Thursday, September 15, 2016

Salt Lake Comic Con: The Good. The Bad. The Ugly? Part 1

Salt Lake Comic Con
The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

I'm never sure if I should lead with the good or the bad, but this time, I'll go with the saying and start with the good. I'll most likely end with the good too if that's okay. I'd hate to leave Comic Con on a sour note.

#1 How could you not love an event that gives people an excuse to dress up?

I wore my Tinker Bell T-shirt
and look who shows up.
This Snow White even spoke in that
high-pitched voice from the movie
Love a fun Cowboy play on
Harry Potter
Can we just say, Yum?
After seeing this beauty, I couldn't
get bibity bobity boo out of my
head for hours 
Anime and Manga definitely dominated
this Comic Con

#2 the FANS

As authors, we are there for the fans. Meeting and signing books for those who love them is the best ever. I'm terrible at remembering to take pics. The first day, I didn't take a single one. I went the second day determined to get a bunch.  So, I got a few. :) 

And this little beauty is the niece
of one of my friends and guess
what?
She loves my books.
Selfie time.




Do you know this crazy dude?
#3 Fan-girling over awesome authors

This is Ally Carter. Can you believe it? She was so
incredibly nice. And guess what? She's working on
a stand-alone....
I also got a pic with Kiersten White who has my same awesome agent, but
alas, I can't find it. Maybe my dog ate it. 


The one author I'd love to have met? Hmmm. Sarah J. Maas would
top my list.

Comic Con was a fun, wild ride this year. Can't wait for next year.  

P.S. The Bad is coming on the next post...I've rambled on too long already.  
Peace!

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

THE publishing conference to attend in 2017

If you're wondering where I'll be at the end of February- This is it! Come and join the fun. Early bird pricing ends this week. Hurry
Just click HERE

Monday, September 5, 2016

Comic Con 2016

**Stay tuned for an exciting recap of my adventures at Salt Lake Comic Con 2016 and get a free eBook. Yay!

If you've never been able to attend one, it's like stepping into a new world. I've got pictures and fun stories to share later this week.

And guess what?
Kate Unleashed: Code of Silence series: Book 3 is finally in its second edit. It may actually be so long and have two full story lines in it that it needs to be split into two. I'll let you know as soon as I find out.  To celebrate, you can get Kate Unmasked as an eBook for FREE for the next few weeks only. 
Here's the link to claim your free book Click HERE



Italy, New York, and New Jersey await you in this series.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Yep! My Mom's to Blame.


One of the favorite things I did with my MOM 
growing up is make candy.  (Book Sale and giveaway)

My favorites? Her caramel and white fudge. YUM- no, double YUM.

Both of these things require a lot of consistent stirring (caramel especially) and strength (white fudge) and with crippling arthritis settling in, she doesn't often make them anymore.

I decided someone needed to pass on the tradition and it would HAVE to be me. I know, making candy is such a chore....but....:) What I discovered is that she made it look easy, and even though I helped a lot, I didn't have any idea what the tricks were to making these two luscious treats successfully.



After many failures, many coaching sessions, and finally getting a proper candy pot, I can say that consistently perfect caramel and white fudge come from my little kitchen now.

My mom's legacy lives on and YES!
I blame her for my love of all things sweet...
She's definitely the one to blame...let's not even talk about the chocolate addiction.

Now my mom and I share another addiction--reading. The best part is that this is something that even arthritis can't take away. Hooray!

Here's a little sale for you. Maybe you can find a couple ten or twenty books to share with your mom today (most are free or .99 cents this week only). And, Kate Unmasked is included. It's never been on sale before. It's the perfect time to get started on this series because the final one comes out next month. And there's even a giveaway of a $50 gift card- go win some money for more books.

Click HERE to get all the deals and enter to WIN.

Good Luck and happy reading. Take some extra time to celebrate your mom this week.

What's one of your favorite memories with your mom?

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

3 Pro-Tips for Creating Covers

I'm guest blogging over at iWriteNetwork


AND

Amazon ONLY .99 cents
Great News! Jeremy and Christy have their own little story in Sweet and Sassy Anthology: Sand and Kisses edition. It's called Secrets in the Sand. You can get that and five other awesome sweet romance stories for one awesome price- Only .99cents this week. Snag it before the price goes up.

Will Jeremy and Christy really be able to spend a few days together without trouble finding them?


What are you reading right now? 
I'm reading The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater- the jury is still out whether or not I'm digging it.


Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Daughter of Winter by Amber Argyle


Do you love high fantasy? If so, this book is for you. Amber Argyle is a great storyteller and you can get the first book in the series FREE (see link below) this week before Daughter of Winter comes out on the 21st. Enjoy.  Gorgeous cover, right?

