Read an eBook Sale, Someone is Trying to Hack Me, Valentine’s Giveaway Winners: Monday Blog Post

Read an eBook Week!

Newest News:

Oh hello! The 12th annual Smashwords Read an Ebook Week sale kicked off Sunday, March 7 and runs through Saturday, March 13. I have ALL of my books on sale for 25% off or .99. I’ve never put all of my books on sale before so get them while you can. You can find me at: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell  What?!?! You already have all of my books! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Then there’s more!

Discover over 50,000 deep-discounted ebooks from thousands of authors and publishers before these incredible deals disappear.

Visit the sale now.

Read an Ebook Week is an international celebration of ebooks, and it’s the longest running annual sale at Smashwords.

Under the Smashwords Read an Ebook Week sale tab on the home page, you’ll find these shelves:

Featured Read an Ebook Week Sale Deals

  • 25% off – Featured books, 25% off
  • 50% off – Featured books, 50% off
  • 75% off – Featured books, 75% off
  • 100% off – Featured books, free during this sale only
  • More Free Ebooks – Ebooks that are either regularly priced at FREE or at Reader-Sets-The-Price
  • Recent Read an Ebook Week Purchases – What other readers are buying in the sale
  • Recently Added – Latest titles to join the Read an Ebook Week sale

Check out Read an Ebook Week now. Be sure to check the sale daily because hundreds of ebooks cycle in and out of the sale each day.

To learn the story behind the sale, or to download buttons and badges you can share with friends on social media, check out the official Read an Ebook Week hub page.

Please help spread the word! Invite your friends and favorite authors to participate as well.

Hashtags #ebookweek21 and #Smashwords.

In writing news, I mentioned last week that I’ve been struggling to update my Gulliver Station covers. I’m still working on it. So, here’s an apology to anyone looking to buy A New Start. I had to unpublish it to do this work and I am so sorry about the delay.

Last week my website came under attack. I set up additional security and hoped that would be the end of it. Nope. Whoever is doing this is very determined. I get daily reports from my site that the hacker is still at it. It’s both scary and intimidating. I hope you all never have to go through with this.

A bald eagle flying over our local park pond, fishing, I expect.

I mentioned last week that I began a paleo-based sourdough starter. I’ve named it The Beast. It must be fed twice a day unless I store it in the fridge. Then if I want to bake some bread or something, I have to take it out 24 hours in advance, let it warm up and start regrowing, before I can take what I need to bake. Then feed it and put it back in the fridge. The bread I tried to make last week turned out poorly. It was not done in the middle though the edges that were done tasted fine. So I’ve tried it again on Sunday. I took the starter out on Saturday, let it warm up, fed it again, then took my 1 cup of starter to retry the bread. I followed all of the directions but baked it longer. The bread was done in the middle this time but was dense. Soooooo Deeennnnnse! Ugh. I know it’s the flour blend. It’s just too heavy. I’ll have to think about this.

Covid update. I get my 2nd Covid shot on Saturday, the 13th. I’m preparing to have a bad couple of days on Sunday and Monday, as I’ve heard from others that that is what they experienced. Again, we’ll see. I’m looking forward to celebrating about the end of the month with a nice meal in a restaurant to commemorate both the immunization and all of the celebrations we postponed from 2020.  

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 Valentine’s Day giveaway is over and the winners are:  Eglee who has won a copy of my ebook – Mystery at the Fair, and Abdulaziz who has won a $5 Amazon gift card. The Grand Prize winner is Lizzie M. Congratulations to everyone!

The St. Patrick’s Day giveaway is running. There are 24 prizes and a $60 Paypal Cash Grand Prize. Check out the link at https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/ to enter.

Where will I Be?

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!

Phoenix Fan Fusion, rescheduled for January, 2022. Mark your calendar! I’m going to be there!

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.

Fund Raiser Reminder, Hibernation, Gardening, Smashwords July Summer/Winter Sale: Monday Blog Post

Newest News:

It’s the last few days and I’m asking that people donate to my favorite 501c3 non-profit, the Payson Book Festival as my birthday fundraiser. Cancelled this year for the Coronavirus, I thought I’d try to get a jump on earning money so that the 2021 Payson Book Festival will be even better than before. So if you’d care to, pop on over to Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/donate/952277878565180/10217646111446962/, and drop a little money into the kitty. You can find out more about our festival at www.PaysonBookFestival.org.

Avocado Pesto

How many of you are using this time to make some changes in your life? Losing weight? Working out? Writing more? That would not be me. I’m in a twilight zone, scrolling through Facebook, writing small, almost throw away things, and have hardly touched a vegetable, unless you count tomato pasta sauce. Hibernation. That’s what I’m doing. Keep up the good work, whatever you’re doing. Share if you’d care to.

