Tee Morris

Writer, podcaster. and streamer

Chuck Wendig

Being Kenneth Branagh: 11 Tips on Filming a Book Trailer (Part One)

With The Avengers topping the box office for the month of May, it’s easy to forget the long road paved for Joss Whedon. As I mentioned in a previous blog, this title was a real gamble for Marvel Studios as there has never been a film hyped for four years, using other films to — more or less — ride shotgun for each other, one film feeding into another to build up to this superhero epic. So with S.H.I.E.L.D. bringing it hard to the movies, it can be easy to overlook some of the previous milestones we’ve enjoyed.

If there is one guy I don’t want forgotten in this journey (apart from Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and the amazing storytellers that made all this awesome possible), it’s this guy…

Kenneth Branagh has been my hero for decades in many respects. He made Shakespeare cool. He was in his twenties an accomplished stage actor, but with films like Henry V, Hamlet, and Dead Again, he established himself as an accomplished screen actor as well. While British media found the project beneath him, Branagh made his own gamble, stepped up, and directed one of The Avengers’ cornerstone pieces — Thor. This film consequentially gave those critical haters back in Old Blighty 449.3 million reasons to suck it.

I’ll go on and say it: I have an extremely unhealthy (borderline obsessive) man crush on Kenneth Branagh. (Author Chuck Wendig coming in at a close second.) And right now, I’m getting a glimpse at what it’s like to be him.

As creepy-scary-stalker-boy as this sounds, track with me… [Read more…] about Being Kenneth Branagh: 11 Tips on Filming a Book Trailer (Part One)

New Fiction: Grimm, Once Upon a Time…and now — ME!

With the successful run of the first season of Tales from the Archives, Pip convinced me to take that step into being a self publisher. In this trip, I’ve been taking copious notes from other writers like Mur Lafferty, James Meltzer, and Chuck Wendig.

Today, I’m releasing out into the wild my first novella.

Aladdin and His Wonderfully Infernal Device

As I mentioned on The Shared Desk, Aladdin and His Wonderfully Infernal Device is an inspiration from a steampunk fairy tale anthology Pip is affiliated with. I went back to a few of the original translations of Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (quite a few of those, it turns out…) and then brought in a bit of steampunk for fun. Here’s the summary:

Aladdin is a street-wise thief that finds himself under the tutelage of a world-renown illusionist. He is escorted deep into the deserts in search of a treasure beyond his wildest dreams, and discovers instead something far more valuable—a destiny.

My first step into fiddling with fairy tales, and my first novella. It is now live and can be yours for a mere $1.99, exclusive for the Kindle! Have a read, leave a review, and tell a friend.

5 Things Indie Authors Should Consider when Pursuing a Career

Something I find absolutely fascinating in my first decade as a published author is the sheer amount of backpedalling I have seen authors make when it comes to self-publishing.

Oh. Wait. Independent publishing. Now, indie publishing includes self-publishing. Yeah. Ain’t that something?

When I took my first steps with Dragon Moon Press back in 2002, I also took hits from a few established authors online and in real time, turning to their colleagues and referring to me as a literary ambulance chaser. (No kidding. I collected some killer stories in my first year as an author.) Now, those same voices snubbing me at conventions and literary events are now swearing up and down to the masses that “Legacy Publishing is dead and the independent author shall vanquish the evil Gatekeepers! Take control of your writing career! Do it yourself!”

Yeah, taking control, doing it yourself, and “sticking it to the Gatekeepers” all sounds seductively intoxicating. Charlie Sheen did just that and referred to himself as an F-18. (That’s Comment #5 in the previous link.) Before you decide to go supersonic in your own path to being a writer, ask yourself one quick question: Have you ever sat in a cockpit of an F-18?

How about a Cessna?

My kid was invited into the cockpit of a Boing 747. Take a look… [Read more…] about 5 Things Indie Authors Should Consider when Pursuing a Career