Today I’m pleased to welcome Folami and Abeni Morris to Off the Page chatting about their new book The Exemeus.
Folami and Abeni Morris are a sister-sister writing team. Together they wrote (and rewrote) The Exemeus series, somehow managing to accomplish it without murdering one another. Despite their tendency to finish each others thoughts and stick up for each other constantly, no, they’re not twins and thus deserve their own individual bio.
Folami Morris: Folami grew up in the tiny city of San Mateo Ca, where nothing ever happens and no one ever leaves. She went to Xavier University for undergraduate, getting her B.A in physics and her B.S in Biology. After graduation she returned to California, to live in an even smaller city, where even less happens, Antioch Ca. During this time she escaped the monotony by hanging out with her imaginary friends Hyalee and Dephon, and by writing the Exemeus. She finally escaped to Queens NY and now realizes that quiet and tiny aren’t so bad.
Abeni Morris: As luck (and logic) would have it, Abeni grew up in the same tiny little town as her sister, then she too escaped to the tinier town of Antioch. She has yet to leave. She received her bachelor’s degree in early childhood development from Cal State East Bay. She is the mom of two amazing kids, who swear that they deserve a percentage of the book proceeds and a ton of the credit. At least she raised dreamers.
Website The Exemeus Facebook Goodreads
1. Tell a little about yourself, what you do when you’re not writing, what are
your aspirations for the future?
Folami: That’s a great question. I’m normally always writing. When I take a break from that I read, watch movies, and travel. I just returned from a 7 day cruise, it was great. And my aspiration for the future is to have people love my book, become a New York Times Best Seller, and to hopefully one day have a movie deal for a novel that I’ve written.
Abeni: When I’m not writing, I’m teaching or being a full time Mom. I don’t get the opportunity to do much more.
2. When and why did you start writing?
Folami: I guess the answer to that would vary depending on which one of us you’re asking. For me, I have always wanted to write, starting writing projects and just never finishing them. I started writing my first book at 7. I got to page 42 before realizing it would be better used as toilet paper. But since then, I’ve always tinkered with writing.
Abeni: As for me, I started writing when my sister told me I’d be writing this book with her.
3. If you could only read one book over and over again for the rest of your
life, what would it be and why?
Abeni: That would have to be Twilight, definitely.
Folami: For me that is a much harder choice. I’m going to have to cheat and do a tie. Demons at deadnight and Angelfall.
I (Folami) was sitting with Alessandra Burch, the human resource manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and we were conducting an exit interview. I thought wouldn’t it be funny if there was an exit interview for life.
Not too long after, when I was going through what I call Harry Potter withdrawal, I had a dream about a woman with red hair. I told my sister, and she said it should be blue hair. We discussed world building all the way to my friend’s wedding and I outlined a story, when I go back that night. That story looks nothing like this story, but that was the beginning.
5. Your book’s going to be made into a movie, who would you cast in the main roles? That is a really tough question. The only one that I’ve ever thought about was Selena Gomes as Virginia. The adult version of Singleton could be Jeremy Renner. Hyalee could possibly be played by an actress named Zendaya. Young Singleton could be played by Alexander Ludwig. It’s a really tough question, because our characters appearance don’t stay the same for long. So an actor would be perfect for one scene, but not so perfect for another.
6. Are you a Pantser or Plotter? Why?
A plotter, definitely. I loved the connections made in Harry Potter. It was great that in book three she includes the character Sirius Black, who she mentioned in the first few pages of Harry Potter 1. to random events in the beginning, because she knew where her story was going all along. That can only be done when you plot out your series.
7. Do you have any tricks to your trade, bottomless coffee, a magic pen, a
That is the best question yet. I would say no sleep and nephews/children who keep bothering you to read the rest.
why?
Folami: That is a tough one. I would be Jacqueline Soreno and control everyone’s mind so they can buy our book. Lol.
Abeni: Bionic Woman- she was my favorite as a child.
Now just choose one:
1. Winter or Summer?
Folami. Summer
Abeni: Summer definitely.
2. Reading or Writing?
Abeni: Reading
Folami: Reading
3. Vanilla or chocolate?
Abeni: Chocolate
Folami: Chocolate
4. Shrek or Ice Age?
Abeni: Ice Age
Folami: Ditto
5. Elves or Vampires?
Abeni: Vampires
Folami: Vampires
Hyalee Smith is dead, she just doesn’t know it yet.
Her short life was devoted to love and to hate. Love of the man who stole her heart, hate for the man who stole the world. Murdered by the government she swore to destroy, fate has given her another chance to make it right. But to save the planet, she needs the help of the most powerful mystic the world has ever seen—unfortunately he hasn’t been born yet.
In a world where fear is the only currency, Dephon has committed the ultimate crime: inspiring hope.
His only goal is to make it safely through ninth grade, but on a post-apocalyptic Earth run by the Treptonian government, it isn’t that simple. Heir to a legendary power, Dephon Johnson is the only threat to the government’s rule. And on Trepton, all threats must be eliminated. When hundreds of assassins are dispatched to neutralize him, Dephon is forced to fight back. His only chance of survival is to enlist the aid of the greatest warrior the world has ever known. The only problem is, she’s been dead for 13 years.