From a couple of years ago

The garden, well at least the tomatoes and the green sweet pepper plant are doing well. The squash plants keep having their blossoms eaten, probably by the squirrel or the chipmunks, so if I get a zucchini or a yellow squash it will be a miracle. Are you growing anything? Share a picture if you’d like.

Stay safe. Stay well.

Giveaways:

New sale! Over on Smashwords starting the 1st of July, it’s the summer/winter sale. Several of my books are on sale and I hope you get a chance to go to that site and check them out. Click on the link and scroll through the list to see books on discount sale. Have fun and check out some other authors while you’re there! https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell Don’t forget. The sale starts 1 July and ends on the 31st.

The spring giveaway, Spring Flings and Book Things, is over. I’ll let you know when the winners are drawn.

In the meantime, the Summer giveaway is now in progress! Check it out here: https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/. As always the authors are giving away at least 2 prizes and there’s a Paypal cash grand prize.

Where will I Be?

Pine Library, 6124 W. Randall Place, Pine AZ, Friends of the Library meeting, has been rescheduled. The new date for my appearance is October 26th, still at 1pm. So, if you happen to be in Pine, AZ on that date, come on by. I’ll have some books available for purchase and signing.

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:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is up on Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, (Direct link doesn’t work, copy the URL and paste it into your browser, or go directly to Kobo.com and search for Gold Dreams, Connie Cockrell), and Smashwords. The print version is available on Amazon. 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.

Garden, Fund Raiser, Smashwords July Summer/Winter Sale: Monday Blog Post

Newest News:

Sunday, I decided the potato vines had died back enough and I dug up the five plants that had self-seeded. The above picture is my entire harvest, about 10 pounds of potatoes. Most of them are red skinned. Those three plants not only self-seeded better but grew lots more potatoes. There are a couple of purple potatoes in there and a handful of Yukon Golds. It’s been my experience that the reds, at least here in my garden, produce much better than the others. In my climate, the potatoes started growing in March and I harvested on June 28th. I have time now to plant beets, but I expect the chipmunks will eat the baby greens as soon as their little leaves poke up through the soil. Sigh. I also pulled all but one of the bolted arugulas. Only one plant left to provide seed for a next planting. Time, I think, for a trip to the local garden center for some already half-grown veggie bedding plants. The critters may be less inclined to eat those.

I’m asking that people donate to my favorite 501c3 non-profit, the Payson Book Festival as my birthday fundraiser. Cancelled this year for the Coronavirus, I thought I’d try to get a jump on earning money so that the 2021 Payson Book Festival will be even better than before. So if you’d care to, pop on over to Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/donate/952277878565180/10217646111446962/, and drop a little money into the kitty. You can find out more about our festival at www.PaysonBookFestival.org.

The weather back to hot and dry and windy. Several small fires have popped up and been controlled. I am hearing rumors that the Forest Service will close the Tonto National Forest, because it’s so dry here. Everyone who lives here, hopes so, as it only takes one careless person to start a fire in this tinder dry environment.

I’ve seen some Facebook posts from people asking what everyone is doing for the 4th of July. My answer: Nothing. I’m staying home. I’m not going out without a mask. I’m not starting a fire. All the usual town events are cancelled, if not for the Corona, then to help keep fire danger down. Maybe I’ll grill. Remains to be seen.

Stay safe. Stay well.

Giveaways:

New sale! Over on Smashwords starting the 1st of July, it’s the summer/winter sale. Several of my books are on sale and I hope you get a chance to go to that site and check them out. Click on the link and scroll through the list to see books on discount sale. Have fun and check out some other authors while you’re there! https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell Don’t forget. The sale starts 1 July and ends on the 31st.

The spring giveaway, Spring Flings and Book Things, is nearly over. Want to win a prize? You can get to it here, on my Giveaways page.

Where will I Be?

Phoenix Fan Fusion, September 25th – 27th. This event has been postponed until the end of September. Note that the event is a day shorter, starting on Friday rather than Thursday. For people who have special Thursday passes and other special tickets, check out the Fan Fusion website for details on how those will be handled.

Pine Library, 6124 W. Randall Place, Pine AZ, Friends of the Library meeting, has been officially rescheduled. The new date for my appearance is October 26th, still at 1pm. So if you happen to be in Pine, AZ, on that date, come on by. I’ll have some books available for purchase and signing.

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:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is up on Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, (Direct link doesn’t work, copy the URL and paste it into your browser, or go directly to Kobo.com and search for Gold Dreams, Connie Cockrell), and Smashwords. The print version is available on Amazon. 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.

Gardening, Poetry, ebook Sale: Monday Blog Post

Newest News:

We’re now into May and my garden is coming along. Volunteer potatoes have sprouted up in the middle of where I planted bush green beans and peas. Sigh. They’re growing so well I don’t have the heart to pull them. I’ll have to put another row or two of beans and peas in to compensate. My roses have begun blooming. That’s a picture up above. Love it when all of the bushes are in bloom at the same time. How’s your garden?

