1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I am from Charleston, West Virginia, but moved to Cary, North Carolina in 1972 at 8 years of age, so have lived here the majority of my life. I graduated from Cary High School in 1982, and served in the US Air Force from 83 to 87, then in the Air Force Reserves for a few months, then in my home state’s Air National Guard through the end of 1992 and Desert Storm.
I bounced around in employment till getting into the HVAC field in the mid 90’s, eventually going to work for the local natural gas company in 2000, where I still am today.
I married my lovely ‘spousal unit’ (An Air Force term), Jennifer in 1988, and we raised three children, daughter Sarah, 34, son Curtis, 31, and daughter Rachel, 26.
As far as getting into writing goes. I wrote a lot of silly stuff for school newspapers, and many short stories and the beginnings of novels starting in my early teens. Lost interest or trashed most of those handwritten items long ago, though there may be one or two notebooks in a box somewhere here with one or two of them jotted down. Early in our marriage, I began a novel that was a cross between historical fiction, sci-fi and fantasy based upon the American Civil War, and the photographs taken after the battle of Antietam in 1862. That one was the closest story I had, until Gunmetal Ridge, to being completed. Having young children and trying to get my wife through her nursing degree caused me to shelve, and eventually discard it. They were the most important things at that time.
I would think of story ideas over a twenty year period from the early 90’s to about 2010, jost a few ideas down, but never seriously wrote anything until all of my children were grown or almost grown.
More on that in the last question.
2) What inspired you to write your book?
I would have to say, first and foremost, my paternal Grandfather. He was a World War Two veteran, and a great story teller. I have fond memories of sitting with him on the front porch in the seventies, listening to Cincinnati Reds baseball games on the radio, way out in the country near Quick West Virginia. If the Reds were getting blown out, or winning big, he would turn the radio down and just start telling me stories of his youth, his service in the war, and the like. I soaked the stories in, with his gravelly voice painting pictures in my mind from his words.
Secondly, in my work as a gas company representative, I deal with John Q Public on a daily basis, and over the years have met many fascinating people, far more good than bad ones! Being a history buff, I have had several opportunities to hear snippets from older veterans of World War Two of what they did in the war, where they served and the like. These include a D-Day veteran, an Iwo Jima veteran, and a very old Pearl Harbor veteran, a survivor of the USS Arizona. I felt honored to just be in their presence, and hear a short snippet of their service in that time period.
Being a veteran myself, and having many members of my family that are also veterans was another inspiration. I wanted to write a story that honored the service of veterans, and especially of the greatest generation, who fought against, arguably perhaps, the worst regimes this world has ever known.
I also suppose I was inspired to simply finish one of these stories finally, and get it published!
Lastly, believe it or not, I drew inspiration from a music video, “Crowd around the Corner,” which was a cut from Earl Thomas Conley’s 1983 album “Don’t make it easy for me.” That song was not released as a radio single, but I liked it. I will say the video directly inspired one part of my book. NO spoilers from me, but read the book, then watch the video, and I’ll bet you can figure it out!
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
Learn from history. Talk to older people that lived it, and remember those that came before us. Older people have experiences that we can learn from, by listening to their stories. I believe that if we don’t hear the stories of our elders, and learn about the history they lived, we are destined to repeat mistakes of the past. In both small, personal scale, and historical era scale.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
I am fascinated by history, particularly American History. Having many relatives as veterans drew me into it as well. I suppose I am one of those people who reads about historical events and wonders how I would have acted if I were thrust into the event.
I mentioned earlier listening to the snippets of stories from veterans I have spoken to about their service in World War Two, and chose to use that time period for my fictional story. I wanted to use a major battle, chose the Ardennes offensive of 1944 (better known as the Battle of the Bulge). I also wanted to use little known or studied events of the battle. Thanks to “Band of Brothers” most everyone knows of the heroic stand of the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, but I chose to concentrate on a much less known aspect of that battle, the initial five days, the largest surrender of American troops in Europe (The Schnee Eiffel pocket and two regiments of the 106th infantry division) I researched that, and decided to drop my fictional characters into the very real remaining regiment of the 106th, the 424th. I also tried to keep their movements and deployments during the five days the story takes place in 1944 as accurate to the actual history as I could. Will Morgan’s actions in the story are a postulation I suppose of how I may have acted/reacted to the events of this historical battle.
