I'm Morgan Starr, an English author of LGBT fiction, poetry, and plays.
A resident on the South Coast of England, living and working in the town of Brighton, East Sussex.
I don't write full-time and I do have a day job, in the field of education, but increasingly, I hope to spend more and more time writing and publishing. I tend to write about personal situations which crash into society's sometimes narrow and ill-informed view of a gay man's world.
My first published story was, Hickory, Dickory, Dock it is a married man's coming out story. I have 8 titles on the shelf now, thanks to my collaboration with The Project, in the main, Alp, who edits for me, and Shannon, who designs my covers and does the QA on the manuscript and the formatting, and does all the tecky stuff for me. I couldn't be in better hands.
I got to know The Carter Seagrove Project through the LABELS film project, having approached Alp Mortal to ask him if I could collaborate on the screenplay. Not only did he say Yes! but it led to an invitation to join the label, and suddenly I found myself publishing my first story. I could have published the story myself but being part of a co-op with like-minded authors has a lot of benefits - especially the marketing effort, which gets shared amongst all of us.
I have had some incredible feedback on the stories thus far published. Three of them have been reviewed by Kazza at OnTopDownUnderReviews - follow this link to those - KAZZA's REVIEWS.
And Joey Makes Three became an All Romance Ebooks bestseller - I still can't believe it.
A number of people have asked me to start a blog but, to be honest, I don't have a lot to say on a regular basis. If that changes, I will start a blog. For now, updates will appear here.
I have also contributed a short story to the Project's Envelope Collection of #FREE stories - you can read it here - Envelope Collection
I am currently working on my 9th title. This second season of stories focuses on fatherhood and gay parenting.
INTERVIEW Q&A completed for B Tarn for a feature back in January 2016 for the Smashwords Authors Group on Goodreads.
Where do you live and write from?
I live in Brighton, East Sussex, and I write from my flat that has a view of the sea - a view that I would not trade for a guaranteed best-seller.
Why do you write?
Writing for me is more of an academic process than a soul-searching or even a purely artistic pursuit. I’m very much a ‘what if’ scenario based author. I suppose I also write to exorcise my ‘coming out’ demons.
When did you start writing?
I started writing years ago but only recently did I begin to look at publishing my work. And that came about through contacting the Project, specifically Alp Mortal, to ask him if I could contribute to the screenplay for the Labels’ film project. That earned me both an invitation to contribute to the screenplay and an offer to publish my work under the Project’s creative umbrella.
What genre(s) do you write?
So far, I have written what might be considered as contemporary LGBT fiction - I would not strictly say that the stories thus far published are male romances - though they include a romance. I can well imagine writing in other genres, particularly Sci-Fi.
What does your writing routine consist of?
A rather manic process that has to fit in to work, study, travelling and reading. Generally, the stories are written quickly and then I like to leave them to fester for a good long while before picking them back up and reviewing them, although they barely change that much.
What do you feel are your strengths as a writer? How have you developed these qualities?
I prefer to write dialogue and that is probably where my strength lies if I have one. In all honesty, I would only write screenplays if I had my way but that is a hiding to nothing. If you think it’s hard to sell books, try getting directors to read screenplays.
Where do you find your inspiration?
The exorcism of personal pain - largely that which is felt at the collision of society’s and my world view of what it is to be a gay man. I am also inspired by love. My greatest literary inspiration is Emile Zola.
Do you put yourself in your stories?
Always!
Outliner or improviser? Fast or slow writer?
Fast and undisciplined, but painstakingly thorough at the review stage. And I have to thank my colleagues at the Project for assisting me in that regard.
Indie publishing or traditional publishing - and why?
Indie, because the indie community is so supportive of other indie authors and I retain near total control of my story, in fact, the whole process. I also doubt if a traditional publisher could tolerate my tardiness. I am not a career author so indie makes sense because I already have serious deadlines pressures in my work life and I don’t really need any more.
Any other projects in the pipeline?
Scores of manuscripts litter - literally - the study. The fact that there are 6 now on the shelf is not short of a miracle!
What is your goal as a writer and what are you doing to achieve it?
I have no specific goals beyond always producing the best work that I am capable of, and writing an Oscar winning screenplay. The gulf between the one and the other is what keeps me working hard.
What is the best piece of writing advice you've ever been given?
Don’t think of what you are doing as writing.
