My Witchy Roots & Demons Forever Episode 20 (Spooktacular Day 2)

BySarra Cannon

Welcome back to another Spooktacular celebration day and giveaway. We are counting down the days until Halloween and the 11th anniversary of my first novel, Beautiful Demons.

If you missed yesterday’s first post, be sure to go back now and enter the Grand Prize drawing for a full set of Shadow Demons Saga signed paperbacks. I’ll choose a winner on Halloween Day!

Find the full schedule of events on my blog here.

Demons Forever Episode 20 Reading

For the past year, we’ve been reading through the first six Shadow Demons Saga books live on YouTube. If you haven’t watched these, you might really enjoy the community that’s formed there, as well as hearing me read the audiobook and comment on what I was thinking as I was originally writing the books.

Most of the time, you can find a timestamp on each of the videos in the pinned comments with a timestamp that will take you straight to the chapter readings. Check out Beautiful Demons here to start.

Right now, we are almost to the end of Demons Forever, the 6th book of the Shadow Demons Saga. We’re on Episode 20 with just 2 more to go next week. Join us for the “Premiere” and chat at 4PM Eastern today if you’d like to join us! Next week on Monday and Wednesday, we’ll be reading the final two episodes at the same time, 4PM Eastern, on YouTube. You can also watch all of these videos on replay.

My Witchy Roots

Sarra Cannon Loghouse

I don’t have a lot of pictures of the home I grew up in, but you can tell from the photo above that it was more like a log cabin. Built by my father with his own two hands on the weekends, I spent a lot of my childhood running through the woods here in middle Georgia, leaping over rotting tree limbs, learning how to listen for the shake of a rattlesnake’s tail, and discovering my own imagination under the canopy of the dense pine trees.

It was here, in these vast acres of trees, that I connected to the nature-lover deep inside me. When I write about Harper connecting to her power, I imagine it feeling the way it did for me as I ran through those woods. Feeling like I had become a part of the earth itself.

We had no air conditioning growing up, and in Georgia, this was no small detail. It was often hotter in the house than it was out in the woods, so I spent nearly every summer day of my youth out in those woods. I read books with my back against a tree and my legs spread out across the fallen pine straw. I took my journals into the trees, writing my first wishes and spells with no one to witness it but the bugs and snakes surrounding me.

I used to walk around, looking for fun or shiny rocks, arrowheads, and even shark’s teeth. The funny thing is that I spent a lot of my time when I was younger dreaming about how I would someday make enough money to get out of that town and that country setting and move to the city.

And yet now, as I near my 45th birthday, I find myself longing for the land again. For the quiet peace of the woods and nature.

I’m not sure where we will end up when our adventure is over, but I hope there are trees and places for my children to run and learn to feel the earth beneath their feet the way I did when I was young.

By the way, if you haven’t been following along with my adventures lately, you can watch this video explanation about what happened with the home we were building. We ended up losing our rental at the same time due to the timing of all of it, so we decided to go on the road with our family, in search of a place we can put down our own family roots.

The witchy nature part of my soul is longing for a place of our own to settle and dream again, and I am already thinking of the books I will write when we find it.

Where did you grow up? In the city or the country? Let me know in the comments below or in the Coven on Facebook.

Today’s Giveaway: Archer & Olive $50 Gift Card

Later this weekend, I’ll be sharing my witchy set up of my Archer and Olive Book of Shadows, and I thought it would be awesome and fun to give away a $50 gift card to Archer & Olive so one of you could also go and choose a fun journal for yourself.

Make this your bullet journal, planner, or even set up a fun reading journal. These journals are incredible, and you can get some with white paper, craft paper, or even all black paper. Or, if you’re like me, you’ll get their Neapolitan notebook that has black, white and craft paper all in one journal.

Enter below and a single winner will be chosen on Sunday, October 24th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Scavenger Hunt Clue #2

I have a special digital download for anyone who successfully completes all 13 clues of the spooktacular. Winner’s names will also be published (with your consent) on the final blog post with a congratulations from me!

