Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

In most blog tours, a single author appears on a variety of blogs, moving around the Internet and allowing the readers of those blogs get to know the author.

In the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour, the authors stay on their blogs and it's you, the reader, who takes the tour.

Each month, our participating authors from around the world agree to blog on a single topic throughout the month. By following the links in each month's post, you'll discover a whole bunch of new authors in a variety of genres, levels of experience, and styles of writing.

We hope you enjoy the trip and come back each month for a new spin around the globe.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

We All Have to Start Somewhere: May Merry-Go-Round Blog Post

Whoa! Interesting topic. I published my first book, The Bad Seed, in 2012 and I haven’t gone back to look at it since. I’m a little nervous. Here’s the first page.

The front and back doors burst open in an explosion of sound. Willa turned to look, her eyes wide and mouth open, knife still in hand, as men in black burst into the kitchen from the back hallway and from the living room.

In shock and hardly breathing, she stood in front of the stove with the knife in the air. They were all shouting, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife! Drop it!” She finally regained enough presence of mind to drop the knife. One of the men came rushing at her from the morning room, around the kitchen island and pushed her to the floor. Before she knew it, he had a knee in her back and both hands pulled painfully behind her. The handcuffs were tight and cold.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Favorite Conventions or Events: Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

Payson Book Festival 2015

I was about to say I've only ever been to one convention but then re-read the rest of the prompt. I can include National Novel Writing Month (NaNo). Not mentioned might also be Book Festivals. Well now, I think I have something to talk about.

Let me talk about my only convention. That was the In'DTale convention in September 2015. I went with a Romance author friend and I had a blast. First of all, there's all the excitement of talking to other authors. They get it when you say you're worried you can't figure out the ending. They also have all kinds of great tips and tricks for writing, for marketing and promotion, and for, well, everything. There's a lot of learning going on as well. There were workshops scheduled all day. I went to one titled How to put more Sex in your Book. It was a romance convention after all.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Cover Art Inspirations: Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

Cover art is such a personal thing, isn't it? For me, cover art that screams SciFi will draw me in any time. Spaceships seeming to scream through space, exploding planets, people adrift in space in space suits. Oh yeah, that's the stuff. But what about other genre's. I read widely, what attracts me to those other stories?

I'm not sure I can answer that. I'd off-handedly say the covers have nothing to do with it but marketers will statistically prove me wrong. I like adventure, spy stories, mysteries, even the odd western will catch my eye. Was it the cover or the back cover blurb? Many will say I was drawn in by the cover art.

But cover art, now that's an arcane wizardry. Last year I wrote my first cozy mystery. I mostly do my own covers so I did a search on Amazon for cozy mysteries and found a mix of cartoon characters and English cottage gardens as covers. I shrugged. Neither of those were what I wanted for a cover that evoked Arizona, serious, or murder. The book was called Mystery at the Fair.

To read more click here.

The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, traveling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com! Up next: L.C. Aisling.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

My Writing Origin: Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

Owl Using Computer by Red_Pigeon via DeviantArt.com

This month's topic is an origin story. How did I start writing? I've always written. Stories for school, a play when I was 13 that the school actually let me produce, fits and starts at books as an adult. The problem was I never knew how to get past the first couple of chapters.

That all changed in 2011. My daughter Elizabeth had moved in with us while she re-evaluated her life, and made friends with a lovely young woman, Jaime Raintree. Jamie is an author and she told Elizabeth about this writing challenge called National Novel Writing Month. She was going to participate and encouraged Elizabeth to do so as well.

Elizabeth told us about this challenge. "Write everyday, 1667 words a day, and you'll win the challenge. I'm going to do it."

"How hard can that be," I asked. I should have realized right then that karma was about to give me a boot.

"Hard, mom. If you think it's so easy you should do it."

Well, challenge issued and accepted.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

An origin story over the years

I didn't really think I had an origin story, a single moment I could point to and say, "This is when I became a writer." To see why that is my origin story, check out the full post on my blog.

