Roh Morgon's Blog

Halloween is tomorrow!

As a writer of dark fantasy and supernatural suspense, Halloween is my favorite holiday. This year, I’m at my parents’ place in Arizona, so will be celebrating it Arizona style!

One of the ways I’m celebrating it is to release a special Halloween edition of The Chosen Updates newsletter. The issue includes a tribute to Lisa Morton, a well-known Halloween expert in the horror community, photos of an amazing Halloween-decorated yard in Arizona, and silly things like Halloween music and poetry.

There are also several amazing opportunities to pick up books for free (including a couple of mine), a Halloween excerpt from one of my books (with a link to a recorded reading), and a little personal aside from me about the October 2023 eclipse.

You can check out the October Update here. And if you’d like a peek at past issues of The Chosen Updates, you can see a content list here.

That’s it for now!

Happy Halloween!

~RM

The Last Voyage of the Demeter was released on August 11, and my hubby and I were fortunate enough to catch it in the theater before its run ended.

As the title states, this atmospheric film follows the final days of the doomed ship, providing plenty of dark, creepy moments – especially down in the ship’s poorly lit hold – and is sure to satisfy those looking for a little bite of horror.

However, if you’ve read Dracula, not much will come as a surprise, and that, unfortunately, kills the fear factor of not knowing what comes next.

Demeter is based upon Dracula‘s Chapter 7 in which a mysterious ship lands ashore in England. In the book, we learn about the ship’s arrival and its aftermath through Mina’s journal entries, and get a glimpse of the onboard events documented in the captain’s log.

The movie explores those events a bit more in depth, and not just through the eyes of the captain, but through the perspectives of several crew members as well. Though it takes license with the introduction of characters not mentioned in the book, this variation enables viewers to connect a little more personally with the hapless crew and and better experience their terror.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is now available to rent or purchase from Amazon’s Prime and other streaming services. But if it’s still playing at a theater near you, I recommend you catch it on the big screen to get the full effect of what it might be like to be trapped on a ship with something that hunts in the dark.

~ RM

Yes, you read that right. Monster: A Prequel of The Chosen, is now available.

It’s been a long time coming, and I’m thrilled to get more of Sunny’s story out there. This story gives readers a peek into her life before Watcher, and I hope current readers of the series enjoy it as well as those meeting her for the first time.

Now that Monster is done, I’m back to working on Seeker: Book III of The Chosen. Since recently retiring from my day job, I have no excuse to go so long between books and anticipate releasing Seeker within the next year.

I’m also becoming more active on social media again, as well as reviving my newsletter. Readers can keep up with the latest happenings in The Chosen world in my Facebook group, The Chosen Crew, and through subscribing to the newsletter, The Chosen Updates.

I’m looking forward to hearing from everyone!

~RM

Books Charming, India’s premier book blogger and reviewer, recently interviewed me on their website. Aakanksha Jain asked interesting and fun questions, and I really enjoyed answering them.

You can check out the interview here:

https://www.bookscharming.com/p/interview-with-roh-morgon.html

It’s been a long while since my last post.

The past several years have made continuing with my writing career a real  challenge—to the point I thought I might never complete my next book. But one of my mottos in life is, “Persistence Pays,” and so I persisted.

That persistence meant setting aside all social media, my newsletter, and even my blog so that the precious little time I had left over from my day job could be devoted exclusively to writing.

But that effort finally paid off.

This past week, I sent Monster: A Prequel to The Chosen to my editor, for, what I hope, is the final time.

It’s a much different version than the Monster of several years ago, and that is a good thing.

For those of you who’ve read the other stories in THE CHOSEN and WORLD OF THE CHOSEN series, I hope you’ll enjoy this backward step in time to Sunny’s beginnings, when she was just a struggling single mom trying to do the best for her teenage daughter. Though you already know that part of her journey, experiencing it with her will bring new meaning to her actions in the later books.

