Tag Archives: Plans

Pestilence! Monday Blog Post

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The Hi Jolly Memorial, Quartzite AZ by Randy Cockrell

The Hi Jolly Memorial, Quartzite AZ by Randy Cockrell

You may have noticed that this post is up later in the day than usual. I have a reason. Hubby and I were in Quartzite over the weekend. If you know anything at all about traveling, you know that checking into a hotel wifi is a certain recipe for getting your accounts hacked. So, no logging in for me. It wouldn’t have mattered. I was also sick. I have an appointment this afternoon to see my doc but I’m pretty sure she’s going to say I have bronchitis. This is the second time in nine months. Ugh. Just about half of the people I know locally have this ‘creeping crud’ so I’m in good company. I just wish I could breathe. Cherry on top, hubby’s now getting sick. Yeah!
Some news, what’s in my brain enough to mention it. The 2016 Payson Book Festival is opening author registration today. The seats are already going fast. If you are an author and would like to attend this festival of books, go to www.paysonbookfestival.org/Authorregistration. Review the criteria and download and send in your application. NOTE! This is only open to Arizona authors.
I managed to get some words in last week on my Friday Flash Fiction (see https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/2016/01/jaguar-tale-flash-fiction-friday-post/) I wrote a flash before Jaguar Tales, called Bell Ring and liked it so much that instead of posting on my blog I decided to do some polishing on it and send it on the rounds. I sent it out to three authors whose advice I respect and they all agreed it had a shot. I’ll keep you posted on its progress. Thankfully, I also managed about 4k words on the Zoe Ohale story. I’m nearly done, perhaps even this week if I can work through my bronchitis fog. In the meantime, Kindred Spirits is in the editor’s hands. I should be hearing back from EJ (SilverJayMedia.com) in a week or two. I nearly have the cover completed for Kindred Spirits. I’m polishing up the back of the cover blurb. I’m also looking for reviewers to send an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) for a review. If you’d like to be an ARC reader and do a review for me, let me know. You do not have to have read the first two books of the series to enjoy the third book.
Santa’s Authors Christmas 2015 Giveaway also known as the Winter Wonderland of Books Christmas Giveaway is now over. Over one hundred thousand people entered! Wow! Anyway, drawings for winners are on-going. I’ll let you know who won my two Brown Rain Series books and the Christmas Tales book. I cannot express how much I appreciate all of you who signed up for my website, newsletter, Google Author page and Facebook page. Thanks for participating.
You didn’t get to participate in the Christmas Giveaway? Good news. We’re starting a new giveaway in a few days. It’s called the Lovestruck Authors Giveaway and runs from a TBD date in January through Valentine’s Day. Here’s a picture. I’ll post the links as soon as they’re ready.

The Next Giveaway

The Next Giveaway

I mentioned earlier that hubby and I went to Quartzite AZ over the weekend. Despite my non-stop coughing, I managed to see one or two things. First, we were driving around the neighborhoods and found a yard with both roadrunners and quail. Here’s a picture.

Roadrunner Quartzite AZ by Randy Cockrell

Roadrunner Quartzite AZ by Randy Cockrell

At the top of this post is a picture of the Hey Jolly memorial. If you like rocks, Quartzite is the place to be in January. One rock show after another runs until late March.

One of the many Malachite tables at the Rock Show, Quartzite, AZ by Randy Cockrell

One of the many Malachite tables at the Rock Show, Quartzite, AZ by Randy Cockrell

The weather is warm, or, at least, warmer, and the people are friendly. If you haven’t been, you should schedule it. Quartzite is a mecca for winter RV’ing. There is a Super 8 hotel in town, though, if you don’t have an RV.
I published my December newsletter. Did you miss it? Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website blog posts. If you like the content, please encourage your friends to sign up, the newsletter is sharable, send it to whomever you think will like it. Don’t delay signing up. You’ve already missed out on two great offers. The January newsletter is coming out soon. Sign up now so you don’t miss out.
Mystery at the Fair released July 15th! 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.

