Back to the grind...

Happy weekend to you all!
After a slow work day yesterday, I'm back in the saddle and pushing forward with Celestia's Falling. It'll be done by Sunday, and then tweaked before it's shipped off for proofing. It looks like it's going to be about 450 pages when it's done.
 Give or take a few. Not bad for the first book in a new series.

I'm going to release Fire Burns Hot (book 5) in the next few days, and then start adding the details to Darkness of Truth(book 6). If all goes on schedule I'll start writing the next book in the series for Emma and Grayson's story, Vegas is Dying and the first book Stolen in Moonlight for Tori and Julian's story.
I hope to get them completed before vacation in August.

Busy next few weeks ahead!

Before I head back into the book, I promised I'd answer the other question I received yesterday, so here it is.

Morgan,
Are you going to kill anyone off in your FBI series? Please don't Kill Elizabeth. It's nice to see a tough woman kicking butt.
~A. Camden.

Yeah, there's a possibility that someone's going to die, and I already have an idea on who it's going to be. Not too long ago, Tammy and I had this conversation. It's also been a reoccurring theme with my other girlfriends. I've been warned that if I harm even one hair on Ethan or Callen's gorgeous heads, I'm a dead woman.
I'll be voted of friendship Island.
I'm contemplating taking out someone in Home Sweet Evil (book 7) or book 8) and that's all I'll say. Book 7 is going to shake everyone up in the family when they personally become the targets of a lunatic. It's going to deal with loss. I have two possible scenarios in my head, and I just need to work out which one feels right to me.

I value everyone's opinion on the characters in my books, but I have to be honest. These books write themselves. I start with an idea and as it progresses down the trail, it twists and turns into something completely different. I never intended to have them take the path they did, but i'm glad they did.

My girlfriends give advice (and I generally ignore it)
I mostly use them as my insanity barometer. I can tell when I've gone too far to one side or the other by their reactions. When I told them I was going to give Elizabeth two men, the shit hit the fan. BIG TIME. Now that I'm contemplating taking out a key player, the Natives are all riled up, so to speak.

I also get comments from the readers, and most of the time they're great. Don't get me wrong, I get a few comments or emails that tell me I ruined it, blah blah, sanctity of marriage, yada yada.
I value their opinion, but honestly I don't take what anyone says into consideration.

Today I had a book return for Deep Dark Mire and an email that said:
 "I liked your books because of the love between Elizabeth and Ethan, and now you made her into a cheap trashy novel."

Thank you for your opinion, but I disagree. I think Elizabeth is anything but trashy. I think she's a woman dedicated to a family of men, and specifically has found her heart is divided in half. I wanted to explore the question of 'can a woman love two men and make it work?'
Trashy implies Elizabeth is having random sex with lots of people. She's committed to two men, and I get that it pushes people's comfort zone, but that's part of my job. To take the things that we don't have in our lives and give the reader a peek into it.

Does that mean every series I write will go that route?
No. I had NO IDEA that Elizabeth would be shacking up with two men. No clue. It just happened. One day I was talking to Tammy and said, 'I think I'm going to do a different kind of family' and she said 'oh boy'.

Elizabeth is strong enough to handle two men, mentally, emotionally and physically.

I can tell you now that  Tori and Julian will have their own series (You meet them in True Love Lost, Deep Dark Mire. - Fire Burns Hot,  and Darkness of Truth  are their story)  Julian wouldn't put up with his 'woman' with another man, and honestly, Tori is a one man kind of guy. SO they are going to be completely monogamous.

In Celestia's Falling, You meet Emma and Grayson. He wouldn't put up with another man either, so that's not going to happen in their books either. In fact, Grayson is old school, possessive, territorial and doesn't give a damn if people hate him for it. Tori isn't anything like Elizabeth, and couldn't carry that kind of relationship.

Ethan and Callen were a 'perfect storm' and everything lined up just right for it to happen. Will one of them be sacrificed on the murder altar? It could happen. (let the angry emails begin!)

In my opinion, you can't kill someone and bring them back and keep your street cred. I know authors have done it, but once they did, I lost desire to read them. Most of the time they brought them back to appease the audience. Sorry, that's not me. I value you all, but I have to own what I put down in words, or not do it at all.


So there you have it. A really great question, A. Camden. Thank you for emailing me!

Keep them coming!

Back to the grind. Enjoy your Easter weekend!

Much Love, Mayhem and Murder.

Morgan.






 

Only time for a Quickie...

Yeah, Yeah, I know.

Sorry this Blog is late and short, but I'm balancing three books at once right not.
Celestia's Falling (1)
Fire Burns Hot (5)
Darkness of Truth (6)

I'm a bit under the gun and way behind schedule. I did get all your emails last night and replied, and I have two very good questions.

