Early life and career

Morrell decided to become a writer at the age of 17, after being inspired by the writing in the classic television series Route 66. In 1966, Morrell received his B.A. in English from St. Jerome's University and moved to the United States to study with Hemingway scholar Philip Young at Pennsylvania State University, where he would eventually receive his M.A. and Ph.D. in American literature. During his time at Penn State he also met science fiction writer Philip Klass, better known by the pseudonym William Tenn, who taught the basics of writing fiction.

Morrell began work as an English professor at the University of Iowa in 1970. In 1972, his novel First Blood was published; it would eventually be made into the 1982 film of the same name starring Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam veteran John Rambo. Morrell continued to write many other novels, including The Brotherhood of the Rose, the first in a trilogy of novels, which was adapted into a 1989 NBC miniseries starring Robert Mitchum. Eventually tiring of the two professions, he gave up his tenure at the university in 1986 in order to write full-time.

Morrell's teenaged son Matthew died of Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer in 1987. The trauma of his loss influenced Morrell's work, in particular in his creative fiction memoir about Matthew, Fireflies. The protagonist of Morrell's novel Desperate Measures also experiences the loss of a son.

Morrell is the co-president of the International Thriller Writers organization.

Personal life

Morrell is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School for wilderness survival as well as the G. Gordon Liddy Academy of Corporate Security. He is also an honorary lifetime member of the Special Operations Association and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.

According to his website, he has been trained in firearms, hostage negotiation, assuming identities, executive protection, and anti-terrorist driving, among numerous other action skills that he describes in his novels. He recently received his FAA licence to pilot his own small plane.

Morrell lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Morrell was presented with the 2009 ThrillerMaster Award from the ITW.

Bibliography

Fiction

• 1972 First Blood ISBN 0-446-36440-1
• 1975 Testament ISBN 0-446-69191-7
• 1977 Last Reveille ISBN 0-446-36442-8
• 1979 The Totem ISBN 0-446-36446-0
• 1982 Blood Oath ISBN 0-312-95345-3
• 1983 The Hundred-Year Christmas - illustrated by R. J. Krupowicz ISBN 0-937-98657-7
• 1984 Brotherhood of the Rose ISBN 0-449-20661-0
• 1985 Fraternity of the Stone ISBN 0-449-20973-3
• 1985 Rambo: First Blood Part II - novelization of the film of the same name ISBN 0-515-08399-2
• 1987 The League of Night and Fog ISBN 0-449-21371-4
• 1988 Rambo III - novelization of the film of the same name ISBN 0-515-09333-5
• 1990 Fifth Profession ISBN 1-597-37769-4
• 1991 The Covenant of the Flame ISBN 0-446-36292-1
• 1993 Assumed Identity ISBN 0-446-60070-9
• 1994 Desperate Measures ISBN 0-446-60239-6
• 1994 The Totem - unabridged ISBN 0-446-36446-0
• 1996 Extreme Denial ISBN 0-446-60396-1
• 1998 Double Image ISBN 0-446-60696-0
• 1999 Black Evening (short stories) ISBN 0-446-60864-5
• 2000 Burnt Sienna ISBN 0-446-60960-9
• 2002 Long Lost ISBN 0-446-61194-8
• 2003 The Protector ISBN 0-446-61403-3
• 2004 Nightscape (short stories) ISBN 0-755-32174-X
• 2005 Creepers ISBN 1-593-15357-0
• 2007 Scavenger ISBN 1-593-15483-6
• 2008 The Spy Who Came for Christmas ISBN 1-593-15701-0
• 2009 The Shimmer ISBN 1-593-15580-8
• 2010 The Naked Edge ISBN 1-937-76022-7
• 2013 Murder as a Fine Art ISBN 0-316-21678-X
• 2015 Inspector of the Dead ISBN 0-316-32393-4

Nonfiction

• 1976 John Barth: An Introduction ISBN 0-271-01220-X
• 1988 Fireflies ISBN 1-937-76029-4
• 2002 Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft ISBN 1-582-97270-2

Comic books

• 2007 - 2008 Captain America: The Chosen
• 2013 - 2014 The Amazing Spider-Man #700.1 & 700.2
• 2014 Savage Wolverine #23

[ Source: Wikipedia ]