Monday, January 18, 2016

January: Time to set some goals

Goals! Of course. It's the start of the year and yep, I do have a list of things in mind to help guide myself along my writer's course in 2016. You'll note that I'm only talking about writing goals. I could put a lot of other goals in here but that would lead to chaos. Let's just stick to the writing goals.

1. Goal: Start an author interview post on my website for 2X per month.

Note: I began this process in November when I put out a call for authors who'd like to be interviewed. I posted the first interview on January 13th, one of our own Forward Motion authors, B. C. Mathews. I loved how she answered the interview questions. You can see that interview here.

2. Goal: Submit stories to newspapers/magazines about my appearances before and after each appearance.

The thinking here is that this goal is one of several to help me increase my readers. It's hard for most readers to find new authors. This is one way I can help increase my visibility.

3. Goal: Publish 6 books in 2016: See the rest here.

How about you? Do you have a few goals for 2016? What's driving them? I'd love to hear your comments.

The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, traveling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com! Up next: Jean Schara.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Goals to Start the New Year: 2016 Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

Goals are interesting things with a mutable nature. When I first set out goals for myself each year, it was easy. Whether I made them or not, I had something to strive for and I could always tweak them as needed.

All that changed when I gained readers.

Trust me, I'm not complaining one bit. I love having readers. Knowing someone is waiting for the next in each series is better motivation than a random, mutable goal.

However, it also means my goals have more weight, and I have to think about them a lot more. I can't just toss some ideas into the air and run with it. My goals have to line up with the expectations of my readers and my long-term plans as an indie author.

Read more on Tales to Tide You Over

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

MGR: December–year in review

It was a busy year.

Grandbaby in February. New kitchen floor, gas range, washer and dryer in May. We bought a canoe, used it, and went on wilderness camping trip. And as usual there was golf league and art class.

Read about the rest, including a good year of writing, at Cowgirl in New England

Saturday, December 19, 2015

MGR Tour: 2015 Conclusions

It's that time of year. We're looking at how we did in achieving what we said we were going to achieve back in January. Check out how I did here.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour: Conclusions

Goals? Arrggh, I haven't looked at my goals since May, I think. Let's see what I've accomplished and what I haven't.

So much has happened to me this year I really need to think about what is new and what isn't. I'm including May's status first, then my current status.

Status:

1. Goal: Upgrade my blog site to a real website

MAY: The blog is half transformed. If you look for www.conniesrandomthoughts.com, you'll find it but I'm having trouble getting into it from the Wordpress side. I also want to dress it up better. Many of the cool things I had on my blog did not transfer over to the web site. I have to figure all of that out. Stay tuned.

DECEMBER: The blog is now a website. I seemed to have lost all of the wordpress followers, maybe not but I am signing up new followers so that's a good thing. Goal achieved.

Read more here.

For me, 2015 was a year mostly successes! Three goals were not achieved but progress was made on them so I don't feel too bad. How about you? Did you have a few goals for 2015? How did you do? What would you do differently? I'd love to hear your comments.

The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, traveling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com! Up next: Jean Schara

Sunday, December 6, 2015

The End Is Nigh…The Year End Assessment That Is: 2015 Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

This time of year is both something I dread and cherish.

The cherish is easy. I get to see my extended family including my son who has grown up and moved to another state, and of course, there will be pies ;).

The dread is also pretty easy.

I start the year with grand plans, strategies that attempt to survive first contact with the enemy, in this case Father Time. At the end of the year, I have to evaluate the success of those strategies, identify where and when strategy devolved into tactics and further into a desperate scramble. Sure, some might have survived the year, but any that didn’t require reassessment before I set out my 2016 plan.

Some things that went wonderfully…and others were mixed.

Publishing

I released a new book in all three of my series:

Read more on Tales to Tide You Over

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

The best-laid plans

Or why I didn't get done the things I thought I would this year, but am still pleased with the results. Check out the full post on my blog.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

MGR Tour: Favorites of 2015

I listed a few of my favorites from all venues for 2015. Come see what I liked and share what you liked throughout the year.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Merry Go Round Blog Spot for November: What's New in 2015?

Nettle Pod 2015 by Randy Cockrell

Oh my! New stuff!