April’s Poetry month is now over. I hope you enjoyed the daily offering of different poetry forms. I really enjoy doing them and have saved all I’ve written. I may put out a book of poems one day. Maybe after the seven other projects I have sitting around waiting for me to get on the ball.  

On sale now!

I should mention here that I have a sale going on over on the Smashwords site. https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/conniecockrell This is my author page and as you scroll down, you’ll see all of my books. Since I make my books as inexpensive as possible right from the start, I don’t usually do sales but because of the lockdown, I did put some on sale for 60% off. You’ll see the sale prices listed on the ones on sale. This runs through the end of the month, so hop on board an get some reading in. Prices will return to normal June 1st so don’t delay.

Stay safe. Stay well.

Giveaways:

The spring giveaway, Spring Flings and Book Things, is now open. You can get to it here, on my Giveaways page. As soon as the winners are announced for the St. Patrick’s giveaway, I’ll let you know.

Where will I Be?

Payson Book Festival, July 18th at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino, Payson AZ. This event is under consideration for cancellation. We’ll know more in May

CokoCon 2020, September 4 – 7th, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Phoenix Tempe, 2100 S Tempe, AZ. This event hasn’t been cancelled yet. I’ll keep you posted.

Phoenix Fan Fusion, September 25th – 27th. This event has been postponed until the end of September. Note that the event is a day shorter, starting on Friday rather than Thursday. For people who have special Thursday passes and other special tickets, check out the Fan Fusion website for details on how those will be handled.

Pine Library, 6124 W. Randall Place, Pine AZ, Friends of the Library meeting, April 27th has been officially rescheduled. The new date for my appearance is October 26th, still at 1pm. So if you happen to be in Pine, AZ on that date, come on by. I’ll have some books available for purchase and signing.

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:

Gold Dreams released May 13th, 2019. It is up on AmazonAppleBarnes and NobleKobo, (Direct link doesn’t work, copy the URL and paste it into your browser, or go directly to Kobo.com and search for Gold Dreams, Connie Cockrell), and Smashwords. The print version is available on Amazon. 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.

Payson Book Festival, Phoenix Fan Fusion T’s, Book Sale & Giveaway: Monday Blog Post

Newest News:

Here are just four of the wonderful women of Four Carat Press who attended the Payson Book Festival!

Wow! I cannot tell you how excited I am about this last weekend’s Payson Book Festival. We’re still doing the counts, but I can tell you that there were a LOT of people at the festival. With 93 authors, vendors, and publishers, this was a great event. If you were able to get to Payson and participate, thank you so much. If you didn’t get to come, I’m sorry you missed it. We had the Mogollon Monster, the Storybook monster, puppet shows, presentations, and did I mention the 93 authors? Here’s the secret. Mark your calendar for July 18, 2020. This is free to attendees and we welcome families. Money raised by the festival goes in part to two scholarships. One to a graduating high school student and one to a student at the Payson campus of the Gila Community College. Literacy is one of our missions and we put that in the forefront of our efforts. So! See you in 2020! You won’t be sorry you’ve come to the cool pines of Payson.

After the Phoenix Fan Fusion, I began showing some of the t-shirts from the show. Here is one for this week. I’ll have to admit. I really laughed out loud!

What a deal. For the month of July, I’m still offering many of my books either 50% off or free! That’s right, the entire month of July is Smashwords’ Summer/Winter Sale and I’m participating. If you decide to pick up one of my books, I hope you enjoy it. If you do, a small review would be greatly appreciated.

One more giveaway if you are a SciFi, Apocalyptic/Dystopian fan. Starting today! I’m with a group of authors offering just that. The giveaway is called World’s End and is through Book Funnel. You’ll be asked to join author’s newsletters. This giveaway is over at the end of July so don’t wait too long or you’ll miss it!

Gardening. What’s your gardening problem this year? Mine is the chipmunks, squirrels, and the rabbit that have taken up residence in my back yard. Sigh. The beautiful stone sided bed my husband built for me is empty. I’ve planted 3 sets of beans. All eaten as soon as they poke their heads up. Also, Swiss Chard, beets, and to be honest, I’ve now forgotten what else I’ve planted in that bed and it’s all been eaten. However, two green shoots are surviving. I suspect they’re tomato seedlings. At this point, whatever. I just am sad that whole bed is just dirt. It makes me sad.

Giveaways:

The Summer Giveaway is open! There are 33 participating authors with 33 book prizes and 33 summer gift prizes. The Grand Prize is $100 in Paypal cash. This is certainly a giveaway to get involved with.

Where will I Be?:

Now that the Payson Book Festival is done, I don’t have anything on my calendar until the December Mesa Book Festival. Dates are still to be determined but I’ll post as soon as the website makes info available.

On the other hand, if something juicy comes up, because it’s a long time between July and December, I’ll let you know. Do you know of an event where you’d like to see me? I’d love to know about it. Contact me here and say the word.

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.