Alex Morgan is a native Albuquerquean, and has made his residence there all of his life. Except for a four-year tour of duty in the U. S. Navy during the Vietnam crisis, Alex continues to live in Albuquerque. He got his first taste of creative writing at the age of fifteen when he wrote his first song. He continued his songwriting, writing hundreds of songs, both words and music throughout his life. He has also written many short stories, and one other full-length manuscript, which he never attempted to publish.

It was on a business trip from El Paso back to Albuquerque that Alex got the idea for the script of Marupa. While driving back home, he wrote eight pages of the script and then typed it into his word processor upon arriving at home. It sat on the shelf for a year before he decided to complete the story into a complete novel. As he wrote this novel, he envisioned it as an animated movie.

Alex is working on a sequel to Marupa. Already two-thirds finished, he is just as excited about the sequel as he was about his first novel. "The sequel is absolutely powerful in its contents," explains the author. "There is a tremendous amount of action, new characters, and a combination of storylines that all come together at the end of the story." He is also making room in this sequel for yet another sequel of Marupa.

Okay, that was my canned presentation for the back of my book, so I had to make it look good and professional. Now, let's talk about the rest of my life. By the way, I love questions, so if you have any please e-mail me at: ABQWriter@aol.com. Since my book has been released I have had numerous e-mails telling me how much they enjoyed the novel. To my surprise, most of those e-mails have been from adults. I have received e-mails from Alabama, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and California. I thank all of you for your support and passing the word about this novel.

Here is some great news! If you check out my publisher's web site at www.1stbooks.com and look at the article listing the top 100 sellers for the 4th quarter, you will note that MARUPA is listed as number 55 on their list!!! Keep in mind that this company has over 500,000 published and for sale on their site!

Here are some questions I have been asked and my answers.

• I am extremely happy to see novels like Marupa for children and family. I hate to see so much publicity for books and movies like the Harry Potter series. Thank you for your encouragement. I'm with you when it comes to Harry Potter. It does promote witchcraft and the occult which is definately not from God. Hopefully more novels such as Marupa will be coming out that are not so ungodly.
• What is your favorite hobby or pastime? Besides writing, I love to golf and go fishing. Our entire family loves the outdoors. We particularly like to go to Red River to relax, hike, and fish.
• Did you take specialty courses for writing? Are you kidding? Good heavens, no! I don't like to talk about this, but I didn't even graduate from high school. I joined the military at the age of 17 and 1 month. While in the service I did obtain my GED. When I got out of the military I attended Albuquerque Business College, University of New Mexico, and the University of Albuquerque. None of the courses I took had anything to do with writing, but you can probably tell. Thank God for good editors!
• Throughout the book, Konaka is mentioned along with the Harvest Festival. Are you religious? I don't particularly like the term "religious." I am a Christian, believe in God, and have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I have been attending Believer's Center of Albuquerque (BCA) for about 18 years and love it as my home church. If you want to know more about BCA, check them out at www.believerscenter.com. Pastors Marshall and Cindi Townsley are a true inspiration to me.
• The twins, Jakko and Kikko, are they identical or paternal twins? They are paternal twins and do not look at all alike. I have the images of two of my grandsons in Salinas, Texas for their looks and the way they act.
• Why didn't you have character and animal animation drawings in your novel? I really don't believe that this type of novel warrants animation or pictures. I can certainly understand why some of the younger readers may enjoy seeing them, but I am waiting to release those images once an animated movie is in the making. Don't laugh, it will happen!
• What can you tell me about the sequel you mentioned you are working on? Uh, oh. Sorry, but I can only tell you that it is as good if not better than the first. It does have 4-5 storylines that all come together at the end of the book. It will contain romance, action, drama, and a whole lot of new characters and a few new animals.
• I bought your book and read it to my two grandchildren. I cannot begin to tell you how much they enjoyed it, but I also enjoyed it tremendously. In several parts, I even cried. When will your sequel come out? That is a tough question to answer. To be honest with you, between my regular daytime job and family activities, I have not found the time I need to work on the sequel. I do have a lot of it completed already and have a lot of notes to complete the novel. I will probably wait until I can dedicate at least two full weeks to devote entirely to the sequel. To answer your question, I hope to have it completed by the middle of next year. From there comes the editing and publishing process, so it may not come out until the beginning of 2004.
• You stated that you wrote the first eight pages while driving back to Albuquerque from El Paso? How could you have done that while driving? I must admit that it was a negligent and dangerous thing to do, but that is what I did. I have a Chevy Astro van that has a tall console inbetween the front seats. I am able to confortably place a notepad on top and write with my right hand while driving with the left. I certainly do not condone what I did and would not recommend anyone else doing that! It was a very careless thing for me to do; I should have pulled into a rest area to write.

Keep the questions coming!