It’s a New Year! CokoCon 2020, Christmas Giveaway: Monday Blog Post
Newest News:
Two days till New Year’s Day. You’ll notice I’m
posting late. Still Monday, but I didn’t write and schedule this post early as
I usually do. Part of it, I think, is that December 31st is the one-year
anniversary of my mother’s passing. It’s been a hard year for me, especially since
Thanksgiving. I’ve slowed down in 2019. I released two books, Slave Elf in
January and in May, Gold Dreams. They were already written, and Slave Elf was
already edited. Some of my ennui had to do with the current state of the U.S.
political situation. I spend a lot of time in outrage. Not the best place for
creativity. I just spent the year procrastinating, even though I did get words
written. Nothing was close to ready for editing even if I could have summoned
the ambition and energy to do so.
I’ve promised myself, though, that 2020 will be
different. Not only is it a new year, but a new decade. It’s amazing to me that
I’ve been writing since 2011. It doesn’t seem like I’ve been writing for 9
years, though I have the body of published work to prove I’ve been around
awhile. So, what’s in store? I have five Young Adult (YA) contemporary novelettes
that are written and after a month off, ready for me to begin editing. I call
this my All About Bob series. All of my main characters are named a form of
Bob, girls and boys. All of them are high school seniors. All of them have a
significant problem to overcome. The plan is to get them edited and released in
quick succession on Amazon KU. I’ve never put books in KU before, so this is a
big experiment for me. If possible, I’ll release them in paperback as well, but
only on Amazon. I hope you like them.
My other project is Mystery at the Reunion. I wrote the first draft of this fourth book in the Jean Hays series two years ago, but it just wasn’t right. I now have a new direction and I plan on doing a major rewrite and release it in the fall. My main character, Jean, has been nagging at me and I just need to buckle down and get the book done and out of the door. Those of you who have been waiting patiently, thank you. My 2020 is pretty well planned out and I need to let my grief and anger drift away and get back to work. If you want more info on what I plan for the new year and what the past has given me, check out my newsletter with the link below.
Last week I mentioned I’ve already signed up for a January event. the Tempe FanCon in January at the library. This con, in its 6th year, is full of cosplay, activities, vendors, artists and more. It’s January 25th from 10am – 4pm. A one-day event you won’t want to miss.
I’ve also just bought two memberships to the CoKoCon in September. This is a four-day event running from September 4th – 7th over Labor Day weekend. I’ve not been to this specific event but the organizations hosting it put on the WorldCon a couple of years ago and did a fantastic job. Check out the link above to see what’s in store. I plan on giving away one of my membership tickets to a follower. Stay tuned to this blog and my newsletter for information on how to win my extra ticket!
I’ll also be attending the Phoenix Fan Fusion over Memorial Day weekend in May and the Payson Book Festival in July. There might be others, I just don’t know which ones yet.
So that’s 2019 wrapped up and 2020 planned out. Of
course no one knows what life will bring to us but I am looking forward to this
new year and new decade. I hope you have the best ever new year.
Giveaways:
The Christmas giveaway is still open! You have time to jump
in before it closes. For my giveaway I’m featuring an ebook 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?:
Tempe FanCon. January25th from 10am to 4pm at the Tempe Public Library.
Phoenix
Fan Fusion, May 21st –
24th.
Payson Book Festival, July 18th
at the Mazatzal Hotel and Casino, Payson AZ.
CokoCon 2020, September 4 – 7th,
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Phoenix Tempe, 2100
S Tempe, AZ
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 still available. 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 http://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.