Merry New Year 2016: Monday Blog Post

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Bird by Betty Marsh

Bird by Betty Marsh

For those of you who read last week’s post, we did just fine on the fair audit AND we finished it in one, very stressful, day. Yay! We’re lining ourselves up to get the 2016 fair planned. If you live in my town, I have several openings for volunteers! If you’re interested in our fair, check out www.NorthernGilaCountyFair.com or Northern Gila County Fair on Facebook.

We had my daughter and brother-in-law (hubby’s brother) over on Christmas Eve for our Christmas feast. As usual, I cooked way too much food. The duck was delicious and the company was great. We played both Chicken Foot and a game new to me, Sequence. There was a lot of trash talk and laughter. Good times. The daughter brought her hamster with her as no one was home to take care of it. We had fun watching the little critter in her hamster ball roam all over the house checking things out. Daughter shared her art. The pic at the top is one of her drawings. We think she’s awesome. How about you? LOL!

Writing is going. Even though it was Christmas week, I managed over 6000 words on my November NaNo novel, Zoe Ohale. I’ve got about six scenes to go and I’ll be close to 65,000 words on the work when I’ve finished the first draft. After that is done and put away to rest awhile, I’ll pick up July’s Mystery in the Woods. At this point I’ll have to read the whole thing through to figure out where I left off and what else has to be done. That story was an experiment in NOT plotting. This is where it has led me, down a rabbit hole. No matter. I’ll get it back to active status and finish it up. I’m planning on being at a Mystery Convention in Scottsdale the beginning of June and want to have it there for sale. So, I’d better get writing.

Santa’s Authors Christmas 2015 Giveaway also known as the Winter Wonderland of Books Christmas Giveaway has been extended to run until midnight, January 1st. (midnight after New Year’s eve) Here’s the link through my website:  https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/. Fifty authors have put up all kinds of prizes from books to jewelry to Amazon gift cards. Go ahead and log in. You’ll find links to all of the supporting author’s social media. Click on a link, enter to win. The more links you click, the better your chance of winning. The grand prize is $200 of Paypal cash, good anywhere on the planet. I’ve put up the two signed paperback books in my Brown Rain series as my main prize. I also put up my Christmas Tales book (signed, of course) as a second prize. Good luck! Thanks for participating.

This is the time of year for me to look back at 2015 and think about what I want to do for 2016 at least as far as my writing goes. Do you do that in your life or job? I find it helpful to have a goal to shoot for. I did a blog post on this in my December 18th post. Click here to see how I did in 2015. I think my main goal in 2016 is to not only write and publish but to expand my reader base. I have 13 books out now plus stories in four different anthologies. I’ll be able to put out at least three books in 2016, perhaps more. Do you recommend my books you’ve read to other readers?  Do you write reviews for my books that you’ve read on Amazon, Goodreads or the site where you purchased the book or books? Those are some of the ways a reader can help out an author. What is your suggestion for bringing more readers to my books? I hope you had a productive and happy year. I wish you all the best with your goals for 2016.

I published my December newsletter. Did you miss it? Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website blog posts. If you like the content, please encourage your friends to sign up, the newsletter is sharable, send it to whomever you think will like it. Don’t delay signing up. You’ve already missed out on two great offers. The January newsletter is coming out soon. Sign up now so you don’t miss out.

Mystery at the Fair released July 15th! 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.

Completed! Monday Blog Post

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NaNo-2015-Winner-Certificate-Halfsize

Completed! I completed my National Novel Writing Month Challenge! I hit 50,000 words on Saturday the 28th. That felt pretty darn good. The book, however, is not completed. I may have about 10,000 more words to go on Zoe Ohale. That’s what I’m calling this YA book. I may change the name later but that’s it for now. It will be out mid-late 2016.

I have begun the process of editing both Kindred Spirits, the 3rd book in the Brown Rain series, and All About Bob, the 1st book in my All About Bob series. The ‘Bob’ book needs a title. I may hold a title writing contest for my newsletter folks. See below for how to sign up. I still need to finish Mystery in the Woods, which I started in July. Those of you who are waiting for the next Jean Hays book, I promise, I’m working on it.

