Phoenix Fan Fusion T’s, Post Card Art, Gardening: Monday Blog Post

Newest News:

After the show, I began showing some of the t-shirts from the Phoenix Fan Fusion. Above is one for this week.

Art. In grade school we’re always drawing. It’s expected. As we get older, if we’re not “good” at it, we stop, not wanting to be embarrassed or criticized. That’s unfortunate, as drawing is relaxing and enjoyable no matter what your level of expertise. A couple of writer friends of mine began June as Post Card Art month and I joined in. My art isn’t professional. The only art supplies in my house was a coffee mug of colored pencils and a package of postcards. But each day I take a few minutes to draw something. Anything. And no matter how strange they come out, I’ve been posting them on my Facebook page. You’re following that page, right? Anyway. Give it a try yourself. It’s ok if it’s just pencil on lined paper. Enjoy it if all you have are crayons and construction paper. Find the joy if it’s ballpoint pen on the back of your grocery receipts. It’s never too late to start having some fun with art.

Yukon Gold, Red, and Purple Potatoes

It is the season for gardening. I planted my potatoes about 3 months ago, March, I guess that was. Anyway, they were ready to harvest so on June 9th, I dug them all out. That’s the picture above. Not a huge harvest, it’s a small bed, but one that hubby and I will enjoy as long as they last. I cleaned up that bed and planted beets at one end and bush green beans at the other end. Some Swiss Chard may go into the middle. I also put in two more tomato plants, one yellow tomato and one Sungold cherry tomato. I also put in a zucchini as the chipmunks ate the last one. I’m hoping the chipmunks don’t eat the little beet sprouts.

Geraniums and the little pansy that escaped being eaten by javelina.

In the front yard I dug the daffodil bulbs out of the big flowerpot by the sidewalk and put 3 geraniums into the pot by the walk leading to the front door. That’s them, above, with my surviving pansy from the javelina attack. I’ll get three more geraniums for the other pot. I hope your gardening is able to begin and here’s to a bumper crop for you.

Giveaways:

I’m gearing up for the Summer giveaway. I see other authors signing in and getting their prizes ready. I’ll let you know when it goes live.

Where will I Be?:

The Payson Book Festival 2019. Mark your calendars for July 20th. Go to www.paysonbookfestival.org for all of the details! We have nearly 90 authors, lots of speakers in both the Fireside and Maple rooms, and again, the silent auction. Want to just make a donation? Go to our Paypal.me page, Payson Book Festival.

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:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is only up on Amazon, at the moment. I’ll let everyone know when the print version is up and is up on the other platforms. 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 or BookBub. Your review is 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 Memorial Day, Phoenix Fan Fusion, Brown Rain Covers, KJZZ Book Fest: Monday Blog Post

Newest News:

It’s Memorial Day. It’s a cold, overcast, blowy day here, and if it’s going to rain, I wish it would just get on with it. A quiet day for me as I came home from the Phoenix Fan Fusion adventure last night. I’m still tired today and with the weather, decided to just stay home. A nap may be in my future.

Phoenix Fan Fusion was an adventure, no doubt.
Since last Thursday I’ve been at the gigantic Phoenix Fan Fusion. As with other years, it was a wild collection of costumes plain and simple, and costumes complex to the nth degree. I was in my booth watching the parade go by for the entire weekend and it was something to see. So. Many. People! So many costumes. But not everyone was in a costume. Many people just had SciFi or Fantasy or just plain funny t-shirts on. By Saturday, I’d decided to get some pictures of those t-shirts. It was hard to do. There were so many people, many were out of range before I noticed their shirt, or they were way over on the other side of the aisle. Whatever. I did get some and I’ll present them one at a time for the next few weeks. Just because they’re fun. Above is one for today. And many thanks to all of the people who agreed to have their picture taken. I appreciate it.

Brown Rain series cover updates. The Brown Rain covers and interiors finally cleared and I received copies just in time for Fan Fusion. The Gold Dreams cover and interior finally cleared also. Those I was not able to get in time, but I will have them for the KJZZ event.

I’ll be at the KJZZ Arizona Story Fest and Authors Showcase on June 1st, which is absolutely free to attend! Here’s the scoop.

Mesa Convention Center – Building C
June 1, 2019
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Activities at the KJZZ Arizona Storyfest include: Storytellers Main Stage, Authors Showcase & Reading Stage, Children’s Storyteller Stage & Craft Area, Arizona Expo.

Fun for everyone.

Giveaways:

No giveaways right now.

Where will I Be?:

KJZZ event I just mentioned.

The Payson Book Festival 2019. Mark your calendars for July 20th. Be in Payson for the book festival. Go to www.paysonbookfestival.org for all of the details! I just saw the book that we’ve been doing with the Payson Community Kids. What a darling project for our little authors and artists. We’re having the book printed and available for sale at the festival. Also, I participated in another workshop with the Payson Middle School, 6th graders to make a microzine. We worked with Rosemary Dumbrowski of ASU and Sophia McGovern to make them and the kids were amazing. Many of those microzines will be on display at the festival.

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:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is only up on Amazon, at the moment. I’ll let everyone know when the print version is up and is up on the other platforms. 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 or BookBub. 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.

Stephen King, Gold Dreams, Family Visit, Giveaway: Monday Blog Post

Newest News:

A friend introduced me to a new Stephen King book, Elevation, last week. It’s a very quick read and not scary at all. Kind of SciFi, kind of literary, it’s still a good story and heart-warming, in a way. Don’t want to tell you too much and ruin the book for you. But take a look at it. I put up reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub. If you use those sites, take a moment to follow me as well.

