Sister Trip 2024

 

My sister and I have the wonderful tradition now of going on a Sister Trip on the anniversary of John's birthday/death. This year, we went to Mobile, Alabama. It was a fun-filled, frigid time. Since it was a few days after Mardi Gras, we could tell the parade route by the trees laden with necklaces. We visited the DAR House, the History Museum of Mobile, The USS Alabama and Drum, Fort Conde, the Mardi Gras Museum, Bellingrath Home and Gardens, two cemeteries, candy shop (perhaps more than once), and other places, too. Also tradition, we got cake pops to honor John's birthday. We stayed at the Malaga Inn, built in the 1860s and probably haunted. Ready for our next adventure!

Taylor County (FL) Friends of the Library

July 27, 2015
The Taylor County Friends of the Library were a gracious audience for my talk about "Liquidating Life", Voices Against Brain Cancer, and the publishing process.

summer of discovery

Doing more painting and while taking figurines off a shelf, found another sticky note from John folded and hidden there.  He must have written it early on because it has my name and the message made sense.

John Strikes Again

Summer brings the major projects I've put off until I have the time, such as painting and moving furniture to clean.  Today I painted the hall which meant I had to take the pictures off the wall.  When I went to rehang the largest one, on the back I found another sticky note from John, as well as a photo.  He went through a phase of scanning leaves from the yard and making photographs of them.  (One particularly excellent one is enlarged and hanging in the living room.)  Just when months or a year passes and I'm not expecting to find another note from him, one appears.

..........and again today, June 17, 2015, while prepping to paint the bathroom, I took the picture off the wall, and stuck to the price tag still hanging on the back was this sticky from John:

which begs the question, how long HAS it been since I've deep cleaned???

John's 53rd birthday  (02/18/15)

4th anniversary of his passing (02/19/15)

annual birthday cake pop

chocolate caramel sea salt

I am going to start a tradition of getting a wind chime to mark the anniversary of John's passing.  This is the wind chime I got this year.

My first assignment as the 

local ambassador 

for 

Voices Against Brain Cancer 

was this interview on WCTV (11/10/14):

http://www.wctv.tv/video?videoid=2973788

FREE ON KINDLE

Sept. 27-28, 2014
Liquidating Life is FREE on kindle

http://www.amazon.com/Liquidating-Life-Laura-G-Cogdill-ebook/dp/B00D0CJMJA/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1

silver medal winner

Liquidating Life was awarded a silver medal in the Health & Fitness category by the Florida Authors & Publishers Association, at their fall conference August 9, 2014.

It is a wonderful honor to be selected and acknowledged in this way.  

This is a picture of the display at the conference.

 

                                                                                     

more updates

July 29th, 2014 I found another sticky note John left for me.  It was stuck to the back cover of a music book on the shelf.  The book was yellow like the note, and I had flipped through the pages, stacked it with other books, put it in a box, then turned it over to make it stack better, and BAM, there was the note.

Not sure exactly what it says, but it doesn't matter.  It's been right at 2 years since I found one, and truly thought there probably weren't any more.  It was a happy day!

Character Blog Hop

 I was invited by Susan Womble (www.susanwomble.com) to participate in the Character Blog Hop. Here are my answers to the questions about a character in my story. I will also post them on my facebook page, .
https://www.facebook.com/LiquidatingLife?fref=ts

1.  What is the name of your character?  
John Dennis Cogdill, and yes, he was a character.
2.  When and where is the story set? Tallahassee and Havana; 2009-2012.
3.  What should we know about him?   
John Dennis was a gracious, big-hearted person.
4.  What is the main conflict?   
A diagnosis of brain cancer changed John Dennis' world in 2009.
5.  What is the personal goal of the character?   
John Dennis' main goal was to get the gospel message to as many as he could in the time he had left.
6.  What is the title of this book?   "Liquidating Life"

book availability

In addition to amazon.com and kindle, 

Liquidating Life is available at these locations

in Tallahassee, FL:

Downtown Marketplace
http://www.downtownmarket.com/
Park Avenue & US 27 (Monroe Street)
September through November


The Gathering Place
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Gathering-Place-Tallahassee/513423962047599
3655 N. Monroe Street

My Favorite Books

http://www.mfbooks.us/mfb/

in Market Square

Sweet Patina

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Patina/141681815885686

2030-5 Thomasville Road

book signing

Barnes & Noble Tallahassee

 local author book signing event

July 12, 2013

with my mother and "roadie"

Jonnie

Book Launch Party

The book launch party for "Liquidating Life" was held Friday, June 7, 2013 at Dorothy B. Oven Park in Tallahassee.  This is a picture of the main room.

 

In May, I ordered 100 books to sell and give away.  I have only about a dozen left and re-ordered more yesterday.  A few weeks ago, I spoke to a writing group about the publishing process with createspace.  A retirement facility is hosting a local author round-table event later in June and I've signed up to participate.  

"Liquidating Life" is on kindle now, but the pictures didn't transfer.  It is what it is and I've sold a half dozen.

  

Many people have emailed me their "John memories" and it has been great reading them.  The book launch got people thinking about him and I appreciate their memories.  

There are 5 reader reviews on amazon.  The book's ranking fluctuates from 55,000 to 800,000 depending on how much traffic/sales/comments/activity is on the amazon page.  

This is the link to the book review in the Tallahassee Democrat:

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013305300059

August, 2011 hair today, gone tomorrow

Three and a half years ago, I cut my hair and donated it to Locks of Love in memory of my bestest friend, Vickie, who died of lung cancer.  When we realized how sick John was and he shaved his head for surgeries, I decided to grow and donate my hair again.  I waited until after my trip west because I knew we'd be hiking and I wanted to be able to put it up.  My sister was all too happy to chop-chop the length and ship it off to be made into a wig for someone going through chemo or in need of the hair I could give.

It was another emotional, meaningful connection to John.  Everyone in the shop knew why I was there and were encouraging and supportive of my new look.  My plan is to grow and donate it again in a couple of years.  There are stipulations for donating hair.  If you are interested, check with your hair care professional.
http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html

Brain Tumor Awareness

http://www.braintumor.org/get-involved/advocacy-public-policy/BTAM.html

May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month
Follow the link for more information.

Thanks