Tag Archives: To Do Lists

NANOWRIMO, To Do List, Friday Flash The Party, Giveaways News: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

So how is National Novel Writing Month going for me? Well, I’ve had a dearth of motivation this last week and skipped writing from Tuesday through Saturday. Well, Saturday I spent on the road. I had a meeting in Tucson so there was about four hours each way on the road, plus the meeting I attended and a lunch and social couple of hours afterward. That has put me behind. Not so far I can’t catch up, but I’ll have to work harder and longer to get the words in that I need to complete the NaNo challenge this year. When I do write, the story seems to be moving along. This is after, It’s All About the Girl, had a particularly slow start. No matter. The words are flowing and I should finish the month strong. I cannot believe the month is already half over with. That’s what happens when you spend so much time in other worlds. LOL!

In between writing sessions I’m like most women, thinking about Thanksgiving, and beyond that Christmas. Planning needs to be done. People invited over. Presents to be acquired. Candy to be made. I also haven’t finished updating everything needed to be done for the Payson Book Festival, so that’s nagging at me in the back of my brain. Lots to do. I’m sure many of you are in the same situation. My plan is to just take one thing at a time and get it all done. Hope your plan works for you!

Oh. And I missed my Friday flash fiction post on my serial, The Party. It fell into that same lack of gumption as It’s All About the Girl. However. I have been thinking about it. It looks like I have about eleven characters. Somehow, before the end of the story, they’re all, or at least most of them, are going to intersect in some way. I have no idea how. I do have a glimmer of how the story could end. I’m really writing this by the seat of my pants so hang on. It’s going to be a ride.

Giveaways:

The Ghoulishly Great Reads Halloween Author/Blogger giveaway is now over! Twenty-two authors are participated giving us a $66 Paypal grand prize plus 22 other great prizes and 22 free books. Soon I’ll have the list of winners, which I’ll share with you.

The Christmas giveaway is now open! For my giveaway I’m featuring a copy of Slave Elf and a $10 Amazon gift card. There are 21 other great prizes available and a $72 Grand Prize in PayPal cash. I hope you can stop in and try for a prize here.

Where will I Be?:

December Mesa Book Festival. The date is December 14th from 10am – 5pm and the location has changed to 225 E Main St, Mesa. This is the Benedictine University, for those familiar with Mesa. I am sharing a booth space with the wonderful Marsha Ward. The site only promotes the author registering the table, so you’ll only see Marsha’s name, not mine. But I promise, I’ll be there. You can find all the details and a map at https://anthology.org/category/mesa-book-festival/.

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Releases:

My 2020 Calendar, which I’ve titled Arizona Reflections, is now available. I love doing these calendars. The beautiful pictures of Arizona wildlife, insects, reptiles, and landscapes relaxes me every time I look at them. The wall calendar has both U.S. and Canadian holidays listed and blocks for keeping track of appointments. You can find the calendar for purchase at: http://www.lulu.com/content/legacy-lulustudio-calendar/arizona-impressions/25183877. Alternatively, you can go to my website, at my Books and Other Products page and it’s the first thing you see. I hope you enjoy it.

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, Writing To-Do List, Winners: Monday Blog Post

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Newest News:

Gardening. It’s already started for me. For one thing, I had to trim all of my rose bushes. That was a chore that took 4 days. Now I’m cleaning up all of the cut rose canes. Also, my peach and nectarine trees are in bloom. Also in bloom is the rosemary that’s planted between them. The pink flowers on the trees and the blue flowers of the rosemary look very nice together. Also this weekend I stuck fertilizer stakes into the ground for the fruit trees. Finally, I planted potatoes in my new deep raised bed and lettuces and spring onions in one of the shallow beds. So this last week was very productive in the garden.

I spent some time this last weekend making a writing to-do list. I have lots of projects in the works. One is to get my paperback Gulliver Station box set formatted. This will take some time in the Vellum program and on the Apple laptop. I’m not very experience with either so this is a bit of a challenge. Part of that box set is a new cover to accommodate the bigger book. Also on the list, reformatting First Encounters, The Downtrodden and Kindred Spirits to match Tested. These have the new covers, I just want the interiors to all match as well. More time in Vellum and on the Apple laptop. By the time I finish with all of that, I should be pretty competent. Then there’s Gold Dreams. I’d like that out soon to be ready for the Payson Book Festival in July. Actually, I’d like all of the above to be available for the book festival. I’d better spend less time scrolling aimlessly through Facebook.

Giveaways:

Winners in my Valentine’s Day giveaway were Padraig Ohiceadha, from Ireland and Jose Rosado from Portugal. Both of these people have followed me for a long time and I’m glad they won some prizes!

The St. Patrick’s Day giveaway is now up. Here’s the link and I hope you get in on this fast. This one isn’t going to run very long. There are 38 prizes and 38 books to be given away and $114 in Paypal cash as the grand prize. https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways-and-prizes/

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

Where will I Be?:

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

Phoenix Fan Fusion! Oh My Gosh! If you haven’t ever been to this event you need to check it out. The prices for entry are so reasonable! Three days is $75 at this point. The catalog of things to do is humongous! I’ll be down in Artists Alley, Four Carat Press, booths 930 and 932. Come check it out. If you’ve never been, it will blow your minds. It’s May 23 – 26th. Come see me!

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

Newsletter Sign Up:

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. I’ve put sign-up gifts on the regular and the SciFi/Fantasy and the Cozy Mystery newsletter sign-ups. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. Be prepared for fun and contests! Click on the video link for a short video from me. Hear what I’m working on. Join my “A” Team to be the first to read my books and hear what new books are coming.

Don’t forget to follow my blog, too. Different material goes in the blog as in the newsletter. You can share both, so spread the word!

Newest Book Release:

The Slave Elf story released February 19th, 2019. It is finally up on all of my other retailers in ebook format. You can buy it at Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords today. You can also see all my books on https://conniesrandomthoughts.com/my-books-and-other-published-work/. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a short, honest, review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads or BookBub. It’s critical to help me promote the books to other readers. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for reading my blog. Like all of the other work I do as an author, it takes time and money. If you enjoy this Monday blog and the Friday free story and the recipe I put up on the 25th of every month, consider donating to https://www.paypal.me/ConniesRandomThought. I appreciate any donation to help support this blog.