About Author
About Author
Sometimes the voices
in my head have to
come out
My whole life has been about making a difference. Now, I left the corporate world behind and chose to focus on the next Act of my life: novelist. In my previous Acts, I have always been a writer. As a child, teenager, and young adult, I wrote short stories, poetry, novellas, and novels. As an adult, I’ve worked in politics (began my career at the White House), as a journalist, then in the corporate world….
Writing novels has always been my intention, but out of necessity I had to put that on hold. My late husband, a musician from Dublin, Ireland, and I had triplets. He then was diagnosed with a brain tumor when they were three, where the man with whom I fell in love disappeared over a long decade. I was the sole support of our family and his medical bills, and my career required global travel. But during that time, I kept running through all the stories in my head and the new ones forming with characters and situations I encountered around the world and close to home. This is now the next act of my life.
I’ve traveled the world both for work and pleasure. All have given me the opportunity to collect stories, meet characters, experience different cultures. Now the stories – the voices in my head – cannot be contained and I’m writing books…many books.
Biography
Michelle S. Morris
Growing up in a small town in northern Michigan, I knew I would be a writer from the time I declared my choice at seven years old. Fulfilling that promise to myself, I have been a professional writer my entire career, creating all manner of stories, from speeches, news, and issues pieces to features, videos, and executive communiques. My career allowed me to traverse the world, and mine is a lifetime spent accumulating experiences and their byproduct – a wealth of knowledge, scars, angst, and stories. From my first position at the White House and in national and state politics, to time spent as a journalist, and finally in the corporate world, I have focused on the stories.
Specializing in the art of leadership, the power of ideas, and the words to express those ideas, I have advised and written for political figures, CEOs, and heads of major corporations in several industries, where my focus was to influence and have a positive impact. I served as a speech writer and ghost writer, developing the unique voice of the leader, and conceived and implemented strategic plans meant to advance businesses and connect leaders to the people who walk with them. I handled global crisis communications, internal communications (including writing a book on the power of strategic internal communications called The Power Within), public relations, public affairs, and reputation and image management.
A storyteller driven by characters, whether novels, short stories, speeches, articles, or profiles, the narratives come through. Providing a glimpse into motivation, inspiration, and the power of resilience and connection, every story and character provide purpose and sometimes even healing. And perhaps the real lesson learned is that it is all about the amazing journey.
I have a bachelor’s degree in English and Political Science from Albion College, as well as a concentration in Public Service from the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Public Service at Albion and spent a year abroad studying at the University of Sussex in England. Most of my adult life I have lived on both coasts – East Coast from Washington, DC, to New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, and the West Coast for a few years in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have a close-knit family – both blood and chosen.
My late husband was an Irish musician from Dublin, Ireland, and we have triplets I adore but who frustrate me as a competitive sport. I enjoy travel, reading, sailing, good conversation, cooking, the lyrics in good music, and finding inspiration in the landscape, people, and world around me. The nomad I seem to be, I travel back and forth between Northern Michigan and Southeastern Connecticut, with a side of western Montana when I can.
Interview With The Author
Q: What type of books do you write?
Michelle : I write books with heart that I hope take readers to another place in their minds for a time and lessen the stress and trials of real life. My books are about connecting, whether emotionally, with the plot, or the characters. So, do I write Women’s Fiction? Commercial Fiction? Suspense? Mystery? Yes, to all – I bring the stories to life that reside in my head.
Q: Is there a common thread through what you write?
Michelle : Strong women (and when that strength falters) play a big part in what I write, and sometimes the men and women who stand beside them. Multi-generational family, both blood and chosen, feature in much of what I write. And there is an element of suspense and mystery. Timely and timeless issues often make an appearance. Regardless of what happens, you should always feel an uplift and hope. Resilience is an incredible thing and realizing you have it changes the game we call life.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration?
Michelle : Inspiration comes from all sorts of different places. Sometimes a word or a phrase in a normal everyday conversation will set the synapses firing in my brain and I can see an entire theme bringing those words to life. Other times it’s a particular person or a news story. But sometimes it’s when I’m sitting in the quiet of the forest or staring at a lake or the ocean or being awed by the grandeur of the mountains, or, in contrast, standing by myself on a busy city street watching the beautiful diversity in front of my eyes walk by, my mind takes on a life of its own and the basis of a story appears in my head. It feels like coming home to a warm embrace.
Q: Do you have a favorite author?
Michelle : F. Scott Fitzgerald and Earnest Hemingway share that spot.
Q: What is your favorite book?
Michelle : My all-time favorite is The Great Gatsby.
Q: Do you have a favorite food? Cuisine?
Michelle : Favorite food has to be pepperoni pizza with extra sauce. Favorite cuisine is French. I know, I know, two totally different things. But variety is the spice of life …
Q: What is your favorite beverage of choice?
Michelle : I used to be addicted to diet Coke – best way to start my day. These days I stick to breakfast tea with a bit of non-fat milk.
Q: Do you have a favorite alcoholic beverage?
Michelle : Tanqueray (gin) and tonic with a lime has always been my go-to drink of choice. But I’ve also been known to like a martini – flavored, if possible, gin, if not – now and then.
Q: What is your favorite vacation spot?
Michelle : I’ve been a lot of places and loved so many, but if I had to choose only one … it would be Italy – Tuscany, in particular. But I also love Montana, the Greek Islands, Ireland, Scotland, England, the French countryside, the Caribbean, South Africa, India, and … okay, I’ll stop now.
Q: Are you married?
Michelle : I’m a widow.
Q: Do you have a family?
Michelle : My husband, who was a musician from Dublin, Ireland, and I have triplets. My large, extended, multi-generational family primarily lives, works, and eventually retires in the state where I grew up. I also have a close chosen family I’ve met on my travels and in various iterations of my life, many of whom my blood family have met and love and accept as much as I do. I was raised with my grandparents’ affirmation: family takes care of family. Proudly, my kids take that belief very seriously – I must be doing something right.
Q: It seems you had a successful career before you gave it up to write books – why would you do that? Why now?
Michelle : My time as an employee with some of the world’s largest corporations served a purpose. It kept the lights on, fed my triplets, provided what my husband needed during his battle with a brain tumor, gave me a challenge, and took me all over the world, where I met people and saw things that will provide great fodder for future books. The last week of my husband’s life he made me promise to leave the world of suits behind and write books, as I was supposed to do from the beginning, until life got in the way … It was time.
Q: Do you regret leaving behind the corporate world?
Michelle : Not in the slightest. Do I miss the paycheck? Sometimes. But writing books is what I’ve always been meant to do … No regrets.