with intent to publish since January 1st, 1985 when my New Year’s resolution was to write a novel before I turned twenty-five (ten months later, more or less).

I hit my resolution with a few days to spare, but the book, Hearts In Stitches, sucked. I wrote a LOT after that, accumulating a big shoebox with well over a hundred rejection slips in it before anybody decided I was good enough to pay for fiction.

I actually started selling in 1991, and I broke in with with the fantasy novel Fire In The Mist (which won the Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel), and with a couple of sonnets I sold to the SF magazine Aboriginal.

It was a long hard slog between intent and realization.

It’s been a rollercoaster ever since.

But I love telling stories. In fiction, I’ve found the work I want to do for the rest of my life.

You’ll find a little more about me by reading the rest of the About pages at www.HollyLisle.com. Frankly, though, there’s much more of who I really am spread across the writing articles and sprinkled through the heart of my fiction and sprawled all over the damn place in my weblog, Pocket Full of Words.

I am not my work. But my work is me.

Where Will I Be?

Check my website, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/where-will-i-be/ for my engagements through 2018.

I’m excited to say I’m booked for the Payson Women’s Wellness Forum on April 28th, 2018. What’s more healing that getting lost in a novel! I’ll be there all day and you can buy, and I’ll sign, any of my books. SciFi, Fantasy, Cozy Mystery and more. You can find tickets at https://www.mhafoundation.com/upcoming-events.html

And, on Memorial Day weekend, I’ll be at the renamed Phoenix Comic Fest. (formerly Phonenix Comicon) I’ll be in Author Alley at tables AA928 and 930 with author Marsha Ward. If you’re coming to Arizona, stop on by and say hello. I’ll be in costume this year! We can take a picture together. Tickets for the Fest are already on sale.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on both 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! I have a contest running on my newsletter now. 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.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

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 paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Cozy Mystery Bundle Release, Giveaways, All About Bob Series: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

Remember the cozy mystery bundle over on the Bundle Rabbit site I talked about last week?  Well, it’s been released. The book is called Cozy Winter Reads and has five other authors in it with me. I think you’ll enjoy it. The Bundle Rabbit link is:   https://bundlerabbit.com/b/cozy-winter-reads and you can get the bundle in whatever format you’d like. I can hardly wait to read all of these new to me other authors. Hope you enjoy it. Just $7.99 for six books!

I finished the first draft of It’s All About the Odds. I need to let this story rest before I begin editing. This series won’t get published until I have the entire thing written and edited. That way readers won’t have to wait so long to get them. In the meantime I have edits to do on both the next Zoe Ohale story and the next Jean Hays story.

I’m also getting ready to release my Gulliver Station series as a box set in both ebook and paperback formats. Every book is being re-edited and has to be reformatted to a box set format so it will be a while yet. But if you’ve put off buying the series, you might want to hold off a bit longer to pick up the box set.

Giveaways:

The Lovestruck Authors and Bloggers Valentine’s Day giveaway now over.  Winners will be chosen soon and notified. Then, check out https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ and click on the Rafflecopter link to enter the next contest, the 2018 Authors/Bloggers St. Patrick’s Day Giveaway. Books, ebooks, jewelry and more is being given away. You don’t want to miss out.

Also happening this month are two other giveaways.

First up is a March Fantasy Madness giveaway. That starts on March 1st over on Book Funnel. Tons of fantasy stories up for grab for just signing up for author newsletters. If you love Fantasy, this is the giveaway for you. Here’s the link:

Next, starting March 16th, is a Mystery promo. I’m in that with Mystery at the Fair, if you haven’t read it yet. But there will be a lot of other mystery authors in the promo as well. A link for that will be up closer to the date.

Shout Out:

I want to give a shout out to author Autumn Birt who is the driving force behind the fantasy giveaway I’m in.

And that is why I’m the author of 12 books and counting. I fell in love with fantasy in high school after stumbling across a short story of dragon impression on Pern written by Anne McCaffrey. So from day 1 I’ve loved dragons and adventures that are a bit farther flung than your average story.

Since writing my first epic fantasy trilogy, the Rise of the Fifth Order, I branched into new territory with the apocalyptic dystopian thriller Friends of my Enemy. With no magic, lots of explosions and a very adult theme, this genre jump may seem like a complete change. But the essence of my writing, exciting plots, strong characters, and a setting that feels real, lie at the core of both series. So if you love books that will keep you up flipping pages, check out my books. The first book of both series is free!

