Fallen Angel Reviews would like to welcome Tee Morris. Mr. Morris blazed a trail across the literary world with his epic novel Morevi. Tee, thank you for being here.

"Blazed a trail"...hmmm...that might explain why I can't find my Zippo. I'm such a butterfingers with open flames. (Thank you...I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your wait staff. Try the veal.)

Okay, okay, okay...seriously...thank YOU for taking some time out to chat with me. Fallen Angels Reviews has been very good to me, and this interview is just whipped cream on the...oh, wait a minute, you all review a lot of erotica, so I think I'll just stop there and let everyone's imagination run wild with that.

You have an impressive writing and theatrical background. Would you care to tell us a little about that?

I am a graduate of James Madison University's Theatre and Dance program and that was my intent at this point in my life: professional actor. In fifteen years of stage, screen, and TV, I've accumulated a lot of experiences and memories, and some of them were good ones. My biggest claim to fame was a small speaking part on an episode of HOMICIDE: Life on the Street. Let me tell you something, actor Reed Diamond who played "Kellerman" was one of the NICEST actors I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Heck, EVERYONE on that set--the actors, production crew, the interns--were incredible. I think a big reason why that show was the success it was had a lot to do with their teamwork and camaraderie.

For many years I worked at the Maryland Renaissance Festival and played a variety of characters; and while some actors have issues with and poke fun at Ren Faire actors, I found the work there some of the toughest and most challenging, as well as rewarding. My last character there was Rafael Stringfellow Rafton, privateer.

Yeah, the lead male character of MOREVI. I played Rafe in my last two seasons with Maryland.

I also enjoyed some terrific training in stage combat, Shakespeare, and improvisation while working Revel Grove; and I made some terrific friends. Many of the actors who I knew from my time there contributed to promoting MOREVI to publishers. It felt pretty good returning to the Festival with MOREVI. It was a big hit on Pirates' Invasion Weekend, breaking Page After Page's record of books sold in one weekend.

The actor's experience has really helped me in promoting and representing myself at signings and conventions. I've heard some authors prefer not to get in front of people whereas I look forward to it. The improv skills, sharpened by a few seasons with ComedySportz, have been invaluable. I still remember when someone at a con attending the panel on working with Small Presses asked the panel, "I still don't see why I should invest in books that aren't good enough for the larger houses because right now, I'm not impressed." It knocked the wind out of the panelists, but I asked to take the comment. I said, "If you want to assume that all small houses print books not good enough for the big houses, I'll agree; but only if you look me in the eye and tell me that you have NEVER read a bad book from a big house." Not only did I get applause for my answer, the guy making the comment bought my book.

So yeah, being an actor has really helped me out in this new world of writing.

Your biography states that while you love writing, your first love is the stage. What is your dream role?

Well, I got a chance to play one of them. I played Bob Cratchit in A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I've always wanted to play someone like Bob Cratchit. I feel very fortunate to play the roles I've played, but I've got three dream roles...

1. Hamlet. I love Shakespeare, and Hamlet is one of those roles that actors either REALLY want to play, or could care less about it. I'm in the "REALLY want to play it" camp.

2. A regular or reoccurring role in an SF epic like FARSCAPE. What Ben Browder got away with as John Crichton was unbelievable, not to mention a lot of fun to watch. Even in the serious episodes, you could tell that Browder and the entire cast were having the time of their lives. So a role like that would be a hoot.

3. This one is the actor's ego talking...I'd love to play Rafe Rafton opposite Ziyi Zhang or Grace Park as Askana Moldarin in MOREVI: The Motion Picture, directed by either Ang Lee, Ridley Scott, Peter Jackson, or Brian Henson. (If you're going to dream, super-size it!)

However, so much of my time is dedicated to writing that I don't know when I can start auditioning or acting again. I miss acting...but that doesn't mean I have any regrets. I'm having a ball with writing!

As a writer of fiction and non-fiction, which is the most demanding?

Both have their own particular demands. With fiction, you have to create realistic worlds and believable characters, people and places that your readers can connect with. If you pull a story out of your behind or create a world so fantastic, it can come across like bad online role-playing sessions...and no, I'm not saying online role-playing is "amateur hour" for authors. MOREVI started as a role play between myself and Miss Lisa Lee. (Some of the passages that I read in "Nia's Tavern" were incredible. Most on them, on the other hand...) You have to do your homework, check your facts, and give a bit of reality to your fiction. You also have to stay true to the worlds, its characters, and the stories you tell. Otherwise you get called to the mat at signings, book events, and cons. Those are the demands put on you when writing fiction.

