For a couple of years, I’ve been drooling over the handheld scanners that are on the market. Of course there is always something else that comes up (like feeding a house full of mouths and paying those pesky utility bills every month), so I couldn’t quite justify getting one until recently while working on my latest manuscript edits. I’m not much of an electronic gadget type (now kitchen gadgets, that’s a whole other story), but I now consider my new handheld scanner in my top 5 of favorite electronic gadgets. After doing several months of research on finding one that fit my needs (A. ease of use B. ease of use C. ease of use, I picked it up from Amazon and couldn’t be happier with the simplicity and quality of the scans. The one I purchased is the Wacces EasyScan Portable Document and Image Scanner for less than $100! It can scan up to 600dpi and has 2 settings for dpi choices – low and high. It can also scan in black and white or color. It also came with a storage bag to protect it while toting it in your purse or laptop bag. It’s super, super easy to use, hence the name “EasyScan.”
I have years and years worth of magazine clippings in binders that I can now just scan and digitize them for storage on my computer. Sure, I could just use my bulky flatbed scanner, but that thing frustrates me because it’s slow and cumbersome. With the handheld scanner, I can scan magazine pages, book edits, etc. while sitting in the living room watching TV or at the dining room table. It’s super portable and will also come in handy when I go to do more research at the library for an upcoming book project. No need to check out a pile of library books. I can now just scan the pages that I want to reference, on the spot and then download the files onto my laptop. I don’t recommend many products, but this one is a keeper.
Here’s a sample scan I just did of a recipe to show how it does at 600 dpi (high quality):
My latest book has just been released on Amazon today in ebook format and the mass market paperback will be available on the site by the end of the week, or early next week. Here’s the new book trailer for it!
Starting today, you can begin reserving a copy of my third book – If You Wore the Uniform… You’re a Brown Volume 1. Due for release this summer by Blue Leaf Publications, but because of such high demand, the publishing house has agreed to begin taking reservation orders and also offering it in limited edition hardcover and author autographed softcover. The mass market paperback will be made available Fall 2012.
Be one of the first to own Volume 1 of If You Wore the Uniform… You’re a Brown!
My latest article for my column features John Carlos’ new autobiography (Haymarket Books, Fall 2011). Find out how you can get an autographed copy and help the local high school raise money.
The January 2012 issue of Palm Springs Life Magazine (with Glenn Close on the cover) features Stormy Knight in the Word Association section! Thank you, PSL!
My latest article for my column is the start of a new series featuring career options off the beaten path for kids to consider. Just in time for the spooky Halloween season, here’s the first cool and creepy career feature.
It’s an hour long and the interview starts at about the 11-15 minute mark… talking about The Couples Guide to Pregnancy and Beyond (Blue Leaf, Spring 2012).
Despite feeling under the weather today, I ventured out to the Orange County Book Festival this morning and promoted Stormy Knight a little. Here’s my article recap with a few photos and video. For those that aren’t aware, it’s the World’s Largest free Children’s Book Festival.
I put together a crossword puzzle that I have used during classroom visits. For Stormy Knight fans, you can download and print your own copy. FREE Stormy Knight Crossword Puzzle
EXCITING! Just found out that San Diego’s book store Mysterious Galaxy has Stormy Knight on their list of books “that’ve caught our attention, and we don’t want to escape yours.” : )
Stormy Knight: Prom Queen of the Undead e-book version is on sale for only .99 right now!!! In honor of back-to-school time and getting kids into meeting their reading minutes for school, the price is been dropped temporarily. Even if you do not have a Kindle or a Nook, you can STILL download the e-version and read it on your computer – for ONLY .99! It’s available at Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble websites. Just click the BUY THE BOOK link to the right for direct links.
I just got word that Stormy Knight: Prom Queen of the Undead has been nominated for an Award! Please CLICK HERE TO VOTE for this title as a portion of the final decision is weighed by how many 5 star votes it receives. It’s FREE to vote. You just have to click this link and then CLICK on the 5 e’s that are in BLUE just under the title. Make sure you click on the LAST ‘e’ so that the saying next to it says, ‘You gotta read this.’ That’s it! You can also leave a positive review about the book if you’d like, underneath, but that isn’t required to vote. PLEASE VOTE 5 “E’s” Thank you!!!