I'll answer one now.

Morgan,
Is Doctor Tony Magnus in love with Doctor Chris Leonard? Will they ever find love?
~ Karen.

Funny you should bring that up. I was approached with the idea of making Tony gay, and I decided to not go there. I didn't think I could pull it off and still keep the integrity of the story. So, No. Sorry, but he will have a love interest, as will Christina (Darkness of Truth) and Chris Leonard (Book 8)(sorry- its not named yet)

Later tonight I'll answer the next question which was FABULOUS!

I'll tell you what it's regarding. One of my clever readers wants to know if someone in the FBI Romance series is going to die soon.

Hmmmmm.. Ethan?  Elizabeth? Callen?  We shall see....

Who am I?

I get a plethora of interesting questions from emails.
Some ask about the books and some ask about me.
I thought today I'd tell you a little about me, since I've had the pleasure of meeting all of you through the emails and messages you've sent me.

Here goes.

First and foremost I'm a mom. I have a daughter and a son. In the front of my books you'll often see a dedication to Isabella and Alexzander. They're my greatest masterpiece.
She was named after Queen Izabella of Spain and my son was named after Alexzander the Great.

I live in Pennsylvania in a very small town. It's tiny and much like the one I described in Salem. Population 8000 ish.

I'm married.

I have one vice in life and it's coffee. I drink way too much of it, but when you get up at 2 a.m. to work, you need it.

I love gardening. My obsession is rose bushes. The big joke with my friends is 'If you need to hide a body, take it to Morgan's.'  Next to my kids, my heirloom 7 sister's rose bushes are my pride and joy.

I love bacon. (ok, it's my second vice. Followed by cheese burgers)

I hate to run, but I still do it. I wish I could be like Elizabeth and do a 6 mile run happily. By 4 I'm miserable, angry and sweaty. I don't think while I run, I curse and swear there has to be an easier way to keep eating bacon and burgers.

I'm almost 40. That didn't hurt too much. I remember sitting in my college dorm trying to decide what to be when I grew up, and now I'm there.

I don't eat bread. Or rice and potatoes. I spend most of my life living low carb, simply because at my age (yeah, I know) my blood sugar doesn't like when I eat them. Thus the love affair with bacon, cheese and meat.

My favorite food is peanut butter. I could eat it on anything and often do. I also eat it right out of a jar with a spoon. You can tell how stressful my day has been writing by how empty my jar is...

I have two sisters and a brother, but I'm the oldest. That has it's advantages and disadvantages. I get the old jokes alllllll the time. Oh and how I'm going to die if I don't stop eating the bacon.

I'm a type A control freak. I have to micromanage every damn situation to death. My cabinets look like a crazy person organized them and my underwear drawer is color coded. I kid you not.

I have a cat. His name is Mr. Frodo. We found him wandering, and in honor of the Lord of The Rings books, he was given his name. I didn't think he looked like a Bilbo Baggins, so he was dubbed Frodo.

I'm Native American, Italian, and Irish.

I believe in happily ever after.

I personally reply to every email that you send me. Sometimes multiple times. Go ahead. Test that out. You know you want to. Even if it's just to say Hi! I will reply.

I speak Spanish and am passable with French. When I went to Paris, I had to pick it up fast. I know the basics and can understand most, but can't conjugate for my life.

My parents think I'm weird. Not in a bad way, but sometimes when I tell them how I'm killing the next person, my mom get's this look on her face like she wonders where she went horribly wrong.

I have 5 tattoos. My back holds 4 of them. Ok, it covers my back, practically. I also have my next appointment to get my ribs done on May 8th. My arm is next. (See above regarding my mother. THIS is her big gripe. I'm altering her work of art.)

I love Christmas, even though I personally celebrate Yule. This year my tree is going to be bright red and have all black Victorian ornaments all over it. Every three years I get a different tree and change the theme. This year is Gothic Christmas. My husband isn't as amused as I am.

Favorite color: Apple Green. My kitchen is that shockingly bright color, highlighted in electric blue.
Favorite place in the world: Alexandria Egypt.
Favorite drink: I love a fun martini or two.
Favorite splurge: I collect ugg boots.
Favorite kitschy item: I have black heels with red blood splatters.
Favorite Author: Edgar Allen Poe
Favorite car: I like mine. I have an H3.

There you have it. Morgan Kelley in a nutshell. You now know more about me than you probably ever wanted to. I know it had nothing to do with books today, but essentially I am part of every book I write. So there's my technicality.

Now I need to finish working on Celestia's Falling It's going to be a series, and I have my work cut out for me.

Much Love, Murder and Mayhem.

