Happy Valentine’s Day, AZ Statehood Day, Pandemic Update, Interview Recording: Monday Blog Post

Newest News:

Happy Valentine’s Day! My husband and I are not ones for celebrating this day. When we dated and then after we were married, we both considered it a “Hallmark” holiday. I know, I know, we’re a little weird and a great many people love this day. We’re not sentimental like that. Probably why I don’t write romance. But for those who do celebrate and love the mushy, romantic side of the day, I hope you have a great day. By the way, hubby did buy me a bag of peppermint patties, the mini ones, and a bag of Almond Roca. The last is not a candy I normally eat. I thanked him for the candy then later in the morning realized the Almond Roca bag had already been opened. When I called it out, he said, “Yeah. Well. About that.” I just laughed. It was all right by me. I don’t want to eat two bags of candy all by myself anyway.

Coronavirus update: Hooray! Saturday my husband and I drove down to Globe to get our first Covid shots. My arm became a little sore by afternoon and today it’s still a little achy, but nothing to worry about. Hubby’s arm is also a little sore, and he says he has a bit of a sore throat, but again, nothing to worry about. We’re now counting down to March 13th for the second shot. A note, this drive through event did not schedule the second shots. We’ll have to do that ourselves. I’m hoping we can get the shots here in town instead of having to drive to Globe or Phoenix to do it.

In addition to Valentine’s Day, today is also Arizona’s Statehood day. KTAR has a nice little article about how February 14th was chosen as statehood day. The article also has some interesting facts about the state. You can find it at https://ktar.com/story/1948988/5-things-to-know-about-arizona-as-it-celebrates-109-years-of-statehood/ . Enjoy.

If you missed my interview on The Author’s Show, don’t worry. I’ve acquired the link to the interview and will be putting it on my website on the Media Page, Recorded Interviews and Presentations. Now you can listen whenever you have a spare fifteen minutes. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/media-page/recorded-interviews-presentations-and-appearances/

Please be careful out there. Weather can turn nasty, accidents can happen, illness can overtake us. Till we can meet in person, stay at home when you can and wear a mask when you go out.

Giveaways:

New, is the Valentine’s Day giveaway. This is a small one with just eight authors so there’s a $24 Grand Prize of Paypal cash and 16 other prizes. Check out the link at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

Where will I Be?

I have my interview with Brenda Whiteside on Wednesday March 3rd on her blog, https://brendawhiteside.com/blog.   I’m looking forward to being on her site.

On May 13th at 2pm Arizona time, I’ll be on the podcast with Laurie Fagan on her show, AZ Creates. It’s a lovely podcast and as soon as I have the link for my interview, I’ll put it up. In the meantime, enjoy her show at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teajmtQ4-90&feature=youtu.be. Note, Karen Landau is a mystery author right here in my town! How great is 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 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.

Super Bowl, Pandemic Update, A New Story, The Authors Show: Monday Blog Post

Newest News:

Reflections of rocks in Watson Lake, Prescott, AZ

Super Bowl Sunday! Did your team win? Did you have a Super Bowl feast? We did, though it was a small feast. Chicken wings, of course, were on the menu. Hubby made some cole slaw to go with it. And because I haven’t had them in years, Cheese Puffs. There were also some cheeses, pepperoni, and crackers to munch on. I didn’t really have a favorite team, though my husband was routing for Kansas City. I mainly watch for the special commercials. Did you have a favorite?

Coronavirus update: Hooray! Friday our county health department posted a notice that starting February 8th, my age group can call in and get appointments for the corona virus vaccine. I’m so pleased! You can bet I’ll be sending in my on-line request as soon as I can on Monday.

Spur of the moment I saw an announcement for a flash fiction contest and the prompt had my mind going full speed. The problem was, I was late night scrolling. I didn’t finish the draft until 1am. Sigh. I was tired all the next day. However, even as late as it was, when I read over the draft, it was pretty good. After editing, I went to the site sponsoring the contest, and submitted it. The magazine is called The Leading Edge, run out of Brigham Young University and my story is called, Think Fast. Cross your fingers for me.

#ReadABook, February 8th, All day!

I’m going to be on The Authors Show on February 8th! Yes, today, on Channel 5. The interview runs all day so you can listen to it on your own time. It only runs on the 8th, so don’t miss it. Go to www.TheAuthorsShow.com, scroll down to February 8th and my name, and click on my book title, Mystery at the Fair, to hear the interview. The whole thing is about 15 minutes long. Enjoy!

