Megan Morgan's Blog, page 51

The Bloody City release day!

Today is the release of The Bloody City! What’s that you say, you want to win some prizes? Head down to the bottom of the post to find out how!

The Bloody City – Siren Song #2

Sequel to The Wicked City

On the run…

It’s been four months since the head of the Institute of Supernatural Research was murdered. But that doesn’t mean June Coffin is out of hiding yet. In a world where being different can get you killed, it’s best to keep a low profile. Especially for a Siren who can control other people with the call of her voice. That goes double if your powers might be inexplicably growing…

On the hunt…

But June isn’t the only one trying to clear her name. There’s Sam, the charismatic paranormal rights leader, and Micha, the first human on record to go paranormal. All of them must bargain with a mysterious vampire named Occam Reed if they want to stay alive.

Out of time…

As tensions increase between humans and paranormals, June must decide who to trust. If only she could hear the song inside her heart…

Read the first chapter | Read Reviews | Book #1 -The Wicked City

Purchase at:

Kensington | Amazon (Kindle and Paperback)  | Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo  | iTunes |  Google Play | All Romance Ebooks

The Bloody City is going on tour! Here’s where I’ll be–click the banners for more information.

Would you like to win something?

I’m giving away a $10 Amazon gift card, as well as e-book copies of The Bloody City AND The Wicked City (Siren Song #1), so you can catch up on the entire story so far. Books are available for all e-readers. All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter giveaway at the link below! I’ll be announcing the winner this Thursday, November 12th.

Click here to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway: a $10 Amazon gift card and e-book copies of The Bloody City AND The Wicked City
Filed under: Giveaways, Publications, Siren Song, The Bloody City, Works Tagged: kensington, lyrical press, paranormal, urban fantasy

I won! I won!

I’m happy to announce The Wicked City won best urban fantasy at The Romance Reviews Readers’ Choice Awards! This was awesome news to wake up to, and I got a pretty shiny badge as a prize!

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who voted for me. This is the first writing award of any kind I’ve won. I’m really grateful that so many people thought my book was award-worthy. Being my debut novel, I’m happy for any success it achieves. It’s not easy being a newbie!

Next week is going to be wild for me as the sequel to The Wicked City, The Bloody City, will be released on Tuesday. I also have a bunch of guest spots on other blogs next week. Therefore, I may be a bit spotty updating here, but I’ll do my best. I’m thinking about creating a mailing list, since everywhere I turn I see the advice that authors should have a mailing list. However, everyone who already follows this blog gets the same type of updates from me–so I’m not sure a mailing list would add anything extra at this point. Thoughts? Do you guys like mailing lists, or do you prefer an author’s site/blog for news?

Again, THANK YOU to everyone who voted! An even bigger thank you to those of you who read and support my work. I couldn’t be what I am without you! *hugs you all tight*

Filed under: Siren Song, The Bloody City, The Wicked City Tagged: kensington, lyrical press, urban fantasy

Careful what you wish for…

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 4 posting of the IWSG will be Stephen Tremp, Karen Walker, Denise Covey, and Tyrean Martinson!

Right now I have so much writing-related stuff on my plate, I feel like I’m standing at a buffet, slapping spoonful after spoonful on, screaming maniacally, while the entirety of the restaurant (aka everyone in my life/on my Facebook feed) looks on in wide-eyed horror.

I have TWO new releases this month! *screams, slaps two huge mounds of mashed potatoes on*

ALL the publicity that comes with that. *dumps gravy over them*

THREE blog tours–how many blog topics can I possibly pull out of my head before I start writing about something insane like techniques for teaching my cat how to say human words? *cries, dumps meatballs on top* (I am actually doing that, no I’m not crazy, I’ve taught her how to say two words.)

Interviews! *More meatballs? Oh, what the hell.*

Contests! *butter*

More guest posts/interviews on various blogs! *Morrrre butter…* (No really, I’ve taught her how to say ‘Mommy’ and ‘party.’)

Prizes to put together for the publicity/contests/blog posts. *bacon?* (I trained her using food, and those are both words you can sort of meow out, but I swear when she makes the sounds it sounds like she’s saying the words.)