Daughter of Winter

Daughter of Winter will be released April 21st. Here's the new synopsis:

Bargains. Only the truly desperate make them. Only the truly desperate need them. And always, the desperate pay.

The silence and never-ending dark of winter are all Elice has ever known, for she is the daughter of the Winter Queen. Isolated in a northern queendom with only the seals for company, she dreams of color and music and life. So when a whaling ship crashes just offshore, she doesn't hesitate to rescue the lone survivor, Adar, who quickly becomes her friend. She must keep him hidden from her mother at all costs, for if the Winter Queen discovers him trespassing, she'll kill him.

But when her mother reveals just how dark her soul has become, Elice realizes she is as much a prisoner as Adar. To ever know true freedom—ever to become the woman she was meant to be—she must flee with him. But in their flight, she begins to see hints of something more nefarious. The darkness that has taken hold of her mother is spreading, staining the world with its influence.

Unbeknownst to Elice, a bargain was made long ago. A bargain she was born to fulfill.
To celebrate the upcoming release, the first book in the series, Of Ice and Snow, is free for a limited time. In exchange, for your free copy share this post on facebook and/or tweet this tweet and/or pin this pin. An author's success depends upon word of mouth, so sharing my freebie will draw attention to the series. Also, feel free to copy and paste any information in this blog into your own to help spread the word. Thank you in advance! 

Cheers!
Cindy M. Hogan
Catch my deals here- just click follow
My books! Amazon, iBooksNook, Kobo

Friday, April 1, 2016

The Balanced Life of an Author

*originally shared on cindymhogan.com
The chronicles of a typical nutso week that will have zero balance (Don't tell, but 80% of my life is like this)  

Thanks Tahiti Dance dot com for the pic. :)

Monday-I need to finish writing Kate Concealed...but the tomatoes need canning and hair needs coloring-or is gray the new it color-aren't teens going gray? Is my stylist still in Riverton? Does it really take four hours? And it seems like something important is happening tomorrow....what was that? Oh, and FHE is tonight. Gotta have family love.

Tuesday-I need to finish Kate Concealed...but the pears need canning....and tomatoes need canning..and I need to perfect 2 presentations- or should I just wing it?  Oh, and Fatal Exchange is LIVE...I really should tell people. Yeah, that's what I forgot yesterday. psst. Fatal exchange is live- go grab it. Print and eBook. YES! 
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/Fatalamaz  Barnes and Noble: http://smarturl.it/fatalnook  iTunes: http://smarturl.it/fatalitunes  Kobo:http://smarturl.it/fatalkobo  I hope that counts.

Wednesday-I need to finish Kate Concealed...but I need to be teaching kids at a school visit all day and then set up for Comic Con-the tomatoes and pears still need to be canned. Was I in charge of dinner?

Thursday-I need to finish Kate Concealed...but I need to be at Comic Con- come see me-all my books will be there-even Fatal Exchange. I'd love to sign yours. (note to self-don't forget the pens) Should I practice my speech for tomorrow? Or prepare for the class I've got to teach at church? Oh, the laundry- shoot. Did I leave it in the washer on Saturday?

Friday- I need to finish Kate Concealed...but I will be at Comic Con and then speaking at a women's retreat- Oh, and the pears and tomatoes need canning- did I mention the grapes are ripe? Where's the juice? Oh, I have to do that, don't I? Tomorrow's homecoming for Hannah-Hunger Games for the day date and lots of sparkles for the dance- can we say steak for dinner? Go Outback.

Sat(yeah, by this time in the week everything is getting shortened.) I need to finish Kate Concealed...but I will be at Comic Con- and the grapes, they smell amazing- anyone say grape juice? oh, and I need to prepare a talk for the youth on Sunday- is that tomorrow?  And Hannah has homecoming- Can't miss that- must take pictures. She's going to be stunning.

Sun-I need to finish Kate Concealed...but I will be worshiping- and did I tell you the all the peppers and onions are ready to use with the tomatoes to can salsa? p.s. they were ready last week...and the watermellons-I need to pick the melons. Yum. First great crop ever- we must've had the perfect weather this year. Lucky me. Lucky you.

Oh, and silly me, I forgot I actually needed to feed the family and maybe talk to them, clean the house and oh, of course, get the laundry done. And for the love, ...there's the dog.

BUT WAIT!
The one thing I hope you got from this post- How much I LOVE my LIFE. It's the best- but, I would appreciate it if any of you could deposit some time in my daily time bank-I sure could use some. :)
Maybe then I'll have BALANCE- and some yummy grape jelly.


Oh, and the beached whale needs assistance- anyone?