Meet Guy Morris | Author of intelligence action-thrillers

We had the good fortune of connecting with Guy Morris and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Guy, why did you pursue a creative career?

There is a growing trend in America of retired individuals stepping on the gas to accelerate into a final act, or commonly called a third act career. I started work at age 12 working with migrant workers on Southern California chicken ranches. Based solely on good fortune, I moved on to enjoy a 36-year Fortune 100 professional career and retired at age 62, but I wasn’t done. To be fair, like many successful people, I have a dysfunctional relationship with leisure time. While I do not miss the insane hours and high stress of corporate life, I am not ready to stop being a productive member of society. 

Throughout my professional career, I balanced the analytical left brain of my job with creative right brain activities. I wrote songs for Disney Records, recorded multiple CDs, created and produced an award-winning espionage webisode series and wrote un-published short stories for my son. Choosing a creative third-act felt natural and refreshing, allowing me to switch gears to produce a creative product and still leverage my business skills for promotion, marketing and making a profit from those creative products.
I chose to take up writing intelligent-thrillers both for the creative brain balancing benefits, to give me a third career that would challenge me to research, and keep me intensely busy. Perhaps most importantly, to integrate the amazing truths I have experienced, witnessed or discovered.

My books weave the intersection between artificial intelligence, cyber-espionage, global banking and economics, climate change with political and religious corruption and prophecy. My plots rest on factual events, technologies, organizations and trends. For example, years ago I discovered that a program had escaped Lawrence Livermore labs at Sandia. When I determined HOW a program could escape and WHY, two FBI agents showed up at my door. That event sparked my first thriller called SWARM which deals with how artificial intelligence is being used within espionage and weapons systems – and what could go wrong. In my latest thriller, The Last Ark, I leverage the Ethiopian Ark of the Covenant that was stolen in 2021 and sold on the black market so I could weave that event into an international political-religious scenario. These are mere glimpses into the extensive research I integrate into my fictional scenarios. I chose a creative third-act because I believe fiction should be infused with reality and it allows me to exercise a wide range of my skills, training and experience in a way that can entertain, inform and provoke thought for an educated reader. I can think of no more enjoyable way to spend the rest of my life than learning and creating in a way that can impact the world around me in a positive way.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

Infusing fiction with reality is a critical success factor for creating a technology-political-religious thriller that will produce genuine chills of plausibility for the reader. Major industry reviewers such as Kirkus, BookTrib (Barnes & Noble), Booklife (Publishers Weekly) Reader’s Favorite, Online BookClub, as well as readers themselves have commented how research sets me apart. Research requires work, dedication and perseverance, often taking several months to several years to understand the true events, technologies, history and perspectives that will entertain, as well as inform or provoke thought. Nothing worthwhile is easy.
We live in the most astounding time in history, unlike any other period on so many levels. While some aspects are inspiring; other aspects are terrifying. The goal of my books is to capture that complicated essence and weave it into a captivating tale.

Artificial Intelligence, robotics, satellite surveillance, cyber-espionage and warfare, climate change, advanced weapons, global hunger crisis, and water shortages alongside political polarization and religious corruption each have an impact on our lives. Yet, it’s not enough to simply write a about something that frightens. The secret to writing an exception thriller requires the blending of questions that touch on our humanity, our faith, our philosophy, our morality and culture in a way that challenges our perceptions. A true thriller blends all of these elements into a rich, layered and page-turning narrative with relatable characters that define both the best and the worst of ourselves. Learning these secrets took training and a willingness to re-write again, and again, and again until every storyline and character resonates.

My first book took over a decade to research the connections between the abandoned billion dollar plunder of Henry Morgan to the Yucatan Inquisition, the 5,000 Mayan calendar, and the Mayan creation myth. To make these connections took time to understand history, geography, archaeology, mythology, multiple cultures and more.
I take my readers to places they may have never been, reveal a truth they likely never knew, and take them on a fast paced journey that will keep the pages turning on their own.
All great brands start with a high quality product. I’m both proud and humbled by the fact that major literary industry reviewers and reader’s alike have compared me Dan Brown, Robert Ludlum, Iris Johansen and Tom Clancy, but with my own voice and style. Being compared to my literary idols is a powerful motivator to continue striving to infuse my fiction with reality for the delight of my readers.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

With the good fortune of having traveled during life, I know that there are not many places in the world where a visitor could spend a week without running out of great activities. San Diego is one of those places. Born at the Naval Hospital in 1956, fate would change my address often but my love for San Diego continued to pull me back home over and over. 

Start by staying someplace special, like one of the fabulous hotels on Shelter Island with a view of the bay. Watch the countless boats and naval ships sail by your room. Relax by the pool, or take a short walk or bike ride around the marina. With a short Uber drive, you can get in touch with the San Diego’s nautical history by visiting the Nautical Museum for a tour of the tall ships or a Naval aircraft carrier. While you’re near the sea port, stop by nearby Little Italy for some authentic dining at Pappalecco.

On a separate day, you would be remiss if you did not take the time to cross over the bridge to Coronado Island for brunch at the famous and elegant Coronado Hotel, where I spent my honeymoon. Amazing beaches and ocean views await.

Plan a day to visit one of my personal favorite spots which is Old Town to capture a sense of San Diego colonial life and indulge in some amazing Mexican food. To be fair, my favorite Mexican in San Diego is Miguel’s Cocina located throughout the city, but save Miguel for a special evening and a big appetite.

With such near perfect year-around weather, I would take an afternoon for a sailing boat tour around Dan Diego Bay or experience the quintessential California beach culture at Ocean Beach north of Point Loma.
For those interested in wildlife, a day at the San Diego Zoo will get you up close to nature. Perhaps you might enjoy visiting the Wildlife Park to go on a safe-safari with the world’s most majestic creatures in a natural setting.

Don’t forget to plan for an afternoon to visit Balboa Park for best museums in the area. Make sure you leave time to enjoy a relaxing beach side stroll at La Jolla Cove. Before leaving town, shoppers will want to stop by the Embarcadero just south of Ruocco Park and the Naval Museum.
The great part about San Diego is that there are dozens more places to see, and mouth-watering places to eat. Don’t stress, simply start planning your next trip soon.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

The individual who deserves a major shoutout for both my decision and success in switching from an executive career to an author is my wife of 30 years, Darcy. Her support and encouragement were key in my decision to stop wasting my time with agent queries and move forward to self-publish, even though it meant a multi-year investment. Darcy has spent many nights reading drafts, making comments, giving me a female perspective of a genre dominated by male readers. Darcy introduced me to an ex-Simon & Shuster editor who ripped up my first draft and gave me 44-pages of priceless guidance on how to write like a top-notch author.

Darcy supported my investments to start the Author Event Network association to take authors to local events, festivals and fairs. AEN enabled me to engage in dozens of annual signing events which more than doubled my income and expanded my readers.
Not only supportive, but a muse, Darcy inspired a fabulous character in my historical thriller, The Curse of Cortes as the feisty, red-haired archaeologist, Dr. Darcy O’Sullivan.

Darcy and I met while I was living on a sailing yacht as a single parent to my teenage son. After a nightmare first marriage, and then ten years of being single, I had concluded that while I was gifted in many areas, picking a good woman was not one of them. She proposed to me. She won both our hearts with her kindness, compassion and determination to do the right thing. Darcy is my partner, my closest friend, my investor, my biggest fan and my guardian angel. Making her proud is one of the reasons I work so hard at writing books that win so much praise. If I could only clone her, I’d be a billionaire. But until then, she remains a one-of-a-kind priceless gem.

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