Tag Archives: Monsoon

Payson Book Festival, Spring Fed Stream: Monday Blog Post

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Horton Creek

Newest News:

This is the week! Saturday the 17th is our 6th annual book festival. Over 70 authors, a Kid’s Zone, country entertainment, it’s all here. See below for the details or go to https://www.PaysonBookFestival.org to check out the authors attending, the Kid Zone and Entertainment schedules, and where to stay when you visit Payson.

I mentioned last week that I ordered more of my Mystery at the Fair and Mystery in the Woods. Will they get here in time for Saturday’s book festival? We’ll see!

Last minute details on the book festival continue this week! We assemble our author’s packets today (the 12th), I have three other meetings and a lunch to attend. Also, I’d like to get a mani-pedi on Friday afternoon. Just to take a mental break and relax before Saturday’s event. A little “me time” I guess. What do you do before a big, nerve-wracking event for self-care? Maybe something afterward instead of beforehand? Let us know in the comments!

The weather here in central Arizona is hot and humid. It’s supposed to be monsoon season when afternoon thunderstorms water the land and relieve the heat. But it isn’t happening. Yesterday was a good example. I spent the morning at the Farmer’s Market, advertising for the book festival. Even with a canopy up and a breeze, it felt like we were standing at the open mouth of hell. Hot! And storm clouds gathered, driving up the humidity. But did we get the rain? Nope. A few random drops. So for you in the east, who are struggling with way too much rain, I wish we could take some from you. For those of us here in the heat addled west, may the rains come soon. In the meantime, the above picture is of a spring fed stream here in Rim Country.

Hoping everyone is able to access a covid shot, or two if needed. The delta variant of the virus is racing through my county. Hospitalizations have jumped three-fold and the majority of the people hitting the ERs are unvaccinated. We’ll only beat this disease if we all work together. Please schedule your vaccination as soon as you can. The shots are still free!

Giveaways:

Our Spring giveaway will end tomorrow or maybe sooner. Then, the summer giveaway will begin. So hop on over to the page with the following link and get in on the prizes. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

 

Where will I Be?

On July 17th, starting at 9am – 3:30pm I’ll be at the Payson Book Festival! Yes!! That’s correct! The Payson Book Festival is a GO! You’ll be able to visit us in person, meet authors, and have some fun picking out your next books to read. See more at http://www.PaysonBookFestival.org.

 

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 Releases:

Creature in the Night, a short Halloween, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Fantasy story has been published. It is up on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited or for purchase at $.99. 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.

Monsoon, Payson Book Festival, Gardening : Monday Blog Post

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Monsoon by Randy Cockrell

Newest News:

It’s rained everyday since last blog post. We’re all enjoying the moisture and we’ve had enough that the Forest Service has reopened out local forests for camping, hiking and other recreation. Only one small fire was started because of lightning and put out right away so everyone in the area is happy. Except for the humidity. We’re just not used to it. But overall, we’re happy the rains have come.

The Payson Book Festival is Saturday, July 21st, and those of us on the committee are ready for it to be here. So much is planned for the day. If you’re in the area, please do come to the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino and say hello to all of the authors. You can find the speakers schedules and info on all of the authors at www.PaysonBookFestival.org.

Cantaloupe

Some garden news. The garden really likes the rain. It was doing okay with my watering but since last Monday, it has just exploded. Above is a picture of my cantaloupe bed. That’s just one plant, filled up the 4 square foot bed and is now escaping across the back yard. Behind it you can see my zucchini. That’s also just one plant. The tiny zukes grew to 18-24 inches in no time. Thank goodness I have a spiralizer. The pears and the peaches are doing well. My peaches usually ripen by the end of July. These look pretty green yet, so I don’t know if they’ll be on schedule but no matter. There are a lot of them, that’s all I care about.

I spent most of Sunday writing my new newsletter, creating a YouTube video to include in it, and in writing this blog post. You have to sign up for the newsletter (see below) but you can see the video on my YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2rN2MWxDPLrI0bMv3vTKvg. Check it out!

