I’m delighted to be interviewing Elizabeth Morgan, where she’s dishing the dirt on her new and upcoming releases, celebrity crushes and her garden. Take it away, Elizabeth…
Tell us about yourself. Both your writing self and your non-writing self. What are your interests and hobbies? Do you have a day job, etc?
I’m Elizabeth Morgan and I’m a multi-published author of urban fantasy, paranormal, erotic horror, f/f and contemporary; all my stories have a degree of romance, a dose of action and usually a hit of sarcasm, sizzle or blood, but no matter what I give a unique and often humorous spin to my stories.
My secret identity resides in Cheshire, UK with my two cats Phantom & MJ – names after my fave musical; the phantom of the opera, and my fave musical artist; Michael Jackson. I do have a day job, but I don’t plan on staying there forever. Otherwise, I enjoy reading, watching films or good television shows, playing the sims, or I am usually in my garden growling at weeds, or planting seeds.
Give us the background on your latest release.
The idea for Stepping Stones came to me in a dream. I was Maggie, or rather in her shoes, the taxi I was in pulled up outside this beautiful church on the edge of a cliff. As soon as I got out of the taxi the bride comes running up to me; her maid of honour couldn’t make it so I needed to take her place. As you can imagine I wasn’t very happy about being her second choice or a last minute one, but I agreed.
The scene then jumps to me dressed in a bridesmaid dress walking down the aisle, and then me nearly going face first because my ex was the Vicar. Awkward. I am uncomfortable through the ceremony and as soon as it is over I try to get away from him only to bump into another man, but I’m angry at this one, hurt by him, confused. So I storm off. End of dream.
Well, there was a story there so I left the idea to stew in the back of my mind, and two years later I was ready to write it. I didn’t have a lot of research to do for this book, I just needed to find an area that had a church on the edge of a cliff or near the sea. So, naturally I was looking around the coast of the UK, which is how I came across Landewednack and Church Cove, which is where St Wynwallows is situated. Well, I loved the look of the church; this is where Maggie’s sister gets married, and the church her ex-fiancé is the Vicar too. I loved the area, and it all just seemed to fit perfectly for the story. So, once I had my church and my area I was good to go.
How did you get started with writing? And what was your route to publication like?
As a child I had always kept scrap books where I would copy quotes and segments of poems and stories I enjoyed, and as a young teenager I had a fan fiction site for one of my fave bands. So, the interest has always been there, but when I was eighteen I started writing scripts – mainly because I was studying musical theatre and we had the occasional assignment to write scripts etc – and then after a while I started sending them to theatre groups, but I had no luck. A friend of mind suggested I try writing a book as I would probably enjoy it more, and the detail – background info etc. – I was putting in scripts might not necessarily be seen. So, I was nineteen and a half when I decided to write a book.
I wrote a couple, sent them to friends and asked their opinions, looked over them and then submitted them. It took 50+ rejections and about two years before one of my manuscripts was accepted. So, my route wasn’t straight forward or easy, I did have moments where I wondered if I was wasting my time, or if I was any good at all; I wondered if I would truly be able to write more than one book, or write good books, but I have had every book that I have written since then accepted and so far readers have enjoyed my work, and I hope very much that they continue to.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently in the middle of editing the first book in my urban fantasy series, Cranberry Blood (Blood Series: Book One.)
The novel – along with its prequel, She-Wolf – was originally published in 2011 and 2012, but after the publisher closed down and I received my edits back, I decided to self-publish the books and all that follow.
So, She-Wolf & Cranberry Blood will be re-released on August 25th. I will be starting book two in the series in the summer, once I finish my current WIP, which is a brand new fantasy romance.
Do you have a particular Muse for your writing? Do any of your characters bear startling resemblances to sexy celebrities or people you admire?