Besides that, I used to live in Maine in a small, off-grid cottage I built with my husband (our two Cairn terriers supervised). I love to travel though and that led us to selling our little house and hitting the road in a Landcruiser for overland travel. I would say travel is a second passion in my life. And I prefer slow travel: hiking, sailing, kayaking, and motorcycling. Especially the motorcycling! I have an F650 BMW that is my favorite thing next to a writing device (preferably a portable writing device). I’m attempting to combine my two loves of slow travel and writing by overlanding in a Landcruiser along with my husband and dog. Check out our progress on Escape with the Dogs to see where we are. Who knows, we might be just down the road from you!

I have plans for many further adventures both real and fictional. So stay tuned and stay in touch. I love to hear from people!

Where Will I Be?

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

I’m excited to say I’m booked for the Payson Women’s Wellness Forum on April 28th, 2018. What’s more healing that getting lost in a novel! I’ll be there all day and you can buy, and I’ll sign, any of my books. SciFi, Fantasy, Cozy Mystery and more. You can find tickets at https://www.mhafoundation.com/upcoming-events.html

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts 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 to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

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 Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to PayPal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.

Contest, Craft Fair: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

I had a really good Columbus Day weekend. First, on Saturday, I had tickets to the local Saluting Our Veterans benefit concert featuring the Charlie Daniels band. There were so many people there it was amazing. That’s just a section of the crowd at the top. There were twice again that many there.

Second, I went to a craft show on Sunday. There weren’t a lot of vendors but the locally made jewelry was fantastic. I saw a little cuff bracelet I really would like to have but I didn’t get it. Mostly because I never wear jewelry. I’d have bought it and it would have landed in the jewelry box, forgotten.

I’m still brainstorming my next Jean Hays story. So there’s that. Also, it’s been too long since I’ve heard from my editor so I think my mail is again giving me a hard time. None of his emails come through. I’ll have to work on that this week.

Purple by Dinky03 http://www.deviantart.com/art/PURPLE-14567744

I continue to write my serial, Slave Elf. I’ve left my girl, Delia in quite a pickle. We’ll have to see how she gets out of it. You can find the first episode here.

Giveaways:

Would you like to win free ebooks, other prizes, or $150 in Paypal cash? Drop by https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ and click on the Rafflecopter link for the Spooktacular Authors Halloween Giveaway. This ends after Halloween! Get it now!

This week only! A Young Adult, Instafreebie giveaway that runs only until tomorrow, October 10th. Eleven authors and 12 books to give away in mystery, SciFi, Fantasy and Thriller genres. https://www.instafreebie.com/gg/8B0D07lf5WpRswSUwjQS

Finally, I have started a contest over on my newsletter. What? You don’t get my newsletter? That’s a shame. But see below on how you can join in on the fun. I already have several people writing in to enter it. It runs to the end of October when I’ll use a random number generator to select the winner. Let me know you’ve joined the newsletter and I’ll send you the information to enter.

P.S. By the way, you can get the pictured mug at: https://www.gearbubble.com/gbstore/conniesrandomthoughts

Shout Out:

In honor of October’s everything horror, this shout out is to Joshua Robertson. He is a bestselling author in dark fantasy, and a writer for Fantasy-Faction. You may recognize him as the dude whose dragons were said to destroy George R.R. Martin’s and Christopher Paolini’s dragons in a very biased Twitter poll. His first novel, Melkorka, was released in 2015, and he has been writing fantasy fiction like clockwork ever since. Known most for his Thrice Nine Legends Saga, Robertson enjoys an ever-expanding and extremely loyal following of readers. Among other places, you can find him at http://www.robertsonwrites.com.

Where Will I Be?

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

My next public appearance will be this coming weekend at the Pine Fall Festival October 14th and 15th. On both days, I’ll be in the Community Hall with a few other authors selling and signing books with the antique dealers. On Saturday besides crafters, is the annual chili cook-off. Saturday hours are 9am – 5pm and the chili cook-off starts at 11am. Be there at 11am. The chili usually runs out by noon. Buy a ticket, taste the chili, vote for your fav top three! My hubby is usually there with his version. Sunday the hours are 9am – 4pm. Lots of crafters will be there and the weather is lovely in October. Come on by and say hello.

NEW! In November the Payson library is having it first ever mini-comicon. SciFi and Fantasy fans, get ready to head to central Arizona. There’ll be costumes, SciFi and Fantasy panels. I’m excited! I’ll post the date as soon as I have it.

On December 9th I’ll be at the Mesa Book Festival. Get full details at https://mesabookfestival.com/. I’ll be in a booth with my author friend, Marsha Ward. www.MarshaWard.com. Between the two of us, we have a large number of genre’s covered. Come get your Christmas presents and stocking stuffers. The festival runs from 2pm – 8pm.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts 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 to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

Mystery at the Book Festival released June 1st 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.