Blog Feed

Q1. Hello Ma’am, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.

I’m Nevmah Morris, I was born in Walsall, UK in 1981. I have 5 boisterous brothers and we lived in Staffordshire during our childhood years. During our teenage years we lived in the West Midlands. I moved to North Wales in 2000.
North Wales, UK, is indeed a beautiful part of the world to live in and a wonderful place to raise children so needless to say I still reside in Wales.
I was a Primary School teacher for 13 years until joining my husband in our family business as Funeral Directors. I am also a children’s book author and writing stories about precious moments is my favourite pastime.
My husband and I are raising 5 beautiful daughters. They are my purpose, my reason for all that I do. To be a role model to them to show them that not only can you be a wife, mother, go to work, but that it’s important to maintain your own identity and not be too busy to lose my own interests and hobbies whilst taking care of many other people. Writing stories is time for ‘me’.
I’ve thought about publishing my stories for many years. After being diagnosed with breast cancer and surviving I realised that tomorrow is not promised to anyone, we are only given today. So why wait? Take one step towards your goal each day to make it happen. I began writing my first book ‘My Daughter Believes’ and have a mind full of stories ready to tell the world.

Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Post Office Travels’ book?

Talkers can talk and writers can write. I guess I was conscious of the word count and to keep it suitable for the age range I had intended it for without it becoming too lengthy. It was a challenge to condense the content and proved to me that it is much easier to write more than less!

Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

As a child I could transport to another world through the writings of Enid Blyton, it was the closest to magic a child could get. Creating a book that can stretch a child’s imagination beyond anything they could ever experience is key. I also love the childlike simplicity and innocence that Beatrix Potter can bring to stories. With both of these authors it is quite something to be able to master completely fictional places and characters and make them so incredibly real and normal to a child.

Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

Wales is an idyllic place to live. It is difficult to pick one spot. My children and I have created many stories and games in a tranquil woodland, reaching the heights of a hill or mountainside to have a picnic with a view or building a boat out of sand whilst listening to the sound of the ocean.

Q5. Is there lots to do before you dive in and start writing a book?

I ‘think’. I can spend days, months and years bringing a story to life in my mind. I write the plot, create characters and a purpose for the writing all in my head before I even put pen to paper. I plan a whole story then once it’s finished in my head the writing it down is the easy bit.

Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘My Daughter Believes’ book?

My Daughter Believes is a collection of childhood memories based on my own daughter Kya. As she grew up there were so many beautiful moments that I wanted to bottle up and keep treasured forever so over the years I would write them down on little pieces of paper and keep them in a drawer. In 2018 I was diagnosed with breast cancer which encouraged me to then do something about ‘those little pieces of paper’ and in 2019 I wrote my book My Daughter Believes. This book is dedicated to Kya and I intend to write and dedicate a book to each of my children.

Q7. On what platforms can readers find your books to buy?

My children’s books – My Daughter Believes and Post Office Travels – are available to purchase on Amazon and via my website http://www.nevmahmorris.co.uk.

Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the cover and the title of your books?

My Daughter Believes is about all the childhood memories with my own daughter. Kya believed in everything – from fairies, midnight dances, the magic of Christmas to friendship, kindness, helping others. I hope her wonder of believing stays with her long into adulthood.
Post Office Travels was about my own travel and experiences to many places and countries. I wanted to record these experiences and share them with children in a story book. Using the Post Office, as a place of work in my book, enabled each reader to ‘travel’. One can travel anywhere in the world they need only take their imagination.

Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

I focus my writing on the ‘present day’ and noting new things that come to light during conversations with others or observations of behaviours resulting from present day experiences. Hence I then work with new thoughts and ideas without the need to revisit old matters/ topics.

Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?

Plenty  My second book Post Office Travels is dedicated to one of my twin daughters Tien Rose. Tien helped me to create lots of fun seek and find items within the book. Tien loves interactive books so the last page calls for all ‘little explorers’ to go off and find things throughout the story. The name written on the boat, when the character is in Greece, is called the Tien Rose.

