Sarra Cannon's Blog, page 34
July 18, 2011
STOP: An Amazing Short Film by Mikel J. Wisler
I have a good friend who was telling me about her brother's short film, called STOP. I kept meaning to watch it, but just finally got around to it today, and WOW, OMG, this short film is amazing! I wanted to share it here today, because I think it's the type of things fans of the paranormal will like to see. It's only a few minutes long, but it still manages to tell a great story.When it was over, I so badly wanted there to be more! It seriously gave me chills. I am a huge fan of the horror genre and this is definitely on the edge of horror. I loved it and had to share it here.
What do you think?
July 15, 2011
I'm Back!
Yippee! I'm back from our Vegas vacation and ready to get to work. It was so nice to be able to take a real break with (almost) no work. G and I relaxed, partied, had a great time walking around Vegas and just spending time together. It was our first time back to the city since we got married there in 2009, so it was a fun trip for us. I even got to hang out with my buddy Cameron Diaz (well, okay, the wax statue of her from Madame Tussaud's wax museum)!
Now, I'm back and getting into writing mode again. I thought I would give a quick update on everything that's going on. First of all, SHADOW DEMONS is on Fire!!! It's been holding steady between 400-500 in the Kindle store for the past week, reaching a top so far of 413! I couldn't be more excited! I'm sending out a huge thank you to everyone who supports the Peachville High Demons series and has bought the book. I've gotten such great reviews that several of them have actually brought tears to my eyes. I feel so incredibly grateful for all the support and love and messages from fans.DEMONS FOREVER, the 5th and final book in the Peachville High Demons series, is now officially underway. I want so much for this book to be an amazing ending to a great series. The thought of saying goodbye to Harper and Jackson and all these amazing characters in my head makes me sad and scared. I want to do the series justice with the right ending. That being said, I am going to dedicate so much of my life over the next couple of months to making sure this book is the best possible ending to the series. I'm not going to give a specific month or date for the release at this point, but I can say that I plan on getting it out at some point this Fall.
For you Indie authors out there who have been following my monthly sales posts, I apologize for not posting June's sales yet. I am in the process of figuring out a way to split my blog into two separate blogs - one for my fellow writers and one for fans of my books. That way, I don't bore readers with sales numbers and bore writers with details of my mundane life, haha. I will post my June sales numbers sometime this weekend, so stay tuned.
For the readers out there who have read Shadow Demons and given such high reviews, I just want to say another thank you! Seriously, you mean the world to me.
July 9, 2011
Las Vegas!
Taking a quick moment to say hello from Las Vegas!! G and I are having an amazing time together on our vacation. Sorry I haven't been posting much this past week since the book came out, but I've been relaxing and giving myself a much-needed break.
I thought I would take a moment this afternoon to upload a few pictures I've taken of our trip so far! Here is me eating a mini-baguette at Le Village Buffet in the Paris hotel:
It was delicious! We also went to the Sugar Factory in the Mirage and I bought a Hello Kitty couture lollipop! Can't wait to take it with me into the casino tonight, haha. So cute!
Finally, I will leave you with a photo of the view from our amazing room at the Aria hotel. Isn't it amazing? And this is only one of the 3 giant windows in our suite! I took a video of the room, so hopefully I'll post that when I get home!
I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I'm coming home on Wednesday, so you should definitely see more posts from me after that.
I also wanted to say a very heart-felt thank you to everyone who has already purchased Shadow Demons! Your support means the world to me. I've already gotten several good reviews, which makes me so incredibly excited! The book flew all the way up to #615 in the Kindle store in the first couple days it was out and has stayed steady in the 600-700 range. I couldn't be more grateful for all your support! Thank you!
I thought I would take a moment this afternoon to upload a few pictures I've taken of our trip so far! Here is me eating a mini-baguette at Le Village Buffet in the Paris hotel:
It was delicious! We also went to the Sugar Factory in the Mirage and I bought a Hello Kitty couture lollipop! Can't wait to take it with me into the casino tonight, haha. So cute!
Finally, I will leave you with a photo of the view from our amazing room at the Aria hotel. Isn't it amazing? And this is only one of the 3 giant windows in our suite! I took a video of the room, so hopefully I'll post that when I get home!