I’m going to be on the January Jones web radio show, Sharing Success Stories, on both December 7th and December 14th. The show on the 7th is me wrapping up 2015. The show on the 14th is a Christmas show. I have links to the show on my Where Will I Be page and the times. I hope you tune-in to listen.

I’ve been signing up authors for my new feature, author interviews. I’m leaning toward every other week, on Wednesdays. What do you think would be a good day to post them?

Santa’s Authors Christmas 2015 Giveaway also known as the Winter Wonderland of Books Christmas Giveaway started 1 November. I have a link to the giveaway on my website, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/. There’s also a Youtube video at the bottom of the page to watch. You will love this. Fifty authors have put up all kinds of prizes from books to jewelry to Amazon gift cards. Go ahead and log in. You’ll find links to all of the author’s social media. Click on a link, enter to win. The more links you click, the better your chance of winning. The grand prize is $200 of Paypal cash, good anywhere on the planet. I’ve put up the two books in my Brown Rain series as my main prize. I also put up my Christmas Tales book as a second prize. Good luck! Thanks for participating.

The mornings here in Central Arizona have been cold, with hard frosts. Most of the garden has died off. However, the parsley, the sage, and the rosemary are still good to cut. I love being able, this time of year, to walk outside my back door and cut fresh herbs. I put a small bunch of sage in my giblet stock on Sunday, when I roasted a chicken. The chicken was sprinkled with a lemon zest, salt, pepper, sage and rosemary mixture both inside and out. I stuffed the bird with cut up orange, lemon and apple. Best roast chicken ever.

Holiday gift giving. I’m making candy to send to my mom and siblings and my daughter. They all enjoy the dark chocolate confections I make. Are you ramping up your holiday buying? I have decreased the prices on all of my books. Right now, the most you’ll pay is $2.99. That makes it very affordable to buy the whole Gulliver Station series or the Brown Rain series. I even have a middle grade book, Lost Rainbows, which I’ve put on sale for .99. Yep, Ninety-nine cents. Several other of my books are also .99. You can check them out on Chatebooks.com, Gumroad.com, or find links to many other sellers on my website, My Books, page.

Chatebooks.com is a new reader/author site that allows readers to connect directly to authors. Each book has its own forum space. You can ask questions, leave comments, and tell your fav author how much you liked the book. You can find my books by searching on my name or use this direct link. https://www.chatebooks.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=Connie%20Cockrell  I’m very excited to be able to provide multiple platforms for readers to find my work. Chatebooks, as the name implies, is only for ebooks. To get a paperback copy of my books, go to Gumroad.com/ConnieCockrell or to Amazon.com. Both of these platforms can sell both ebooks and paperbacks.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’ve brought all of my Christmas decorations out of the garage and am prepping to put everything up.

I published my October newsletter. Did you miss it? Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website blog posts. If you like the content, please encourage your friends to sign up, the newsletter is sharable, send it to whomever you think will like it. Don’t delay signing up. You’ve already missed out on two great offers. The December newsletter is coming out soon. Sign up now so you don’t miss out.

Mystery at the Fair released July 15th! 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, Books tab. 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.

Wild Ride: Monday Blog Post

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VetFest table for Connie Cockrell

VetFest table for Connie Cockrell

I have to say, this has been a wild ride of a month for me. So much is going on in all aspects of my life. First, it’s National Novel Writing Month. That means I am being committed have committed, to writing 50,000 words this month. This annual challenge gets thousands of authors all around the world pumped up and super excited to just write. I tend to write 2k words per day, a little over the 1667 words per day requirement to meet the 50k goal by the end of the month. This is important for me, especially this year, because…

From Tuesday the 17th through Thursday the 19th, I’ll be in Laughlin, Nevada to attend for my first time, the Arizona Fair Commission Conference. The reason I’m going? Because I serve on the Northern Gila County Fair board. For the first time in a very long time, the board has decided someone should attend. That turns out to be me! I’m supposed to attend workshops and presentations and attend the associated trade show where I can sign up acts, carnivals, and whatever else, for my fair next year. I’m a little nervous about all of the responsibility. Good thing the other board members are a phone call away.

