Megan Morgan's Blog, page 34

A Writer’s Gratitude

This week is Thanksgiving in the US, and for that reason it’s time to reflect on what I’m thankful for when it comes to writing. Feel free to tell me why you, too, are thankful to be a writer! You don’t need to be from the US or be celebrating Thanksgiving to share your joy.

I’m thankful to be a writer because:

I get to make up stories and share them with others–and sometimes, they even like them and want me to share more!
Writing is a form of therapy for me.
I’ve known I wanted to be a writer since a young age. It always gave me focus and direction, and a dream to follow.
Language is fun to play with.
I love the stories that others give the world, and I love being part of that community. Being one of them.
If there’s a story I’d love to read, I can write it.
Writing is an ever-growing skill and there’s always something new to learn. It’s never boring.
As a writer, I can understand the structure of and what goes into making some of my favorite stories and entertainment. Knowing how it works doesn’t ruin the magic, quite the contrary!
I have a ‘calling.’
Though I don’t make much money from writing, the fact that anybody pays me at all to do what I love is a miracle.
When I’m screwing around on my laptop, I can still pretend I’m working.

Meet The Characters

Black Mountain Magic came out on Tuesday and I’m still basking in the glow of a new release! Need some incentive to get your copy? Meet the main characters:

If you have an e-copy, remember you can always ask me for an Authorgraph, on this, and any of my books!

Also, today is the last day to enter to win a paperback copy!

Have a great weekend!
Filed under: Black Mountain Magic, Giveaways, Kentucky Haints, Promotion Tagged: paranormal, romance

Black Mountain Magic Release Day!

Black Mountain Magic comes out today! Do you like your paranormal romance with a little southern humor, a lot of misbehaving Lycans, exasperated witches, and monsters roaming the deep, dark woods of Appalachia? Get a copy today!

Black Mountain Magic – Kentucky Haints #1

Witches and Lycans and hillbillies, oh my!

Lorena Mills is a witch, but she’s not very good with potions and incantations. Working for a government agency that puts down dangerous uprisings of supernatural creatures, she does much more paperwork than spell casting. When her less-than-magical job lands her in the small Appalachian town of Blue Ditch, Kentucky, in the shadow of Black Mountain, her life starts to get a whole lot wilder.

In the forests surrounding the town, Wolvites—twisted, bestial creatures who hunt and kill humans—are posing a threat. When handsome, charming, and altogether reckless local Deacon Kelley insists on taking matters into his own hands, Lorena has more than monsters to worry about. He won’t stay out of her way, and he won’t take no for an answer.

Deacon is a Lycan–in modern terms, the non-shifting descendants of werewolves–and he and his family have protected Blue Ditch for generations. But now, something too sinister to be controlled by their efforts alone is stirring, and the Wolvites are far more vicious than they’ve ever been. Will Lorena be able to stop the threat and uncover the deadly secrets surrounding it before it’s too late?

To keep the town, and Deacon, safe, she’ll have to—and she’s really starting to like this town.

Read the first chapter

Buy it at:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords | iBooks

I’m also giving away two paperback copies on Goodreads! Enter for a chance to win!

Filed under: Black Mountain Magic, Giveaways, Kentucky Haints, Promotion, Publications, Works Tagged: books, paranormal, release date, romance

How Long Should A Series Be?

All my full-length novels are part of a series. I’ve never written a ‘stand alone’ book (at least not one I’ve published) and I don’t know if I will in the future, either. In the genres I write in–romance and urban fantasy–book series are staples. Authors and readers tend to enjoy ongoing worlds and stories that stretch across multiple books.

The question is, how long should a series be? So far, most of my work is in trilogy form, though that may change. I’ve planned for trilogies and found myself at the end of the third book wanting to answer more questions and continue the story thread. Some very popular series are trilogies, and some very popular series are much longer and even still being expanded upon. I think there’s two important questions you should answer when asking yourself how long your series should be: what do the readers want, and how long can you write in this universe without running out of ideas or getting bored?

If readers love your series, of course they’re going to encourage–and even demand–more. Being caught up in the heady thrill of readers turning ravenous over your work is great, but it can also be dangerous. Make sure you don’t do your readers a disservice at the same time you’re trying to please them. It’s easy to drag things out or wander into the realms of the absurd when you’re trying to pump out ideas to satisfy others. Put the story and what it needs first, always. Know when it’s time to stop, or when you’re overdoing it for the sake of having material.

You need to pay attention to your own brain, too. If you want to move on to writing new things, if you’re no longer ‘feeling’ this world, and writing feels more like a task than a pleasure, that sentiment will bleed into the work and the prose will fall flat. If it’s time to wrap it up and you can no longer stand the sight of these characters anymore, it’s important to acknowledge that. Don’t stay in a dead relationship with your universe if you can’t bring a spark back to it.