I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I'm coming home on Wednesday, so you should definitely see more posts from me after that.
I also wanted to say a very heart-felt thank you to everyone who has already purchased Shadow Demons! Your support means the world to me. I've already gotten several good reviews, which makes me so incredibly excited! The book flew all the way up to #615 in the Kindle store in the first couple days it was out and has stayed steady in the 600-700 range. I couldn't be more grateful for all your support! Thank you!
July 4, 2011
Shadow Demons Available now on Kindle!!
I've been hitting refresh about a million times today! Finally, Shadow Demons is now available on Kindle! When I search the Kindle store, it still doesn't come up in search, but if you follow this link, SHADOW DEMONS, you should be able to find it! So excited!!!Yes, that's a lot of exclamation points, but I feel that exclamation points are in order. :P Now, I've also got lots of butterflies in my stomach waiting to hear what everyone thinks of the book. I hope you love it!
Shadow Demons is also available now on Nook and on Smashwords. If you enjoy the book or love the series, please take a moment to leave a positive review on any of the websites. Thank you so much to all my loyal fans for your support and excitement. I'm eternally grateful!
Now, I'm going to go downstairs and open some champagne :). Happy 4th of July and Happy release day for the 4th Peachville High Demons Book!
How To Get an Updated Version For Your Nook
It has been brought to my attention that both Books 1 and 4 had formatting errors in the Nook versions that led to pieces of chapters getting chopped out. I've found the problem now and have uploaded new, corrected versions of the books to the Barnes and Noble website. If you have a Nook and have already purchased these books, you can follow the instructions below in order to re-download the freshly corrected copy to your Nook or Nook for PC app.
NOOK:Go to "My Library"Scroll to the book on the top menu, then on the bottom scrolling menu, select "Item Details and Options"Scroll down to find "Archive", then click "OK"Wait as the book is archived.Once it is, go back to select "Item Details and Options" in your bottom menu.This time, choose "Unarchive" and then "Download" the book back onto your device.Now you should have the updated version of the book.Nook for PC App:Go to "My Library"Under the book, there should be a + sign with the word "Options". Click on the + sign to bring up the menu under the book. Choose "Remove Local Copy".Now the world "Download" should appear. Click on Download to download the corrected copy of the book.
If you ever have any issue with one of my books, please do not hesitate to contact me. I want to make sure you have the correct copy of the book and can enjoy your purchase, so I will do everything I can do make it right.
NOOK:Go to "My Library"Scroll to the book on the top menu, then on the bottom scrolling menu, select "Item Details and Options"Scroll down to find "Archive", then click "OK"Wait as the book is archived.Once it is, go back to select "Item Details and Options" in your bottom menu.This time, choose "Unarchive" and then "Download" the book back onto your device.Now you should have the updated version of the book.Nook for PC App:Go to "My Library"Under the book, there should be a + sign with the word "Options". Click on the + sign to bring up the menu under the book. Choose "Remove Local Copy".Now the world "Download" should appear. Click on Download to download the corrected copy of the book.
If you ever have any issue with one of my books, please do not hesitate to contact me. I want to make sure you have the correct copy of the book and can enjoy your purchase, so I will do everything I can do make it right.
July 3, 2011
Shadow Demons in Nook Store!
Shadow Demons is now officially on sale in the Barnes & Noble Nook store!!! It just went live a few minutes ago, and I am so excited (and nervous!). If you have a Nook and have been waiting for the book, here is a link to the download page:
SHADOW DEMONS
Thanks for all of the great support. I will post another update as the book becomes available for Kindle and in the Smashwords store.
SHADOW DEMONS
Thanks for all of the great support. I will post another update as the book becomes available for Kindle and in the Smashwords store.
Shadow Demons is Finally Done!
Oh my God, this is the best feeling in the world! Shadow Demons, Book 4 of the Peachville High Demons series, is finally finished! I feel really good about the final version of the book and am so glad I took the extra time it needed to come together.
I have officially uploaded the book to Kindle, Nook and Smashwords stores. Typically, they can take anywhere from 24-72 hours to list the book for sale on their sites. I will be posting updates here, twitter, and on my facebook page as the book becomes available at each site, so check back often.
I wanted to just say thank you so much to everyone who has been supporting the series. Also, thanks for being patient with this fourth book. I hope you'll find that it was worth the wait!