5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
Will Morgan. It would be like sitting again with my Grandfather, I would ask him about his service in the war of course, but also about growing up during the depression. I would try to get him to paint a picture with words of a time period that I cannot, and will never experience. If I could sit down with more than one, I’d have to say Al Baker and Jim Coulder as well, and ask them the same questions.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I suppose that would be Facebook/Instagram. You have to start somewhere, and these two platforms allowed me to get the book in front of people I know, and hopefully to people they know, outside of my circle of minions!
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
1. Map your story out in your head, write yourself notes, and KEEP at it.
2. GET IT EDITED! I initially published “Gunmetal Ridge” as “Mr. Morgans Memories” in 2022. I had the help of a couple of friends on the grammar editing and such, but I edited the content myself. Big mistake. After publication, I reread it several times, noticing mistakes I made in the text. I became discouraged, and dissatisfied with what I had published, and considered pulling it out of publication and pretending it never happened. By chance, I was asked to be a beta reader by an old high school friend who is writing an historical book, and from her, I was led to my editor Julie Rogers. Julie has been a Godsend as she took the time to go back and forth with me on the story till we had it trimmed down, enhanced in some aspects, and republished as “Gunmetal Ridge.” She also directed me to contests, to you for a professional review, and sites to aid in getting it out there in front of more people, though my own current money constraints hamper many of those avenues. Nevertheless, her insight, friendship and help has been invaluable, and I keep plugging along!
3. DREAM BIG. I keep myself in reality at all times, but I dream of seeing this story on the Big Screen, and on the bestseller list. Heck, I even know who I want to star in the movie as Will Morgan…Clint Eastwood as the old version, and his son Scott as the young version. May never happen, but it certainly won’t without first dreaming that it could!
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Are any new books/projects on the horizon?
I am currently beginning the process of pulling out a story I wrote around 2017, after my youngest daughter graduated and moved out. I initially published it unedited on an online site, but took it down soon after to work on it more. I shelved it when I started writing “Gunmetal Ridge”, and somehow deleted the file. It is not historical fiction, but rather a contemporary romance/crime story where the protagonists aid in bringing down a human trafficking ring. It is set in Georgia, and I plan on having one thing in the book that ties it in with “Gunmetal Ridge” to create my own little universe…like Stephen King does. Hey…DREAM BIG!
About the Author
Jeffrey C. Morris began his career in the United States Air Force as an Avionic Inertial Navigation System Specialist at Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina. His unit was one of the last to maintain and fly the F-4E Phantom, earning the crew the moniker “Phantom Phixers.”
After receiving an honorable discharge from Air Force Active Duty, he served in the USAF Reserves before transferring to the 130th Tactical Airlift Group in the West Virginia Air National Guard. He served with the 130th until the end of Desert Storm.
Jeffrey attained an HVAC certificate upon leaving the military and worked in the HVAC field until accepting a position as a natural gas meter and installation specialist with Dominion Energy (Formerly PSNC) in 2000.
His love of American military history as well as his many conversations with veterans who served in wartime influence Jeffrey’s writing. GUNMETAL RIDGE, a composite story of many World War II veterans, is Jeffrey’s way of paying homage to the Greatest Generation.
A native of Charleston West Virginia, he lives with his wife and “spousal unit” of thirty-five years, Jennifer, in North Carolina. With their three grown children out living successful lives, Jeffrey intends to devote more time honing his craft and carving out the next historical military novel in his man cave. He also enjoys writing in other genres such as sci-fi, mystery, and romance.
