Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Just another day with the Blackhawks...

Morning everyone!

It's not even three am here and I'm up and getting ready to work.
Coffee ... check
Brain...  ehhhh check.
plot... check.

I'm 1/4 of the way through Devil Hath Come (book 7) in the FBI/Romance series. It's my last book to write for this year. I really hope you all love it.                                                                           
Elizabeth is going to be tested in this book. It's going to be about the loves of her life (Yes, Its a hot button with me. See previous blog) Can she live and function if half of her heart is taken away.
 
Am I killing someone?
Not telling you.
Will you be mad at the end?
At this point, who knows. I never believed sex would piss off people to the point that they wanted to storm my castle with fire and pitchforks!
I know where I'm heading with the book and by next week it'll be done. (Tammy will either love it or tell me its a crock of shit and redo it... )
 
On a different note, Vegas Is Dying (book 2) is on it's way to first edit/proof.
I'll be getting it back this weekend. That means that i'll clean it up and send it back for its final read through. It will be out sometime in July.
 
No proofing is perfect.
Since books are edited by people, things get missed. I know my books will sometimes have an error. I hope it doesn't detract from the book, but there are editing fiends out there that look for a missing period, or question mark.
 
I apologize and if anyone finds anything horrible, please email me. I'll make sure it gets handled.
 
 
Back to work.
 
Much love, Mayhem and Murder,
 
Morgan.

I've toiled about this...

As a writer, you never know what kind of feedback you're going to get. Sometimes it's good, sometimes its demoralizing and crushing. To be an author, you need to build that thick skin, know when to stand your ground and know when to cave.

Rarely do I cave. You can ask Tammy. I'm stubborn. Difficult. and I like to believe I know what the hell I'm doing with my characters, but sometimes she talks me into or out of things to save my hide.

Lately book sales have skyrocketed. (My publisher is thrilled and the Blackhawks will continue on!!!!) I appreciate each and every one of you. Even those that slam me for my books. I decided to write this blog today, not to show you the bad review, but to explain my position of WHY I made the Blackhawk/Whitefox threesome.

I'm going to post it here, not to humiliate or ridicule the person that left it, (because it's actually a really good review. Not everyone's opinion is going to match mine, and I appreciate it.)

Here's one of my 1 star reviews.

(I've removed the name.)
 
This review is from: Fire Burns Hot ((An FBI/ Romance Thriller~ (Book 5))) (Kindle Edition)
I had written a 5 star review for Sacred Burial Ground. ( I have deleted it.) I had never written a review before and I loved Ethan and Elizabeth so much that I replaced Eve and Roarke from the J.D. Robb series as my favorite couple. I bought all of the books in the series but have retuned the last ones because once I read that Elizabeth slept with Callan it ruined the entire series for me. No one finds their one true love only to say hey, after less than a year his brother is also my true love. You get your readers invested in this love story that is spectacular and then you destroy it by throwing in the brother. Plus Ethan was so devastated by his brother sleeping with the girl when they were young, do you really feel that his brother sleeping with his wife, THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE, would be ok. I loved your writing. You are witty, intelligent and sexual chemistry between your characters was awesome. I think it is too bad these books went in this direction. I know books are going in this direction a lot. I wanted you to know that this series was awesome without the added threesome, I would have bought every book you wrote, because you are an exceptional writer. I miss Ethan and Elizabeth already

Here's my response, and the reason for the entire blog entry today. I think that those of you out there that are on the fence about the threesome aspect of the books, needed to read this. Needed to see deep into me to see the reason behind them.

(Name Removed),
I'm sorry you went from loving the series to hating it. I'm also sorry that you felt the need to delete your excellent review for Sacred Burial Grounds to prove a point. I really did enjoy and appreciate it. As a writer, I have to let the story lead me, and from the inception of Callen back into Ethan's life, they felt like they both belonged to Elizabeth. Who is to say that in life you can only have one true love? Not I. I've had more than one 'true' love in my life, depending on the phase and place I was emotionally. The same is true with Elizabeth- only hers had converged at one time.
I let this story lead the way, with the hope to show people that deep in Elizabeth Is a love for both men, and how she'll balance it, live with the consequences and the dilemma. When I first wrote the book where Elizabeth, Ethan and Callen became a couple, I knew right away there'd be blowback. There is controversy in everything in life, and it makes for a good story. I wanted to take you... the readers on a journey. I didn't do it for the sex, or the eroticism. I did it to show you that a woman that had a deep propensity to love could break the rules and follow her heart. If she took a risk, there'd be rewards.
That's what Elizabeth did. In the end, it wasn't a cheap, tawdry fling. They all found what they were missing.
Ethan found the love of his life, but also found a family that was his forever as he learned acceptance of himself.
Elizabeth found people that offered her sanctuary an loved her for her brashness, hardness and sometimes crass behavior.
Callen found peace and safety, in a life that from conception was nothing more than one mistake after another.
Each was broken, hurt and damaged, and because of stepping outside that box, trusting the people they loved most, they became complete.
I didn't go there because its cool or everyone's doing it. I did this threesome as a couple to show love can flourish were it's expected to fail.
I'm sorry if it offended your personal likes and dislikes, but as the author, I let the book lead.
Elizabeth was strong enough to love both men and heal them and in return, they were her entrance into happily ever after.
If you love my writing, and my books except for the threesome aspect, I ask that you look past the simple fact that they're three people and see the beauty behind the relationship. The writing is the same. The wit and chemistry is still there. Nothing changed but me making you think outside the box. I did get my readers invested in a love story, and many have said they loved it. The love story never changed. It's still there and going strong. It's just not the same old love story told time and time again.
As a writer, that's my job.
I'm also to push your emotional response. Make you laugh, make you cry and help you visit a world you may not tread normally. It's a window into the unknown, and i'm very sorry you decided to stop peering in as the journey continues. ESPECIALLY since you enjoyed everything else. Their relationship is just one aspect in the story. There's Julian and Tori. There's Cyra and Chris, there are so many more characters that you would have met along the way had you stuck around for the adventure.
The series is still awesome, and I really think so are you. I love everyone that sits down and reads my books. I email an talk to many readers daily. I'm not here to bang out the books and make money. I'm here to entertain, tell a story and make you think. CAN YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE LOVE IN YOUR LIFE?
You don't believe so.
I do.
I appreciate your emotional response to the story, but I'm not sorry for pushing the limit, your buttons, or your comfort level when it came to the books.
My other series isn't going that route, because I'm pushing a different emotional response.
I again apologize that it upset you this much, and I understand that you were expecting more of the cookie cutter Eve and Roarke.

I'm not cookie cutter. I make no apologies for believing that you can love more than one person in life, and I still find the beauty, the love and the joy in writing about Lyzee, Ethan and Callen.

If you'd like to contact me, I would still love to hear from you.

Morgan.
 
 
These books are so much more than just sex. They're about three people's lives, their love and a family. I stand by my belief that a person can love more than one person at one time. I live it from personal experience myself.
 
Can everyone?
No. But there are individuals out there that have the propensity to open their hearts, love totally and completely and not be confined by the norms of our society.
 
Also, this is fiction people. LIGHTEN UP.
It's meant to entertain you.
Make you think.
Step out into a world you never would go yourself.
You don't read about aliens and get mad that someone wrote a book where they attacked our country and ate children.
It's fantasy.
 
I'm asking as an author you let me take you on a journey and you enjoy the trip, not get pissed because I didn't take you the route you usually go. I get the anger. I do, but really... direct it at something that deserves it.
 
As always,
Much Love, Mayhem (sometimes more than usual) and Murder.
 
Morgan.