This last weekend, Saturday, November 14th, I was in Avondale, AZ to sell and sign books at their VetFest. Avondale’s Western Avenue is being updated to be beautiful and visitor friendly. It’s a lovely spot. Besides a full-blown craft show, there were at least 17 authors there to talk to readers and sell a few books.

Some of the VetFest Authors

Some of the VetFest Authors

I sold two and lost at least two sales because my Square application couldn’t connect to the internet. That was very disappointing. I have a picture above of my table at the show. Also offered, veteran support: ID’s, services, and so much more were available for visiting vets. See http://www.historicavondale.org/vet-fest.html for more pictures of the entire festival.

I’m teaching a writers workshop on November 20th, in Camp Verde, AZ on critiquing which means I’m ditching the banquet at the Arizona Fair Commission conference so I can be back on time. If you live in the area, call the Camp Verde library to sign up. There’s still time! I have an entry for this event on my Where Will I Be tab on my website.

No Author Friend Boost this week. I’m working on National Novel Writing Month. I’m doing well, a little ahead of plan, as I know I’ll lose writing days while in Laughlin. I’m working on a Zoe Ohale novel so if you’ve liked the flash fiction story I posted about her not too long ago, I have a short story about Zoe in the upcoming Forward Motion Anthology, and now, this!

Promo for Winter Wonderland Giveaway

Promo for Winter Wonderland Giveaway

Santa’s Authors Christmas 2015 Giveaway also known as the Winter Wonderland of Books Christmas Giveaway started 1 November. I have a link to the giveaway on my website, https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/. There’s also a Youtube video at the bottom of the page to watch. You will love this. Fifty authors have put up all kinds of prizes from books to jewelry to Amazon gift cards. Go ahead and log in. You’ll find links to all of the author’s social media. Click on a link, enter to win. The more links you click, the better your chance of winning. The grand prize is $200 of Paypal cash, good anywhere on the planet. Good luck! Thanks for participating.

I’ve also started my Christmas candy making. One of the things I make is miniature peppermint patties. I’ve been having a horrible time making the fondant that is the center of the candy. You can read all about it on the 25th in my post on Chicklets In the Kitchen, blog. Have you started your holiday prep?

I’m also busy getting my books up on another new site, Chatebooks.com. You can find my books by searching on my name or here’s a direct link. https://www.chatebooks.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=Connie%20Cockrell  I’m very excited to be able to provide multiple platforms for readers to find my work. Chatebooks, as the name implies, is only for ebooks. To get a paperback copy of my books, go to Gumroad.com/ConnieCockrell or to Amazon.com. Both of these platforms can sell both ebooks and paperbacks.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. How about you, is November starting to feel like a marathon? Post your comments below.

I published my October newsletter. Did you miss it? Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website blog posts. If you like the content, please encourage your friends to sign up, the newsletter is sharable, send it to whomever you think will like it. Don’t delay signing up. You’ve already missed out on two great offers. The November newsletter is coming out soon. Sign up now so you don’t miss out.

Mystery at the Fair released July 15th! 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, Books tab. 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.

Monday Blog Post: Recovery

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Mud Lake on the Northville-Lake Placid Trail

Mud Lake on the Northville-Lake Placid Trail

After such an intense three months and covering 3 time zones both forward and back, I’ve found myself very tired. I’ve spent the time since we returned going to bed early. Much earlier than I usually do. Above is a picture of a spot on the Northville-Lake Placid Trail. Just one of the places I went while on vacation.

We’ve been engaged in a top to bottom cleaning of the house. Turns out a mouse moved in about the time we left on vacation. The little creature had a great time exploring the ENTIRE house. Therefore, we’ve had to clean and clean and clean. The mouse met it’s demise on the Monday we returned. It had been holed up in the pantry. Oh yes. Much in bagged and boxed flours and mixes had to be trashed. So far no other creatures have been found inside. Word around the neighborhood is that there is a huge mouse infestation, so it’s not just my house. I’m keeping an eye out for any sign of the little critters. We live inside a National Forest. Let them find a home out there. There are hundreds of miles for them to live in.

