Guest Blog & Giveaway: The Morgan Crowe Trilogy by Maggie Berkley

UFI welcomes Maggie Berkley Author of The Morgan Crowe trilogy. Thanks for Joining us!!

First I would like to thank Urban Fantasy Investigations for having me here. It's always fun to be able to visit new places and make new friends, as well as being able to introduce people to my books. I thought today I'd write about my discovery process on how to become a werewolf.

 Well, it's darn hard trying to become a werewolf and it doesn't always work out the way you plan. Yes, I know the movies show it's just a bite then bam, you're a werewolf, but it's not that simple. Believe me, I've tried.

Tip number one. Finding a werewolf. They don't really advertise. It's not like you can Google 'local werewolves'. Well, okay, I actually just Googled it to be certain. I was wrong. You can find your local pack, but how do you know he/or she is a REAL werewolf? You don't want to be bit by just anyone/thing. What if they're a pretender? Human bites are just plain nasty. Do you know the amount of germs a human bite carries? Well I watched a few Youtube videos of people claiming to be werewolves, hoping to find a real one there but seriously? Kids and losers? It seems I must search out a different method to becoming a werewolf.

Maybe out in the wild? Good luck on finding one, especially if you live in an area where there are no known wolves. It took me a while to find some wolves. Apparently my local zoo had some. When I finally saw them up close I was a bit disappointed. They looked pretty docile, not kick ass like the ones in The Grey. And then, once again, how do I know it's a werewolf and not real wolf? Only one way to find out. I shove my arm through the fence links and hope one of them is a captured werewolf.

Lesson number one. Is the creature mauling my arm to shreds (maybe I shouldn't have shoved it in its mouth like a tasty treat) going to help me fulfill my dream or just give me rabies? Well, after excruciating pain, many tears, screams, a freaking big needle, eighty-five stitches later, and a $1,500 fine later I realize that perhaps I need to be more disconcerting about where I get my information. A full moon passed while I was at home recuperating and I've nothing to show for it but a scar and less money in the bank.

Tip number two. Okay, next step. No known real werewolves around so I go to the library for the handy dandy book of how to become a werewolf. I scour through the pages and look at the list of ingredients. Fat from disinterred children, hemlock, aconite, poplar leaves, soot or cowbane, sweet flag, cinquefoil, bat's blood, deadly nightshade, oil. Okay...I've got oil, but what kind? Motor oil or cooking oil? If cooking is it saffron, veggie or olive? Why can they be more specific? The rest of the ingredients I'll have to wing. The book also says something about a belt of wolf skin and dancing naked under the full moon. Well, I have an old wolf pelt (at least that's what I was told it was) in the attic and the next full moon is almost a month away. Good. I have time to actually locate most of the ingredients (disinterred kids fat will be a challenge), learn to sew a wolf belt and diet enough so I don't look too fat while naked. Don't want the neighbors giggling.

Lesson number two. Don't drink OR rub that potion on you. Apparently a majority of the ingredients make you hallucinate and vomit at the same time, as well as gives you a major skin rash. It's hard to explain to the cop with five eyes and a stretchy neck why I was running around naked with a ratty looking animal pelt wrapped around my waist. I think I told him I was looking for the hot tub. At least I think I said I was looking for a hot tub. It might have been a hot dog. I can't remember. Apparently I escaped from my backyard. Note to self, put better locks on the gate or make sure I have a leash to keep me in the yard if I ever do this again. Once more I'm fined but this time I got to spend the night at the station. Luckily they had a spare orange jumpsuit for me to wear.

Tip number three. Make a pact with the devil. I actually bought a Ouji board so I could contact the devil to ask him to make me into a werewolf. It cost me $24.99. Hopefully this is a good investment, since I've already spend over $3,000 on this experiment. Maybe I can contact my grandparents while I'm at it. Oh, and to make sure the devil won't try and trick me into something else I went on contractforms.******.com/ and printed out a legal and binding contract that states he'll turn me into a werewolf, but I get to keep my soul. In return I'm willing to go around and maul a few people for him. I already have a list of people I'd like to get. I think I'm supposed to make the pact under the full moon. The book doesn't have any further instructions, so....