I have officially uploaded the book to Kindle, Nook and Smashwords stores. Typically, they can take anywhere from 24-72 hours to list the book for sale on their sites. I will be posting updates here, twitter, and on my facebook page as the book becomes available at each site, so check back often.
I wanted to just say thank you so much to everyone who has been supporting the series. Also, thanks for being patient with this fourth book. I hope you'll find that it was worth the wait!
July 1, 2011
No Friday Excerpt
Just a quick post in case anyone was waiting for a free chapter from Shadow Demons this week. I won't be posting a chapter this weekend because the book will be coming out in the next couple of days! Yipppeee!
I am currently on page 137 of the final revisions pass. I'm working on the scenes my critique partners felt needed some work, and I'm getting closer and closer to the end!
Anyway, this is just a brief post because I want to get pack to the novel. I wanted to make sure no one was out there wondering where the next chapter was!
Stay tuned the blog here or twitter (sarramaria) or my Facebook page for updates throughout the weekend on the status of SHADOW DEMONS. I'll post as soon as I upload the book to each of the sales sites like Kindle, BN and Smashwords.
I am currently on page 137 of the final revisions pass. I'm working on the scenes my critique partners felt needed some work, and I'm getting closer and closer to the end!
Anyway, this is just a brief post because I want to get pack to the novel. I wanted to make sure no one was out there wondering where the next chapter was!
Stay tuned the blog here or twitter (sarramaria) or my Facebook page for updates throughout the weekend on the status of SHADOW DEMONS. I'll post as soon as I upload the book to each of the sales sites like Kindle, BN and Smashwords.
Welcome to Crazy Town
This is what my life is like on the eve of a new book release. Crazy Town. Last night, I met with my critique group (until 1 AM, so thank you guys for staying so late!) and there is some serious work to do to whip this book into shape. They all agreed that this book is great, but there are a few scenes that aren't quite working. After they all left, I combed through each of their notes, page by page and transferred all of their comments to my master document. For each scene that needs rewriting/tweaking, I put an orange flag.
Then, around 3:30 AM, I sat back and took inventory of what's working and what needs help. 15 orange flags. Not all of that is major issues, just some things that need to be looked at or made slightly stronger. That's where I am today. I woke up early, met with my personal trainer, went to lunch with my amazing husband, and now I'm in my chair, ready to kick some ass.
For those of you who are waiting on the book and hoping for a quick release, here is what my schedule looks like:Fix the 15 pages/scenes that need work.Go through the book again from start to finish, polishing and reading through for consistency.Format the book for upload.Upload the book to Kindle, Smashwords and B&N!!Once the book is uploaded, it typically takes 24-72 hours for them to officially list the book for sale. I have no control over this final part of the process, but I promise to post on twitter, facebook and here on my blog as soon as the books are live in each store.Bottom line is this. I will not rest or stop working from now until the time when this book is ready to be uploaded. The only other commitment I have is going to a play of one of my ex-voice students tomorrow. Hopefully, the book will be finished by then, but all I can do is work work work until it's done! I've had several people email me over the past few days asking for a specific date/time when the book is coming out, but that's impossible to know for absolute certain. What I can tell you, however, is that, at the latest, the book will be uploaded by Sunday. I know that much for sure. When it goes on sale after that is up to the individual stores.
In the meantime, I'll be living in crazy town, working like a fiend to get this book ready for publication! It's so incredibly close now! I will keep you all updated.
Then, around 3:30 AM, I sat back and took inventory of what's working and what needs help. 15 orange flags. Not all of that is major issues, just some things that need to be looked at or made slightly stronger. That's where I am today. I woke up early, met with my personal trainer, went to lunch with my amazing husband, and now I'm in my chair, ready to kick some ass.