Oh, and I decided to do NaNoWriMo too, so I could finish the next book in my series! *JUST SLAMS THE WHOLE PLATE RIGHT IN HER FACE WHILE LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY*

But really though, isn’t this what I asked for, back in those days when I was crying about “I’ll never be a real writer?” One has lofty dreams of what the writing life will be like, but in reality it’s a lot of hard work, juggling, and organizing. Oh, and sometimes you actually get to just sit down and write (that’s why I added NaNoWriMo in there). It’s happy work, and it makes me feel good. I enjoy talking to people and sharing my thoughts and ideas (and talk-talk-talking about myself). A full plate is much better than the sad empty plate I once had. This is truly what I wished for. And though my schedule may be packed tight, I do it all joyfully.

But seriously, I’m running out of guest blog topics…

Oh, by the way guys…I’ll also be an IWSG co-host next month! CAUSE WHY NOT?

What’s coming up for me (clicky all the thingies to learn moresies):

November 10th, the second novel in my Siren Song series!

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 18th, my second contribution to the City Nights series!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The corresponding tours (the third one is being organized through my publisher, so I don’t have full details on it yet):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Places I’ll be doing more guest posts/interviews this month:

Romance Reader’s Club – November 6th
The Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal RWA Chapter blog – November 9th
ParaYourNormal – November 10th
Cover Reveals – November 12th

Wanna buddy up on NaNoWriMo?

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, I gotta go now, lots of stuff to do–and I gotta clean up this mess on my face!

Filed under: Behind The Scenes, City Nights, IWSG, NaNoWriMo, One Night In Cleveland, Promotion, Publications, The Bloody City Tagged: appearances, blog hop, cats, insecure writer's support group, release date, updates, writing

From Prussia With Love by Tina Christopher

Today I’m hosting Tina Christopher and her erotic Steampunk novel From Prussia With Love available from Loose Id. Tina is giving away an awesome prize package which includes a Steampunk jewelry set containing a necklace and a pair of earrings, as well as an 8 book collection of her works. So make sure to comment, follow the tour, and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway!

Tina is also here today to talk about her love of Steampunk, a love I share as well. Take it away, Tina!

Why Does Steampunk Appeal To Me?

Hello there, how do you do? Thank you so much, Megan, for having me. Let me just pour us a nice cup of tea and we can start our chat.

I love writing steampunk stories because the possibilities are endless!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First I want to share how I define steampunk. If you have a look around the internet you end up with five sites and eight definitions and let’s not get started on the purists. My favourite definition comes from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences:

Steampunk is modern technology—iPads, computers, robotics, air travel—powered by steam and set in the 1800’s.

I write Victorian steampunk, the majority of my stories based in London, a city I’ve lived in for years and love dearly. It’s so much fun using locations I’ve been to in my books.

The other thing I love about Steampunk is the opportunity to twist history. I’ve always enjoyed reading about history, the big events, the small ones, and how one decision can affect whole countries. Clara, the heroine in From Prussia With Love lives in a world where Her Majesty Queen Victoria passed an Equal Rights Act shortly after taking the throne, giving women equal rights to men. But just because the Act has been passed five decades ago doesn’t mean people have accepted it. No matter the official stance Clara has to deal with men who still believe women are nowhere near as good as men (sound familiar?).

And then there is the awesome opportunity to develop steampunk technology. I love imagining how a scientist or inventor in the 1800s would have developed technology we take for granted. I also have a lot of fun making up things that are still beyond us. In From Prussia With Love I have Clara using a hoverton. She contacts the local pub to order dinner and they send their hoverton—basically a floating tray—with her order. The hoverton will remain in a corner of the room until Clara returns the dishes and then floats back to the pub. I so want restaurants to have hovertons. Can you imagine how much faster you would receive your order?

Steampunk allows me to combine my love of history with my love of sci-fi, to have fun with my worldbuilding and my characters, and to add swashbuckling adventure to my stories. What else could I ask for?

Thank you so much for joining me. I’d love to hear from you what you enjoy about steampunk.

 

Clara Redbeck has one goal: to prove to the sods at work—and to herself—that the best man for the job can be a woman. To do that, she must prevent a traitor from blowing London to bits. If only the dashing first mate of the dirigible she’d been tasked to plunder didn’t set her aflame.

Garrett Dewhurst has one goal: to execute the coup of a lifetime. His plans do not include a spanking dalliance with the most intriguing woman he has ever met.