So, how long should a series be? As long as it needs to be. You may have a general idea of how much you want to produce and end up finding it actually needs less or much more. The important part is that you should enjoy the writing, and the story is still doing a service to your readers.

Have you ever written a series? How did you know when to stop, or are you still going?

Filed under: Monday Blogs Tagged: advice, creativity, writing

Release Day Is Almost Here!

My first self-published release, Black Mountain Magic, will come out on Tuesday! I’m really excited about it. You can pre-order a copy at all major online retailers right now if you like.

I’ve learned a whole bunch of stuff on my first self-publishing excursion. I’ll share with you some of those lessons, if you’re planning on doing the same and still need advice:

Thing I’ve Learned About Self-Publishing

Use a simple, non-fancy font on your cover flat. I learned this the hard way, after I received copies of it. The cover flat is the back and front of your physical book, that you upload to a place like CreateSpace. The font I used for the blurb on the back looks wonky. No one I’ve shown the book to so far has even noticed it, but it bothers ME, so I’m in the process of re-doing it. Making a cover flat and getting it to fit right is harder than you think. You might have to tinker with it over and over again.
Don’t be afraid of reviewers. I sent my book to a bunch of reviewers pre-release and some of them actually said they’d review it! I found them through reviewers who had reviewed my traditionally published works, as well as through the tour service I do blog tours for, and Manic Readers. You can also just Google ‘book reviews (your genre).’ Make sure you read each reviewer’s guidelines for submitting books and MOST will tell you if they review self-pubbed works.
Have a Goodreads giveaway! This is only possible if you have physical copies of the book to give away, since you can’t do an e-book giveaway. It’s free, and tons of people have entered my giveaway, much to my surprise. A large portion of those people also added it to their to-read shelf and a few pre-ordered.
If you publish through Smashwords, they will distribute your book to places like Kobo and B&N as well. I didn’t even realize this. Whoops.
If you don’t publish through Smashwords and use Nook’s self-publishing platform, you can’t put your book up for pre-order. However, if it’s distributed by Smashwords, you can do pre-order on Nook.
Most people have no idea your book is self-published unless you tell them. I haven’t had a single person ask who my publisher is. Most people don’t buy books based on the publisher, either (unless they’re looking for books from a publisher-specific imprint).
If you made your own cover, don’t tell people. Let them see it first and get their honest reaction before you tell them.

Blood Shackles by Rosemary A. Johns

Today I’m hosting Rosemary A. Johns and her urban fantasy/paranormal romance, Blood Shackles (Rebel Vampires Volume 2). Rosemary is giving away a $50 Amazon/B&N gift card. So make sure to comment, check out the other stops on the tour, and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway! Rosemary is also here today to talk about the soundtrack for her book!

Enter to win hand a $50 Amazon/B&N gift card

Leave a comment and check out the other stops on the tour for more chances to win!

THE SOUNDTRACK OF MY BLOOD LIFE

by Rosemary A. Johns

Firstly, thanks for having me on your site!

What do you do if you’re a music fanatic? Too young to remember the ‘60s (if anyone does remember them). But loving everything before and since because it’s music, yeah?

You write a British Rocker vampire with a photographic memory – and a passion for music, who just happens to have lived 150 years of the best British music ever. ‘My name is Light’ – as he would say. That’s what.

Then what Light calls the ‘permanent soundtrack’ of his life? Becomes yours too.

Because I listen to the music I write into scenes – whilst I write them. And edit them. Double whammy. It’s like I’m there because I see scenes, as if they’re films. I’m just rushing to write them down. And I did say scenes.

I was a playwright (as well as a short story writer) before I wrote my new fantasy series Rebel Vampires.

Rebel Vampires is set in the supernatural world of Blood Life, in a hidden London where vampires are both predator and prey. I may love vampires. But I wanted to write a vampire book for adults. Where they weren’t simply the hunters but also the hunted. And death drives desire.

It’s a secret world of vampires, rebels and romance. In the first standalone book – Blood Dragons – Light is caught between his century old love for a savage Elizabethan Blood Lifer and his forbidden human lover.

Blood Dragons is out now (e-book and paperback). Click here: http://viewbook.at/BloodDragons

In the latest book Blood Shackles Light has been abducted, defanged and enslaved by a secret human Blood Club. Why, how and the conspiracy behind his species’ enslavement? You’ll have to buy the series!

Throughout everything, Light is given hope, set free or helped to love by the ‘permanent soundtrack’ of his life.

Music has that power. Plus, as Light says to Grayse, who’s keeping him captive:

‘Your taste in music? It’s so bland it may as well be white noise. What you need are the greats: Billy Fury and THE FOUR JAYS, Jimi Hendrix and The Sex Pistols.

So I’d uploaded them.