Gardening is finishing up. I had a friend come water for my while I was gone. I have an amazing number of cantaloupes lying about the garden area. The tomatoes are still hanging on. It’s wonderful that in late October I can still go out and pick fresh tomatoes. The parsley and the basil have recovered from the summer heat and I’m picking them freely. I also just picked two fresh green peppers yesterday. I love how crisp and fresh they are. Otherwise things are looking brown and limp and it’s just about time to cut everything back for the winter.

Author Friend Boost! Simon Batt also known as S.E. Batt. His newest release is Louise.  Here’s a description.

In a world where only four ‘types’ of people exist — Lucy, Emily, Chris and David — one Lucy Stallow ventures to buy herself Lucy clothes. She spies an Emily wearing clothes she would love to wear, and when she arrives at the clothes store, the temptation to break the social norm becomes too strong for her to resist. Will she challenge the social norm and experiment with her identity, or will she break and go back to the train tracks every Lucy is expected to follow?

A humorous short story at approx. 4,500 words, with an additional story, ‘Freelance Winner’, at approx. 4,000 words.

Don’t forget to pick up his free ebook, A Star for Christmas. It’s the season, ya know. You can find more about Simon at: sebatt.com

Writing progress: I’ve made some progress on my Zoe Ohale outline for NaNo. It’s still a long way from finished. I did get another chapter written on Mystery in the Woods. It’s moving, albeit slowly.

Marketing: As an indie author, I’m responsible for marketing my own work. It can be a challenge but I keep my eyes and ears open for new opportunities to tell people I’m out here and have some stories they might like to read. I’ve finished posting all of my books, and I mean ALL of them, to Goodreads.com/conniecockrell. If you’d like to buy, they are all there, the only place where you can buy them all.

One great opportunity is that my author friend D’Elen McClain (wickedstorytelling.com) has started a new website to connect readers to authors. It’s called Indie Books Direct at http://indiebooksdirect.com/. The site, free to readers, has a tab that lists all of the authors on the site. The reader just clicks on the author’s name and a link takes them directly to the author’s website or sale page. If you want to find authors in a particular genre, click on one of the several genre pages to find authors that have stories in that genre. It makes things so easy for readers! The site is still under construction but we’d love to have you come browse. Let us know how you like the site. Official grand opening is November 1st!

On Saturday I found a promotion that will start right after Halloween is over. It’s called Santa’s Authors Christmas 2015 Giveaway. On 1 November, the party starts. I’ll give everyone the details for signing up to win free books and prizes. Mark your calendar because you won’t want to miss out on this.

I am writing the Friday Flash stories for November. There are four new stories all scheduled and waiting to post. The theme I wrote to is Thanksgiving, or just thankfulness. I just had to do it. LOL!

Writing news. I was accepted in the Forward Motion anthology which is being edited right now so it should be out soon. The Longest Night Watch Anthology, which has my story in it, is now available on Amazon in both ebook and paperback. All proceeds of that sale go to the Alzheimer’s Association in honor of Terry Pratchett in the hope of one day finding a cure for this dread disease. Sir Terrence Pratchett was best known for his Discworld series. If you haven’t read them, you need to go to your nearest library or order them posthaste on your favorite ebook site. You won’t regret it.

Where I’ll be: I’m busy. Too busy, really for a NaNo challenge month. However. On the 28th I’ll be in Strawberry AZ for the Pine/Strawberry Writers Group meeting. We’re talking about editing. On November 14th I’m in Avondale for the VETFest they have going on there as part of their monthly art walk. Here’s the link: http://www.historicavondale.org/vet-fest.html. I’d love it if you could make it there and stop by my booth. On November 20th, I’m going to be in Camp Verde facilitating a workshop on critiquing. Hosted by the Camp Verde Library, it’s sure to be a big draw for local writers. If you’re in the area, please sign up at the library to attend.

Other writing news. While on vacation I did the first edit of the third Brown Rain Series book, Kindred Spirits. It’s been awhile since I did the first draft and I have to say this might be the best one so far in the series. Both Alyssa and Kyra are being kept on their toes. I have another edit to do before sending it to my editors so it may be out in early 2016. Stay tuned.

