By Gail Z. Martin/Morgan Brice
I’ve always loved crossovers. I enjoy it when characters I’ve gotten to know from one series/movie/franchise show up in another favorite book/show/movie. It makes the world feel more real to me, because surely if the stories were real, they’d all either know each other or know of each other, right?
All of the modern-day series written under the Gail Z. Martin/Gail Z. Martin & Larry N. Martin/Morgan Brice names cross over with each other. The characters know each other, help each other out, and appear in each other’s books.
I figure that people who stop supernatural threats are a pretty small group who would have to run into each other and probably have connections. It feels more realistic to me than keeping them apart (and I don’t want to have to write that many different totally separate worlds). Reader feedback has been very positive—seems like I’m not the only one who enjoys seeing each story flesh out a much bigger world.
It does, however, present some logistical challenges when I’m writing. Not as many difficulties as keeping every series’ world separate would cause, but it’s still a bit more involved because there’s a lot to keep straight.
First, there’s the need to have plausible reasons that the characters either know or don’t know each other. How are they connected? Is that logical? If they are just meeting for the first time and they’ve both been in the monsters and magic business, why didn’t they at least know each other by reputation? That’s all got to be woven into the character backstory and then it goes into the series ‘Bible’ to help keep continuity in future books.
With my books, it helps to think of the Deadly Curiosities series (under my Gail name) as the center of the bullseye, and the other series radiate out from there. Cassidy Kincaide is the main character in Deadly Curiosities, who can read the history and magic of objects by touching them. Her cousin Simon is a gifted psychic and medium who now runs Grand Strand Ghost Tours in Myrtle Beach (Badlands series/Morgan Brice).
Simon went to graduate school with Erik Mitchell (Treasure Trail series/Morgan). Ben Nolan, Erik’s boyfriend, knows the sheriff of Fox Hollow (Fox Hollow series/Morgan) from police continuing education classes. Travis Dominick and Brent Lawson (Night Vigil/Gail) show up in person to help Seth Tanner and Evan Malone in Dark Rivers (Witchbane series/Morgan). Max King in Imaginary Lover (Fox Hollow/Morgan) is related to the King family in the Kings of the Mountain series (Morgan). Mark Wojcik (Spells, Salt, and Steel/Gail&Larry) shows up as a helpful consultant to other monsters hunters in several books. Even Joe Mack (Joe Mack Adventures/Gail&Larry) will be showing up in Devil You Know (Witchbane series/Morgan).
That’s just a few of the interconnections—don’t worry about keeping them straight, because that’s my job. But it gives you an idea of how the characters and stories interweave. You don’t have to read all the books to enjoy them. You don’t need a road map or a flow chart or family tree to know who’s who. I do my best to make each book pretty standalone so you can enter the world at any point. But if you have encountered the other series/books/characters, there are little ‘Easter eggs’ sprinkled throughout that will make you smile.
Having our modern worlds and characters cross over with each other requires good record-keeping, but it’s a lot of fun for us and for the readers, and I believe it brings a new degree of realism to the stories. Come explore!
What’s new in 2021? Plenty!
Here’s what’s new in 2021–Fugitive’s Vow (Assassins of Landria Book 3 plus audiobook), Chicagoland (Joe Mack Adventures Book 3), Legacy (Deadly Curiosities Book 5), Shutdown Crew (Wasteland Marshals Book 4, coming soon), Sons of Darkness audiobook, Trifles and Folly 3 (coming soon), and the ebook re-release of The Summoner and The Blood King!
About the Author:
Gail Z. Martin writes urban fantasy, epic fantasy and steampunk for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, Falstaff Books, SOL Publishing and Darkwind Press. Urban fantasy series include Deadly Curiosities and the Night Vigil (Sons of Darkness). Epic fantasy series include Darkhurst, the Chronicles Of The Necromancer, the Fallen Kings Cycle, the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, and the Assassins of Landria. She and co-author Larry N. Martin write the Spells Salt and Steel, Wasteland Marshals and Joe Mack Shadow Council Archives Adventures. As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance. Series include Witchbane, Badlands, Treasure Trail, Kings of the Mountain and Fox Hollow series.
Find her at www.GailZMartin.com, on Twitter @GailZMartin, on Facebook.com/WinterKingdoms, at DisquietingVisions.com blog and on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin. Never miss out on the news and new releases—newsletter signup link http://eepurl.com/dd5XLj Follow her Amazon author page here: https://www.amazon.com/Gail-Z-Martin/e/B002BM8XSQ On Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gail-z-martin On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morganbriceauthor/ Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/gzmartin
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