With each encounter, the fire between them burns hotter and their need grows stronger. Finally, the cramped cabin aboard the Bismarck becomes their intimate playground, where Garrett introduces Clara to the pleasure of submission and they explore their passion in every way possible.

Clara and Garrett want a future together, but each holds a secret that if revealed could cost them everything. When danger closes in, they have to choose between protecting themselves or the whole of London.

EXCERPT:

She didn’t respond. Instead she studied him from the tips of his boots to the top of his head and every inch in between. Heat spread through his body, unexpected and not completely welcome.

Then she mirrored his stance right down to the raised eyebrow.

Unable to help himself, he smiled.

It had been a very, very long time since a woman had intrigued him after exchanging just a few sentences. She took his breath away and made him want to laugh. Judging by her frown, this was not the response she’d expected.

Garrett turned to Jens. “I believe you have other passengers to look after. I’ll take care of Miss Riesenbeck and anything she may require.”

Jens nodded. He bowed to both of them and practically ran away.

“I don’t know if I should be insulted at the speed of his departure or pat his cheek.”

Garrett chuckled. “Neither. I just think you are too much woman for him. He wouldn’t know how to handle you.”

She widened her eyes. “And you do?”

He curved his lips and knew his smile carried an edge. “Would you like me to prove it?”

She scrutinized him, leaving him hanging on the lip of the abyss, waiting for her response.

“Give me the tour Jens had promised to escort me on, and I will let you know at the end.”

Challenge curled through him. He bowed lightly but continued to hold her gaze captive. “Please step into my cargo hold.”

Her smile lit up her face. Her beauty was not conventional, but in that moment, it grabbed him by the throat. “Said the spider to the fly.”

“Will you step into my web?”

She turned around and threw a glance over her shoulder. “That has yet to be determined.” She strode to the door, and Garrett fell into step behind her.

BUY LINK:  http://www.amazon.com/Prussia-Love-Victorias-Secret-Agents-ebook/dp/B014GRK9X0/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tina Christopher spent her early years flitting across the Channel between Germany and England. After touring the world extensively—from hanging out with elephants in South Africa to hiking through the wilderness in Alaska—she finally laid down roots in Toronto. Although Canada’s winters may be frigid, Tina’s characters are anything but!

Like most writers, Tina often hears voices in her head, but it took the encouragement of an editor friend to have her actually put fingers to keyboard. While those first stories will never see the light of day, she’s subsequently honed her craft and learned to build not just worlds, but entire galaxies. History has always been an area of interest for her, and she’s enjoys few things more than imagining what could happen when history and future meet.

When not imagining far-away worlds and scorching-hot encounters, Tina can be found on her sofa working through her never-ending TBR pile or venturing into the real world—whether to a nearby café or a passport-required destination. She’s a member of the Romance Writers of America Toronto chapter and looks forward to where her characters take her next!

Website: http://tinachristopherauthor.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinaChristopher

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tina-Christopher/265041286866833

Enter to win a Steampunk jewelry set and an 8 book collection of Tina’s works!

Leave a comment and follow the tour for more chances to win!

Filed under: Giveaways, Guest Posts Tagged: erotica, guests, steampunk

Halloween is here! And I have a flash fiction treat for you.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Maybe because I’ve always been attracted to scary movies and TV shows, horror novels, and all things freaky and scary. The fact we have an entire day to celebrate the supernatural tells me I’m not alone. I’m also hilariously terrified by the idea of ghosts but love to read about them, especially ‘real’ ghost stories and hauntings. Luckily, the only ghosts I’m likely to run into on Halloween are made from sheets.

I think you’re never too old to wear a costume–in fact, I’m going to a Halloween party tomorrow night and dressing up. You’re certainly never too old for candy. My son is an adult now and I miss the days of taking him trick-or-treating. I like to decorate my porch with jack o’ lanterns and other Halloween decorations. I think it’s the best night of the year.

Being an urban fantasy and paranormal romance author, I write about Halloween-type stuff all the time. My Halloween lasts all year!

That being said, no trick, I’m going to treat you to a Halloween story. I wrote this for a Halloween flash fiction contest a couple years ago (it didn’t win) and it’s been sitting on my hard drive ever since collecting cobwebs. I thought I’d share it with you. So if you crave a little Halloween scare like me, this is for you.

