Welcome Morgan Brice joining us today to talk about new release “Lucky Town”, book 1.5 in the Badlands series 🙂
LUCKY TOWN
A Badlands Novella
MORGAN BRICE
GAY ROMANCE/FANTASY
RELEASE DATE: 11.01.18
Cover by Natania Barron
BLURB
Psychic medium Simon Kincaide and his boyfriend, Myrtle Beach homicide detective Vic D’Amato, find that the only thing more frightening than murder might be navigating their first holiday season as a couple.
A trip back to Pittsburgh to spend Thanksgiving with Vic’s large, exuberant family means dodging old frenemies and a bitter ex-boyfriend. A cold case comes back to haunt Vic when the murdered man’s ghost begs Simon for justice. Then a new murder in Myrtle Beach looks suspiciously familiar, and the dead woman’s ghost isn’t playing nice. When Simon gets a vision of the next victim before the crime occurs, he realizes that all the murders are supernaturally linked. Catching the murderer will take his psychic sleuthing skills along with Vic’s street smarts to avert a tragedy. Can they do right by ghosts past, present and yet-to-come without ending up in the crosshairs of a killer for Christmas?
Lucky Town is 1.5 in the Badlands series
Supernatural Inspiration
By Morgan Brice
I love urban fantasy—stories in which magic, the paranormal, and strange creatures lie hidden just beneath the surface of our own world. Ghosts, monsters, and creepy legends are catnip for me. So I guess it’s no surprise that I’m a huge fan of the TV show Supernatural, but I never expected it to connect me with a wonderful online family and launch me into writing a whole new genre.
Under my Gail Z. Martin name, I’ve written epic fantasy, urban fantasy and steampunk for over ten years. All my books incorporate magic, monsters, vengeful spirits, secret spells and hidden knowledge. Those themes come from a lifelong fascination with urban legends, mythology and spooky tales. I’ve read ghost stories since I was a kid, and whenever I go on vacation I pick up books of regional hauntings. My favorite shows from the time I was old enough to pick the channel always involved the paranormal.
But somehow, I didn’t start watching Supernatural until two years ago. From the pilot episode I watched on Netflix, I was hooked. We binge-watched eleven seasons from April until the launch of Season 12 that October. Ever since, I livetweet new episodes on my @GailZMartin Twitter feed, and I tweet and retweet photos and memes daily both there and on my @MorganBriceBook feed (where the pictures are often spicier). My Pinterest page (www.Pinterest.com/Gzmartin) has a Supernatural board with over 10K pictures (and my Morgan Brice board has some of those spicier photos plus other pictures related to my Witchbane and Badlands series, including this new release, Lucky Town). More importantly, I got involved with Supernatural fandom, which has led to making new friends from around the world who share a love for the show. I’ve even written a few guest blog posts for WinchesterFamilyBusiness blog.
I’ve been involved in fandom for favorite movies, TV shows and books since I was in high school, but in recent years, the deadlines of being an author edged out time to just watch shows for the fun of it. Supernatural gave me back the joy of being a fan, which had gotten lost amid the work—and fun—of being a creator.
The show also reconnected me with my roots. Back in high school, I discovered that I could write stories that entertained my friends by creating ‘extra episodes’ to our favorite shows—fan fiction. From there, I worked up the nerve to write original stories, and that led to a career as a full-time author. I hadn’t read fan fiction in a very long time, but the season hiatus for Supernatural had me hungry for more adventures, and after I read all the tie-in books, I found the extensive catalog of fan-written stories online. Many of the stories I read were as good as the real episodes (and more true to character and canon than some episodes). There’s some very good storytelling and writing out there, and reading those tales scratched my itch for more Supernatural.
Then I took a turn down a dark alley and discovered slash. And liked it. When I came up for air, I wondered what the published stuff would be like—stories that weren’t about any fandom. I found the Whyborne and Griffin books by my old friend Jordan L. Hawk and was fascinated and hooked. They were everything I wanted in a series—magic, mystery, suspense, romance, creepy legends and hidden lore, scary creatures and two hot guys!
After a deep dive into all of Jordan’s books plus blasting through other series—paranormal and not—by Jordan Castillo Price, Charlie Cochet, Rhys Ford, Mary Calmes, LC Davis, Lucy Lennox, Aimee Nicole Walker, Pandora Pine and many others, my writer brain kicked in. I wanted in on the fun. So here I am, a year later, with a new romance persona as Morgan Brice and two new series, Witchbane and Badlands. There will be more books and novellas in both series coming soon, as well as additional, different series. (When I do something, it’s never half-way.)
And, just for fun, all of my urban fantasy series intersect and have crossovers. So characters from my (Gail Z. Martin) Deadly Curiosities, Spells Salt and Steel, and Sons of Darkness series have large and small appearances in my (Morgan Brice) Witchbane and Badlands books, and vice versa.
I’m grateful for my fandom friends, and to the writers, actors and crews that produce the books, movies and TV shows that create fandom (as well as the awesome authors who create the MM romance genre). I was a fan before I was an author, and I will always be a fan at heart. I had lost some of the thrill of fandom in all my busyness, and Supernatural helped me find my way back, introducing me to awesome tales and new friends, and leading me to discover a whole new kind of story that I love to read, than that I want to write and share with readers. I’m having a blast writing MM urban fantasy/paranormal romance, and I hope you’ll come visit my worlds!