Morgan
May 2016
A resident on the South Coast of England, living and working in the town of Brighton, East Sussex.
I don't write full-time and I do have a day job, in the field of education, but increasingly, I hope to spend more and more time writing and publishing. I tend to write about personal situations which crash into society's sometimes narrow and ill-informed view of a gay man's world.
My first published story was, Hickory, Dickory, Dock it is a married man's coming out story. I have 8 titles on the shelf now, thanks to my collaboration with The Project, in the main, Alp, who edits for me, and Shannon, who designs my covers and does the QA on the manuscript and the formatting, and does all the tecky stuff for me. I couldn't be in better hands.
I got to know The Carter Seagrove Project through the LABELS film project, having approached Alp Mortal to ask him if I could collaborate on the screenplay. Not only did he say Yes! but it led to an invitation to join the label, and suddenly I found myself publishing my first story. I could have published the story myself but being part of a co-op with like-minded authors has a lot of benefits - especially the marketing effort, which gets shared amongst all of us.
I have had some incredible feedback on the stories thus far published. Three of them have been reviewed by Kazza at OnTopDownUnderReviews - follow this link to those - KAZZA's REVIEWS.
And Joey Makes Three became an All Romance Ebooks bestseller - I still can't believe it.
A number of people have asked me to start a blog but, to be honest, I don't have a lot to say on a regular basis. If that changes, I will start a blog. For now, updates will appear here.
I have also contributed a short story to the Project's Envelope Collection of #FREE stories - you can read it here - Envelope Collection
I am currently working on my 9th title. This second season of stories focuses on fatherhood and gay parenting.
INTERVIEW Q&A completed for B Tarn for a feature back in January 2016 for the Smashwords Authors Group on Goodreads.
Where do you live and write from?
I live in Brighton, East Sussex, and I write from my flat that has a view of the sea - a view that I would not trade for a guaranteed best-seller.
Why do you write?
Writing for me is more of an academic process than a soul-searching or even a purely artistic pursuit. I’m very much a ‘what if’ scenario based author. I suppose I also write to exorcise my ‘coming out’ demons.
When did you start writing?
I started writing years ago but only recently did I begin to look at publishing my work. And that came about through contacting the Project, specifically Alp Mortal, to ask him if I could contribute to the screenplay for the Labels’ film project. That earned me both an invitation to contribute to the screenplay and an offer to publish my work under the Project’s creative umbrella.
What genre(s) do you write?
So far, I have written what might be considered as contemporary LGBT fiction - I would not strictly say that the stories thus far published are male romances - though they include a romance. I can well imagine writing in other genres, particularly Sci-Fi.
What does your writing routine consist of?
A rather manic process that has to fit in to work, study, travelling and reading. Generally, the stories are written quickly and then I like to leave them to fester for a good long while before picking them back up and reviewing them, although they barely change that much.
What do you feel are your strengths as a writer? How have you developed these qualities?
I prefer to write dialogue and that is probably where my strength lies if I have one. In all honesty, I would only write screenplays if I had my way but that is a hiding to nothing. If you think it’s hard to sell books, try getting directors to read screenplays.
Where do you find your inspiration?
The exorcism of personal pain - largely that which is felt at the collision of society’s and my world view of what it is to be a gay man. I am also inspired by love. My greatest literary inspiration is Emile Zola.
Do you put yourself in your stories?
Always!
Outliner or improviser? Fast or slow writer?
Fast and undisciplined, but painstakingly thorough at the review stage. And I have to thank my colleagues at the Project for assisting me in that regard.
Indie publishing or traditional publishing - and why?
Indie, because the indie community is so supportive of other indie authors and I retain near total control of my story, in fact, the whole process. I also doubt if a traditional publisher could tolerate my tardiness. I am not a career author so indie makes sense because I already have serious deadlines pressures in my work life and I don’t really need any more.
Any other projects in the pipeline?
Scores of manuscripts litter - literally - the study. The fact that there are 6 now on the shelf is not short of a miracle!
What is your goal as a writer and what are you doing to achieve it?
I have no specific goals beyond always producing the best work that I am capable of, and writing an Oscar winning screenplay. The gulf between the one and the other is what keeps me working hard.
What is the best piece of writing advice you've ever been given?
Don’t think of what you are doing as writing.
Morgan
May 2016