My Daughter Believes has many subtle references to our family too. For example, the characters that appear in the story are our 5 daughters, our family dog is illustrated on certain pages, the teddies on the little girls’ bed are drawings of Kya’s own stuffed toys, the name of the fairy is what Kya called her childhood imaginative fairy, one page is an illustration of a field by our house, the car number plate are our own private plates, we have a family tradition of the girls taking it in turns to put the star on the Christmas Tree each year which is exampled on one of the pages and Kya’s name means ‘diamond in the sky’ which is again illustrated on a page.
It’s been lovely that my girls have joined me in the writing, illustrating and publishing process to help create wonderful stories for children.

Author’s Profile

Books Are Available On Amazon

My Daughter Believes

Post Office Travels

Book: Melik Nightcat And The Elven Prince: The Key Of Brundag

Q1. Hello Sir, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.

I served in the military, have a Juris Doctorate, and am wrapping up a thirty-year career as a Criminal Intelligence Analyst with the State Police. I’m married to a wonderful woman, have a grown daughter and a dog named Biscuit.
I grew up on the banks of the Mississippi with its wetlands and tributaries as my playground. For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved books. My earliest memories are of my dad reading the newspaper to me. Later my grandmother regularly gave me a quarter to purchase a comic book and candy bar at the Five and Dime. My comic book collection has grown to over 10,000!

Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Melik Nightcat And The Elven Prince: The Key Of Brundag’ book?

The first big challenge was believing I could write a book worth reading. I’m very critical of my work. My first attempts were when I was twenty. All were rejected, and rightly so. Forty years later, with a lifetime of experience, I was finally ready.

Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your writing?

Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs influenced my physical description of action. J.R. Tolkien, Ann McCaffery, Andre Norton influenced my world vision. Stephen King spoke to me on character development. A fantasy author who combines all of this that I enjoy today is Jim Butcher and his “Dresden Files.”

Q4. What’s your favorite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

I love to visit the beach and watch the ocean play at its edge. It is so relaxing, and it seems to wash away all concerns. I feel like I’m in a dream, and my imagination is free. Some of my earliest books were about ships of war during the revolutionary war and, of course, pirate ships in the Caribbean.

Q5. Are there lots to do before you dive in and start writing a book?

Not really. When I’m not on task with something, my mind tends to wander, and I’m musing over bits and pieces of stories of various kinds. It all just bounces about in my head, so when I sit down to write, all I need to do is put it in words.

Q6. How long did it take you to write the ‘Melik Nightcat And The Elven Prince’ book?

It took about a year to write the book. I was working full time and spending time with family. I set myself a goal of writing five pages a week, and eventually, the book was finished. It is how I approach any big task, one step at a time until you reach the end.

Q7. On what all platforms can readers find ‘Melik Nightcat And The Elven Prince’ book to buy?

You can purchase a paperback or Kindle version through Amazon. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited. If you live in the Peoria, IL area, you can buy a signed copy from Bob at Acme Comics on Glen street. It has been my favorite store for the past thirty years.

Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Melik Nightcat And The Elven Prince’?

The title describes the entire story perfectly. Melik and the Elven Prince must work out their differences to stop a civil war. It is their quest to succeed or fail.
The book cover is the product of being married to a talented and popular artist. I have made friends with some of the most wonderful artists because of it. Jeremy Berkley, an amazing screen-printer, agreed to create the covers for all three of the books in my series. I showed him some examples of book covers I liked, and the creative genius that is Jeremy came up with several possibilities from which I chose two. The one you see on the first book and another for the second book.
Of course, having the art and turning it into a book cover is something else. Here I turned to Chelsie Tamms of “Letteringworks.” She put it into a proper format and lettered the title.

Q9. When writing a book, how do you keep things fresh for both your readers and also yourself?

I want my world to seem like a real place. Even though it is all made up and full of magic, I want the reader to believe the place might have existed. I love the challenge of working out how certain magics would affect day-to-day life or why only a few use magic. It sets boundaries within which I create, and my writing thrives as restrictions become apparent.
For the reader, I like to take the expected and push it into the grey. I don’t want to take familiar tropes and make them unrecognizable but change them subtly to give them a new look.
I also like to foreshadow. For the discerning reader who wants to figure out where the story is heading, I like to leave breadcrumbs. There is always a reason why I put something in the story. When the unexpected happens, the reader can think back to an earlier part and understand where it came from.

Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb) you can share with your readers?

In college, I was both a player and game master of dungeons and dragons. There are quite a few nods to the game if you’re paying attention.

Author’s Profile

Book Is Available On Amazon

Melik Nightcat And The Elven Prince: The Key Of Brundag