Please be careful out there. Weather can turn nasty, accidents can happen, illness can overtake us. Till we can meet in person, stay at home when you can and wear a mask when you go out.

Giveaways:

The Christmas giveaway winners have been announced. The winner of my ebook, Slave Elf, was Terry, and the Amazon Gift card winner was Danielle. A big round of applause to them.

New, is the Valentine’s Day giveaway. This is a small one with just eight authors so there’s a $24 Grand Prize of Paypal cash and 16 other prizes. Check out the link at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

Where will I Be?

My interview with Linda Thompson of The Authors Show is on Monday, February 8th. It runs all day on The Author’s Show, Channel 5, but it’s one day only so go to the website and have a listen.

I have my interview with Brenda Whiteside on Wednesday March 3rd on her blog, https://brendawhiteside.com/blog

On May 13th at 2pm Arizona time, I’ll be on the podcast with Laurie Fagan on her show, AZ Creates. It’s a lovely podcast and as soon as I have the link for my interview, I’ll put it up. In the meantime, enjoy her show at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teajmtQ4-90&feature=youtu.be. Note, Karen Landau is a mystery author right here in my town! How great is 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 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.

Weather, Pandemic Update, Pinterest, On-Line Interviews: Monday Blog Post

My back yard after the storm.

Newest News:

Last week was eventful for my neck of the woods. We received about 2 feet of snow and cold, well below freezing. Not something that usually happens around here. The town managed to get at least one lane of street plowed in most neighborhoods and kept the main arteries in town cleared. A job well done considering that they don’t have many plows. At my house we were prepared and other than the fact my husband wanted to get out and about town to take snow pictures, we were content to stay home. We still have a few inches of unmelted snow, especially in the shady areas, but it will be gone in a couple of days. Temps here have been in the 40’s and it will stay that way, making the snow melt pretty quickly. I do hope any adverse weather you’ve had is now over and everyone is safe and sound.

Coronavirus update. Arizona has divided the population up by age, disability, and essential workers, so, while I am over 65, I have not yet qualified for an immunization. Like many others, I’m still self-isolating and when I go out, I mask up. Also like many others, I’m ready to get back to my normal life: meet up with friends, lunch out, go to conferences. Already a planned conference for June is being discussed as too soon to be held. Since I was already postponed from last year, I was excited to go but we’ll have to see if it will be postponed again. If you’re in the same situation, stay strong. This will be over eventually and we’ll be able to get out and about safely.

I saw an article I wrote for my local paper in the January 26th, edition. It was about the Martin Luther King Jr., Day of Service. I took the accompanying picture as well. You can see the article at https://www.paysonroundup.com/events/a-day-of-service-in-payson/article_428f2c99-4264-5ed9-8749-f1fbe379a101.html. Enjoy the article.

A New Start: A Gulliver Station Story

In other writing business I made a Pinterest pin about my Gulliver Station series. This was one of Pinterest’s new options, a story pin. I put together a six-slide pin with a buy link. You can see it here. https://www.pinterest.com/conniecockrell Look on the Pages & Ink board for the new Gulliver Station pin. One thing with this new option, I wasn’t able to add a clickable link, so I apologize for that. Otherwise, it was pretty user friendly to put the pin together. If you are a Pinterest user, give it a try yourself for a group pin, an ad (which is what mine is), a family get together or something else. I can think of a lot of ways to use this option. Have fun!

Please be careful out there. Weather can turn nasty, accidents can happen, illness can overtake us. Till we can meet in person, stay at home when you can and wear a mask when you go out.

Giveaways:

The Christmas giveaway has ended. I’ll post my winners and the Grand Prize winner as soon as they’re drawn.

New, is the Valentine’s Day giveaway. This is a small one with just eight authors so there’s a $24 Grand Prize of Paypal cash and 16 other prizes. Check out the link at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

Where will I Be?

I set up and completed an interview with Linda Thompson of The Authors Show on Thursday. I’m still waiting to see when the interview will air. At this point, it will be after February 7th. As soon as I know, I’ll post it on my Facebook page and announce it here as well. I’ll send out a newsletter too, to catch my readers who aren’t following my Facebook or blog.

I have my interview with Brenda Whiteside on Wednesday March 3rd on her blog, https://brendawhiteside.com/blog

On May 13th at 2pm Arizona time, I’ll be on the podcast with Laurie Fagan on her show, AZ Creates. It’s a lovely podcast and as soon as I have the link for my interview, I’ll put it up. In the meantime, enjoy her show at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teajmtQ4-90&feature=youtu.be. Note, Karen Landau is a mystery author right here in my town! How great is 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 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.