December 1st, 2014

Happy Oneth of December!


Been awhile since I posted. Had a wonderfully successful and fun day this week in Fayetteville. Book sales and book signings were great. Met so many wonderful folks out shopping. Always nice to meet people who love to read. The weather was in the low 70s though a little windy. A stark contrast to this morning's weather.


It is currently 25 degrees with freezing rain and small snow falling. Not calling for any bad weather like ice and snow accumulations today, just cold. A good day to grab a hot beverage and get back to writing.

Easter 2014

Adelinda Easter Morning

Easter Morning Backyard

Photos courtesy of my daughter, Tammy. Thank you, Tammy!

October 2013

Thought I would take a break from working on Book 2 of my Runevision Mystery Series to post this picture of my intelligent, talented and beautiful granddaughter, Adelinda, as she enjoys my favorite time of year and a visit to the pumpkin patch.

Mystery Of The Death Hearth

It's been awhile since I've posted. Been working on my new book, Mystery Of The Death Hearth, and I'm happy to announce it is finally published. It's been a long, interesting journey completing a fictional novel with interesting, detailed plot twists and intriguing characters but I'm pleased with the result. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

It's a Celtic tale of murder, power and intrigue.

Book Description:  Cultures on a collision course … In a far-flung outpost of the Roman Empire, the Great Cross—made of Celtic gold and amber now claimed by the Roman church—goes missing along with a fortune in coins and precious gems. Murder soon follows, igniting tensions when church leaders, maneuvering for political gain, are implicated in the violent plot. When the news reaches the Grand Prefect in Rome, Enforcers are sent to identify the thieves and recover the missing treasure. The trail leads to the Brendan Valley, where it falls to deputy magistrate Weylyn de Gort to work with those whose ways are alien to his Elder Faith beliefs. Along the way, he must find an elusive young Celt girl and her missing grandfather, unravel the mystery of an Elder’s runevision, and avoid death at the hands of an assassin as he faces the greatest challenge of his life.

Mystery Of The Death Hearth is now available at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Death-Hearth-Runevision-Novel/dp/0615671675/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351341600&sr=1-1&keywords=Jack+R.+Cotner

Kindle and Ebook versions are coming soon.

Triple-Digit Heat Across Arkansas

Record high temperatures are being recorded daily across Arkansas and while the heat is one thing, the most serious condition it brings is the lack of rainfall. Much of the state is in a severe drought and the long-range forecast shows little if any relief in sight.

Adelinda's New Piano

Here's my granddaughter and her new piano courtesy and compliments of her wonderful cousin and aunt.

Thank you Audrey and Janet for your great generosity. Your gift is very much appreciated.

Fayetteville Farmer’s Market 2011

One of my favorite places to visit is the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market on the Fayetteville Square with its great food, fruits, vegetables, flowers, art and entertainment but my visits there were rare this year due to medical issues and the weather. After a very wet, cold winter that seemed to last through May with unusually cool temperatures and too much rain and flooding lasting for six weeks, Northwest Arkansas didn’t see any traditional springtime weather as we moved right into summer with the rains all but disappearing, driven away by weeks of very extreme heat with temperatures into the 100s and dangerously dry conditions. Arkansas farmers—including those who normally have such wonderful fare at the Farmer’s Market— took a huge economic hit as the extremes of weather were a disaster to the crops. The highest temperature registered on my thermometer was 117 degrees in August. Now, here it is September and the much welcomed cooler temperatures and light, pleasant rains have made their way back in. As the fall season approaches, I’m looking forward to visiting the Market again before it closes for the winter on November 19th, 2011.

Reference: http://www.fayettevillefarmersmarket.org/

For All You Kindle Users

Storytellin: True & Fictional Short Stories Of Arkansas...

...is now available on Kindle. More information can be found at the Kindle Ebook Store. Click on this posting's title for a direct link that will take you to the Kindle store.

Who Knew?

I make most of the bread I eat myself but still, from time to time, buy loaves of bread from the store. I keep and reuse the plastic twist ties from those loaves for any number of handy, useful things. I had no idea the different colors of ties related to the day the loaf was baked.

Fresh bread, it seems, is delivered to the store on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The color codes are used to designate which day of the week the bread was baked on and aid stockers and re-stockers in determining the oldest bread on the shelf. I’m told all bakers use the color coding but that some may not use the same colors to designate the same day.

The basic rule seems to be this for the day the loaf of bread was baked:

Monday - Blue
Tuesday - Green
Thursday - Red
Friday - White
Saturday – Yellow

If you tend to buy bread from the same company, you can research and find out which color code they use. This would help guarantee you are buying the freshest loaf on the shelf.

Largest Snowstorm On Record...

…For NW Arkansas

And I’m right in the middle of it. It’s 8 a.m.; been snowing since 3 a.m., temperature is 18 degrees, wind chill is 7 degrees. Sky is so dark, snow is falling so heavy the nearest homes to me can barely be seen. Forecast is for snow to continue at a rate of about 2 inches per hour up until about noon today. Here’s a shot with an 18 inch ruler almost buried—just under 17 inches of snow and like I said, it’s still falling heavy.

Ice Covered Trees

One of the most beautiful and unusual pictures I’ve seen from Mount Magazine State Park, Arkansas. Picture was taken by Park Ranger Doug and posted over on the Arkansas State Parks website. Thanks, Arkansas State Parks and great job, Doug.

Blizzard?

Not often I see blizzard warnings for Northwest Arkansas, but here it is. In fact, I'm told this is the first one ever for this part of the country. So far, there's just over one quarter inch of ice and about three inches of snow and the snow is still falling. If that minus nine degrees actually gets here Thursday night, it will be a record cold reading for this area.