“Remind me why we decided to repaint right before Thanksgiving?” Simon Kincaide wiped a smear of paint off his forehead after he put down the roller.
“So all the new paint stink can go away while we’re in Pittsburgh,” Vic D’Amato replied.
Simon paused to admire the view. His boyfriend’s ass looked mighty fine up on that ladder, and the old jeans and t-shirt were just a little too snug. The tribal tat sleeve always made Simon’s heart race, and he lost a few seconds thinking about the other places Vic had ink and how much he wanted to lick those spots, later that night.
“Simon! Focus!” Vic sounded fondly annoyed as if he knew exactly where Simon’s mind had wandered.
“I was focusing,” Simon grumbled with a smile.
“Yeah, on my ass.”
“Vain, much?”
Vic grinned. “You were, weren’t you? Let’s finish the room and clean up, and I’ll give you something to focus on in the shower.”
“Hell, yes!” Simon adjusted himself in his jeans and went back to work with a renewed sense of purpose. Normally, painting didn’t put him in such a good mood, but the reason for the spruce-up certainly did.
After months of dating, Vic was finally moving in with him and they had decided to get a jump on making some updates. That suited Simon just fine, since the “blue bungalow” still was largely in the shape it had been when he bought it from his aunt and uncle three years ago. They had stopped wintering in Myrtle Beach for health reasons, and Simon, who had fled to the beach after his life in Columbia, SC fell apart, needed a place to stay. They’d sold it to him for a fraction of the value, insisting he take it, and Simon had fallen in love with the retro fifties vacation home only a few blocks from the ocean and from his shop, Grand Strand Ghost Tours. Now, it proved lucky that the bungalow was close to the Myrtle Beach Police Department, so that Vic could also walk to work.
Simon hummed as he painted. He reached up to adjust the bandana he had tied to keep the paint out of his chestnut-brown man bun. During the summer, the sun added golden streaks to his hair, but now that it was nearly Thanksgiving those had faded, and he was seriously thinking about getting highlights to replace them. Vic would probably never let me live it down, even though he’d secretly love it.
He and Vic were a study in contrasts. Vic’s black hair was cut in a fade, buzzed on the sides and longer on top. His olive skin still hadn’t lost the dark summer tan Simon could never acquire, even if he spent all day, every day, baking on the beach. Vic was all muscle, with biceps and thighs that made Simon hard just thinking about them. Add the gun and badge, and homicide detective Lieutenant Vic D’Amato was one hot honey.
Simon still wondered how he got so lucky. At five foot, ten inches, he was a solid four inches shorter than Vic, and his hair fell to his shoulders when he didn’t put it up. Simon had a slender build with lean muscle, and while Vic let him know in a million ways that he found Simon very attractive, Simon had spent more time focused on academics than the gym. He’d earned a Ph.D. in Folklore and Mythology and looked like he had it made, with a tenure-track teaching position at the University of South Carolina and a handsome fiancée. Then the father of one of Simon’s students had a fit about the “occult” subjects Simon was teaching, and his gifts as a psychic medium sealed his fate. He’d been fired, and Jacen, his fiancée, decided that Simon was a liability to his own ambitions, cutting him loose. Simon had come to Myrtle Beach to lick his wounds, then decided to stay and open Grand Strand Ghost Tours. Three years later, he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, and didn’t want to be anywhere without Vic.
“I hope you like the way the new paint looks,” Vic said as he climbed down the ladder, bringing his nearly empty tray and roller with him. He sounded hesitant, and Simon knew his lover was worried about making too many changes.
“I love it,” Simon said, pulling Vic in for a kiss. They were both sweaty and reeked of paint. That just gave the whole thing a “naughty handyman” vibe in Simon’s mind. “And I love that you’re moving in.”
“Love you, too,” Vic replied, returning the kiss. “And the neighbors already think I live here. The only stuff left in my apartment are the boxes I never unpacked from Pittsburgh.”
“Saved you from doing it twice,” Simon joked, although the mention of Pittsburgh dimmed his mood, just a little.
They pitched the disposable liner trays and rollers, put the lids on the cans and washed out the brushes, then headed for the bathroom, careful not to touch any of the wet paint on the walls. The bungalow wasn’t that big, but trying to paint several rooms in one weekend felt like it had expanded to be a McMansion.
Vic chucked his paint clothes at the laundry room door, and walked the rest of the way naked, shooting a mischievous glance at Simon over his shoulder. Simon wolf whistled, then did the same, sprinting to catch up.
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.
On the rare occasions Morgan isn’t writing, she’s either reading, cooking, or spoiling two very pampered dogs.
Other books include Witchbane, Burn, Dark Rivers, and Badlands. Watch for more in these series, plus new series coming soon!
Facebook Group: The Worlds of Morgan Brice
Pinterest (for Morgan and Gail) www.Pinterest.com/Gzmartin
Twitter: @MorganBriceBook
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