Non-fiction opens you up for a whole new world of hurt. Instead of imagination, you are being asked for facts. If you've got a theory, you'd better be ready to have the facts and the conclusions to back it up with, or you are called to the mat as a hack, if you're lucky. I felt extremely self-conscious having several chapters in THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WRITING FANTASY as my next byline. I was writing about things I knew, but that didn't mean I double-check my facts and backed up my chapters with resources. The demands of non-fiction may sound similar to those in fiction, but the difference here is people are turning to you for advice, guidance, and ideas. If you aren't careful in what you write, your work is a recipe for disaster.

Humor is prevalent in your published works, is that how you face life also?

I wish I could say I'm an easy-going guy...but I'm my own harshest critic in everything I do. I expect 100% from everyone around me because I expect 150% from myself. When someone lets me down or I fall short of my own expectation, then I use that extra 50% to compensate.

Now here's where the sense-of-humor kicks in. When dealing with disappointment or freaking out over something that I've bungled, I need to laugh, and I need to make the people around me laugh. I also find that comedy makes for a great ice-breaker on panels and with the general public. I tend to poke fun a lot of fun at myself and poke even more fun at some of the things I've seen on the road and in the genre. I remember at Westercon 56 a friend of mine said "You're making a name for yourself as the wacky panelist, you know that?" Now as I'm only a year old as an author (at this point) I asked "So, people won't take me seriously as an author?" She said, "That's not you, Tee. Your wackiness is fitting."

I take what do seriously. I try not to take myself too seriously. There are authors I've met who believe some entitlement is in order when they get that byline. My take on having not just bylines, but award-nominated ones: I still have to pay $5.50 for my Cafe Mocha at Panera's. A solid sense-of-humor keep you humble, keeps what I do fun, and keeps readers entertained.

In your novel Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword (A great book by the way! *grin*)

Thank you for taking the time to read it.

Your hero is a four foot dwarf. What research, if any, went into the creation of this novel?

A majority of my research went into the language and the era of Al Capone. I found this INCREDIBLE resource called The Dictionary of American Slang that defines AND DATES just about every slang word in or out of use in street talk. Studying some origins of popular sayings was a gas, as much as it was researching a popular icon of mine: Al Capone. I don't think of him as a romantic figure, but I did find out a few "humanizing" details about Scarface. So along with the language and Public Enemy Number One, I had to know about the world I was talking about.

And here's where you run into locking horns with fans about your research. At my Arisia 2005 reading, I had a con attendee attack me for giving my heroine long hair. "You know women didn't wear their hair like that," he scoffed. I had to explain to him that (1) I had auctioned off a role in BILLIBUB BADDINGS to someone for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and the winner of the role had long, black hair. I wasn't going to lose that. (2) While the "flapper haircut" was popular in the early-and-mid 1920's, BILLIBUB is set in 1929. Long hair was hard to find, but out there. I've never seen a fan back-pedal so hard.

This is what you need to do when you work with history in your fiction: be ready for debate, and handle it like a pro. Don't berate or embarrass the person. Be cool, be polite, and make sure you're not "faking it" when making your point.

The other bit of research I had to undertake was on putting together a good mystery. I've read a few, but maybe I read the wrong ones when I was younger because I found myself a little too frustrated with how the cases were solved. "Hidden" clues that suddenly appear at the end of
the book, no matter how much investigation has happened; or you have these "plot twists" that come so far out of left field that it's from a ball game played in a different park! So, I went for a "quick fix" and started watching popular mystery/detective shows like Murder She Wrote,
Poirot, and Columbo. Here's what I found out...

1. Columbo is a unique kind of murder show in that you KNOW who did it and how they did it...the entertainment comes from watching Colombo wear down the guilty parties. Not the same kind of mystery I was writing.

2. The Columbo's of the 80's and 90's are pale in comparison to the 70's Columbo's

3. Murder She Wrote and Poirot are closer to the kind of mystery that Billi was.

4. Good writing is good writing, whether it is for television, stage, or books.

And these shows are highly addictive, especially when done well. I'm a raging fan of MONK now!

Who was your greatest influence in the literary world as a child?

The first fantasy novel I ever read was THE SWORD OF SHANNARA by Terry Brooks, and that was my introduction to this genre. There are many fans of SF/F/H that have issues with Terry Brooks, and I think those folks need to lighten up. Brooks just took a variation on a theme and has become one of the biggest names in the industry, I got to meet Terry Brooks at a signing. He could not have been a nicer man, and that good nature comes through loud and clear in his memoirs, SOMETIMES THE MAGIC WORKS: Lessons from a Writing Life. To be where Brooks is in his career and have such a down-to-earth attitude is reassuring. Cool guy, Terry Brooks, and one hell of a writer!