Giveaways:

The 2018 Authors/Bloggers Spring Giveaway at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ has ended. The winners are BN100 and Sherry and I’ve emailed them their gifts.

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

Also, July is the Smashwords’ site’s Summer/Winter Giveaway. I have books ranging from free to 25% or even 75% off. I don’t usually do this so if you’re interested in some discounts, this is your month! You can find a list of all of my books at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell with the discounts already marked. Enjoy!

Shout Out:

I don’t know who to shout out for this month. So let’s shout out all of the authors at the Payson Book Festival. They’d love your support and you can see who they are and go to their websites and/or Facebook pages to learn more when you go to https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/who-is-coming/.

Where Will I Be?

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

Payson Book Festival 2017

My next event adventure is the Payson Book Festival. www.PaysonBookFestival.org. 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. I’ll be at table, 53 and hope to see you there.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter.  I just published a new one on Sunday. 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:

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.

Monsoon Season Starts: Monday Blog Post

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Our Wall Art Painted by Randy Cockrell

Our Wall Art Painted by Randy Cockrell

Newest News:

Hubby has painted the inside stucco wall to match the stone and is finishing an art project to paint Arizona-themed pictures on there. Picture is above. What do you think? The hands in the picture are ours. His on the left, mine on the right.

I mentioned that I was helping author friends with covers and books. The first friend, Bonnie Bahn, now has her newest book out: Bumblefoot. Yay! We got it done! The second friend, Carole Emma Mathewson is releasing her book World War II: On the Home Front. We’re still building the cover but should have it out soon.

I’m deciding on cover designers for my Zoe Ohale book. It’s a process. I’ll do a cover release when I get it done.

Did you all try the 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:

Summer Giveaway

The Red Hot Summer is now open. Just click on the Rafflecopter link. You do have to sign up to Rafflecopter but after that, you’re free to click away. I have links to it on my facebook, twitter, and website pages. This giveaway I offer a free ebook, Mystery at the Fair, or for second prize, a $10 Amazon card. Over a hundred prizes from over 50 authors 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:

Last week I talked about the wonderful L. H. Whitlock. I’m very happy she agreed to be interviewed. Check out her author page on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01F4IG8VW.

Last week I think I’ll mention the hot and spicy Holly Roberts. You can find her on www.wickedstorytelling.com. I know for a fact that she’ll be releasing another book soon. Don’t miss it.

Garden News:

Green Peppers

Green Peppers

We had our first monsoon rain of the year Saturday afternoon. The black clouds creep in from the north over the Mogollon rim and thunder growls in the distance. The humidity skyrockets and the wind picks up. Then the rain hammers down for a few minutes. The sky clears, the sun comes out and the wind dies down. Everything gets a drink. How’s your garden doing?

Where Will I Be?:

Book Festival flier 2016 FINAL Front Pg

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:

Zoe Ohale is out for 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.

Monsoon Season Is Here

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It’s the season of the Arizona year when moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California flows north. We get relief from the ever present sun beating down on us and the sky clouds over.

It’s when we see the first rain in four months. Wildflowers begin to bloom again, as do the cactus. The plants, bushes and trees that had turned dusty grey green in the heat and dust, re-green, providing relief to our sun-burnt eyes.

It usually comes as a thunder storm. Huge piles of clouds begin to boil up over the Mogollon Rim, painfully white against the brilliant blue sky. Then they darken and distant thunder begins to sound. Few at first, the sky soon fills with the moisture heavy clouds, and the thunder begins to roll in earnest. Lightening flashes. We hope it doesn’t hit and set a fire before the rains come.

Finally, it pours down. Thunder booming, lightening flashing. Torrents falling from the sky. The dusty watercourses fill, roaring with the water’s hurry to get down hill.

It doesn’t last long. An hour or two if we’re lucky. In that hour though, two or more inches of rain may have fallen. If we’re lucky, we’ll get that afternoon storm every day. Ponds and lakes will refill. The ground will saturate and the ponderosa pines will have their fill for the year. The Forest Service will re-open the national forests, closed because of the fire danger. Visitors will return to camp and hike and see the wonder of central Arizona.

Monsoon season, a relief for us all.