Morgan.







 

Quiet day in Morgan's world.

Morning all.

It's a fairly quiet day here.

I woke up at two and continued working on Celestia's Falling  I'm at the halfway point and there's no turning back now. It should be finished with the first steps of production by Friday.
Since it's Easter this weekend, I was contemplating taking it off, but instead I'm going to work through it, doing a final read through on Fire Burns Hot.  I'd like to get it released as soon as possible, and then do the detail fill on the 6th book in the series. Since Darkness of Truth is already written, it should be painless to clean it up and ship it off to be proofed.

I've revamped my list of books to release for the rest of this year. I'm pulling the paranormal series I planned on releasing for this summer. I'm just not feeling it, so back on the shelf it goes and onto other projects.
I think this is the new timeline... (and the characters involved)

Fire Burns Hot  (April)           Elizabeth, Ethan and Callen
Celestia's Falling (June)                 Emma and Grayson
Darkness of Truth (June)        Elizabeth, Ethan and Callen
The Blood Seduction (July)            Jolie, Jacques and Flynn
Stolen by Moonlight (Sept)            Julian and Tori
Home Sweet Evil (Oct)           Elizabeth, Ethan and Callen
Vegas is Dying (Nov)                    Emma and Grayson
Affair to Fear (Dec)                        Julian and Tori

If I can pull this off, it would mean releasing 11 novels in one year. Since my books average around 190,000 words for each novel, that's more than 2 million words in 365 days.(or over 5,500 pages of print) That gives me a headache just thinking about it.

Right about now, Tammy my proofer is reading this and freaking out. (I love a early morning meltdown.) Don't worry, we'll get through it. (I'm shutting my phone off the second I post this blog)
Let those be my famous last words!

With this timeline, I'll be running four series at the same time. It should be fun, and I hope I can keep all the names straight.

I love an adventure!

Much love, Murder and Mayhem

Morgan

Celestia's Falling... behind.

Hello all!

Greetings from 'buried in murder' land. Today I'd hoped to get a big jump on Celestia's Falling, but I fell a little behind with other things. (Darn kids wanting food in the house!)
I'm about one hundred pages into the first read through and had honestly hoped for it to be done by tomorrow.
Not going to happen.
I've found a flaw in it, and I'm working on resolving it before Tammy get's her hands on it. (If I try and sneak it by her, she'll kick my ass.)
Seriously, she will...

Anyway, I'm going to hit it hard this week in hopes to get it to her for next week for proofing. I'm on a schedule and I really hate when I fall behind. I feel like a slacker if I don't keep my self-imposed deadlines.
Sometimes being your own boss is brutal!

That being said, Fire Burns Hot was dropped off to Tammy this morning to be proofed this week. (I literally dropped it on her porch and ran for it. I kid you not...) So, she's got it in her capable hands, and we'll see if she gives me the thumbs up or down. Either way, the release is projected in April. As soon as I get an idea of when, I'll let you all know. I'm aiming before April 26th. I'm going to be taking a few days off to head to Salem, MA.
I'll be wandering around in all my witchy glory!
I'm going there to get some ideas for my paranormal series that I'm rolling out sometime this year. (and I'm on burnout and need a vacation. Who doesn't want to stay at a B&B in the witch-town USA?)
I'm dragging my husband there, much to his horror and boredom. Maybe I'll post some photos when I get back! He'll be the one holding my purse with a cranky look on his face.

Happy Sunday to everyone! Keep reading!

Much Love, Murder and Mayhem.

Morgan.

 

One of my most favorite things...

There's nothing I love more than waking up to emails from anyone that's reading my books.
I truly love the interaction with the reader. (I do reply to the emails too!)
Whenever I find that a reader has enjoyed the story and is dying for more, it validates what I do as a writer.
Sometimes the emails question my sanity (I also find myself doing that too!)
Then there are ones that tell me they wish they were Elizabeth! (I want to be her when I grow up!)
Others just tell me they love my books.

I enjoy hearing from all of you! Please, keep the emails coming! I swear that I'll get back to you as soon as I get them. (I work out of my phone, tablet and laptop most of the day- so unless I'm asleep, I reply as fast as possible!)

Today I rolled out of bed around five a.m.(usually I'm up around two-ish, but today is my day to sleep in) and I found an email from a delightful woman named Carol from Australia. She made my day and validated everything I believed to be true.

           Elizabeth, Ethan and Callen are amazing together!

As I drank my coffee, I was smiling and so grateful for the amazing support and words. So, Thank you Carol! I appreciate you taking the time to drop me an email. I know it may seem like an insignificant thing, but honestly, it is awe inspiring!

Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!

To Everyone that emails me, Thank you too!  You make murder lots of fun!


Much Love, Murder and Mayhem,

Morgan

Another day, another murder...

Morning all!

Happy Friday!

The weekend is here and there's a bunch of things on my agenda.
 Fire Burns Hot is going to it's final read-through, and baring any horrific issues, it will continue onto the final process before release.
Yay!
Then it's a break from Elizabeth, Ethan and Callen for a few months. Book six in the series is written, Darkness of Truth but won't be shipped off for editing until May or June. I have some 'Blackhawk' downtime going on to focus on other projects. I'm on a time crunch, since I'm losing part of August and most of September to vacation. I'll be bringing my laptop and tablet to work when it's raining at the beach.

Today I'm neck deep in the next book coming out, and I'm excited. It's running smoothly (and I just jinxed myself-watch and see.) and I'm enjoying everything about it.
The cover is done and ready to go and for me that's a huge deal. Covers are the first impression of the book and matter a great deal.

I'm excited and enjoying the process of this book immensely. My bestest girl liked the cover and gave me the okay, so I'm thrilled to have that part of it all wrapped up.
Right now the book is in the detail process.

When I write a novel, I get out the stripped down version and on my first read-through, I put in all the details of the sex scenes, the descriptions and any other tidbits I feel it needs. I'm working on that  job right now.

Celestia's Falling is bare bones at 266 pages. I'm thirty pages in and already added lots of details. Will this book be as big as the others? Probably not.
I'm hoping to end in the 400 page neighborhood. Essentially, I'm doubling the book in details and scenes. Sometimes it happens and sometimes Tammy (my proofer) goes nuts and strips it back down.

It's a craps shoot.

Needless to say, I hope you all have a really great weekend! Be safe keep on emailing me and reading!!!!!!

Much Love, Murder and Mayhem.

Morgan

 

 

 

The Killing Times is done!

Morning all!
Just back from my celebratory coffee from Dunkin' and thought I'd get a blog in before I start work for the day.
Today I released The Killing Times back onto Kindle and paperback format in it's second edition. It takes Amazon up to five days to update their site with the new cover, but the new one looks great and is ready to go. In fact, here it is....

.

Anyway, back to my Dunkin' and my work.

Much Love, Murder and Mayhem.

Morgan.







 

Today's the day!

Morning all from the snowy Northeast! It's a good day to sit by the fire and work, so I'm not going to bitch and moan that it's nearly April and we're still getting snow.
Okay, maybe I'll complain a little bit later when I have to go shovel.

Today I pulled the kindle version of The Killing Times  from production. It's being corrected and uploaded today and tomorrow, plus it takes a day for approval and upload of the new cover. Bear with me and I promise I'm working non-stop to get it back out by Friday for the weekend.
I swear!
I started a line by line read through last night and was back at it at 2 a.m. this morning. It's looking to be a slow moving day, as I have four kids under the age of 11 at the house today while school is delayed.
(here comes the bitching...)
I hope you all enjoy the new cover picture and don't forget to download the updates in 'manage my kindle'!
Some details have been added and the rest has been re-edited.

If you got hit with the snow have a safe day and enjoy!

Much love, murder and mayhem.

Morgan.
 

Monday Mourning.

All good things must eventually come to an end.
Yeah, vacation is over.
I was up at three a.m. toiling away on the projects that I put off for the week.
I just released the next book in the Vampyre series. The Blood Retribution. It'll be out on kindle and paperback by Wednesday.
My only regret about the series so far, is I don't have the publishing rights to my first book until 2016. Yeah, I signed a contract with a publisher and now I'm locked into them holding that book hostage.
Bleh.
Oh well, it's a lesson learned when dealing with publishing companies. That's why I ran for the hills as fast as I could with the rest of my books. I now finally re-own the rights to The Junction  and in January, I retain the ownership to Serial Sins. Both will be reissued with new covers and on kindle.
Yay!
Today I get The Killing Times back from the re-edit. I'll be pouring over it to get the second edition for the book released by Friday. From what I've been told, there were some editing issues and everything is currently cleared up. As a writer, I don't have the ability to edit my own work. When I'm reading I don't see the basic mistakes. So, that's why I always use a second set of eyes.
Since I haven't been ripped to pieces on the other books, I'm going to assume they're fine...
Yeah, that statement will come back to bite me in the ass, I'm sure.
I also picked the new picture to be the cover art of the second edition book. I really like it, but then I really liked the first book too.

This is by Alexei Novikov out of Sweden. I like his work a great deal.

 

This was my final choice, and the one that will be taking the place of the artwork. I got good reviews on the cover and a few bad ones. Some didn't like how the first book wasn't a picture and the rest of them were and others liked the colors and unusualness.
Which goes to prove that you can't please everyone.

We had some really great sales this weekend. I'm guessing the weather helped here in the Northeast. I did notice that my books were also purchased in Japan, Germany, Great Britain, and Ireland. So, to all the readers outside the US, enjoy and email me! I look forward to hearing from you.

Back to the grind today.
Yay!

Much Love, murder and mayhem.

Morgan

 

Update on The Killing Times (book one)

Hi all!
Just a little note to keep you all in the loop. Last week it was brought to my attention there were some errors and issues in the first book in the series. (I apologize profusely!) It's in the process of being re-edited to clear up any typos or issues that may detract from the reading.

It's going to be released under a new cover and a new edition. If you downloaded it via kindle, you'll be able to get the update.
If you go into your 'manage my kindle downloads' on your computers, it'll have a little message that an update is available. Look for it in a couple of weeks.

Again, I apologize that it had errors in it.
Working on making it better for you all!


Much love, Mayhem, and murder!

Morgan.
 

Things that go bump in the night or in Morgan's Brain!

Just sitting here with my coffee and my laptop answering emails.
I thought I'd post a blog and then head back to my last two days of self-imposed hiatus, before back to the grind on Monday morning.

Today I had a question regarding adding paranormal to my storylines. I guess that's going to be today's topic of Blogging.

Morgan,
I just read book two in your series and noticed you teetered on the edge of giving Timothy Blackhawk psychic ability. Will there be more in your books yet to come? I Love a book that gives us a glimpse into ESP and other psychic gifts.
~ Tania

Okay, here it is. I've tossed around using a paranormal twist in my upcoming books. Will it be in the FBI series or the Private Investigator series? No it won't.
Will I be launching a new series using the paranormal and magic?
Yes.
I currently have a book in production for a little twist on Magick and Witches. (Which if you know me, you know both are near and dear to my heart)  I have just completed the cover the other day and am planning on a fall release. There's going to be approximately three books in the series. I'll post the cover for you all to see.

This book is about ninety percent written. If all goes well, it'll be out in early fall, or perhaps for Halloween. I love a good book about witches just in time for Samhain.

Now to address a book with FBI agents with paranormal abilities. I know it's been done before, and I'm not ruling it out, but I have to come up with something so outside the box that it's fresh and new. If I can pull that off, then possibly  next year one will make an appearance. I have an idea, but can I make it into a series? That's a whole other story.
Literally.
I have something cutting edge in mind, but I need a way to make it uniquely me. (I like to shake everyone up a bit.)

There you have it, Tania. I hope that answered your question!

Much love, mayhem, and murder.

Morgan.







 

Best Questions Yet.

I get lots of great email questions and here were two of my favorites this week.


Out of all of your novels, who is the most like you?
~ Jessica.

Why a Native man as the sex symbol?
~Pietra

Okay, the first question.
Everyone that knows me personally tells me that Elizabeth is my personality doppelgänger. I really don't see it. If there is one character that I relate to the most, it's Christina- Ethan's head lab tech. I'm a total nerd, love science and always need an answer. I get that Elizabeth and I resemble each other and yes, she's brash, sarcastic and hard core just like me, but I'm really not her.

And question two.
When I wrote the books, there was only one thing in my mind.
The portrayal of the Native American community had to be spot on. I wanted to incorporate the Rez.(the reservation) I wanted to make people aware that Natives are steeped in tradition. (The war bonnet and women wearing it is a HUGE NO!) I was tired of seeing the Natives kicked around in media as being drunks, who sucked the gov't dry of money and resources. We don't all drink. We certainly don't all live off casino money, and we don't all wear war bonnets and carry bows and arrows. It's irritating that if someone were to speak of any other ethnic group with stereotypes, there'd be a huge explosion, but hey, Natives are free game.

For the record, I have been known to correct people who refer to Native Americans as Indians. INCLUDING my daughter's teacher. It's simply a pet peeve for me.

I'm Native American and I always get the weirdest questions regarding it, so this is my attempt to bring part of me to the forefront and share a culture that's often overlooked.

So, when I decided to write a novel, I wanted to dip into the Native heritage and show people that the 'leading man' could be Native, sexy and be everything a non-native could be. (Plus in my head Ethan and Callen are hot!) I tell my husband all the time, if someone that looks like Ethan or Callen comes a knockin', I'm a walkin'.
Oddly, he's not even worried.
Hmmmm.

So there you have it!
 

First read through complete!

Today I met with Tammy over coffee.
Over the last week she's been working on the first read through of Fire Burns Hot. That's always the worst part of the process (for me and I'm sure for her too!)  It's where I get the first feedback on the story. She doesn't like knowing much about the book prior, so before she sees it, the 180,000 words have only been alive in me. At this point I'm a hot mess.
Will she like it?
Will she hate it?
Will she tell me I've lost my damn mind?
One of the best things about Tammy is her blatant honesty. Don't ask her if your ass looks fat in the pants you're wearing. She's going to tell you the truth. So, every time she takes the next book, I'm on the edge of my seat worried out of my mind.
I can tell how bad it's going to be by the amount of calls I get in the week she has the manuscript. When it's really quiet I'm nervous, and when she does call I'm even more scared.

This week she told me to take a vacation.
In Tammy-ese that means she's either concerned for my sanity or hers.
Possibly both.

So, taking her advice I'm on vacation. As some of you that emailed me noticed, I still answered your questions. That's because I live out of my phone. As for the writing aspect, I had given myself until today to finish Darkness of Truth.  Needless to say, it's not done. I'm about sixty pages until completion. Even though it's not slated to be released until fall, I can't start writing the spinoff series until I have that book wrapped. Once it's finished, I can begin the next series.

I wouldn't want tammy to be bored out of her mind at the beach this summer. That and I have plans to take almost a month off to head to Myrtle and be a beach bum with my kids. I won't be taking my phone or laptop with me. I'm going to have wine, lay in the sun and be at one with the waves.
        (That's my real vacation. It should run smoothly, unless a body washes up on shore.)

So for everyone that's asked me when the next book is out, the timeline I've listed in my blog is still accurate. Fire Burns Hot  will be released sometime in April.

 

Romance... Thriller... Romance.... Thriller

Where to even begin? Nothing is more frustrating as a writer when you get a review that makes no sense.
Today I was actually told my novel was a good mystery, but too much sex. If the person wanted a romance, they would have bought one...

Okay, let's address why this confuses me. If you read the description on amazon on all of my books, you'll find two things. 1) They are called ROMANCES. It's right there in bold print. 2) there is a disclaimer at the bottom of the description that warns you of the sexual content. I am simply put, a romance author. My books have a thriller twist, but for the most part are a ROMANCE.

Hmmmm....  For the life of me, this is befuddling. I'm frustrated as a writer on how I can be more clear on this detail. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate that it was called a good book, and a good mystery, but as a writer I'm here to please you the reader. I want every experience to be a fun one, and worthy of the hours it takes to read the book.

So how do I do it?
How do I make it perfectly clear that my books are first and foremost romances? I'm a romantic at heart and believe in the magic of love.

Can someone answer this for me?

Editing issues and reviews

Okay, it's been brought to my attention that there are some editing issues with the first book in my series The Killing Times. I've heard your comments and I'm going to take care of it this week. The book is going to be pulled and re-edited with a fresh set of eyes.

I apologize if this was a problem for any of my readers. I completely understand and get it, and want to make the reading experience as smooth as possible.

Generally, my reviews are good, and when I get a bad one, I take it very serious. If you the reader think the book is a little rough, then I'm going to work on fixing that. As for the sex in the book, I'm not touching it. Sorry. The language? I tend to slip and drop some profanity when I'm all stirred up and so does Elizabeth, so that's not going either. As for the killing details, yeah, sorry. That's not changing either. For a reader that actually believed book one to be gruesome, don't read the rest of the series. The first book is the least descriptive.  I don't plan on altering that either.
I know I can't please everyone, but I'll try to cover the majority.

It's being bumped up on my list this week to take care of it, and should be reissued and ready to go by next week. I'm also thinking of a new cover for the second edition. If I'm going in to fix it, then I'll address the issue of the cover artwork being blah.

Bear with me folks. I promise to get it taken care of ASAP.

Much love, murder and mayhem,

Morgan

 

Spin off series

As I sit here, I'm working on plotting my spin off from the FBI Thrillers. I still can't believe it came together this easily. It honestly happened  out of the blue. I gave life to two characters beginning in book three True Love Lost  and book four Deep Dark Mire  and poof! Julian Littlemoon and Special Agent Victoria Christensen were born and destined to be together.

When I created them, I only intended to have them be a storyline. I never thought they'd explode into their own series.
Well they have, because I fell in love with them too. I think if you're going to write a million plus words about a couple, you have to enjoy them and be in crazy mad love.

 As I finish Darkness in Truth  (book 6) this week, I'll begin their own series of books starting with Stolen by Moonlight (book 1). The story line is already bouncing around in my mind. Now I have to make them as much fun as Ethan, Elizabeth and Callen.

I'm going to attempt to have three books in the series out by Christmas. If there's nothing I hate more it is picking up a book, reading it, and the sequel is not out for nine more months. That's beyond frustrating!

Also as a note of mourning. I've killed off a character from the FBI series this week too. It was a hard decision, but back in December I just knew I had to do it.
This person had to die.
I hope the readers forgive me!


Much Love, Murder and Mayhem.

Morgan
 

When is it going too far?

Okay, here it is in a nutshell. If you read my books, you generally notice my prologue is a tad bit gruesome for the customary romance. That's why mine is a hybrid. I like to blend the two. I usually go 'balls to the wall' with the prologue, making it as realistically gross as possible, and then ease up the rest of the book.

I know some people don't like the nature of it all. I have a group of test subjects (AKA my friends) that I bounce the prologue off of often. When Tammy (proofer extraordinaire) calls me and is freaking out about a scene, it then gets tossed to my next two guinea pigs. Sarah and Holly. I don't often talk about my other girls, but today i'm going to for a change.

Prime example is the book Fire Burns Hot. Tammy calls freaking out that its beyond gross and she can't go any further. (Yeah, read my previous blog about me pushing her out of her comfort zone) What do I do? Panic? Cry? Curl into a ball and rock back and forth on my office floor?
Nope.
I send it to the back up team. Sarah and Holly get an email usually titled HELP!  I'm sure they cringe,knowing what's coming. I paste the whole damn thing in there and send it off.
Here's the general conversation:

Tammy: You went too far.
Me: You don't say. On what this time?
Tammy: Crispy skin with subcutaneous fat bubbling to the surface while her skin went taunt around her mouth.
Me: Hmmmmmm. Really? Because I thought I could have been worse.
Tammy: OMG!
Me: We've had this discussion before, didn't we?
Tammy: You need a second opinion. WAY too far this time.
Me: Okay.

I bang out an email begging for help from the other two ladies in my life.

Me: Guys, Tammy said I went too far. Did I?
Sarah: I read that and literally laughed. Here's my favorite part. 'Crispy skin with subcutaneous fat bubbling to the surface'. It's gross but so you. I love it.
Holly: Too far? No, not really.

If you knew my friends, you'd understand how funny this all is. Tammy is probably the wildest person I know. The girl makes me blush. But toss in some crispy skin and she's ready to break up with me. (I actually get money from her husband to make her nuts. Its pretty lucrative)

Sarah won't read my books in the dark. Yet Crispy skin with subcutaneous fat bubbling to the surface makes her laugh. I swear the woman is my sister from another uterus.

Holly is damn hysterical. Sometimes I want to gross her out just to see if it's possible. Even pregnant she has stronger stomach than I do. I swear she wants to chant 'more guts! more gore! Come on you sissy girl, kill them better than that! What are you? A man?'

Thank you ladies for bearing with me through it all and being an awesome set of women. I love you all and appreciate how you tolerate my craziness.

Needless to say, I apologize in advance if body soup or Crispy skin with subcutaneous fat bubbling to the surface freaks any of you readers out. I'd like to say I was going to tone it down, but let's be honest.

I just won't. I do promise if you make it past the prologue, it does get less gross and then into the romance and personal aspect of the book.

I swear!

Much love and Mayhem,
Morgan




 

Weekend is here.

Good morning!

It's a chilly day here in the Northeast of the country, but it's still a great day. Why you ask?
Because I'm more than halfway through the next novel. It's been a brutal week of 16 hour days and pushing myself through exhaustion. I've already logged an 80 hour work week in five days. One more week like that and I can wrap the book. YAY!

Thank you Caffeine Gods!

Today is also a free download day of The Killing Times  for the kindle on Amazon. I like to give it away once a month to friends of people who read the book and enjoyed it.

I've resolved a few loose ends in Darkness in Truth that were left hanging in book three True Love Lost.  I think I tied them up in a way that's going to make the reader happy. Then again, whenever I get too confident on what makes you all excited, I get surprised. I guess I should say that I'm happy with my vision of what's happened to the characters.

Today I'm also contemplating how long I plan on running the Elizabeth, Ethan and Callen story line. With two new projects on the table, I may have to cut back on how many novels I drop in the FBI series this year. Last year, I began this series and planned three for this year. Since last fall (six months ago) I've dropped five novels. Which isn't impossible, but at almost 200,000 words each, that's a lot of writing.

Rarely do I drop the cover before I release the book, but I thought i'd give you all a look at the next two planned covers. Here's my plan for Book five in the FBI series, Fire Burns Hot.

 

I also have the next cover planned for Darkness of Truth. It's still in the beginning stages of design.

I'm good with the cover art, but I still have to write the synopsis of the back cover. So ignore the gibberish. It's just there to fill the space.

 

 

I had originally changed the cover style for book five and my proofer, Tammy nearly went shit nuts on me. I kid you not. The first thing she said was "NOW it doesn't match the others." I will go on the record and say this once again. "You were right, Tammy." I shouldn't have screwed with the covers.

That being said, when I meet her this morning for bacon, she's going to be a happy girl.

 

I've found I've been telling her she's been right a lot lately.

Like every damn day. I am so off my game.

 

Okay, here's my random email question for the day. I like to toss one or three out there with every blog to reassure you all that I do read and answer them. It's me. I don't have an administrative assistant yet, and I can't get my cat to use spell check. So until he cooperates, i'm on my own.

 

Here we have it.

 

Why did you opt to blend the relationship between Callen, Ethan and Elizabeth? Is there a reason that you decided that a threesome would work in your books? ~ Jayne.

 

Okay, I get this question a lot. For those of you that haven't read past book 3 True love lost,  stop reading now! I may give away more than you want to know. Everyone is always fascinated with the idea that a couple can be more than just the customary man and woman. Whether it be a gay relationship or a threesome, it's always our nature to be fascinated with what isn't the norm. I wanted to show the reader that in literature, you could show a meaningful relationship between three people that didn't involve erotica. I decided to go with two brothers, because there was already that bond between them. Despite what happened between Ethan and Callen in their past, I wanted to prove that they could come together in life and love. To do this, I had to make sure Elizabeth was a strong central point. If the woman can't hold up to the overbearing, dominant male personas than it wouldn't work. I also went there to be outside the box. There are so many romances out there with guy meets girl, girl and guy have drama, guy sweeps her off her feet and they live happily ever after.

If you've read past book three, you realize I like my characters to have 'semi real' situations in their lives . Elizabeth is a normal woman. She had a life outside it all and she also has the same emotions as all of us. Anger, fear, weakness and strength.

I think that when we step outside the box, we open ourselves up to so much more in life, and I wanted my books to be different. I get pushback on the sanctity of marriage, on crossing the line and going too far. In fact, Tammy (my go to girl) nails me on it every book. If you could hear the conversations you'd probably laugh.

I found that when I put something into the book and it's outside her comfort zone, I've achieved my goal. When the phone rings and she tells me I made her squirm or uncomfortable than I hit it on the head. She's my barometer on going too far and not far enough. I have to admit when I stir her up I get a good giggle.

 

Much love and mayhem,

Morgan

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress. Progress. Progress and Emails.

Today is the fourth day in writing the new novel 'Darkness In Truth'.  I'm two hundred pages in and 60,000 words. I feel like my brain is mush. I can't even complete a thought. I won't bore you with the details, BUT I will tell you that I just killed off a character from a book.
Can't tell you who but I think it's a twist you'll all appreciate!

I did have some email questions today.
Here they are;

What TV shows do you watch and do they help you plan a book?
~ Marna

Believe it or not, I don't watch TV. I don't even have cable. I honestly don't have time. Don't get me wrong, I love a good episodes of Bones or NCIS, but I just don't sit down to watch them. I go to bed by nine p.m and am back up again at 2:30 to start working again.
I do tend to watch TV when I go away on vacation. It's my little luxury.

When you're not writing what are you doing?
~ Kirstin

Since September 2012 I've only taken two days off. One was Christmas and the other Valentine's Day. On Christmas I played with the kids and on Valentine's Day I played with the husband. Why should Elizabeth Blackhawk have all the fun. I get a great deal of crankiness from my proofer when I don't take time off. (She has ulterior motives. When I'm not working we go out to breakfast and gorge on bacon. When I am working, she gets the irritating text message from my phone telling her I'm busy)

Is Elizabeth anything like you, or you like her?
~ Sarah

* Insert laughter here *
I could only hope to be just like Elizabeth. I would love to be like her when I grow up! Other than the Black curly hair, body type and the height, Elizabeth and I have nothing in common. (My friends will tell you I'm sarcastic like her, but I just don't see it. *wink wink*)  Now, if you're referencing the two men, well that's a well guarded secret and if I tell you, then I have to ass kick you, Darlin'.
Oh Crap! Maybe I am just like her and I'm in total denial!
Let's look at the evidence.
Elizabeth loves a big greasy burger.       So do I.
Elizabeth owns cowboy boots.                So do I.
Elizabeth uses profanity frequently.        Yep, guilty.
Elizabeth is in love with Natives             I am Native.
Elizabeth has attitude issues                   Yeah Yeah
Elizabeth loves her Glock                       I'm a Ruger girl.
See there are differences! I am Not Elizabeth.


Thank you all for the emails. I look forward to them every day. I'll try to update the blog daily, but while I'm in book mode, I can't make promises.

Love, Murder and Mayhem
Morgan.