Lesson number three. Don't make a deal with the devil. It never works out, even with a free contract downloaded from the internet. It's not worth it. My monthly waxing bills have gone up, I can never keep a decent mani/pedi and my breath is really bad now (that might be because of the potion from tip two though). Note to self, it's better to read about werewolves than to try and become one. 

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A long time fan of dark fantasy with a touch of romance, Maggie Berkley grew up in a world all her own. During long times of parental lock down as a teenager due to a rebellious nature, she wrote short stories and plays, and as time went by drew upon her love of fantasy to write fan fiction. Due to the encouragement of friends and family she decided rather than keep her stories for herself she would publish and share them with the world. This is the result.

Maggie lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband of many, many years, an extremely tall teen-age son, one rowdy puppy and two cats that rule their lives with an iron claw.

Maggie currently has three novels published. Enter The Night, Behind The Throne, and Out Of The ShadowedLands from the Morgan Crowe Trilogy. She also co-scripted a short independent film called The Ban-Sidhe.

Feel free to contact her at maggieberkley@yahoo.com

 

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Enter the Night
The Morgan Crowe Trilogy #1

"Be careful of who you trust."

Words of warning, something Morgan Crowe tended to ignore.

Born Morriganna nic Thulath over thousands of years ago in the ShadowedLands of the Immortal Sidhe, she was the leader of the Mor'sin'dar King's Battle Crows. Named the Morrigu, she was deadly, precise and vengeful.

Favored by her King, Morgan lived an unrestrained life until her temper forced him to remove her from the Courts. For years she lived among the humans, keeping an eye out on things Fae and waiting until the time her beloved King resends his decision and welcomes her back with open arms. But things have changed within the Sidhe lands, deaths occurred and old rumors abound. Unknowingly Morgan has become the object of revenge of a hateful Queen and a sadistic enemy from her past.

Now enters a Were, shape changers with the natural ability to take animal form and with his appearance comes temptation and love. But is he all that he seems? And is she willing to defy her society to find out if he is. For Morgan, her world tumbles around in a whirlwind until all hell breaks loose. 

Behind the Throne

The Morgan Crowe Trilogy #2

Alone, pregnant and cranky, Morgan Crowe finds herself surrounded by enemies and with no one to trust when luck finds her on the doorstep of a friend long forgotten. Taken in by the daughter of a powerful King who would rather see her dead, Morgan relies on her instincts for survival and hopes she could live through the next few months in order to give birth, and then she would be up to her normal strength and skill.

As her rotten luck would have it an enemy has found itself in her safe haven and has taken revenge, by taking her only surviving friend and causing her to come face to face with her past. Court intrigue and danger rears its ugly head as the grip on her tightens, causing her to reach out for help and learn that to trust may not be as bad as she thought. Especially when that trust comes in the form a young Werewolf met once on a rainy night that seems so long ago.

But attractions are not that simple are they? Especially when an old rival shows up and the heat between them flares. But Morgan has no time for macho games, especially when her friend’s life is in her grasp.

  

Out of the ShadowedLands

The Morgan Crowe Trilogy #3

A storm is brewing in the Dark Courts and her name is Death.

Tired of broken promises and betrayal, Morgan Crowe takes matters into her own hand and carves a destructive path through the maze of political intrigue the Dark Queen of the Mor'sin'dar had created. After rescuing her friend Vivienne from the dungeons of UnderArch, Morgan returns home to discover her son missing, taken by the man she had once given her heart to. Seeking help to retrieve him she finds those she served unwilling to give assistance and realizes that loyalty is not always a two way street. Tired of being used by those she thought of as allies and hunted by those she knows are enemies, Morgan is determined to end the game she had been unwillingly pulled in to and strikes out in fury at everyone around her.

But when her past finally catches up with her and threatens the lives of those she loves, Morgan knows it's time to take a stand. Charged by her dead King to bring justice to him and the throne and still haunted by the prophecy given to her about the future, she must make a decision that could change the ShadowedLands and those who live within its borders forever. With the help of the mysterious Lord Requiem and the young Werewolf Ty, Morgan steps forward to bring a true King to the Ebon Throne and to remove the threat to her and those she loves. Will she give into her destructive nature or will she finally step into the destiny she was born for?

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