Tag Archives: Valentine’s Day

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

Posted on by
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.

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

Posted on by

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.

Photo 35501314 © Welcomia | Dreamstime.com

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.

Valentine’s Day Weekend: Monday Blog Post

Posted on by

Valentine's Day Hello by Connie Cockrell

Valentine’s Day Hello by Connie Cockrell

Valentine’s Day was yesterday, did you celebrate? My husband and I don’t do much for it. I gave him a card, which from year to year may or may not happen. He took me to breakfast. That’s it. Both of us feel it’s a Hallmark holiday so don’t pay it much attention though with all of the ads on TV and the posts about how to make the Day romantic, well, it’s tough to miss. The picture at the top is one I posted for the holiday. Hubby took the picture of the humming birds at our feeder last July. They’re rufous hummingbirds if you live on the east coast and have never seen one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufous_hummingbird They’re extremely aggressive toward the ruby-throated and other humming birds that frequent our area.

I have some breaking news. I’ve been invited to be a guest blogger on the site, CoolErbs.com on Wednesday the 17th. What’s great is that I get to talk to his readers and my readers get introduced to a new author, one, hopefully, you’ll like and want to read. Wins all around. He’ll be guest posting on my blog soon. I’ll let you know the details once they’re finalized.

Kindred Spirits is back from the editor. Now it’s up to me to take it through the final edit and begin formatting. I’m still looking for people interested in receiving 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. So if you’d like an advance copy, let me know today! Time is running out for an advanced ‘look see’ at the third book, and if I may say, the best book, in the series. You’ll want to get this in advance of your friends.

News from  the Phoenix-Scottsdale MysteryCon (http://www.azmysterycon.com/) that will be held on June 3rd and 4th. Final details are being communicated and I’m getting excited about it. I hope to see your there!

I mentioned last week that the darned mint is growing again. I spent about half an hour digging the bed all the way down to the ground and sifting roots out of it. I’ll have to keep an eagle eye out for new sprouts. In that same bed I see sprouts pushing up like daffodils but maybe they’re spring onion. The bulbs lived all summer in the purposely un-watered bed while I tried to kill the mint. Good for them. In another bed the parsley is re-sprouting. I dug it up and transferred it to a different bed as the one it was in will be tomatoes this year.

Last week we had a new sliding glass door installed. It is a bigger door than the old one so the installation involved cutting the wall out, reframing it, installing the door then finishing the walls, inside and out. Hubby spent Friday and Saturday repainted the whole wall the door is in, just to be sure there’s no strange paint color contrasts. One last step is required. The contractor will be back today to provide a fix for the carpet. Because we moved the edge, there’s about a six inch gap in the carpet at the door. Other than that, it’s done and I love it.

The Lovestruck Authors Giveaway ended Sunday, the 14th! I put up my book, Recall, signed, as my first prize and an Amazon Gift card as my second prize. The grand prize is $150 in Paypal cash.  Go to www.conniesrandomthoughts.com/giveaways to enter the Rafflecopter. I’m awaiting the list from the organizer for the prize winners. I’ll contact them directly.

Did you miss the Lovestruck Author Giveaway? No worries. The Luck O’ the Author Giveaway is starting. I’ll have the link up on my Facebook and Twitter pages. The more times you enter, the better your chances to win. I cannot express how much I appreciate all of you who sign up for my website, newsletter, Amazon Author page and Facebook page. Thanks for participating.

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. If you missed it, leave a comment in the sign up form and I’ll send you January’s 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 shareable, send it to whomever you think will like it. You’ve already missed out on great offers. Sign up now.

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.