Will any of the characters from stories penned as a youth make an appearance in future novels?

Hmmmm...well, unless I'm asked to write any Star Wars or Dungeons & Dragons tie-in's, no. Neither will my poetry (a majority of it for girlfriends) or my erotica (see earlier comment for girlfriends) ever see the light of day. I also will dare to say my cybersex transcripts will remain underground (Hey, I was single once...), but it wouldn't surprise me if--when I break that glass ceiling and make it big--my naughty e-mails suddenly wind up in PLAYBOY, PENTHOUSE...or WIRED Magazine.

Has the success of your novel Morevi – an Eppie finalist for Best Fantasy of 2003 – had an impact on your future works?

I don't think so, although I did get a lot of attention from my local newspapers when I was up for the EPPIE and THE COMPLETE GUIDE was up for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year.

I once read that awards stimulate interest and sales, and part of me believes that, to an extent. Then I think about some of my favorite books and authors. Terry Brooks has never won a Hugo. J.K. Rowling won a Hugo for GOBLET OF FIRE, her FOURTH Harry Potter. I've read some works that have been nothing short of incredible and never short listed for any awards, and I've read some books that have been winners...and for the life of me, I can't find out why! I don't write books for awards. I write books for people to read, enjoy, and come back for more. That's my intention anyway.

Does that mean I wouldn't WANT to win an award? Right now, The Fantasy Writer's Companion is up for an EPPIE, and is submitted to ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year award. BILLI's been submitted to ForeWord, The Shamus Award, The Compton Crook, and the Virginia Library award. While I don't write for awards, I wouldn't say no to one!

What would we find on your bookshelf?

Alongside Terry Brooks and J.K. Rowling, you'll also find Douglas Adams (no surprise there), Walter H. Hunt (author of THE DARK WING series), Tony Ruggiero (a good guy and terrific writer), and right now I'm reading Patricia Bray's Compton Crook winner, DEVLIN'S LUCK. I try to familiarize myself with works of authors I respect and meet often on my touring stops.

My non-fiction titles include books on history, in particular piracy, sailing ships, Al Capone, and books on Chinese mythology and culture. I also have books on Shakespeare and computer applications. I'm a Mac Geek and while I try and research what I'm writing, I also want to know as much as I can on the tools I'm using. I also enjoy really good memoirs. On the advice of MANY people from The Dragon Page, I'm giving Wil Wheaton's JUST A GEEK a read. I've heard nothing but good things about it, so I'm looking forward to the read.

Have any of your family and friends (or enemies *grin*) appeared in any of your books?

Currently, I'm working on LEGACY OF MOREVI, and in it is an ex-girlfriend of mine. This Ex and I are not only on speaking terms, we are good friends, and she was a huge fan of MOREVI. Well, when she sent me pictures of her from her belly dancing class, she inspired a character that just HAD to be part of Rafe's past and also instrumental in his present. I asked for permission first; and my Ex was so much fun to write for in LEGACY, I think this character will appear in future volumes. I've also got a few friends that sneak their way into my works, I admit it.

In BILLIBUB, I got to do something that was a heck of a lot of fun and it was for a good cause. At Crescent City Con in New Orleans, LA, I was asked to donate something to the charity auction. The charity was the Make-a-Wish Foundation. I was trying to think of something on the fly that would be fun and also get in a good chunk of change for Make-a-Wish. I then recalled Baen's David Weber auctioning off a bit role in his next Honor Harrington book for Astronomicon 2002's fund raiser. So I asked to take the mic and auction off a role in BILLIBUB BADDINGS. Now I know I'm no David Weber and I wouldn't be able to kick off at a high number, so I laid down the ground rules. For $10, the role would be a walk-on. If the bif reached or opened at $100, it would be a minor player with a scene, maybe two. If the bid reached or opened at $1000, I offered to re-write BILLI and make the winning bidder a major character. I asked for an opening bid, expecting $10. Im! agine my surprise when someone shouted out "$100." Within five bids, it became a bidding war! In the end, I raised $250 for Make-a-Wish. When I asked for the winner's name: Julie Lesinger. It was just too good of a name to let go for a minor character, and she herself had a nice "Noir Look" to her, so she wound up becoming a major player in BILLI.

As far as writing enemies in my books? No, never. They're not worth the ink.

What is your all time favorite movie?