Because your passwords..? They hadn’t been difficult for a bloke like me to memorise from a glance over your shoulder.

In the dark, I put on The Rolling Stones. It was like coming alive. Around me, London took on a psychedelia – a clash of experimental chaos.’

Blood Shackles (Rebel Vampires Volume 2)

  http://viewbook.at/BloodShackles

So here’s the top 4 Blood Life soundtrack to listen to alongside Blood Shackles:

The Rolling Stones – “In Another Land”
The Beatles – “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
Amy Winehouse – “Back to Black”
Spiritual – “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen”

And if you really want to have some fun… read Blood Dragons first. Immerse yourself in Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Billy Fury, The Small Faces and the Stones – as Light says ‘the greats’.

Blood Shackles is out now at the promotional price of $0.99. Click here: http://viewbook.at/BloodShackles

Want to read Blood Dragons first? It’s out now. Click here: http://viewbook.at/BloodDragons

WELCOME TO THE BLOOD CLUB

Light is a Rocker Blood Lifer with a talent for remembering things. He’s meant to be the predator. It’s been that way since Victorian times. But not now. Not since someone hunted him. Enslaved him. Ripped out his fangs. Who are these ruthless humans? Who’s their violent leader? And who betrayed the secret of the Blood Lifer world?

WHERE THE PREDATORS

London, Primrose Hill. Grayse is the commanding but alluring slaver’s daughter. The enemy. She buys Light, like he’s a pair of designer shoes. So why does Light feel so drawn to her? Especially when his family is still in chains. Will he risk everything – even his new love – to save them?

BECOME THE PREY

Does a chilling conspiracy lie behind it all? A stunning revelation leads Light to an inconceivable truth. If he can face his worst terrors, he can save his family and his whole species from slavery.

Maybe he can even save himself.

The third book in the series, BLOOD RENEGADES, will be out Spring 2017

EXCERPT:

‘London’s not yours.’

I stiffened. ‘The Lost have walked these streets as long as you humans,’ I whispered, low and intense, ‘which makes them ours, as much as yours.’

I might as well have clouted you. You drew back, with a shiver. ‘You hunt here – parasitically. But England? The world? It belongs to us. You’re just…’

‘Parasites?’ I offered. You didn’t even have the decency to look away.

‘These are my streets,’ you tapped the sticky table for emphasis, in a boozer, street, postcode you’d never have ventured into, if it hadn’t been for me.

I took a drag of my e-cig. ‘Over hundred and fifty years says different, sweetheart.’

You wore that narked expression, which I’d hoped we’d left behind for the night. ‘My home. Not yours.’

‘Any reason it can’t be both?’

‘On account of you’re…’ You stopped yourself, pushing your Guinness away with a jerky shove. Your shoulders slumped. You finished softly, ‘…not human.’

‘Right. Because I’d missed that.’ I took a mouthful of nuts, munching thoughtfully. You’d withdrawn hermit-crab like, your hair falling in two curtains over your mug. ‘There were humans once, who thought like you, the last time a Blood Lifer had the courage to reveal himself to a First Lifer. It was one of my ancestors. A man of reason, in an age of superstition. He reckoned our two species could live out in the open – side by side – so I was told. These First Lifers? They thought he was the devil.’ You’d raised your nut. I could see your peepers – dark grey now – through the veil of your hair.

‘What..?’

‘They burnt him.’

BUY LINKS:

Blood Shackles is just 99 cents during the tour!

Amazon: http://viewbook.at/BloodShackles

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

ROSEMARY A JOHNS is a traditionally published author of short stories under the name R. A. Johns. She is the author of Blood Dragons the compelling first instalment of the Rebel Vampires series.

Rosemary A Johns wrote her first fantasy novel at the age of ten, when she discovered the weird worlds inside her head were more exciting than double swimming. Since then she’s studied history at Oxford University, run a theatre company (her critically acclaimed plays have been described as “uncomfortable, unsettling and uneasily true to life”), and worked with disability charities.

When Rosemary’s not falling in love with the rebels fighting their way onto the page, she heads the Oxford writing group Dreaming Spires

Rosemary is a Goodreads Author: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31348711-blood-dragons

To sign up to Rosemary A Johns’ VIP Email Newsletter with news of hot releases, promotions and the free short story “All the Tin Soldiers”, click here: http://eepurl.com/bQ0kMX

Website: https://rosemaryajohns.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RosemaryAnnJohns

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosemaryajohns

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/rosemaryjohns1

Google+: https://plus.google.com/110702840231491433662/about

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rosemary-johns-488603121

Enter to win a $50 Amazon/B&N gift card

Leave a comment and visit the other stops on the tour for more chances to win!