I was contacted by NBC Universal letting me know that they’d like to feature me in their Mother’s Day story on iVillage about the first time mom’s realized they were a mom. The piece just went up on the site and you can view it here. I’m slide #1. : )
Stormy Knight is set to debut May 1st, but Amazon.com has already begun shipping orders for it. I just checked rankings of the paperback version and as of this morning, it’s ranked at 35,214 out of over 8 million books! The stats change regularly, but it’d be awesome to end up on one of their Bestseller Lists. To those that have been spreading the word through Facebook and Twitter and word of mouth, thank you! I’ve made it super easy to do so – click on the BUY THE BOOK link to the right – - – -> near the top (next to my picture) Once you are on that page, you can scroll down under the video book trailers and there will be little icons for Facebook, twitter, etc. Click on one of those and it will allow you to write a little blurb and then share the direct ordering link right on Facebook, or other social media websites. You can also print out free Stormy Knight bookmarks from that page, too!
Stormy Knight Prom Queen of the Undead is now available as an e-book for the Barnes and Noble Nook! The other e-book versions (Kindle, etc.) will be available in the coming days. The e-book version is only $3.99! Stormy Knight for Nook (e-book)
My kids and I have always been huge fans of caricature art. In fact, every couple years we have a piece of artwork done… it’s become a family tradition. I recently discovered a great artist by the name of Elgin “Subwaysurfer” Bolling. I commissioned him to do a piece for me to hang up in my writing room and he used the picture to the right as his reference. I told him about all the zany animals here in the desert that have sort of found their way to me and he incorporated them into the art! He’s very nice and approachable. Elgin is located in New York, so if you live around there, he can also come to your office or event and do art on the fly for your employees or guests! His work has even appeared on BET! Hmmm… I wonder if I can talk Elgin into doing an interview for my site? : ) Anyway, if you stop by his site – tell him Shannon sent ya’! Oh, by the way… he made this on his iPad!
Stormy Knight: Prom Queen of the Undead is aimed at the YA (Young Adult) group – primarily 10-14 year olds. So, I commissioned a recording artist and music producer to go into the studio and record a catchy song for the release of the Stormy Knight book. This will be part of my author presentation at schools. Anyway, here it is! More to follow in the coming days, weeks… Please share this link with others! Or you can just link to my site www.shannonmarieduffy.com You can now order the book on Amazon.Com
and Barnes & Noble. Due for release in May, but it looks like Amazon may already be ready to start shipping! Yay! In the video below, it shows the book as hardcover. It’s not in hardcover, only paperback. : )
You can now place your order for Stormy Knight: Prom Queen of the Undead over on Amazon! The book is softcover (not hardcover like in the picture though). : )
“A quirky support cast, a reluctant heroine and a spell caster who doesn’t know the consequences of his actions makes this a character driven charmer.” – Harriet Klausner, Alternative Worlds
Head on over to Alternative Worlds to read a review of Stormy Knight: Prom Queen of the Undead (Due for release May 2011). Thank you, Alternative Worlds for the cool write-up!
“A quirky support cast, a reluctant heroine and a spell caster who doesn’t know the consequences of his actions makes this a character driven charmer.” – Harriet Klausner, Alternative Worlds
Today I attended my first writer’s workshop about an hour away from here. I’m still taking it all in and haven’t quite decided what I thought of it just yet. I didn’t garner any new ‘aha!’ moments with any of the information set forth and I think that is a good thing because I feel that all the research and learning of the writing business that I have done has paid off. However, the two guest speakers were really fun and entertaining to listen to. One authored a non-fiction book about global warming and the other – a memoir. Both gals were great at speaking about the ups and downs of being a writer. The global warming author was even kind enough to let us listeners flip through her original proposal that she used to pitch the book. Hers wasn’t as thick as mine, so that was encouraging to realize that I didn’t necessarily need to put sooo much pressure on myself when it comes to polishing up my own proposal packet for a couple of my non-fiction book proposals.
Anyhow, the two presenters were Marcia Sargent, author of Wing Wife: How To Be Married to a Marine Fighter Pilot and Kimberly Keilbach, author of Global Warming Is Good for Business. Both are Southern California authors. Both were more than happy to share their experience with publishing. Marcia is independently published and Kimberly went through a traditional publishing house. Both had great things to say about both options. With my forthcoming book being published through a traditional publisher, I think I will try my hand at putting out a book that I publish on my own like Marcia did, in the coming year. I enjoy marketing and the business side of publishing just as much as I enjoy the writing.
Check out the 
is also available for download on Amazon for the Kindle! Also, $3.99 there!