I look at my DVD collection (always growing) and I'm trying to pick ONE all-time favorite movie...whew...I think it all depends on my mood. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN if I want to "get a little Captain in me" and have some fun, THE BOURNE IDENTITY if I really want to stay on the edge of the chair, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING if I'm feeling romantic, and when I'm in the mood for some edgy, dark humor I enjoy DR. STRANGELOVE...GOLDFINGER when I want my James Bond at its best!

I don't think I could pick just one movie...it's like picking a favorite CD to write to.

What did you to celebrate the sale of your first novel?

"The first sale"...well, okay, I sold my first book to my TaeKwonDo instructor; but I didn't really "count" it because it was to someone I knew. I counted the "first sale" as a sale to someone who I didn't know. The day after the box of books arrived, I was heading to Balticon 36 with the request from my publisher to "sell what you can."

I wound up selling out of the entire box (sixteen total) in three days.

The book launch was a few months later, and that was an event that Barnes & Noble of Manassas could not have been happier with. I was collaborating with The Noble Blades to make it an unforgettable night. (Again, here's where the theatre training comes in...) I showed up for my launch, dressed in my Rafe Rafton outfit, and in the middle of my opening remarks, pirates crashed my premiere and intended to take me in for crimes of piracy, illicit relations with the queen, and improper use of grammar. We had an incredible turnout and we sold quite a few copies of MOREVI that night.

For LEGACY, we are planning another launch like that, provided we have a Barnes & Noble with space to host it. Only this time, Rafe won't be taking on the bad guys alone...

Do you have any words of advice for new authors out there?

After you research your novel, clean it up, and get ready to ship it out to markets--big or small--research the market. Not the publishers in the business, but how the business works. Who are the distributors? How do booksellers operate? What kind of books are black-listed by the booksellers? What are advantages and disadvantages of big presses and small presses?

When I wanted to get MOREVI published, I invested into several books written by editors, agents, and publishers. I read about how things work. I talked to my local Barnes & Noble, set up a relationship with the management, and asked what it would take for Barnes & Noble to feature a book. I took my contact to a contract lawyer and asked for an opinion.

Yeah, it's really cool to be published...but it's a business. Try to find out as much as you can about it.

What is the most unusual question a fan has asked you?

"How does a good Southern Christian boy like you get into writing Science Fiction and Fantasy?"

No kidding.

Now, I do take my faith seriously...and nowhere in my faith does it say THOU SHALT NOT READ NOR WRITE THE FICTION OF SCIENCE OR THE FANTASY OF EPIC HEROES. Now if this was one of the five commandments that Moses dropped after descending from the mountain (see HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART I to know what I'm talking about...) then fine, but there's nothing in what I write that I don't stand behind. There is also no difference between my writing and my acting. I play characters that are the farthest thing from who I am and what I stand for, but that doesn't make them me. They are just characters. The fact I love my Science Fiction and Fantasy doesn't make me any less of a Christian, just a Christian who is a Science Fiction and Fantasy author.

And yes, I consider myself very blessed--VERY blessed--that I'm where I am in my career and in life, and where I'm headed.

Is there anything that you would like to add Tee?

Just that I'm entering into a new world that could be exciting territory for authors looking to promote their work: Podcasting. So, what exactly is Podcasting? Basically, it is Programming on Demand for Broadcasting...POD-Casting. What is involved is some recording equipment, some audio editing and audio mixing software, and the ability to host mp3 files on your website. Look up podcasting on any google search and you can find out how easy it is to do it.

So what does this have to do with me? With the help of The Dragon Page, I am recording and podcasting MOREVI in a serialized, abridged format. I will be the first author on Dragon Page to do an entire novel, a 22-week promotion that will lead up to the premiere of LEGACY OF MOREVI. You can find out more about this podcast on my website. (Comments and feedback on how I'm doing are welcome!) LEGACY will be debuting at Westercon 58 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the homebase operations of Dragon Moon Press.

And thank you to everyone at Fallen Angels Reviews. You all have raised the bar for me...MOREVI, THE FANTASY WRITER'S COMPANION, and BILLIBUB BADDINGS AND THE CASE OF THE SINGING SWORD were all given the distinction of Recommended Reads! So I'd better make sure that LEGACY is up to par. Hell hath no fury like a Fallen Angel scorned!

This has been a lot of fun. I hope your readers enjoy my work!

This was our brief glimpse into the life of Tee Morris.

Brief?! Wow...you should hear me when I REALLY talk!

For more information about appearances and books visit Tee’s website




Interviewed by:
Joletta