Love Bytes is welcoming author Morgan Brice to their blog to talk about her new release “Witchbane”.
Morgan talks to us about magic , shares a link to an excerpt and brought a fabulous giveaway!!
Welcome Morgan 🙂

Building the Magic By Morgan Brice

 

In my new urban fantasy M/M romance novel, Witchbane, magic lies at the heart of the plot. But building a good magic system takes behind-the-scenes work to make it realistic and believable.

 

Here’s the quick recap for Witchbane: Seth Tanner and his brother Jesse’s fun evening debunking local urban legends ends with Jesse’s gruesome murder. Seth vows revenge on Jesse’s killer–too bad the murderer has been dead for a hundred years. Seth uncovers a cycle of ritual killings that feeds the power of a dark warlock’s immortal witch-disciples, and he’s hell bent on stopping Jackson Malone from becoming the next victim. He’s used to risking his neck. He never intended to risk his heart.

 

Witchbane is the first novel I’ve written as Morgan Brice, and my first M/M romance. But as Gail Z. Martin, I’ve written 19 books in epic fantasy, urban fantasy, steampunk and horror, all with their own magic systems. Making up a new way to do magic is one of my favorite things, and for me, it’s a key element of what makes an urban fantasy series special.

 

When I create a magic system, I try to draw from myth, legend and lore, as well as from various practice traditions in the real world. Magic needs to have rules so that it doesn’t become an unlimited superpower. Those rules restrict the good guy, but they also place limits on the bad guy. So figuring out how those rules work is one of the first things I do when I’m setting up a new series.

 

Once I know where the boundaries and limits are, then I think about how the magic is done. Is it spoken or sung, with chants and spells? Drawn with sigils and runes? Invoked with blood or incense? Does the magic come from inside the person or can it be learned, or a little of both? What happens if you break the rules? Is anyone in charge of policing the magic? Are there consequences for using magic in bad ways?

 

Seth discovers that magic is real when his brother Jesse is killed in a supernatural attack. When the police are quick to blame the killing on drug dealers, Seth knows it’s up to him to stop the real killer before more people die. He’s got some skills from his time in the army, but he’ll need more to go up against this threat. That requires learning how to fight a very strong warlock when he doesn’t have any inborn magic of his own.

 

So in Witchbane, Seth learns what I call ‘rote’ magic. Rote magic involves spells that can be memorized (learned by rote) by someone without inherited talent. The spells are fairly weak, things like unlocking a lock, making a stone fly through the air, lighting a fire, summoning a ghost. Given how powerful the warlock is, that’s like going up against a Howitzer with a pea shooter, but Seth knows he can’t win his battle with brute force—he’s going to have to be clever.

 

One of the things I enjoy the most about urban fantasy is hiding the magic within our normal, non-magical world. Seth sets out to protect the warlock’s next victim, but one of his biggest obstacles is convincing the would-be target that magic is a real threat and that Seth isn’t crazy. And in Witchbane, the warlock gets away with a lot because people don’t want to believe the things they’ve seen are actually real. Seth is going to have to work extra hard for his happily ever after!

 

I find it intriguing—and scary—to think that something magical might be happening down any dark ally, or out in the woods, or in the darkest corner of your back yard. Just something to think about when you drift off to sleep!

 

I’ll be a Supporting Author at Gay Romantic Lit Retreat in October, so please look me up and say hello!

 

Witchbane is available in ebook on Kindle, Kobo and Nook and in print.

We’re working on audiobook.

Read a free excerpt here

Blurb:

Seth Tanner and his brother Jesse’s fun evening debunking local urban legends ends with Jesse’s gruesome murder. Seth vows revenge on Jesse’s killer – too bad the murderer has been dead for a hundred years. Seth uncovers a cycle of ritual killings that feed the power of a dark warlock’s immortal witch-disciples, and he’s hell bent on stopping Jackson Malone from becoming the next victim. He’s used to risking his neck. He never intended to risk his heart.

Amazon

 

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.

 

Follow Morgan on Twitter @MorganBriceBook, on Facebook in the Worlds of Morgan Brice group https://www.facebook.com/groups/143333126341151/ and check out the Morgan Brice Books and Stuff board on Gail’s Pinterest page at www.Pinterest.com/Gzmartin You can find more about Morgan at www.MorganBrice.com

Morgan brought along a fabulous giveaway for our readers!

have a chance to win 1 of 3! ecopies of Witchbane
a Rafflecopter giveaway