Monday, September 1, 2008

Kevin Morrison


Author Pen Name: Kevin Morrison

CA: How did you choose your pen name?

KM: Actually, Crystal, my pen name and my real name are one in the same. Scary huh? I never thought of giving myself a pen name, when I became an author. I’ll reserve the creative names for my characters in my storytelling.

CA: What genre(s) do you write?

KM: My writing genre could be categorized in more than one way. Some could call it dark fantasy, while others could call it fantasy horror. It’s a blend of sword and sorcery and modern technology with the dark element mixed in. So, my writing could be incorporated in fantasy related events or horror related events.

Why do you write the stories that you write?

KM: Because I like to incorporate the horror element and action with magical things. For example, in my writing I have a vampire priest summoning demons from within a magical orb to attack armored knights defending a fortress. Another reason would be, because I haven’t seen this type of genre overdone or written too much.

CA: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

KM: After I got out of college my imagination was stimulated by the comics I read, the videogames I played, and the role-playing games I have tried. I started to wonder what I would like to incorporate in my own world of storytelling.

CA: Who or what was your inspiration for writing?

KM: After working part-time for a video store and getting frustrated by the many poor quality movies released on video, I started to wonder why such bad writing was getting produced. I began to ask myself again if I could possibly write something entertaining, if not better than what I was looking at. You could say that I was motivated by crap. It is a scary thing to challenge yourself sometimes. You never know what you will end up with. Most of the poor quality movies I was referring to happened to be horror movies. From that point on I decided to create my own mythology of horror in my own world. Since many origins of monsters have different depictions on them or rules, I decided to keep the rules I liked and reinvent the rest to bring a fresh look to a lot of the horror icons out there. The icons I am referring to that I have reinvented are vampires, werewolves, demons.

CA: What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

KM: It varies from day to day and week to week. Sometimes I will spend 20 minutes to write a dialogue sequence on paper and incorporate it into a story on computer later on depending on where it fits in. It really depends on how much story I have to work with. Some days I would spend only an hour or two writing on the computer. Other days with editing I could possibly spend two or more hours behind the computer screen. Of course it also depends on how much free time I have. So, let’s say my writing schedule varies from 20 minutes to 3 hours a day.

CA: Your book is about to be sent into the reader world, what is one word that describes how you feel?

KM: Excited!

CA: What was your biggest challenge in writing your book(s)?

KM: Telling the story in a descriptive format that the reader could see in my words. I had to figure out what my writing style was and how to keep my vision pure, even though I did take ideas from many sources. My storytelling is very visual, so there is a wealth of details for the reader to get through in order to appreciate my writing. So, the challenge lies with being satisfied with describing the characters, the layouts, and the action taking place in each chapter. Once that was done, all the chapters seemed to fall into place.

CA: What do you like to do when you're not writing?

KM: Drawing, playing videogames, watching movies, reading.

CA: How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

KM: To this date I have only written one novel that is published so far and I have plans to write a whole series of books that are related to my first one

The Accursed Realm: The Blood Gem (Published by PublishAmerica)
Currently, I am working on my second manuscript and plan to submit it to a publisher in the very near future.

I have also written a short story that is published in a horror anthology.

From the Shadows (Published by Triad Publishing Group)

CA: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

KM: I tend to base my characters from my imagination, after they have gone through a mental distilling process of birthing them out of ideas I have seen from many sources until I can call them my own.

CA: Do you have any advice for the aspiring writers out there?

KM: Keep a notepad with you at all times. You never know when a good idea will appear in your mind and the need to write it down before it fades away. Ideas are like water. If you don’t contain it, it will eventually evaporate.

Have fun with the process of writing the story and developing characters. Frustration of condensing the ideas on paper is part of being a writer.

Believe in the work you are doing and hang around others who will inspire your work and give you good advice.

CA: How can a reader contact you or purchase your books?

KM: I can be contacted through two sites:

www.myspace.com/accursedrealm or www.theaccursedrealm.com

My books can be purchased online from the publishers directly or through the major booksellers, such as Borders or Barnes and Nobles.

Join my friends list on myspace, if you have an account.

CA: Is there anything you would like to add?

KM: Thanks for the interview. I would also like to mention that I am also an artist. So, feel free to stop at my main website and check out my galleries. I welcome comments and don’t share or sell email addresses. Have a great day!
CA: HI Kevin, thanks for hanging out and sharing a little bit about yourself with the readers today!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

A fellow Vampire author...Interesting.

Must get connected with you and have you on the Radio show.

Anonymous said...

Kevin,
Great book my friend and great interview!!-TGReaper

Anonymous said...

"a vampire priest summoning demons from within a magical orb to attack armored knights defending a fortress" -- WOW. Absolutely, vividly, sensationally entrancing! I seriously have to read this book. And I loved how Mr Morrison was motivated by crap. :) That made me laugh.

Anonymous said...

I think we can expect a great deal more from Kevin Morrison. Knowing Kevin as a friend and fellow author, I highly recommend anything he creates. His writing is authentic and his imagination knows no bounds.

Zulmara said...

Dark fantasy or fantasy horror...wow...that has to be challenging to write...

Great interview...glad to see you are friends with Reaper...

ADELANTE~!!!

Zulmara