I’m also introducing a new series, All About Bob. This is a series of stand-alone stories about a protagonist named Bob. I’m not sure about the title of this book but I think you’ll like him. I’m halfway through the edit on this one. It may be out in mid-2016.

I’m totally up on conniesrandomthoughts.com.  I’ve put a notice up on my WordPress blog so my readers can find me. Be sure to follow me at my new website. I stopped posting to the WordPress site (www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com) after Friday August 7th.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

I published my September newsletter on Saturday. Did you miss it? Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website blogs. If you like the content, please encourage your friends to sign up, too. Don’t delay. The October newsletter is coming out soon. Sign up now so you don’t miss out.

Mystery at the Fair released July 15th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today! You can also see all of my books on www.ConniesRandomThoughts.com, Books tab. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote the books on their sites. Thanks in advance.

Monday Blog Post: Vacation First Days

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Mohawk Harvest Co-Operative Store in Gloversville, N.Y.

Mohawk Harvest Co-Operative Store in Gloversville, N.Y.

We left Payson AZ on Saturday the 3rd. We left at 5:30 AM! Yep, wasn’t even daylight yet. We stopped after sunrise in Holbrook at a little neighborhood diner for breakfast. It was pretty good. What I found, though, was that my phone wasn’t uploading. I didn’t want to fool with it over breakfast so I put it back in my purse and enjoyed my food.

Later that day I tried again. Still couldn’t get on. Annoying, right? No FB, Twitter, intenet, couldn’t post status or pictures. It was a puzzle.

That evening we were in Amarillo TX after an afternoon spent driving through the rain. Went to the Big Texan Steakhouse. My mother had never been so we wanted to show it to her. She’d seen it a few times on the Food Network and elsewhere. We had a great time but still, cannot get my phone to post.

Back in the room hubby and I try several things. His phone has full bars, mine has barely one. Argh!  Frustrated but I said, “Forget it. I’ll check it in the morning further down the road.”

Sunday, no service, all day. I tried calling tech support. They wanted info I couldn’t supply since I was on the road. I hung up. So, Now we’re in Springfield Missouri. I’ve turned my phone on and we’ll see what’s going on now that we’re not actively moving. Wish me luck!

While we’re in upstate NY, I have scheduled a book signing in Gloversville, NY at the Mohawk Valley Cooperative on Main Street. That’s a picture of the store front at the top of this post. I’ll be there Saturday, October 10th from 9am to Noon. I hope to see you there. Bring one of my books or buy it there and I’ll be happy to sign it.

No Author Shout-out today since I’m on the road.

So, I’ll still be on vacation next week but I’ll post a short blog on the 12th, just to keep you all posted about how my book signing went.

I’m totally up on conniesrandomthoughts.com.  I’ve put a notice up on my WordPress blog so my readers can find me. Be sure to follow me at my new website. I stopped posting to the WordPress site (www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com) after Friday August 7th.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

I published my September newsletter on Saturday. Did you miss it? Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website blogs. If you like the content, please encourage your friends to sign up, too. Don’t delay. The October newsletter is coming out soon. Sign up now so you don’t miss out.

Mystery at the Fair released July 15th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today! You can also see all of my books on www.ConniesRandomThoughts.com, Books tab. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote the books on their sites. Thanks in advance.

Monday Blog Post: August and Summer

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Garden, Zucchini, Connie Cockrell

Garden Zucchini by Connie Cockrell

It’s amazing, really, how fast the summer goes. I stay busy, and that, I think, is the clue. I seldom have a lazy day, a day where I just lounge around, reading or binge watching movies. Even my downtime, hiking or gardening, is scheduled into my day so that they get done. I’m fully invested in the old saying, idle hands are the devil’s workshop. I’m never idle.

The garden is going nicely. Cantaloupes are just about ready to pick. Zucchini is growing well. Picked my first roma tomato a few days ago. Fortunately for me, the hornworms are few and far between this year. Yay! Yesterday I made zucchini fritters from one zuke I forgot about. It didn’t get too big but bigger than I want for grilling.