All you have to do is read the clue and then go search inside the corresponding Shadow Demons world ebook to find the password of the day. Keep track of the words on a piece of paper or in a notebook, and on October 31st, I’ll open a special google form for you to fill out with all 13 passwords.

(These don’t spell out anything in particular, they are just 13 random words! For purposes of this scavenger hunt, one line conversations or phrases count as a paragraph.)

Get it right and you will receive a special message and download gift from me!

Today’s Clue #2: The book is Inner Demons. Go to Chapter 13 – Happy Birthday Brooke. What is the 18th word in the 1st paragraph?

(posted a quick correction on the title of the chapter, sorry about that one! I’ll accept both answers in the final form, so no worries!)

If you missed Clue #1, head back to yesterday’s post to find it.

I hope you enjoyed Day 2 so far. Be sure to hang out in the Coven Facebook group for more memes and conversation throughout the day. See you tomorrow for Day 3!

69 Comments

  1. I don’t really like spooky stuff, but I’ve read a Murder, she wrote book with a ghost in Scotland

  2. I don’t really have a fave spooky book but if I had to choose one it would have to be one by Dean Koontz. Midnight or Shadowfires maybe.

  4. I don’t know how you survived growing up in the south with no ac. I’ve been living down here for 3 years now and I need it to function

  6. My dad was in the Navy for 30 years so I didn’t really grow up in one particular place, though we did live in Southern GA for 3 years! I’ve been in Maine since I was 14, and while I hate winter the rest of the year it’s amazing. There is such a connection with nature here and the air in the fall has this amazing feeling of power and nature. <3

  8. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

    The Diviners by Libba Bray

    I love a good spooky read!

  9. I grew up in and still live in a small rural town in Eastern Oregon. We are surrounded by mountains beautiful scenery connecting with nature here is definitely not a problem. A lot of people come here to put down roots 🙂 . I have a lot of scary/creepy books but I would have to say my favorite one that really got me hooked on reading more in that genre is Insomnia by Stephen King.

  11. I don’t have a super favorite spooky book…but I love Mary Higgins Clark books because things like that could happen!

  12. I read waaaaaay too much to choose favorites, but my most favorite recent spooky read is Kelly Martin’s The House That Fear Built. I found myself staying up way too late last night to finish it.

  13. I can’t think of one spooky book that I have read. I like supernatural stories but I can’t recall any spooky ones lol

  14. I haven’t gotten anything from Archer & Olive but I’ve been looking at there website and there so beautiful now I want to spend but not sure which one to get.

  16. I lived between Boston Massachusetts and Springfield Massachusetts ( a few other places in Massachusetts but mostly those two big cities) for 22 years of my young life then I moved out of the nest (for good) . I moved to Watertown NY and for the first time my own adventure began as I enjoyed the peaceful life away from big cities. I lived in Watertown from 2004- 2011 and only returning to Massachusetts for 4 months in 2006. Then I truly fell in love with my husband (meeting him in 2007) we then decided to move to Oshkosh Wisconsin which was where he was born and raised. I have to say I didn’t think I liked the quiet life as much as I learned to love it and I couldn’t be happier.

  18. I grew up reading a lot of horror (my mom’s favorite author was Stephen King), and my favorite book in the world is still The Stand. I also love Swan Song by Robert McCammon. But those are both more Post-Apoc Fic than spooky. So I’m going to go with Scream Queen. I can’t remember the author, but I read it as a teenager and it kept me turning pages.

  20. My favorite spooky book that I ever read is really a hard question. There are just so many that I love. Dracula and Pet Semetary are two of them.
    As far as where I grew up. We moved constantly so I lived in the county, the suburbs, and the city. I even had to live on a military base for a year when I went to live with my sister. So I never had a stable environment.

