It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a…fez? This dashing hero is well-known wherever he goes in the convention/local author circuit. This is where I first met Brian. You can hear his joyous laughter wherever you are in the room. His brightly colored attire shines almost as much as his dazzling charm, and you just feel great being around him. Mr. Morris cracks me up and is one of the most special, supportive, fun, and hard working gentlemen I know. He makes me smile and inspires me. I love being on his shows and seeing him, so that is why I am thrilled I get to highlight him and his amazingness this time around! So please enjoy getting to know the stylish, fabulous, sharp, and dashing the one and only Mr. Brian Morris! Let’s follow the red fez on a rocking ride! 🙂
Author to Author Q and A:
1. Where did you grow up? Did your childhood have any impact on your writing?- I was born in Danville, Illinois where Dick & Jerry Van Dyke, Gene Hackman, Donald O’Connor were born and raised, but I spent most of my early years in a smaller community about ten miles south of there named Georgetown. At the time, my school system had some wonderful teachers that encouraged creativity and learning. I had a few, though, who didn’t and I think I became creative to spite them more than anything. Same with my father who didn’t exactly care for my more free-spirited nature.
My mother, on the other hand, planned to become a fashion designer until she became a housewife. But she taught me to read at an early age, encouraged me to read and to draw, and cheered me on in my creative journey. One of these days, I’m going to a publisher some short stories she wrote long ago.
2. Tell us about the first story you ever wrote, published or not?- I recall writing a story when I was eight years ago. I can’t recall what it was, probably something boring like my summer vacation or somesuch, but it was printed in our local weekly newspaper. I think that was my first fleeting taste of celebrity. I think I’m still trying to get that back. I think my next escapade was creating my own comic books. At the time, the BATMAN TV show was all the rage and I ate two @!#$!@ boxes of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran to get a set of Batman and Robin stamps and ink pad. I used those to create my own Caped Crusader adventures. My mom thought they were great and before you ask, I still like Raisin Bran to this day.
3. What are you currently working on, writing-wise?- I’m doing some short stories for some friends of mine. I just finished the first draft of what I call my First Draft Flash Novel, one I wrote without any outline to guide me. I’m publishing that first draft through my Patreon account (www.patreon.com/briankmorris) and will edit it into a book form by the end of the year. I’m also working on a Fantasy Romance novel called Aquatic: Love Above the Waves as well as a sequel to my 2015 release, Vulcana: Rebirth of the Champion, and an anthology I’m editing about a character I call Doc Saga, an ageless Shaman.
4. What is your favorite character you have ever created and why?- That’s tough…I think I lean towards Vulcana because she’s tough, smart, sassy, and self-motivated. Doc Saga is a close second because I can tell ANY kind of story through him.
5. Do you have to write in order or do your ideas just come to you and you put them in order later?- I generally start with a peculiar idea–you know me so this shouldn’t surprise you– and see if I can form it into an elevator pitch of a couple of sentences. Then I expand on it after coming up with a tentative ending. At this point, I’m introducing characters and plot twists to carry the story towards that end, which often changes before I begin writing…and sometimes after I start. But I have a slew of ideas that I hope I live long enough to flesh out. I write them down whenever they come to me.
6. What was your path like until you found writing?- Before I found writing, I was distressingly aimless with little idea of what I wanted to do with my life. Once I realized I could get paid for coming up with my odd stories, it became my dream to be a full-time author.
7. How is your relationship with your publishing company?- Since I’m mostly self-published, my relationship with my publisher is unsurprisingly good. I’m also a hybrid author and I love working with other publishers. I also learn so much from them that I can apply to my own business efforts.
8. Tell us about your covers.- I have only designed one cover, the first edition of my short book, Conflict: A Study In Heroic Contrasts. That’s why my wife re-did it. It’s hideous. She also created the cover for Amazon Book Reviews Made Less Impossible, my only non-fiction offering. I have some amazing covers by my dear friend Trevor Erick Hawkins, an Atlanta-based fine artist. He did Santastein, The Haunting Scripts of Bachelors Grove, Vulcana: Rebirth of the Champion, and art directed The Original Skyman Battles the Master of Steam. I have some great covers in the works from such tremendous talents such as Kim Lockman, Jeffrey Hayes, and Matthew Jackson that I can’t wait to write the books to go behind them.
9. What inspires you to write?- My inspiration comes from the joy of creating stories. I love telling jokes and entertaining people with what I make up. I also like conveying information through fiction, sometimes applying a fictional framework to telling true stories.
10. How do you get book reviews?- Slowly and with extreme difficulty. Of all the aspects of what I do, getting reviews is the most difficult thing to get from my audience. If my readers knew how much their reviews help me in terms of searchability and the Amazon/Google algorithms, I hope they’d be more eager to write those reviews. They don’t have to be fancy or flowery. They just have to be honest and I can take criticism.