Saturday I canned peaches. A hiking friend had never seen it done so I invited him over and he helped me through the whole process. I ended up with 12 pints of peaches. There are still peaches on the tree. They’re not quite ripe yet.  I also picked all of my apples. Perhaps applesauce.

Mystery at the Fair is released on Smashwords. Smashwords will distribute the story to Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and iTunes. See the links at the end to find Mystery at the Fair on those sites.

Camp NaNo is over and I missed my 50,000 word goal. I did achieve 32,000 so I’m satisfied. I’ll continue to write on it until it’s finished. In the meantime I need to edit Betrayal Moon for the Forward Motion anthology and rewrite Gold Dream, a flash fiction I wrote earlier this year. I want to turn it into a short story and send it to the Society for Southwest Authors writing contest. That deadline is September 15th so I need to get in gear!

I’m totally up on conniesrandomthoughts.com. The techs at GoDaddy, my hosting site, were very helpful and we’ve straightened out all of the problems. Yay! I’ll put a notice up on my wordpress blog so my readers can find me. Be sure to follow me at my new website. I’m going to stop posting to the wordpress site (www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com) after Friday.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

I put a special offer up in my July newsletter. Did you miss it? Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website blogs.

Mystery at the Fair released July 15th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today! If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote the books on their sites. Thanks in advance.

Monday Blog Post: Interview on a National Web Broadcast Radio Program Scheduled

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January Jones

Tomorrow on June 23rd I’m scheduled to be interviewed by January Jones on her web radio broadcast. Talk4 Media,  Talk4Media.com , w4cy.com/radio-shows/january-jones-sharing-success-stories/  This is a first for me and I’m very excited about it. We’ll be talking about my books but also about the Payson Book Festival scheduled for July 25th. I will be on the show at 5pm Eastern time and 2pm Arizona time. Here’s the list.

Connie Cockrell– Her books, The Gulliver Station Series, and more run the gamut from SciFi and Fantasy to Contemporary.

D’Elen McClain- Under her pen name, Holly S. Roberts, she is the USA Today Best-Selling author and writes “romance with wicked intentions.”

Edward Miles- Using his experiences in the military and the National Forest Service several novels including, Sanctioned.

Then at 6pm Florida time and 3pm Arizona time, three more authors will be interviewed.

Steven Andrew Cole– enjoys leading his readers down dark alleys, through crawl spaces and anywhere they dare not to venture with thrillers

Sherry Engler– reveals the unusual, quirky behaviors a LEO (Law Enforcement Officer )may display

Annemarie Eveland writes about challenges in life and the insights gain from them.

How awesome is that! Please tune into the show and support all of these fine Arizona authors, me included!

It’s 34 days until the first ever Payson Book Festival. www.PaysonBookFestival.org. We’ve organized several radio interviews with festival authors. Check out the web site Media Tab or our Facebook page (Payson Book Festival) or our Twitter feed at @PaysonBookFest for information about the next interview. At the Festival we’ll have authors speaking, authors signing their books, music, live radio broadcast, entertainment, workshops and food. Make plans now to come up to  the cool pines of Arizona Rim Country and enjoy the festival. You can find additional things to do in the area on the Area Information tab. Stay the whole weekend. You’ll love it here.

I’ll be closing down www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com. You’ll notice at the top of the web page the notice. Please do transfer over to the website. I’d hate to lose you all.

Mystery at the Fair rewriting is finished. The manuscript is back with the editors for a final content check and final line edits. Don’t want any misspellings or grammar errors now do we? After that there will be the book formatting for both print and e-book. I’m still shooting for an early July release.

I planted another pepper, an Anahiem, as well as a Black Beauty zucchini and a Straight Neck yellow squash. The potatoes are already beginning to die back. I’ll be able to dig them up in a couple of weeks. The yellow onion sets I planted in a big planter are up and looking good. The blackberries are still very green and the blueberries are just about all picked. I have a half barrel with strawberries. The initial big spring fruiting is over. From now till frost, I’ll only get a couple of berries at a time. It’s kind of a sweet treat to pick them and eat them right there in the garden.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

If you’re interested, click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website.