I’ve finished revisions on Gold Dreams. My book cover designer, J.A. Marlow, has come up with an initial cover. There’s some tweaking to be done but this is close. I like the old-fashioned, kind of dime novel western look it has. What are your thoughts?

Kyaker Memorial

I’m prepping for my brother’s visit on Thursday. Spare room has been cleaned. Getting food in for us to prepare. Thinking about what fun things to show him. A hike is most certainly in the line-up.

Giveaways:

Still up for grabs! If you’ve looked at my “Where Am I” page on my website, you’ll have noticed that I’m going to be at the Phoenix Fan Fusion over Memorial Day weekend. (May 23rd – 26th) I’ve decided that I should do a giveaway. A free exhibitor pass for one of those days. I know that not everyone can take off for Phoenix at the drop of the hat. But if you’re in the area, and you’d like to come see me at my booth and spend the day at the event, sign up by emailing me at [email protected]. Post a picture of you with one of my books. Use the subject, PFF Ticket. I’ll draw a name on May 10th and contact the winner with directions for picking up the pass.

The St. Patrick’s Day giveaway is now over. I’ll be contacting the winners as soon as they’re drawn. There are 38 prizes and 38 books to be given away and $114 in Paypal cash as the grand prize. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/

In the meantime, I’m in a promotion with 19 other women writers on Book Funnel. You can check out the books here. There are romances, mysteries, shifter stories and even a non-fiction. Don’t miss out. These are all free for a short time.

Where will I Be?:

If you are a fan of most any genre, I’m participating in an on-line cyber conference here: http://owscycon.ourwriteside.com/about-ows-cycon/. The event is May 17th through May 19th. There are discussion forums, author giveaways, and so much more. Check out the link and sign up to participate. Sign up also gets you news on what’s happening and when. So sign up today. You might just be the person we want to have in our panel discussion!

Phoenix Fan Fusion! Oh My Gosh! If you haven’t ever been to this event you need to check it out. The prices for entry are so reasonable! Three days is $75 at this point but that goes up April 12th! The catalog of things to do is humongous! I’ll be down in Artists Alley, Four Carat Press, booths AA930 and AA932. Come check it out. If you’ve never been, it will blow your minds. It’s May 23 – 26th. Come see me!

The Payson Book Festival this year is going to be more exciting than last year. Mark your calendars for July 20th. Be in Payson for the book festival. Go to www.paysonbookfestival.org for all of the details!

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:

Slave Elf released February 19th, 2019. 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 or BookBub. 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.

April Fools Day, Gold Dreams, New Giveaway: Monday Blog Post

Newest News:

It’s April Fools Day. We don’t do this holiday at our house. Neither the hubby nor I think scaring each other, or getting them to eat nasty food, is very funny. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the pranking if that’s what your family likes. Have fun but be safe!

Last week I mentioned that I had a writing to do list. There was a lot of stuff on that list. Over the course of last week, I made it even longer. Sigh. One of the things on the list was to get Gold Dreams moving. I finished going over it, printed it out and handed it off to a proof-reader. They’ll go through it and point out strange turns of phrase, do a fair job of catching spelling/grammar/punctuation errors, and give it back. Once I have a draft final, I can tell my cover designer how many pages this book is and she can finish my cover. So many steps to getting a book out. But, it’s lovely at the end to hold a new book in my hands.

Yesterday was the last day of my ebook, Slave Elf, at .99. The price is now $4.99.

Giveaways:

Me at last year’s Phoenix Fan Fusion

Something new. If you’ve looked at my “Where Am I” page on my website, you’ll have noticed that I’m going to be at the Phoenix Fan Fusion over Memorial Day weekend. (May 23rd – 26th) I’ve decided that I should do a giveaway. A free exhibitor pass for one of those days. I know that not everyone can take off for Phoenix at the drop of the hat. But if you’re in the area, and you’d like to come see me at my booth and spend the day at the event, sign up by emailing me at [email protected]. Post a picture of you with one of my books. Use the subject, PFF Ticket. I’ll draw a name on May 10th and contact the winner with directions for picking up the pass.

The St. Patrick’s Day giveaway is now over. I’ll be contacting the winners as soon as they’re drawn. There are 38 prizes and 38 books to be given away and $114 in Paypal cash as the grand prize. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/

In the meantime, I’m in a promotion with 19 other women writers on Book Funnel. You can check out the books here. There are romances, mysteries, shifter stories and even a non-fiction. Don’t miss out. These are all free for a short time.

Where will I Be?:

If you are a fan of most any genre, I’m participating in an on-line cyber conference here: http://owscycon.ourwriteside.com/about-ows-cycon/. The event is May 17th through May 19th. There are discussion forums, author giveaways, and so much more. Check out the link and sign up to participate. Sign up also gets you news on what’s happening and when. So sign up today. You might just be the person we want to have in our panel discussion!

Phoenix Fan Fusion! Oh My Gosh! If you haven’t ever been to this event you need to check it out. The prices for entry are so reasonable! Three days is $75 at this point but that goes up April 12th! The catalog of things to do is humongous! I’ll be down in Artists Alley, Four Carat Press, booths AA930 and AA932. Come check it out. If you’ve never been, it will blow your minds. It’s May 23 – 26th. Come see me!

The Payson Book Festival this year is going to be more exciting than last year. Mark your calendars for July 20th. Be in Payson for the book festival. Go to www.paysonbookfestival.org for all of the details!

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 Slave Elf story released February 19th, 2019. It is finally up on all of my 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 or BookBub. 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.