11. What is harder: writing, editing, or marketing?- Editing is really hard for me. I’m anal and meticulous but must fight against the ennui that builds with reading your own words over and over again. Marketing isn’t too hard for me, now that I have more understanding of how important that is to a writing career. The act of writing itself is a pleasure, one I don’t get to indulge as much because of the other two jobs.
12. If you could publish every book idea you’ve ever had, how many books would you have out right now?- I’d probably have another hundred novels in the marketplace if we just limited this to GOOD ideas. If it was every idea, I’d be burned at the stake because not all ideas are good, nor should they escape the dark recesses of my psyche.
13. Have you ever considered co-writing a book or series with another author?- I have genuinely considered a collaboration or two, but it’s never happened yet. I’m not ruling it out, though. However, most of the writers I’d welcome working with are too busy doing their own thing too.
14. What do you do to relax?- Relax? What’s that? Oh, an old Frankie Goes To Hollywood song, right? Seriously, I watch YouTube videos, read books, collect comics, and study road maps. This is why I’m never bored and rarely lost.
15. If you could tell your 14-year-old self one thing, what would it be?- Get out of your own head and never let anyone tell you that getting published is beyond you.
16. What advice would you have for this upcoming generation?- Always be eager to learn new things because the past always has something to teach you and the writing/publishing field will change faster than you realize. Be flexible and always treat your community with kindness.
17. Have you ever read a book that changed your outlook on life?- Two books did that. I read Conscience of a Conservative, the autobiography of the last Arizona Senator and former Presidential Candidate, Barry Goldwater. I was a 60s Liberal at the time, but was amazed at how Mr. Goldwater’s right-wing views meshed with mine. It taught me that despite our labels, we can find common intellectual grounds. The second was Human Scale by Kirkpatrick Sale. Its theme was bigger was not always better so it’s frequently more helpful to think on a micro, rather than a macro level.
18. Do you have a classic piece of literature or a classic author you are fond of? How about one that is overrated?- My first “grown-up” novel was Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I read it in third grade due to my fondness for movie and TV monster films. As I grew older, I felt it spoke of not fitting in and the consequences of not applying a conscience to one’s actions as well as how hate can make a monster of us all. Overrated? Wow…that’s a tough one. I think War and Peace. I found that one a tough read because it used a lot of florid languages to not say a whole lot, at least not when I tried reading it in my teens.
19. Any type of music that gets your writing juices flowing?- I love songs with either challenging lyrics or musical progressions. I get a lot of inspiration from The Beatles, Ultravox, Todd Rundgren and Utopia, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, The Monkees, Squeeze, Kinky Friedman, The Guess Who, and Harry Chapin. I really like almost any sort of music but gangsta rap or opera.
20. If you could pick three people who are your heroes or role models, who would they be and why?- My early role models were Superman, Bugs Bunny, and Todd Rundgren. I learned honesty, rebelliousness, integrity, and to always challenge yourself from them.
21. Dog or cat person?- Either…I like other people’s pets, mostly. I can barely take care of myself, most days.
22. What do you want to eat right now?- I can eat pizza almost any time of day, and have.
23. If you could be in any movie that has already been made, which one would it be?- I love The Rocketeer. It reflects my love of the old pulp and golden age comic book magazines. Square-jawed heroes, beautiful heroines, quirky sidekicks, and dastardly villains. Who could want more?
24. What is your favorite holiday or time of year?- I like Halloween. It’s creative, kinda chilly, a beautiful time of year.
25. Anything else you would like to add?- Always help others with an unselfish heart and watch the blessings come back to you. The best way to pay someone back for their unselfish kindness is to pay it forwards.
BIO:
Brian K. Morris is an independent publisher, full-time hybrid author, “award-winning” playwright, Facebook Famous YouTuber, and former morticians assistant. His books have sold on three continents and he’s a prolific author of New Pulp Adventure, Horror, Humor, and various pop culture articles for a variety of magazines such as BACK ISSUE Magazine, Hogan’s Alley, RetroFan Magazine, and Knights of the Dinner Table.
He’s also a popular broadcaster, doing three shows a week; creative conversation on NEVERMIND THE FURTHERMORE (M, W, F at 10 a.m. EST), creator interviews on CLEVER TITLE PENDING (Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST) and comic book commentary on COMIC BOOK SPECTRUM (Thursdays at 7 p.m. EST) on the Rising Tide Broadcast Network on YouTube and Facebook.
Brian lives in Central Indiana with his wife, no children, no pets, and too many comic books.
Links:
Rising Tide Publication’s website:
Brian K. Morris’ Amazon Author Profile:
To see recent episodes of Nevermind the Furthermore, Comic Book Spectrum, and Clever Title Pending (please SUBSCRIBE and LIKE these videos): Youtube Channel