And if you’ve not yet read Watcher: Book I of The Chosen or any of its related stories, Monster provides the perfect entry point to The Chosen world, where you’ll accompany Sunny as she’s forced into a violent new existence and embarks on a dangerous mission to ensure her daughter remains safe from those who would do her harm.

Publication is scheduled for late April 2023.

~ RM

It’s been a long while since my last post.

The past several years have made continuing with my writing career a real  challenge—to the point I thought I might never complete my next book. But one of my mottos in life is, “Persistence Pays,” and so I persisted.

That persistence meant setting aside all social media, my newsletter, and even my blog so that the precious little time I had left over from my day job could be devoted exclusively to writing.

But that effort finally paid off.

This past week, I sent Monster: A Prequel to The Chosen to my editor, for, what I hope, is the final time.

It’s a much different version than the Monster of several years ago, and that is a good thing.

For those of you who’ve read the other stories in THE CHOSEN and WORLD OF THE CHOSEN series, I hope you’ll enjoy this backward step in time to Sunny’s beginnings, when she was just a struggling single mom trying to do the best for her teenage daughter. Though you already know that part of her journey, experiencing it with her will bring new meaning to her actions in the later books.

And if you’ve not yet read Watcher: Book I of The Chosen or any of its related stories, Monster provides the perfect entry point to The Chosen world, where you’ll accompany Sunny as she’s forced into a violent new existence and embarks on a dangerous mission to ensure her daughter remains safe from those who would do her harm.

Publication is scheduled for late April 2023.

~ RM

In celebration of Halloween, I decided to post a reading of Runner: Book II of The Chosen recorded for the 2020 International Vampire Film and Arts Festival.

The scene takes place on Halloween night in a goth club filled with partiers whose costumes may be hiding the real monsters beneath.

You can check it out here on YouTube. Be sure to expand it to full screen – you might see a little something special in Runner‘s cover.

I hope you enjoy it!

~ RM

It’s been a while since my last post. Life is . . . complicated. But I thought I’d share news about a few things, including upcoming releases.

First of all, I’m reviving The Chosen Updates newsletter, which has been on hiatus due to demands of my day job. But with the assistance of Deb Carroll, the March 2021 issue will be going out in the next several days. If you’ve signed up for my mailing list, keep an eye out for it.

If not, you can sign up here and receive a copy of THE GAMES MONSTERS PLAY, a novella from the World of The Chosen.

The Chosen Updates newsletter focuses on supernatural pop culture (books, film, etc.) as well as providing backstories and information on The Chosen series–including excerpts from upcoming releases available nowhere else.

You can check out previous issues here: https://www.rohmorgon.com/newsletter-archive/.

Second, this is the final day of Women in Horror Month in which women writers (as well as those in the film industry) are recognized and celebrated for their works. Most of my favorite vampire stories were written by women.

If you’re looking for new vampire fiction, check out this list in a blog series from a couple years ago. Though the list is a bit outdated, it contains some timeless classics: https://www.rohmorgon.com/…/bloggin…/women-in-horror/.

And finally, for those waiting for SEEKER: BOOK III OF THE CHOSEN, it’s still in progress and I hope to provide an update on its release date soon.

In the meantime, MONSTER: A PREQUEL OF THE CHOSEN is on track for its release in April

That’s it for now.

~RM

Happy Halloween!

In recognition of my favorite day, below is a story I wrote about a special Halloween from my childhood.

And yes, every bit of it is true.

In honor of Watcher: Book I of The Chosen’s ninth birthday, I promised I’d reveal the cover for the next book in the series, Monster: A Prequel of The Chosen.

Yes, I realize this is not Seeker: Book III of The Chosen, and apologize for its lengthy delay. I hope to have that one finished and published by the end of next year.

But for now, I think readers of the series will enjoy learning more about Sunny, who she is and how she arrived at the point in which she’s introduced in Watcher.

In Monster, we follow Sunny’s story during her last days as a human, then witness the events that irrevocably change her life and lead up to the beginning of Watcher.

Monster is scheduled for release this December.

~RM