I never really have celebrities in my head when I am writing, and I never really compare characters in a physical sense to celebs once my stories are finished. Simply because I like readers to get their own image of each character, but I will say that in the case of Stepping Stones, Adrian looks a little like Matthew Goode, and Will looks a little like Orlando Bloom. They don’t look exactly like them, but if I were making the book into a movie I would go to those two actors first with an offer for those parts lol
Where do you see yourself in five years? Both writing-wise and non-writing-wise?
Writing-wise: still writing, I hope. I hope to have my Blood Series and Overseers series complete and be bringing new series out. I hope that I have gotten back in to the swing of writing on a regular basis as my personal life has made it difficult the last couple of years, and I hope to be connecting with more readers and bring y’all books that you really enjoy.
Non-writing-wise: I hope to be in a bigger house, and when I say bigger I mean I just want an office. I really need a room where I can keep all writing related materials; I need that creative space, which is untouched by anything else.
Otherwise, I hope to be writing full time so I don’t have to have a job alongside my chosen career, and well, I will be Thirty-one in five years, so hopefully I have found my prince charming by then. lol
And now for some silly questions…
Muscled or skinny? Muscled
Tall or short? Tall
Boxers or briefs? Boxers
Moustache or beard? Beard
Long hair or shaven head? Long hair
Tattoos or piercings? Tattoos
Intelligent or funny? Funny
Blond, brunette or red head? I don’t really mind what colour his hair is.
Hottest celebrity (tell us why, if you like)?
Justin Hartley. He played Green Arrow in Smallville. He just keeps getting better looking with age. He pulls really funny expressions and his smile makes me go weak at the knees.
Top same-sex crush (or opposite sex if you already like same-sex!)
I really like Emma Stone. I think she is funny, down-to-earth, and very pretty.
Most disliked celebrity (tell us why, if you like)
I’m not a fan of Beyonce. No idea why, but something about her has always bugged me.
Favourite food? Don’t have one. I love all types of food lol
Favourite book (tell us why, if you like.)
My fave book at the moment is The Spell of Summer by Dianna Hardy. It’s just an amazing, heartfelt, and hopeful story.
Favourite place in the world (tell us why, if you like.)
Currently it is my garden. Ha. I have spent a lot of time getting it tidy, pretty, and basically how I want it. So I like to sit and look at all my hard work.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I’ve had a lot of fun answering these questions. 🙂
Now give us the blurb, an extract and buy links for your latest release.
Blurb:
There’s nothing like a wedding to bring the family together….
If not for her baby sister’s impending marriage, Margaret West would never return home. But after six long years, she finds herself a maid of honor who must answer to the people she left behind.
If her parents’ interrogation doesn’t drive her to drink, facing her foster brother, Adrian, just might. To make matters worse, her ex-fiancé is the vicar who will conduct her sister’s ceremony.
Everyone demands to know why she ran off. But the more time she spends at home, the more Margaret realizes even she doesn’t know the real reason.
Buy Links:
Decadent Publishing | Amazon UK | Amazon US
~ * ~
Excerpt:
“When is Aidy getting here?” Jessica grabbed the large bowl of scrambled eggs and brought it closer to her plate.
“I think his flight is due in at three.” My mother placed a dish of bacon on the table and took a seat beside me. “He will be in time for the wedding rehearsal; don’t worry.”
My stomach clenched. “Wedding rehearsal?” I coughed, trying to clear the chunk of toast lodged in my throat. “What wedding rehearsal?”
“Today at four. We’re running through the service.” Jess scooped egg onto her plate. “I told you.”
Nervous laughter bubbled in my throat and try as I may, I couldn’t stop shaking my head. “No.” I patted my chest. “No, you never mentioned a rehearsal.”
“Oh.” She placed the bowl back in the middle of the table. “I could have sworn I did.”
“Nope, you didn’t. Believe me, I would have remembered otherwise.” I grabbed my mug and knocked the coffee back before finishing my piece of toast.
“Well, it’s no big deal.” Edward took the bowl of eggs and helped himself. “Just a quick run-through.”