  21. I grew up in the military. My dad was in the Air Force. I was born in Germany so I do not really have a place I lived all my life. I think my scariest book was the Omen. It was too real for me and when I saw the movie it was very scary. The Exorcist did not bother me as much as the Omen did. I am enjoying the Scavenger Hunt looking for the words.

  22. I always love hearing about your witchy stuff and how you grew up. I grew up more country and playing in woods myself, been struggling trying figure out where is next place I want move too, but luckily I still have a few more years. I hope you let us know what you think of each area your visiting cause I am interested to hear your opinions!

  23. So many great spooky reads mentioned already! My favorite is Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. I reread at least part of it every fall — such great characters and such spooky atmosphere!

  24. I grew up as a military brat. We moved around a fair bit, though we were lucky we stayed a couple places at least 6 years before moving to the next. I’ve read my fair share of scary books, but none of them really had me closing a book because it scared me. However I do have a movie that scared me so bad I didn’t want anything to with the doll. The movie Chucky scared the pants off me so to speak. I got the doll as a gift and I made that thing go missing cause it scared me so much.

  26. As someone who has lived in 32 different houses, I am fascinated by stories like yours.

  29. Intensity by Dean Koontz is the scariest book I’ve ever read.

    I spent my childhood in Southern California. I have so many great memories of going to Huntington Beach and fishing at the Santa Monica Pier with my dad.

  30. I love looking through everyone else’s books (because yes, I’m definitely reading it as a Rec list). My fave spooky read is Suicide Woods by Benjamin Percy. It’s a collection of short stories, which I love reading anyway.

  31. I was so excited when, after I’d found your books, I came to your online platform and realized you were into real life witchy things as well! I grew up in the south too, not in a log cabin but on a hill in a big blue house, with a cow pasture to our left and a little woods to our right. I loved wandering up the hill to feed the neighbor’s cows leaves off our forest trees, and down the hill to disappear in the quiet comfort of tall trees and bushes so wide I could use them as my own personal forts.

    I remember spending summers exploring the familiar regions of those woods, seeing what had changed since the most recent rainstorm and spotting rabbit holes in the roots of oaks and pines. The house became too painful for us to keep after my father died, and so we sold it last month, but for as many bad memories that lived in those walls, there were equal and opposite good memories flourishing in the woods.

    I found my own witch roots in that southern home, so I really connect with you here. I may be half your age, but I feel the same nostalgic longing for the forests that sheltered us both.

  34. I am so glad I get to follow your journey air bnb’ing. We are trying to buy a house and in a race against time as our lease ends in mid November and we cannot renew!!!

  38. I don’t really read spooky books, but this year I’m watching all the classic spooky movies I never saw as a kid (I’m talking all of them) and reading horror books by my friends. So far I’ve read “White Hell” by Parker O’Dwyer, “The Witcher Chime” by Amity Green, and I’m about to start “Janie” by Joseph D. Slater.

  39. I grew up in the country and spent a lot of my teen years in the local graveyard because I felt at peace there. I’m sure it was what sparked my witchy endeavours x

  41. Most recent Gothic romance I read was Diana Biller’s Widow of Rose House. The ghost was quite terrifying at times.

  44. I grew up in a small 3 bedroom house on a second floor(1st floor was my grandparents house) and I remember loving the little walk towards the park near it but always wanting it to be a bit less crowded. On the other hand when I was little we also visited my moms dad and near my grandfather’s house on that mountain is a terrifying looking forest surrounding the house. I never wanted to get into the foliage to see the crops or anything, when I was a teenager my mom told me lots of crimes where committed near that house so now I know what those vibes where.

  45. I always enjoyed reading Christopher Pike books and Nightmare Hall books by Diane Hall. I also read a lot of the fear street by RLStine as a teenager.