So much has happened to me this year I really need to think about what is new and what isn't.

One thing that is new is my love of a new to me author, Nevada Barr. I started writing cozy fiction last year and published my first work this year. See the subtle nudge at the end of this post. Anyway, my brother-in-law lent me his collection of Nevada Barr stories set around her protagonist Anna Pigeon. I love this series. First of all Anna Pigeon is my kind of gal. She loves the outdoors, fancy dress is not for her and to be honest, she likes her cat better than most people. What is not to love? I've read mystery stories for years, starting with Miss Marple stories by Agatha Christie. Anyway, I thought it was time to read some newer stuff. There is SO much out there and to be honest, I love it all. Anyway. If you're looking for some new mystery fiction, check out Nevada Barr.

Other new stuff? I don't know. I rarely listen to music anywhere. If I do, it's in the car and I live in a remote area. The local stations play oldies. When in the car, we have satellite radio and listen to, wait for it, oldies. Actually channel 32, soft rock. Of every station available on the satellite radio, what we ended up listening to was channel 32. Sigh. Sometimes you just have to go with your favs.

Food. I'm a food adventurer. I love trying all sorts of food. Unfortunately, I haven't been anywhere that's offered me a new taste sensation.

On a positive note I do try new blogs all the time. I have my favs and many of them are industry favorites. However, I do read some that are unique and interesting to me.

One is https://talainsphotographyblog.wordpress.com/ I love the simplicity of this blog. He posts pictures. Birds, butterflies, flowers. Restful and peaceful. This is a wonderful blog.

Another blog, one that may be considered an industry fav is http://kriswrites.com/business-rusch-publishing-articles/. Kristine Rusch publishes a lot of stuff, free fiction, this business blog, all sorts of other things. What I love is how wide ranging her blogs are. Business, art, personal, there is a blog for everything. Especially the business blog posts. If you are serious about becoming the writer you've always wanted to be, this is just one of the blogs you need to follow.

Another is http://goanwiki.com/. I love this blog. The food from a specific part of India and with a family story with each recipe. How awesome is that? For me the major draw is that many of the recipes are naturally gluten-free and those that aren't can be made so quite easily. This is a wonderful blog for me.

For me, 2015 was a year of discovery and adventure. I hope it was for you, too. Let me know in the comments what was a discovery for you. A new recipe? A new favorite vacation spot? A new band? Shout it out. I'd love to hear about it and try it out for myself.

The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, traveling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com! Up next: Jean Schara

Thursday, November 5, 2015

A Few of My Favorite Things from 2015

When I read this topic, what immediately came to mind was the song from Sound of Music, hence my title.

Choosing favorites is one of the worst jobs in the world because you’re not really choosing favorites if you’re doing it right. Everything I enjoyed this year is a favorite or I wouldn’t have enjoyed it, and as in the song, there are so many favorites small or large that no single post could cover them.

A lot of my favorite things are nature-oriented such as delighting in the strength of the trees in my neighborhood (it was newish when we moved in 10 years ago, so the trees took a bit to grow), especially now with them displaying their fall colors. I love the way there is snow on the mountains in all four directions as much as it hints at a hard winter because we need the water and there’s something magical about the crisp snow air.

Those above are the easy ones. With things like books, movies, etc., it depends on my mood. Here are some of the ones that come to mind today, though a different group might float to the top tomorrow:

Read more on Tales to Tide You Over

Monday, October 19, 2015

MGR Tour: Influence

Join me this month while I discuss writers who have influenced me.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour: How my Favorite Authors Have Influenced Me

Last month, we talked about my favorite genre being Science Fiction. I read a lot before then but other than Gone With the Wind, which I first read at twelve, I don't remember any of the stories. I was a regular at the classroom library and the school library, but there was no lasting impression.

What did impress me was that box of books I mentioned last month. Notable in there were books of short stories by Robert Heinlein and Issac Asimov. I fell in love with Heinlein's, Podkayne of Mars, and Asimov's robot stories. In high school, I dove into the much larger science fiction section. There I found Arthur C. Clarke and Ursula LeGuin. As a young adult, I found C.J. Cherryh and Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon.