Page Morgan's Blog, page 3

THE LOVELY & THE LOST pre-order giveaway is LIVE! Win a Kindle Paperwhite!

Pre-ordering a book is one of the best things a reader can do to help launch a new book. By placing a pre-order, you're not only letting the author know you're excited for their book to release, you're also telling the author's publisher, editors, sales and marketing teams, etc. that you're excited. That can often mean a stronger marketing push for the book, more buzz, and best of all, strong sales numbers on that exciting first week of release. 
To help launch THE LOVELY AND THE LOST, the second book in my Dispossessed series, I'm hosting a giveaway with multiple prizes, including signed hardcover and paperbacks of THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED, Dispossessed series swag for every pre-order entrant, and a grand prize of a Kindle Paperwhite e-reader! 
To find out more and enter the giveaway, the pre-order page and contact form is live on my website! It doesn't matter if you pre-order online or through a local Indie store, all pre-orders are welcome!

Leave questions in the comments and THANK YOU for helping me celebrate THE LOVELY AND THE LOST!

My Writing Process Author Hop

I’ve been invited to take part in the "My Writing Process Blog Tour" by the always amazing YA author Amalie Howard, whose latest novel, THE ALPHA GODDESS just hit shelves last week! Congrats on your new release, Amalie and thank you for asking me to join in. On to the questions:
1) What am I working on?
Right now I’m finishing up revisions on the third and final novel in The Dispossessed series. I can’t believe I’m all done with it when THE LOVELY & THE LOST doesn’t even release until May! I’m also working on a new YA novel, a middle grade novel, and a picture book, too.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
YA Gothics are on the rise and I’ve read a number of them lately. I don’t think I’ve read one I didn’t enjoy. Perhaps my work differs because of the multiple POV characters, or the fact that the setting (an ancient Paris abbey) is almost like a character in itself. And while The Beautiful and the Cursed has a romance and horror element, there is also a strong mystery element as well.
3) Why do I write what I do?
I write the stories that intrigue me, the ones that won’t leave me alone. I write the stories that I want to read again and again. I also like to try new things, like the few picture book manuscripts I’m working on. I have no idea if they will ever pan out, but it’s fun to change my pace and my focus every now and again.
4) How does my writing process work?
I can’t write every day, but I do think about my stories and writing every day. I have a writing cabin that I like to retreat to a few nights a week and during the day sometimes, and I usually aim for between 1,000 and 2,000 words. I also like to leave off in the middle of a scene so the next time I sit to write, I can get back into it easily. Also, I'm a crazy outliner. My last outline was 30,000 words!
-----           I’ve asked the two following YA authors to join me on this author hop, so next week you’ll see their writing process posts on their blogs:
Amy K. Nichols has been crafting stories for as long as she can remember. Her first novel, young adult sci-fi thriller Now That You’re Here, will be published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on December 9, 2014. Amy is represented by Quinlan Lee of Adams Literary. She is a member of SCBWI and SFWA, as well as the Class of 2k14 debut authors. Visit her online at http://www.amyknichols.com

Bethany Hagen was born and raised in Kansas City. She grew up reading Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen, and all things King Arthur, and went on to become a librarian. Landry Park is her debut novel.www.bethanyhagen.com
Side note: I scored a signed Landry Park from Bethany at the Tucson Festival of Books and it is just as gorgeous in person as it is online. Can't wait to read it!

Tucson Festival of Books!

In a few days I'll be heading to Arizona for the Tucson Festival of Books! This will be my first visit to Arizona and I'm excited -- Sun! Books! Authors! I'm lucky to be on panels with some authors like Morgan Rhodes, Colleen Houck, Aprilynne Pike, Chuck Wendig, and Nicole McInnes.

My signing/panel/presentation line-up can be found HERE.

And in between panels and signings, I'll definitely be checking out the rest of the author line-up.

If you're in the Tucson area, please come out to this wonderful festival and say hello!