  46. I was looking at the Archer &Olive collection the other day and I have a blackout journal in my wishlist!!

  47. I grew up with a mix if city and country living. I spent most of the year living in Indianapolis with my mom and summers and a couple years in North and South Carolina with my dad

  48. Well goosebumps as a teenager, definitely stephan king, some Dean Koontz and Clive barker. But I do absolutely love the Autumn series by David Moody. Growing up we lived in the country and there was lots of time for reading and hanging out outside. Its a definite difference having moved to town about 6 years ago.

  49. Hi!

    I do not see the link for the video telling us what happened with the house you were building. Is it in the archives??

    1. Hi! I know she has one on her Heart Breathings channel. I believe it’s the one “planner hacks for road trips, staying flexible…” on July 30,2021.

  50. The first part of my childhood was in Colorado and I am deeply connected to nature because of it. I’ve collected rocks and minerals since a young age and have been obsessed with trees. I now live in the desert, but created a beautiful green garden which is full of life… chuckwalla, bunnies, butterflies, praying mantis, dragon flies, and more (I suspect fairies as well lol)! I can relate to you finding your witchiness through nature, I have to. My kids and I are in the garden daily for at least an hour.

  51. I grew up in East Tennessee, in the foothills of the Smokies, where I still live. Like you, I spent a lot of time outdoors, usually barefooted, scrambling up and down the hills and hollers with several dogs to accompany me. I don’t scramble very well any more but I still go outside in my bare feet at all times of year to get the feel of the good earth and the scent of the pines and oaks. As for spooky books, I love anything written by you and another indie author, Amy Armbruster.

  53. IT! I couldn’t finish the book and can’t watch the movies. Funny part, clowns don’t bother me.
    As for roots and nature, I grew up in the country in small town Oklahoma. I love nature and I’ve always felt connected to it especially around the old home place. When I visit it’s like being recharged.

  54. I liked “The Woman in Black”. Though the movie is wayyy creepier than the book, which I watched first. But I am not really that much into spooky things, so that was fine with me. 😀

  55. About my roots: I grew up and lived my first 29 years in Kiel, a city in northern Germany by the baltic sea. I don’t live there anymore, I now live in Cologne, but I miss the smallish city that is Kiel, its fresh air and the sea greatly. Also the people. Cologne might lie within the same country, but its a different place altogether.

  56. I really love thrillers. Megan Miranda, Gillian Flynn, and Paula Hawkins are probably my favorites. Nothing is as spooky as murder with an unreliable narrator!

  58. I love how this blog is set up. So pretty! I haven’t won anything from Sarra before so, I’m looking forward to entering these new giveaways.

  59. I’ve been wanting to try an Archer and Olive notebook for a while, so this would be the perfect time! Thanks Sarra <3

  61. My fave spooky book is a tough one. I’ll say the one freshet in my mind. It’s by MichaelBrent Collings, he wrote it in 2013. It’s called, The Loon.

    His writing often reminds me of Dean R Koontz 🙂

  63. One that I consider to have some spooky elements is the Bitten series by Kelley Armstrong. It’s definitely been a Halloween reread series for me ♥️

  64. The best years of my childhood were 2.5 years spent in the wild in the northern regions of South Africa. We lived up in the mountains between tea and tree plantations, and spent afternoons, weekends and vacations out in the trees, barefoot, being in and of nature. It was glorious, and something I wish every child could experience.

  65. The scary book that stands out the most for me is Pet Sematary, probably because I was so young when I read it. It left an impression!

  66. I grew up in the town of Bend, in Central Oregon. When I was growing up it was a smaller farm town but it has grown so much. I moved to the city for several years but recently found my way back to Bend.

  67. I’ve always been a huge fan of Barbara Michaels. Ammie, Come Home is especially spooky.

  68. My favourite book to read on Halloween is The Stand…or any Stephen King book, really.

    I grew up in New Zealand on a property where we grew our own food and had a large property of fruit trees that I’m sure I didn’t appreciate enough as a kid.

Comments are closed.