Jul 22

Jul 22 T.H. Morris

Author T.H. Morris

Biography

Let me give you some insight into who exactly T.H. Morris is.

I was born June 28th, 1984 in Colerain, North Carolina, a town no one has ever heard of, and is rarely included on any maps. I was the only guy in a household of women, which included my mother, grandmother, sisters, cousin, and eventually, two nieces. Being surrounded by strong women instilled in me a strong respect, deference, and admiration for strong women. It is an attribute that remains to this day, and anyone who knows me will corroborate it. I was always a big, stocky kid; I was 6’2’’, 220 pounds by the time I was twelve. Needless to say, everyone wanted me on their football and basketball teams, but interest in playing sports was next to nil. I didn’t have much desire for getting hurt every day, and I didn’t much care for staying over after school for practices when I could be home, watching cartoons and occupying my brain in a more constructive way than getting it bashed in on the daily. So with athletics out of the question, what was there that was left?

Books, friends. Books.

Growing up in an infinitesimal town like Colerain, there wasn’t a great deal of things to do for fun, other than watch television, play with toys, walk down the two-lane road, and read. While I did everything I’ve just included, it was reading that I did the most, and with great relish. I started reading at three years old, and ate up everything I could find—fairy tales, tall tales, mythology, ghost stories, fables, folk tales, science fiction—you name it. By nature, I have always been a “weird” person. I was always the quirky one; the one who saw things from a slightly different perspective than everyone else. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that my tastes in genres reflect that. I don’t read a great deal of non-fiction, because I love jumping into the fantastical realms of characters. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an escape; I don’t live in a fantasy world. But when I was a kid, the wildest, tallest tales were always just what the doctor ordered to give my mind respite from the world.

My love for reading began at three, and pretty soon after that, I started writing. I actually still remember the first story I ever wrote. I was four years old, and it was a one page, front and back story about a hen that got her freshly baked bread stolen. My next “book” was when I was six, and it was a collection of notebook pages I stapled and wrote, which even included illustrations. For fun, I wrote “Terrick King” on it, because I thought it was catchier than my given name. What kind of six year-old quibbles over catchy names?

But the occurrence that planted the seed was when I was nine years old. We had an assignment in 4th grade, where we had to write books about anything we wanted, and we had to make sure they were good books, because not only were they for a grade, they were to be read to the other 4th grade class. My “book” was called “Thunderman,” a dozen-page story inspired Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, bound in hunter green construction paper and kept together with black yarn at each notebook hole. I read it to the other class, and…man. It was something about hearing that applause, seeing people grinning, telling me that they liked the way I wrote, the teachers telling me that I did a great job…it led to something arising in me. That muggy Friday afternoon was the day that I said to myself, “Yep, I want to be a writer.”

Afterward, I spent a great many years vacillating between reading, creating stories in my head, and putting others on paper. A few plots had some promise, and others probably wouldn’t have cracked a primetime slot on Syfy. Believe me when I say that a lot of my time was spent writing pen-to-pad style, and writing mentally, but I wasn’t any closer to crafting a full-length book. I should probably mention that life was also intermingled with all this reading and writing. I spent the latter part of my adolescents as a fixed assets inventory specialist and a YMCA camp counselor. I also obtained a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Social Work, and spent time as a family centered specialist, social worker, emergency services clinician, therapist, and substitute teacher. It was actually during the time that I got burnt out in mental health that I attempted to write my first novel, in 2010. But stress and extraneous factors forced me to abandon it.

I truly thought that it was I blocked, and it wasn’t meant to be.

That all changed on February 19th, 2011.

That night, I had a seven-hour, uninterrupted dream. I still remember it with perfect clarity. After recounting the dream to my wife, she flatly informed me that it needed to be a book. Trying very hard to keep the disappointment of having to abandon the novel in 2010 in the back of my mind, I put pen to pad once again, and the result was my first full novel, The 11th Percent. I initially thought that it would be a standalone, but halfway through the manuscript, it became clear that there was a lot more story in the series. The 11th Percent was followed by Item and Time, Lifeblood, and Inimicus. The series will eventually be seven books total. I also co-wrote Grave Endowments, Book 1 in the Chronicles from the Other Side (C.F.T.O.S) series.

I am currently finishing Gaslighter, which is book 5 in The 11th Percent Series, and also working on Nemesis, the second collaboration in the C.F.T.O.S. series. Also, I am happy to say that I have been inspired to revisit the abandoned novel from 2010, and pick that series up once more. It will start with a novella, to be named She. With all the creative irons in the fire, I guess I wasn’t blocked! Guess it was meant to be!

I’m writing a bunch of the time, whether it’s on projects to publish, writing exercises for fun, or random notes I don’t want to forget. And when I’m not writing, I’m gaming, reading, Netflix bingeing, in the gym (I freely admit that I’m a gym junkie), or exploring my new home of Denver, Colorado with my wife of nearly nine years (been together for fifteen). I’m in this craft for the long haul, and hope to be able eschew my day job and be a full-time writer one day. It is truly me dream to share my creative light with the world!