Tee Morris

Writer, podcaster. and streamer

Rants, Opinions, and Overall Observations

Tales from a Shock Jockey: Making EV Courtesy a Common Courtesy

Back in March, Pip and I pulled into the Omni Hotel of Richmond, Virginia for 48 hours of awesome with the James River Writers. I had no doubt we were going to get star treatment from the writing group, and also from the hotel. We have stayed at the Omni of Richmond before and it is a terrific hotel. What happened after I handed over Sterling’s fob, though, made the Omni my favorite hotel in Richmond:

Valet: “I see, Mr. Morris, that you drive a Volt. Would you care to have us plug it in to our charger for you?”

Me: “Why, yes, yes I would!”

Unbeknownst to me, the Omni Hotel had a Level 2 (240v) charger on the property and were offering it to me as a guest. It was a delight to get offered that little perk. An unexpected reward for driving green. [Read more…] about Tales from a Shock Jockey: Making EV Courtesy a Common Courtesy

Hybrid Authors: The Best of Both Worlds

Depending on who you talk to, stepping into the publishing industry today is something akin to tap dancing in a mine field. There are the seasoned veterans who are struggling along with some publishers against changing technologies and market demands. Meanwhile, the independently published continue to rattle their sabers and proclaim without question “Our way is the only way!” in an militant fashion frighteningly similar to the traditionally published authors of less than a decade ago.

TWS_hybrid

As for myself, I have seen this “Us Vs. Them” nonsense back when “Social Media” was referred to as “New Media” and the ambitious creators behind this bold, cutting edge content were aiming to topple Old Media. I remember these days well as Apple had just opened the door to podcasters and it looked like these mavericks of media were going to fulfill their self-proclaimed prophecy as the featured podcasts were all people I knew, all shows either on my iPod or in my listening cue.

Within a year, the Featured Podcasts on iTunes were HBO, Discovery Channel, ESPN, and Oprah Winfrey. Oh, and those mavericks were either working for Old Media or contracting with them.

I look at what is happening now in publishing and think “Good Lord, here we go again.” [Read more…] about Hybrid Authors: The Best of Both Worlds

Glyn Jones: A Man for All Seasons

 

glyn_jonesThis is Glyn Jones. There’s a chance, unless you were at theatre student at James Madison University between 1988 and 1989, or active in theatre circles of England, you don’t know who he is…

…but if you’re reading this blog, you all have met him.

My first meeting with Glyn was in my Freshman Year at JMU. I was acting opposite of him in Molliere’s The Imaginary Invalid. I made a memorable impression by tripping over his chair, and practically falling on top of him. This was the beginning of a friendship where, much to my loss, I fell out of touch, even though we reconnected on Facebook. (Not really the “reconnection” I hoped for, but it was good to see those updates.) I failed in emails and phone calls, but Glyn’s name came up often in my conversations, especially when I talk about my days in the theatre. [Read more…] about Glyn Jones: A Man for All Seasons

The End of a Beautiful Friendship: Lessons Learned from a Kickstarter

BB1_front_Aug108_wallWhat a ride! Over $11,500 raised, reaching 77% of the Billi Kickstarter. I even had three $500 backers and one $1000 backer.

Wow! Just… wow! Above and beyond what I expected.

Before people start pounding my Comments with all the things I did wrong, it might be better if I just share some popular thoughts people have already shared on this Kickstarter. It may seem hard to believe, but there was a plan here. Now is a good time and place to review the strategy behind what I did, how I did it, and why I’m okay with the way how all this played out over the weekend. [Read more…] about The End of a Beautiful Friendship: Lessons Learned from a Kickstarter

Much Ado About Nothing: The Brouhaha over #AmtrakResidency’s Terms of Service

bildeYou may have heard, if you’re friends with writers, that Amtrak, inspired by an exchange on Twitter, has come up with a really cool program called #AmtrakResidency where writers can catch a cross-country train (with Amtrak picking up the fare) and trek across the states while working on their next big novel. Truth be told, there is something very cool about writing while on a train. The world is your television, and seeing the country rush by you—given the atmosphere of riding the train across our majestic landscape—is nothing short of inspiring.

No, “rush by” is not the right description. From the window of your Amtrak observation desk or sleeper car, a cross-country odyssey unfolds all around you.

It all sound very poetic, which is why some crusaders of truth, justice, and “Your Content is YOURS” did a massive deep-dive into the terms of the #AmtrakResidency Program and  speculate there is trouble at mill when it comes to your content. Nuzzled within the terms of giving you, the author, free train fare in exchange for this opportunity to write, Amtrak reserves “the absolute, worldwide, and irrevocable right to use, modify, publish, publicly display, distribute, and copy the name, image, and/or likeness of Applicant and the names of any such persons identified in the Application for any purpose, including, but not limited to, advertising and marketing. (taken from #6. Grant of Rights of #AmtrakResidency Program)”

This sent some in the writing community into a right tizzy. New York Times Bestseller Diane Duanne warns on her blog “Never sell anyone world rights to any of your writing. Ever. Ever. Because who knows if that one piece of writing is the one that would have made you famous worldwide and rich beyond the dreams of avarice? Or more to the point, what if they later do something with your writing that is absolutely opposite to your intentions and which you find harmful or offensive? You’d have no recourse there either.”

She used bold AND italics. Wow. This must be serious. [Read more…] about Much Ado About Nothing: The Brouhaha over #AmtrakResidency’s Terms of Service

Post Mortem: Closing the Case on True Detective

true-detectiveFirst, if you think there will be spoilers here, this will be as close to a spoiler-free review as I can manage. There will be a few series insights on the series and its characters on a whole, but no major spoilers. You can still watch the finale and be amazed.

Second, if you are looking for a trashing or thrashing of this series, you have found the wrong review. Last night, the finest writing to ever grace television concluded and I was left in awe.

Welcome to my post-mortem of True Detective.

[Read more…] about Post Mortem: Closing the Case on True Detective