Author Interview: Sam B. Morgan

Hi, Sam! Welcome to Castles & Guns.

Thank you for having me. I approve of any historical structure that allows (un)concealed weapons.

Congrats on your first release with Loose ID. Can you tell us a little bit about A Rookie Move?

Thank you.  Rookie is a M/M contemporary romance about two patrol officers for the LAPD.

Fifteen years with the Los Angeles Police Department, Mike Graham is the seasoned cop and training officer.  He’s hardened by the job, he’s witnessed every type of crime, and taught countless rookies how to survive on the streets.  Nothing surprises him anymore.  That is, until Nathan York comes along.

Nathan York is not what you think of when you think cop. Beverly Hills background, pretty boy good looks - he’s fit for the land of movie stars and nose jobs, but being LAPD is all he’s ever wanted. When he finishes his rookie year, he thinks he’s ready for anything, even working with his hard-assed ex-training officer.

Once they become partners on the job, Mike and Nate both struggle with an attraction that doesn’t belong in their world.  Their chemistry reaches a point it can no longer be ignored, but the same chemistry that consumes them could destroy everything else that matters.

So, which of the main characters are shapeshifters, Mike or Nathan?

Ha, ha! …Oh you’re being serious. Okay. Neither of them are shapeshifters, although there are some drug dealers that make you wonder.

So, no shapeshifters, but Mike is an ancient vampire right? Nathan must be his newly turned partner and Mike is teaching him the ways of the bloodsucker. He’s a rookie vampire, hence the title.

There’s a line or a joke about sucking and m/m romance that’s just dying to be said right now, but I’ll stop myself. No, no vampires. Tons of nocturnal activity, but no vampires.

Okay, okay, got it. No shifters and no vampires, just hot men keeping the streets safe and falling in love. I dig it. [Actually I’ve already read Mr. Morgan’s debut novel and it is some HOT STUFF! Five stars from me, fellow readers.]

I was impressed by the realistic situations you put your characters in on their jobs as patrolmen. What pushed you to write about patrolmen and not detectives?

I was drawn to the uniform policemen first because that’s where it all begins. You don’t graduate from the academy and poof, you’re a detective. You work a beat first, sometimes always. Later on, some officers decide they want to be a detective. They study up and test for it and then work their ass off to get there. Others, like Mike in A Rookie Move, climb the ranks of uniformed patrol and remain patrol for life.  Both do kick ass police work, but I’ve seen a lot of books, shows, etc. about detectives. I wanted to do something different. Plus, uniforms? Hot.   Detectives are next though. Brody, one of the heroes in my next book, is a homicide detective.

Awesome! So, can you tell us a little more about your next project?

My next project – that has no title yet - is a story that delves into rehabilitation of the body and the soul.  Douglas Brody is a homicide detective who gets injured on the job - a job that’s the focus of his entire life. He uses work to fill a huge emotional void that he refuses to recognize. Once that is removed, even temporarily, everything changes.

Zack is the Physical Therapist who gets stuck with rehabbing the patient no one else can handle.  Zack is a big, smiling moose of a PT. He loves his job and the challenge of helping people recover. Brody is his toughest case yet, especially since he’s attractive as hell and exactly Zack's type. Zack is out, but realizes Brody is either arrow straight or so deep in the closet he can’t see light.  And Zack swore he'd never go down that painful path again.

So Zack does PT for fairies, elves, and unicorns?

Not that I know of. He’s been called a fairy, but that’s totally different.  He’s pretty laid back and has always been a beach guy - runner, swimmer, surfer - so in college he maybe saw some elves and unicorns while…well, you get my meaning.

Would you ever consider putting unicorns in your book?

I don’t know about unicorns, but I did mention the opportunity for lube and prophylactic pixies to my editor.  Seriously. Think about it. Whether it’s gay or straight, contemporary, fantasy, or sci fi, sometimes you need a pixie to show up with whatever you need for that particular sex scene.  I vote we have pixies for all genres. They can fly around and deliver whatever our characters need at any given time – love scene or not. Say your sci fi heroine needs a laser blaster at that very moment, but it doesn’t work to write it in that she’s carrying it under her revealing slave girl outfit (yeah I worked in a Star Wars reference, 2 points!) – pixies show up and drop it off for her. Delivery pixies. Who’s with me?

Me! Me! Me!

Sam B. Morgan writes hot, contemporary M/M romance with gritty, complicated men. With a love of travel, settings like Los Angeles and Boston, and coastal cities like Charleston, South Carolina and San Francisco, California serve not only as backdrops, but supporting characters in his books.  Sam enjoys fast cars and slow Sunday mornings.  He lives in west Texas with his longtime partner and their two dogs.

A Rookie Move is available and Loose Id Publishing & Amazon.com.