Enjoy!

Trick Or Treat

Her name was Susie, but the kids at school called her Scary Susie. She had pale skin, bushy black hair, and dark eyes. She reminded Loretta of the creepy dolls her grandma kept in her attic. Loretta was new in town and going to a new school was hard. All the other kids ignored her or picked on her, but Susie treated her different.

Susie didn’t talk much. She didn’t have a bike, but she walked alongside Loretta when she rode hers. She also didn’t have many toys, so Loretta let her play with hers. Susie knew secret places to hide from the other kids, places in the woods and in old drainage pipes and under bridges.

A few days before Halloween, Susie told Loretta she knew the best place to go trick-or-treating. On Halloween night, just after sunset, Loretta followed Susie through the streets, past the other kids dressed as witches and ghosts and superheroes. Loretta was a princess and Susie wasn’t dressed up at all, though she had a sack. They didn’t go to any of the houses, but instead walked until they were far away from the porch lights, far away from Loretta’s neighborhood.

“Why aren’t we trick-or-treating?” Loretta asked.

Susie didn’t speak.

They came to a cemetery enclosed by a fence and Susie showed her where to climb over. Loretta didn’t like the idea of being in a creepy old cemetery on Halloween night, but she trusted Susie, her only friend.

Inside the cemetery, Susie sat down on a bench. “We have to wait.”

Loretta got more scared as the sky darkened. She could hear kid’s voices in the distance and thought of all the candy she wasn’t getting. She wondered how she was supposed to get treats sitting in a cemetery in the dark.

Then the hands came out of the ground.

Some were skeleton hands, held together by old gray sinew. Some had lumps of flesh, decayed and mottled. All the hands held objects in their spindly dead fingers, little things twinkling in the distant streetlight.

Loretta screamed and tried to run, but everywhere she turned there were hands thrust up through the dirt, blocking her way. She couldn’t reach the fence without tripping over one.

“Don’t be scared,” Susie said. “They give the best treats.” She began walking around to each one, her sack open.

Loretta went trick-or-treating, because she had no other choice. She discovered they really did give the best treats–or at least the most interesting ones–old rings and baubles and buttons, things they’d been buried with. So many pretty things.

However, later as they were going through their sacks on Loretta’s front porch, Susie held something up, slimy and yellow and oozing. An eyeball.

“Sometimes”–Susie made a face–“they give tricks, too.”

—

Happy Halloween, everybody! Have a spook-tacular night!

Filed under: Holidays Tagged: halloween, paranormal, writing

You guys talked me into it…

I’ve decided to do NaNoWriMo. If you want to buddy up, feel free to add me and I’ll add you back. I’ve done NaNoWriMo before but I never really got into the community side of it, so I need to change that this year. More socializing! More writing! Whee!

Since I’m not well-informed on the social side of it, do you guys have any recommendations for groups/forums I should check out? How does the socialization part work, anyway?  How do I hang out with other NaNoWriMo-ers? I’m such a lost child in the woods…

Thanks in advance for any advice/help!

Filed under: NaNoWriMo Tagged: writing

NaNoWriMo or No?

Despite my thousand-and-one commitments for November, I’m still considering doing NaNoWriMo like the crazy writer I am. I haven’t yet made a decision. If I do participate, I’m going to use it as an opportunity to pound 50,000 words into the fourth book of my Siren Song series, which I’ve already written about 30,000 words of already. So I have a project–but do I want to commit?

50,000 words divided by 30 days is about 1,666 words a day if you write every single day of the month. In addition to all my writing commitments next month, there’s also Thanksgiving and my son’s birthday in there. Also, there are a few days of the week I probably wouldn’t be able to throw that many words down, because of my schedule at my day job.

So, I did some more math: it comes out to 12,500 words a week across the four weeks of November. I could divvy up my word count so that I’m doing more on days where I have more free time and less on days where I have more commitments. Of course this is a lot of math, anxiety, and head-scratching over something I’m under no obligation whatsoever to take part in. I’m thinking out loud though, and if I do commit to it, I would hate to back out after.

How about you guys? Are any of you doing NaNoWriMo this year?

