Sometimes, strange events lead you back to a place where you have been and make you revisit past experiences.
And so, an unlikely, unfortunate and unhappy event leads me to bring up the author Tee Morris. The event is the tragic death of his wife, as I found out by Evo Terra at Podiobooker. More on the subject of Podiobooks another day, but - my condolences to Tee. As I wrote on Podiobooker, he has been an inspiration and lifted my spirits with his storytelling, and I hope that someone can do the same for him.
I was working when I saw the announcement, but it stuck in my head, and thinking about how fortunate I am to have a healthy wife and son, I wanted to take a moment to tell you about Tee Morris.
Tee is the author of the odd tale of Billibub Baddings. I listened to his book The Case of the Singing Sword (in print at Amazon). The unlikely basis of the story is the dwarf Billibub Baddings, born, raised and fighting in a Tolkien-like universe, who gets sucked into a portal - and is transported to Chicago, 1929, where he becomes a private detective. What could be more obvious?
In this curious blend of genres, we hear of Billibub’s Dashiell Hammet-style private investigator’s office, complete with secretary, gangsters (Al Capone’s in there) and snappy dialog in the style of Bringing Up Baby, as also imitated by the brilliant Black Jack Justice series… but coupled with Billibub’s decidedly medieval axe-wielding angle. As an indication, the title of the first chapter is Trouble Is a Princess in High Heels.
I leave you with this; if you are not afraid of a little old-school genre blending, I recommend that you listen to this quirky tale of hoodlums, fedoras, beards, booze, guns, high society, spicy women and axe-wielding action.