Filed under: Giveaways, Guest Posts Tagged: guests, paranormal, romance, urban fantasy

Being Part of the Story

You’ve probably heard the adage that we’re all the protagonist in our own story. As writers, we appreciate writing metaphors, of course. We are the main character in the book of our life, and that can be rather comforting, or downright frightening, depending on how you look at it. We each have our own ideas about who is writing the book, and sometimes we wish they’d stop torturing us, or wonder why they’re being so kind to us. Some of us feel we are the author of our own book, and we create our own plot. But something we also should remember is that everyone has their own book, not just us.

The thing about being the protagonist of a story is that everything happens to you. You also have to go through a lot of struggles to reach your goal. A story isn’t interesting if the main character doesn’t have obstacles thrown in their way and doesn’t have to fight for what they want. We like to see the protagonist overcome–we hope for ourselves that we can overcome, as well.

Life is exactly like a story in that sense. Many things get dropped in our path and trip us up. Just like in a story, we also have advantages and disadvantages. We might have more than another person in one area, and be happy and content, but be fighting and failing in another area and striving toward something we don’t have. Life throws us plenty of plot twists: illnesses, disaster, death, heartbreak, loss, bills we can’t pay, people who hurt us, and a million other things.

The story of life is exhausting!

That’s why I also try to appreciate that I play a role in the stories of other people. I am a supporting and minor character in other people’s books, and that can be very fulfilling. We can learn, enjoy, and witness so much in the stories of others. It’s a chance to take a breath, but still be part of the great overreaching arc of a sweeping tale.

For example, I have several musician friends. I have no musical talent whatsoever and would never be part of the music world if I wasn’t a supporting character in these people’s books. Through them, I get to sit in front rows, hang out backstage, and observe musicians in their creative environment. Likewise, I know a couple filmmakers and actually got to play an assistant and extra on one of their productions–something I wouldn’t have sought out on my own, but since I was a bit character in their stories, I got to experience it.

Of course, we may find ourselves involved in the grief, hardship, and struggle of other people’s books too, but that also gives a chance to learn, grow, and find new strength for our own journey. We’re all connected. We all play parts in each other’s tales and learn from one another.

What stories are you playing a supporting character in? How does it help you on your own quest?

Filed under: Monday Blogs Tagged: creativity, inspiration, writing

Off to Chi-Town!

I’m off to Chicago for the weekend! I’ll be back on the blog next week for more fun and games. I’m going to try to stay off social media over the weekend and just focus on having fun, so if anyone needs to message me, I’ll get back to you on Monday. Make sure you stop by the Halloween Sale Blast and enter to win a $10 Amazon gift card–the contest closes Sunday!

Have a great weekend! I know I will!

Filed under: Behind The Scenes Tagged: personal life

The Creative Type

This post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog hop. The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. The awesome co-hosts for the November 2 posting of the IWSG will be Joylene Nowell Butler, Jen Chandler, Mary Aalgaard, Lisa Buie Collard, Tamara Narayan, Tyrean Martinson, and Christine Rains!

November 2nd Question: What is your favorite aspect of being a writer?

This is a kind of difficult question to answer. I mean, there’s so many great things about being a writer it’s hard to pick just one thing. From the millions of dollars my books makes me, to the yachts and mansions, the shopping sprees in Paris, always being invited on TV talk shows, the hunky male models feeding me chocolate…

Oh wait, let me come back from dreamland now!

Really, I don’t write for money, and if you start out writing to become rich, boy, are you in for a disappointment. The goal of being a writer, of course, should be the writing itself. That’s where the joy is. You may or may not make money writing. If you do, that’s great! If you don’t, writing is still a pretty awesome thing to do. Most writers will tell you that they don’t really have a choice about writing–it’s something we’re called to, and if we don’t do it, it will eat at us and wake us up in the middle of the night until we pay attention to the urge.

I’ve always been a writer. I’ve always known it was what I wanted to do with my life. It took me a lot of years to get it right, and I’m sure there’s still more I need to learn. But that’s the great part about it, is that I’ll never stop improving my craft and understanding it better. The journey doesn’t end with one book, or a hundred. It goes on and on. Writing is forever!

So–my favorite aspect of being a writer? It’s the writing itself. It’s the knowledge that I was called to this and that it’s my life’s purpose. Nothing feels better than writing and being involved in the act of creation. I wouldn’t trade it for all the chocolate-feeding male models in the world (okay, I might give up a couple books for Luke Pasqualino…). Writing is awesome!

Filed under: IWSG Tagged: blog hop, creativity, insecure writer's support group, me, writing

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! It’s a day of spooky giveaways! Make sure you check out the Halloween Sale Blast to win a $10 gift card, the Paranormal Bar and Grill tour to win a $50 gift card, and the Halloween giveaway to win a Kindle Fire loaded with thirteen paranormal romances. That’s a lot of prizes!

Good luck and have a spooooky day!
Filed under: Giveaways, Holidays Tagged: books, paranormal, romance