Filed under: NaNoWriMo Tagged: creativity, writing

Tours and things

I finally have a few details about the blog tours I’ll be doing next month, though I don’t have details about the exact stops just yet. Wouldn’t you know it, two of them are happening the same week (they’re for different books through different tour promotions). I’m going to be a busy author that week! I also foresee writing lots of blog posts/answering lots of interview questions in the near future. I might even *gulp* get a few reviews out of it. Both tours will include gift card prizes.

I also have another tour scheduled for The Bloody City, but I don’t know the exact dates yet because it’s booked through my publisher. I’ll keep you all updated, also on the contests I’m going to hold myself here on the blog. I was thinking of having a Facebook party, but I’ve found I’m much better at being a guest/co-host of other people’s Facebook parties and not so good at throwing my own. Too much work! I’d rather just chat and have fun.

As a reminder: if you review books and use NetGalley, I can still provide you with a direct download link to The Bloody City for review. Simply email me. If you would like a copy of The Wicked City to read prior to it, I can provide you with a copy of that as well.

In other news, there’s one week left to vote for The Wicked City as best urban fantasy at The Romance Reviews Readers’ Choice Awards! I have no idea how I’m faring since I can’t see the votes for the other books in the category (I can see my own, but it doesn’t really tell me anything). So I’ll be biting my fingernails until the winners are announced. If you vote for me, please let me know so I can give you a personal thanks! You have to sign up for the site to vote, but it’s super easy.

This has been your semi-regular authorly update. Later, gators!

Filed under: Contests, Giveaways, One Night In Cleveland, Promotion, The Bloody City, The Wicked City Tagged: appearances, information, updates, urban fantasy

Reading about writing

I think most writers have read a few books about writing, whether inspirational or instructional. Ironically, as much as I love Stephen King, I’ve never read his book On Writing, though I hear it’s great and I should get around to that someday. I’ve had two books since my early twenties that even now, nearly two decades later, are still my favorites and quite dogeared because of it.

One is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Anne Lamott is one of my absolute favorite writers. She’s largely an inspirational writer, but she’s incredibly funny (darkly humorous, my favorite), insightful, and her writing is very bare bones, realistic, and raw. Bird by Bird is a collection of both writing advice and instruction, and witty sardonic observations on what it means to be a writer. Even after all these years I still nod my head at her pithy wisdom. She writes on Salon as well, if you want to enjoy her humor.

My well-loved copies!

I also highly recommend her book Help Thanks Wow for general advice on life, faith, and prayer (no matter what your religion or lack thereof).

My other well-read favorite book about writing is For Writers Only by Sophy Burnham. Largely a collection of inspirational stories and encouraging lessons and anecdotes, it also contains quotes from writers on every other page.  Including one of my favorite writing quotes of all time:

Easy reading is damned hard writing. – Nathaniel Hawthorne

I guess for me, I need a little bit of inspiration to go with my instruction. I love to read a quote or story and have it resonate deeply, to have that moment where I go “exactly!” Both books are full of moments like that.

How about you, do you have favorite books about writing? Have you read On Writing? Because I’m definitely going to get around to that next!

Filed under: About Me, Behind The Scenes Tagged: books, creativity, inspiration, me, writing

Show me your pets!

I thought I’d have some fun here on the blog today and get to know my followers a little better in the process. Do you have pets? Any kind of pets: cats, dogs, fish, birds, snakes, *shudder* tarantulas? I want to see them! Show me what your darling babies (past or present) look like. Horses and farm animals count too! All animals are awesome. Tell us a little bit about them, too.

If you don’t have pets, that’s fine. You can still play too. Show me a picture of something you really like or enjoy doing!

At present, I only have one cat. Her name is Francis, she’s about 8 years old, and she’s a Tortoiseshell (also known as a ‘Tortie’). Fun fact: did you know almost all Torties are female? This has to do with X chromosomes producing the orange color in their fur and you can read all about it here because it’s super science-y and hard to summarize.

Here’s some pictures of my kitty:

She blends in well with the fall scenery!

Sometimes you don’t know if you want to lay inside or outside…so why not both?

I swear she does more than sleep…

…sometimes she sleeps GLORIOUSLY (and clashes with the decor).

 

Your turn! Let’s see your pets!

Filed under: About Me, Behind The Scenes Tagged: cats, funny, me, personal life, pictures