Lost Rainbows released January 25th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today! If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote their books. Thanks in advance.

Monday Blog Post: Working, Working

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Orange, Flowers, Hike, Arizona

Orange flowers from a recent hike.

It’s hot! Well, it is Arizona. Temperature today is 95 degrees. Hope the weather in your area is wonderful.

In the events calendar, I’m being interviewed by January Jones on her web radio broadcast. The Station is W4CY on Talk4 Media, Talk4Media.com , w4cy.com/radio-shows/january-jones-sharing-success-stories/ . The interview is June 22nd, 5pm Eastern and 2pm Arizona time. I’d love it if you could tune in.

It’s 40 days until the first ever Payson Book Festival. www.PaysonBookFestival.org. We’ll have authors speaking, authors signing their books, music, live radio broadcast, entertainment, workshops and food. Make plans now to come up to Rim Country and enjoy the festival.

I’ll be closing down www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com. You’ll notice at the top of the web page the notice. Please do transfer over to the website. I’d hate to lose you all.

Mystery at the Fair edits are in progress. Actually, it’s a re-write. I’m cutting chapters, re-writing and hopefully strengthening the story all for your enjoyment. I’m still shooting for an early July release.

In the garden I have my tomatoes and pepper plants. I still need to go and get some zucchini and yellow squash and maybe a couple other things. The heat is making the whole garden grow like crazy.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

If you’re interested, click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website.

Lost Rainbows released January 25th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today! If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote their books. Thanks in advance.

Monday Blog Post: Small Town Fun

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Monster Mudder, Water Slide, Randy Cockrell

Monster Mudder Water Slide by Randy Cockrell

Summer fun is in full swing in my little town. Friday was the first Friday of the month so some of the options for Friday night were a wine tasting at The Beverage Store and First Friday at the Down The Street art gallery where a person can look at and buy some of the wonderful selections of paintings, pottery, jewelry, and other art made by local artists. They offer a free glass of wine and various appetizers and this Friday, they also had the local drama club offer a one act play! Over at the Community Presbyterian Church, was a Jazz concert. Saturday was huge. See a picture from above from the Mogollon Monster Mountain days. There were ATV trail rides and the Monster Mudder. A wonderful 5K obstacle course race that had about 600 participants. Did I mention it rained for the first time in recorded weather keeping for Arizona on Friday and Saturday morning? Lots of muddy fun. Then there was the Farmers Market and in Pine, running all weekend, was the Craft Fair. I took my mom and she bought a cute little tea cup with a strainer basket that fits right inside and a cover to keep your tea hot while it steeps. Then Saturday evening was the concert in the park. This week it was a lovely group of a cappella singers with a doo wop focus. We were all singing along. So what happens in your town on the weekend? Lots of fun? Picnics? Concerts?

Over at www.conniesrandomthoughts.com I put up a button to advertise the upcoming Payson Book Festival. If you click on it, you’ll be taken to the www.PaysonBookFestival.org. Check out the Meet the Authors tab. We have SIXTY authors coming to the event. You’re sure to find a book or topic that interests you. We also are archiving the radio interviews of authors that will be at the Festival. Check out the Media tab, Interviews. There’s a new one every Friday until the Festival. The next one is my friend Susan Haught!

I’ll be closing down www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com. You’ll notice at the top of the web page the notice. Please do transfer over to the website. I’d hate to lose you all.

Mystery at the Fair came back from the editors and I’ve read through the comments. This was a content edit. That means the editor was looking for places in the story where I may need to ramp up the action, tighten the dialog, that sort of thing. I want this book out for the July Festival so I need to get cracking on the re-writes. I’ll keep you posted.

The unexpected rain last Friday and Saturday were a wonderful gift for us gardeners. I still need to get my tomatoes, peppers and such. That bush I pulled out? Yep, I went to the garden center and replaced it with lavender. I can hardly wait for it to bloom.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

If you’re interested, click here to sign up for my newsletter. I make special offers to my newsletter people that I do not make on the website.

Lost Rainbows released January 25th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today! If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote their books. Thanks in advance.