“Will everyone be there?” Forcing a smile on my face, I looked up at them both, hoping like hell my question would pass as innocent and genuine curiosity.
“Anyone who is involved in the wedding itself will be.”
Great. So that meant Jessica, Edward, the parents, and the bridesmaids, plus me. That left Adrian and…. “Will Vicar Taylor, be there?”
Oh God, did my voice just go higher?
“Yes, Margaret, William will be there. He is the one who is marrying Jessie and Edward, so he needs to be there.” My father skewered some bacon and tomatoes onto his fork.
Grimacing, I reached out and grabbed another piece of toast. “Just a question, Pa.” A stupid one, but a question nevertheless….
“It is normal for people to have wedding rehearsals, Margaret. Just because you—”
Jess picked up the coffeepot. “Does anyone want more coffee?”
I straightened, my focus fixed on Pa. “I’m aware of that.”
“Maggie?”
My father’s shoulders went rigid. He lifted his head and our gazes locked. I didn’t miss the way the muscle in the side of his neck ticked. Arguing with my father in front of Jessica and Edward was not an option, so I looked away.
“Please.” I held out my mug and Jess poured the dark liquid.
I could kick myself. A wedding rehearsal hadn’t even crossed my mind. Having to stand at the altar before William on the actual wedding day would be hard enough, but having to do it twice…my stomach churned.
“So, will Adrian come straight to the church?” Edward cut the awkward silence.
“Yes. He will get a taxi to the church, and then we will bring him and his luggage back here.” My mother held her mug out to Jess.
“Adrian is staying here? Tonight?” I added sugar to my coffee. “Won’t it be crowded? I thought—”
“No more crowded than it was in your childhood.” My father took a bite out of his toast.
More and more good news. Of course he would be staying here; it was his family home after all. I guess, it was stupid of me to hope that he would go to a B&B, but my parents wouldn’t have allowed it even if he did suggest it. I hadn’t seen him in six years, hadn’t spoken to him. And yet, in a couple of hours I would be locked in the same house as him.
Now give us your author bio and website/social media links.
Author Bio:
Elizabeth Morgan is a multi-published author of urban fantasy, paranormal, erotic horror, f/f, and contemporary; all with a degree of romance, a dose of action and a hit of sarcasm, sizzle or blood, but you can be sure that no matter what the genre, Elizabeth always manages to give a unique and often humorous spin to her stories.
Like her tagline says; A pick ‘n’ mix genre author. “I’m not greedy. I just like variety.”
And that she does, author of erotic ménage horror, Creak, paranormal erotic horror and UK, US & Australian Amazon best seller (Gay/Lesbian, Fiction, Lesbian), On the Rocks, and erotic romance, US, UK and Spanish Amazon bestseller (Erotica Short Story) Truth or Dare? She also has her hand in self-publishing.
Razel Dazzle, her modern adult retelling of the fairytale Rapunzel, was her first taste of publishing her own stories, and now she has the hang of it, it will definitely not be her last. Look out for more information on her upcoming releases at her website: www.e-morgan.com
Away from the computer, Elizabeth can be found in the garden trying hard not to kill her plants, dancing around her little cottage with the radio on while she cleans, watching movies or good television programmes – Dr Who? Atlantis? The Musketeers? Heck, yes! – Or curled up with her two cats reading a book.
Where to find Elizabeth Online:
Website: www.e-morgan.com
Blog: www.xxxxmyworldxxxx.blogspot.com
Twitter: @EMorgan2010
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/ElizabethMorgan
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.morgan.944
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/elizabethm2012/boards/
Blog: (Shared with Dianna Hardy): http://notjustastiffupperlip.blogspot.co.uk/
Thanks again for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed this interview and wish you the best of luck with your latest release. Many sales!
Thank you for having me over today and thank you to all of you for stopping by. If you would be interested in winning a copy of my new release, Stepping Stones or maybe a swag pack, then please do leave an entry on the rafflecopter. 🙂
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Blurb:
