Q&A with Morgan Brice
on Flame and Ash
Q: Give us five random
facts about the book/series.
A:
A:
1.
The
series moves to a different location/city in each book.
2.
All
the locations are places I’ve lived or am very familiar with.
3.
I
do a lot of research on local ghost stories, haunted places and urban legends
for each location/book.
4.
We
went out to an RV dealer and toured the different RVs to find the right one for
Seth and Evan.
5.
I
really wish Seth and Evan could get a dog.
Q: What is the hardest
thing about writing?
A: Sometimes I know where
the story starts and where the next big milestone is, but not exactly how to
get from here to there, so that’s frustrating until I get it worked out.
Q: What is the easiest
thing about writing?
A: Finding really cool
ghosts, monsters and haunted things to put into the story! There are so many
ideas, and so little time!
Q: What was your inspiration for the book/series?
A: I’ve always loved books and TV shows about
ghosts, monsters, vampires, werewolves, and the people who hunt the things that
go bump in the night. And I’ve written urban fantasy as Gail Z. Martin for a
number of years. So it was just a natural progression to bring the spooky stuff
together with the sexy stuff!
Q: What was the most
difficult part of writing this book/series?
A: I want to keep each
book in the series fresh, and come at the issues from a different way. So that
means figuring out ways to surprise the reader. I want them to say, “I didn’t
see that coming!”
Q: What is your writing style…planner/pantser? Schedule time or work it in?
A: I am primarily a plotter, but once I have the
general direction for the book/chapter, then there’s a lot of
spur-of-the-moment inspiration as I write. Those are generally the pieces I
love the most!
Be sure to check out the LGBT Romance giveaway that I’m part of as one of the Featured Authors at GayRomanticLit (GRL) Retreat 2019! And if you’re going to GRL, make sure you come say hello! Here’s the link to the giveaway
I’d
also love to invite you to join my Worlds of Morgan Brice group on Facebook—it’s where I share cover reveals, talk about what I’m writing, show
pictures that inspire the people and places, and do fun giveaways!
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Flame and Ash
(Witchbane #4)
by
Morgan Brice
ADULT title
by
Morgan Brice
ADULT title
Cover Artist: Lou Harper
Release Date: September 5, 2019
Genre/s: Urban Fantasy, MM paranormal, MM romance
Trope/s: Second chance, established couple, hurt/comfort, monster hunting, supernatural creatures, magic, ghosts
Themes: Learning to trust, navigating a new relationship, sticking together when the going gets rough
Heat Rating: 4 flames
This time, the hunters become the hunted when the witch knows they’re coming to get him, and has deadly plans of his own. When their lives are on the line, will love be enough?
Blurb
One hundred years ago, a sheriff’s posse killed dark warlock Rhyfel Gremory, but his witch-disciples escaped, and their magic made them nearly immortal. To keep their power, each year one of the witch-disciples kills a descendant of one of the men in the posse, a twelve-year cycle that has cost dozens of lives, including that of Seth Tanner’s brother, Jesse
Seth rescued Evan Malone from one of the witches, and they’ve fallen in love despite the danger and chaos, going on the road to complete the quest and bring an end to the ritual murders. Their relationship is new, their emotions are raw, and the danger is real. It’s a challenge to find their way as a couple while they’re on the road together in the close quarters of Seth’s RV, training in magic and combat skills to fight off a supernatural killer.
In pursuit of the next witch-disciple, Seth and Evan team up with older hunters Milo and Toby as their quest to stop a century-long killing spree takes them to a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They’re ahead of the sacrifice cycle, with plans to stop the murders and kill the dark witch. Only this time, the hunters become the hunted when the witch knows they’re coming to get him, and has deadly plans of his own. When their lives are on the line, will love be enough?
Flame and Ash is the third novel in the Witchbane series. It is a MM romance intended for readers 18 years of age and older.
Excerpt
After all, Evan thought, what value do I bring to the situation? Six months of training had improved his skills, taught him a few more rote spells, and helped him understand more about the kinds of things that went bump in the night. Despite it all, Evan knew he had a long way to go before he could match Seth’s abilities, and he worried that he could be the weak link that cost Seth his life.
The trip from Pittsburgh to Boone would take most of the day, and while Evan offered to take a turn behind the wheel, he knew that Seth preferred to drive. When he wasn’t chasing down loose ends about the Boone situation on his computer, Evan planned to doze in the passenger seat, but dark dreams woke him more than once, earning him worried glances from Seth.
“Hey.” Seth’s voice roused Evan from his thoughts. “Whatever you’re thinking—let me in. Don’t keep it to yourself.”
“I just don’t want to let you down,” Evan admitted.
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know that you’ve saved my ass more than once,” Seth replied. “And that was before we spent the last three months doing more training.” He reached out to take Evan’s hand. “I trust you. I believe in you. There’s no one I’d rather have beside me in a fight. And I love you.”
Evan’s throat tightened. “I love you, too. And I want to be here, doing this, with you. It’s just…I’m not really the action hero type.”
Seth chuckled. “And I am?”
“You were in the army. You’re a soldier. So, yeah.”
Seth sighed. “I went into the army to get away from a bad breakup. Not exactly the most noble reason. I did okay, I guess. I was lucky enough to come home. But I knew I wasn’t going to make a career out of it. Some guys, they get in, and they know that’s where they’re supposed to be. It becomes their home and family, like they were born for it.” He shook his head. “It was never that for me.”
“I made okay money, working at the bar.” Evan looked at the road instead of at Seth. “But something was always missing, you know? What I did didn’t really matter. This…” He gestured to mean the two of them, hunting, the search for the witch-disciples. “It makes a difference. Saves lives. Stops a hundred years of killing. It just seems like fate could have picked someone who was better prepared.”
Seth laid his hand on Evan’s thigh, solid and warm. “Hunting doesn’t work like that. You’ve talked to Travis and Brent and Mark. They didn’t train to be a hunter from the time they were kids. They lost people, and it changed them. And from that point on, they learned on the job,” Seth said. “Just like you.”
Evan managed a wan smile. “If this were a TV show, I’d want to skip to the finale, where we ride off into the sunset.”
“I wish we could,” Seth admitted. “But I’m afraid there’s no fast-forward on real life.”
Add on Goodreads
Buy Links
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About the Author
Morgan Brice is the romance pen name of bestselling author Gail Z. Martin. Morgan writes urban fantasy male/male paranormal romance, with plenty of action, adventure and supernatural thrills to go with the happily ever after. Gail writes epic fantasy and urban fantasy, and together with co-author hubby Larry N. Martin, steampunk and comedic horror, all of which have less romance, more explosions. Characters from her Gail books make frequent appearances in secondary roles in her Morgan books, and vice versa.
Other books include Witchbane, Burn, Dark Rivers, and Badlands, Lucky Town, and The Rising, plus Treasure Trail. Watch for more in these series, plus new series coming soon!
I’ll be a Featured Author at GRL in October and also at Coastal Magic in February!
Join my Worlds of Morgan Brice Facebook Group! Get the early scoop on upcoming books and new series, see new covers first, enjoy insider news and special contests and giveaways! Plus it’s where I get my beta readers and launch team!
Author Links
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Giveaway
Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win one of three $10 Amazon gift cards
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My review:
3.75 out of 5 stars
Flame and Ash by Morgan Brice is part of the ‘Witchbane’
series that features the intrepid pair, Seth Tanner and Evan Malone, who have
made it their mission to hunt for the witch-disciples who have been decimating
the descendants of a long-ago posse. Temporarily joining forces with Seth’s
friends and mentors, the group struggles to prevent another victim from falling
prey while dealing with the challenges of remaining safe themselves.
This gay urban fantasy and romance for adults is part of a
series but can be read as a stand-alone story. In fact, that is part of my
problem with the book, it seems to go into an awful lot of explanation that is
a bit mind-numbing for those who are already familiar with the past details and
takes a while to get to the action. I love that the relationship between the
main characters is flourishing and hotter than ever and that a couple from Seth’s past shares the
spotlight and the dangers. The combination of the arcane and pragmatic is still
fascinating, but I didn’t feel that sense of non-stop action and steadily
increasing tension that I did in the other stories. Don’t get me wrong, there
are some startling surprises and this is an interesting addition to the series that
adds to the background about Seth, but it is not my favorite.
A copy of this title was provided for review
