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.