For those of you who are waiting on the book and hoping for a quick release, here is what my schedule looks like:Fix the 15 pages/scenes that need work.Go through the book again from start to finish, polishing and reading through for consistency.Format the book for upload.Upload the book to Kindle, Smashwords and B&N!!Once the book is uploaded, it typically takes 24-72 hours for them to officially list the book for sale. I have no control over this final part of the process, but I promise to post on twitter, facebook and here on my blog as soon as the books are live in each store.Bottom line is this. I will not rest or stop working from now until the time when this book is ready to be uploaded. The only other commitment I have is going to a play of one of my ex-voice students tomorrow. Hopefully, the book will be finished by then, but all I can do is work work work until it's done! I've had several people email me over the past few days asking for a specific date/time when the book is coming out, but that's impossible to know for absolute certain. What I can tell you, however, is that, at the latest, the book will be uploaded by Sunday. I know that much for sure. When it goes on sale after that is up to the individual stores.
In the meantime, I'll be living in crazy town, working like a fiend to get this book ready for publication! It's so incredibly close now! I will keep you all updated.
June 26, 2011
Official Update on Shadow Demons
Hey everyone! Hope you had a great weekend. I, for one, worked my little buns off trying to get SHADOW DEMONS ready to publish. As you know, book 4 of my Peachville High Demons series has been the toughest book I've ever written. For the longest time, it simply wasn't coming together. I wrote the entire first draft and still never felt that the real story was coming out. For the first month of revisions, I wanted to tear my hair out. Luckily (whew!), the novel finally revealed itself to me and I was able to rewrite the ending (and a lot of the middle, lol) to get it finished. Yippeee!
I never intended to delay the book this long, but I also didn't want to publish something that didn't feel right. Writing is not about money for me (or for most writers either, I would imagine). It's about the joy of story-telling. It's about discovering something within myself that (hopefully) speaks to hundreds, if not thousands, of other people. To date, over 10,000 people have downloaded BEAUTIFUL DEMONS and almost 7,000 of those people have continued the series all the way through to book 3. I can't even tell you how much it means to me that so many people have connected with Harper's story and enjoyed the books so far. I wanted to make sure Book 4 was every bit as good as the first 3 books. Unfortunately, that meant it took a little longer to get the job done.
But there's good news for those of you who have been waiting so patiently! SHADOW DEMONS is complete! I finished it yesterday and am feeling really good about the story. I uploaded it to my critique group and for now, it's in their capable hands. We'll get together to discuss the novel in detail on Thursday night. Right now, my plan is to work through the night on Thursday to fix any scenes and issues with the book. Hopefully (fingers crossed), the book will be polished, formatted, and ready to upload by late Friday night or early Saturday morning. For the buying public, that means it should go on sale in the Kindle and Nook stores sometime either Saturday afternoon or Sunday.
Now that we're getting to the end of the road with this one, I'll try to post updates toward the end of the week to let you know exactly when to expect the book to go live. Thanks to everyone so much for your patience and support! I will warn you that this book ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger (yikes!), but Book 5 is already in the works. I hope to get this book late summer/early fall. Book 5, DEMONS FOREVER, is the final book in the PHD series.
I never intended to delay the book this long, but I also didn't want to publish something that didn't feel right. Writing is not about money for me (or for most writers either, I would imagine). It's about the joy of story-telling. It's about discovering something within myself that (hopefully) speaks to hundreds, if not thousands, of other people. To date, over 10,000 people have downloaded BEAUTIFUL DEMONS and almost 7,000 of those people have continued the series all the way through to book 3. I can't even tell you how much it means to me that so many people have connected with Harper's story and enjoyed the books so far. I wanted to make sure Book 4 was every bit as good as the first 3 books. Unfortunately, that meant it took a little longer to get the job done.
But there's good news for those of you who have been waiting so patiently! SHADOW DEMONS is complete! I finished it yesterday and am feeling really good about the story. I uploaded it to my critique group and for now, it's in their capable hands. We'll get together to discuss the novel in detail on Thursday night. Right now, my plan is to work through the night on Thursday to fix any scenes and issues with the book. Hopefully (fingers crossed), the book will be polished, formatted, and ready to upload by late Friday night or early Saturday morning. For the buying public, that means it should go on sale in the Kindle and Nook stores sometime either Saturday afternoon or Sunday.
Now that we're getting to the end of the road with this one, I'll try to post updates toward the end of the week to let you know exactly when to expect the book to go live. Thanks to everyone so much for your patience and support! I will warn you that this book ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger (yikes!), but Book 5 is already in the works. I hope to get this book late summer/early fall. Book 5, DEMONS FOREVER, is the final book in the PHD series.