They Climb the Walls

The attendant peered through the rectangle of glass set high in the steel door.
“They seem calmer after he leaves. Wouldn’t you say?”
Doctor Moore tapped his thumb against his cigarette. Ash drifted to the tiles at his feet. He didn’t need to observe the girls. His attendant, Hale, was correct: they were always more sedate after a visit from the young chaplain.
“It won’t last,” Moore said. The calm never did.
“Perhaps there is something more the chaplain could do for them?” Hale suggested. 
He continued to watch the girls through the small plate of reinforced glass. There were three windows inside the room, those too reinforced, and fitted with steel bars.
Moore sighed. He’d questioned before if taking on a new attendant had been a mistake. Hale was far too wet behind the ears, and thus optimistic, for this line of work. The boy should have gone to medical school rather than come out here, to the middle of nowhere, where the only visitors were either the doe-eyed chaplain, or the rattled parents who would drive for hours, days even, to drop off the child they wished to forget—forever.
“The chaplain does all he can,” Moore replied.
Hale inhaled sharply and pulled his face away from the window. He hissed through his teeth. “I can’t stand it when they do that.”
Moore flicked another build-up of ash from his cigarette. What did Hale fantasize? That the girls wouldn’t start climbing again? Moore could already hear it through the steel door. The scrape of nails on whitewashed cinderblocks. The murmuring in a language that could not be translated. Their voices were subdued right now, the way they usually were after a visit. But at night, their moans would wake Moore in his bed.
“Better they do it here than where they were doing it before,” Moore mumbled. In pleasant suburbia homes, their bloodied nails staining their bedroom walls while mother and father, sister and brother, stood in the doorway, staring on in helpless horror.
“But there must be something we can do for them,” Hale repeated.
Moore dropped the cigarette and ground it out with his heel. He left it on the floor with the others. “We are. We welcome the chaplain every week, don’t we?”
“But all he does is pray over them!” Hale’s shout caused the murmuring to grow louder.
Moore clasped his hands behind his back and considered his attendant for a moment. Hale wasn’t just optimistic. He had an earnest sense of hope. If he intended to stay here, he couldn’t afford such a useless trait.
“The chaplain feeds them,” Moore said.
The skin between Hale’s brows creased. Moore could almost follow the young man’s mind as it raced to remember whether or not the chaplain had brought a picnic basket of food. He had not.
“You mean…he feeds them with the word of God?” Hale asked.
It would have been easy to say yes. However, in the end, it would only allow Hale a few more weeks of ignorance. Once news of the chaplain’s rapidly declining health reached them, followed quickly by the notice of his untimely death, Hale would suspect. After the next chaplain assigned to Moore’s institution fell ill and died, Hale would know without a doubt.
Moore turned away from the young attendant and viewed the girls instead. They had flocked to the windows overlooking the driveway to watch the chaplain as he walked to his car. Their bare feet hung suspended, a foot or more off the floor. Their hands reached through the iron bars and pressed against the glass, their appetites satiated—for a time.
“No, Hale,” Moore answered. “That is not what I meant at all.”

A new outlet

Many years ago at a New England SCBWI conference, Laurie Halse Anderson was the keynote. She gave a piece of advice that has stuck with me since. I'm paraphrasing, but she said even if you're not writing, to be doing something creative or exposing yourself to something artistic. Whether it's visiting a museum or listening to music, reading or painting or knitting, it's important to always have the creative side of your mind open and learning.

My dad is an extremely talented artist. He does mostly colored pencil and pen and ink but he's tried out watercolors and oil pastels here and there. I've always admired his work and his ability to create something visual. I've also always told myself (and others) that I didn't receive his talent for art. The thing is, until last summer, I hadn't truly tried. I took a set of watercolors with me to a lake house where I'd told myself I wasn't going to write, but just try something new. I had no expectations. I told myself, yet again, I could never achieve the perfection of my dad's work. And I most certainly did not! But something else happened. Something more important. I HAD FUN. So much fun.

So over the next few months I worked some more here and there on other projects. I'm still learning and still having fun, but I think I'm also getting (slightly) better. Just like with writing, the more you do it, the better you get. Anyway, here are my watercolors, progressing from my lake house week to just a few days ago:







 So try something new every now and again. You just might surprise yourself. I definitely did!

Exclusive excerpt from THE LOVELY & THE LOST live on RT Book Reviews

I've been hearing from readers lately that they either have or have not been approved for an ARC of THE LOVELY & THE LOST via NetGalley. For those of you who have: Yay! And I hope you enjoy it! For those who have not: I'm sorry! I wish everyone who wanted to read and review the book could receive a copy. It means so much to me to know that you're excited for this second book. If you are denied an ARC, please email me with your mailing address and as soon as I get my Lovely & Lost swag in, I will send you some.

Meanwhile! RT Book Reviews has posted an exclusive excerpt (the prologue and first two chapters!) from THE LOVELY & THE LOST! I've also included a short post talking about Grayson Waverly and his larger role this time around.



I am SO excited for this book to hit the shelves. I enjoyed writing it (dare I say more than the first book?), getting to know the characters better, and meeting some new characters who will carry on into the third book. I believe the title for that one is settled on and it will be released soon!

Let me know what you think of the teaser and please feel free to share the link on your blog/Twitter/Facebook. As always, the more views, the better the buzz, and Ingrid, Luc, Gabby, and Nolan will thank you :-)

Picture This

I’m thinking about picture books lately. Probably because I’m in the middle of writing my first one and I honestly have no idea what I’m doing. It’s a story, yes, but the stories I’m used to writing usually come in at 100,000 words—not 200.
Just like my ideas for 300+ page books, this picture book idea took years to come together. I finally wrote it, revised it, sat on it, revised it again, and then finally just sent it to my agent. Thankfully he likes it! We’re revising right now, and meanwhile, I’m paying closer attention to picture books than I ever have before.
Some really well-loved books in my house include We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Goodnight Moon, Jamberry, A Quilt for Baby, Snuggle Bunnies, and anything by Sandra Boynton. Some of them are really well known, like Llama Llama Red Pajama and Where the Wild Things Are. 


Others not so much, like Snow Day and Finklehopper Frog. Our shelves are loaded with picture books but like all kids, we have our favorites and we go back to them time and time again.
One of the things I love in a picture book is an unexpected point of view. In Snow Day for instance, there is a rather big twist at on the very last page. (Sorry, no spoilers! You’ll have to read it!) 


In We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, a whole family is telling the story, not just one character. And really, who would have ever imagined a llama in red pajamas?
The 2014 Spring/Summer Picture Book Preview just came out and there are a bunch of fantastic looking books featured. My little book may not ever happen, but it's been fun trying something new.
What are some of your favorite picture books? What are you tired of, and what would you like to see more of?