Headed West. Veering East.

  I published The Monks of Malibu as a Kindle eBook available exclusively on Amazon tin May 2022.

This is story of a young Buddhist monk waylaid in Los Angeles, California, on his first journey beyond a Himalayan meditation cave and of a movie industry gent known as The Monk.

What started in 2015 as an idea on a flight to L.A. became a book spanning five years and introducing characters from all walks of L.A. life who connect for good or evil. 

The Word Out Pre-Publication

I’m delighted to share a comment by Yasmin Gruss, a New York editor who pored over my contemporary fiction:

“This book is truly incredible. The way you allow dialogue to propel the plot is really impressive, and you do so with such skill. The ending really surprised me—clever, fun, playful.”

Yasmin Gruss recognized my intention to make this a story readers could buckle up to enjoy, even when mulling a disquieting trend in American society. My beta readers made similar positive comments in their reviews.  This contemporary fiction is set along the incomparable Southern California coast and populated by dreamers, schemers, drifters, creative types, spiritual types, behind-the-movies bean counters and the invisible serving among us.  Click Look Inside to preview the book. The Monks of Malibu is an eBook readable on a variety of devices. Make it a part of your light summer reading!

About The Monks of Malibu eBook Cover

Upon my first glance at the Santa Monica Mountains, looking up from a beach blanket at Malibu, I sat at water’s edge and sketched the scene. Having driven over those mountains via a canyon road, hands gripping the steering wheel, humming Vivaldi, I was captive to the terrain. Spring flowers dotted the hillsides, houses perched on the edge defied gravity as any California dreamer defies fate by being there. I painted watercolor versions of that sketch in the manner of a Tiffany stained-glass window, saving this image as Malibu Pumped. See it and my other California paintings on the reggiemorrisey.com Sketchy page.

Author’s Note

The Monks of Malibu is different from my satirical, four-part serial Future Schmaltz, a sci-fi also published in 2022. Same author—different universe. After visiting Malibu, check out Book I,II. II and IV of Future Schmaltz. Visit Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/reggie_morrisey Learn more on Twitter @ReggieFiction 

Veering East in 2024

Since 2022, I have been writing a contemporary novel and its sequel. Book I received the attention of beta readers. On January 8th of 2024, the sequel sailed off to the same readers. This year, a proofreader will be eyeing Book I. Both books take place in New York and abroad. The main character is pretty famous in Book I and pretty wealthy in the sequel. Like The Monks of Malibu, the idea for the story came to me on a plane flight, in this case when returning from France.