Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Guy Morris. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Guy, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

Every one of my thrillers is deeply rooted on a true current event, history, technology, politics or religion. Most often, I discover the inspiring premise during research. While characters and plots are fictional, the world in which they exist is largely factual. Art does imitate life. For example, my historical thriller ‘The Curse of Cortes’ came from researching Henry Morgan’s raid on Panama City in 1672. With a 30-ton, billion-dollar plunder, Henry Morgan cheated his own men and disappeared with five hundred slaves on three ships. Months later, Morgan returned to Jamaica with an empty ship and a starving crew. After King Charles II knighted Morgan and sent him back to Jamaica, he fell into a drunken, depressed debauchery and burned his log books to keep the world from learning the truth. I spent over a decade trying to unravel what happened to 30 tons of plunder, three ships and hundreds of souls? More importantly, I wondered what had terrorize Morgan into giving up a billion-dollar plunder? The research led me to the Inquisition and the Mayan creation myth.
On occasion, the inspiration is accidental. Years ago, I came across an Associated Press article that simply stated that “a program had escaped the Lawarence Livermore labs at Sandia.” Now, Sandia is a well-known NSA spy lab. When I determined precisely HOW a program could escape the NSA, two FBI agents showed up at my door. I was giddy over the validation of my analysis. My wife, however, was less amused, asking: “Why are there two FBI agents in my dining room?” and “What did YOU DO?” That incident inspired the espionage -artificial intelligence thriller SWARM.
The premise for my most recent thriller, ‘The Last Ark’ came when I discovered that the Ethiopian Ark of the Covenant, which left Israel 2600 years ago, stayed on Elephant Island in Egypt until the 2nd century and has been in Ethiopia ever since was stolen and sold on the black market following a January 2021 massacre of 750 men, women and children. The novel speculates who, why and how it could impact the situation in the Middle East.
As a thriller author, I believe that all fiction should be infused with reality because nothing can be more terrifying than a plausible scenario that could actually happen. I love my job.

Guy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

The journey to who I am today began as a homeless runaway in LA at age 13 working alongside migrant workers to eat. Despite such a challenging start, by age 19, already married and a father, with nothing more than a GED, I entered the University of Arizona where I earned multiple degrees, and ultimately awarded a grad school scholarship based on building a macro-economic model that out-performed the Federal Reserve. That model kickstarted a reputation as a thought-leader and innovator of early-stage technologies including internet, computer modeling and artificial intelligence.
Starting with my first job at IBM, I would enjoy a 36-year Fortune 100 career in global energy, high-tech and software for companies including Oxy Petroleum, Oracle and Microsoft, often working with VPs and CxOs. During my years in global energy, I also contributed to mergers & acquisitions, oil platform disasters, hostage negotiations, EPA compliance and early climate change research.
Outside of my career, I wrote songs for Disney Records, recorded multiple CDs, led worship in Venice Beach, earned a Coast Guard charter captains license, went cageless shark diving near Morea, explored Mayan ruins where I received a cartel death threat, and raised my son aboard a 50-foot sailing cutter.
After I retired in 2018, I retained a deep desire to not only stay busy, but stay relevant and to contribute back to the world. I felt compelled to share the fascinating things I had learned, seen and experienced along the way. With such a wealth of life experiences, pursuing a third-act career as an author not only seemed fitting, but gave me a sense of purpose that stitched together all of the diverse pieces of my life into a meaningful whole. My readers discover those thoughtful insights, life experiences, and faith in overcoming woven within the thrilling plots and relatable characters that reflect so much of who I came to be over the years.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The experience of being homeless, hungry and alone at age 13 never left me, and in many ways, kept me humble during my successful career. In so many ways, learning to survive as a homeless teenager was both one of the most traumatic experiences of my life, as well as one of the most valuable. Learning self-reliance provides a priceless insight into who we are under the most extreme circumstances. We all see it everywhere on the internet and in the news; children of wars, refugees, famines and hardship struggling to survive, often void of hope. Yet, I was an American, a citizen of the wealthiest country on earth. While I knew that it should not be that way, I also knew that I was not unique. The path toward self-respect and achievement was mine alone to walk.
Neither the envy of others, nor a bitterness in my lot would change my reality. While it would never be easy for me as it often seemed for others, I was determined to change my stars and leave poverty behind.
Even reporting to VPs and CxOs, I was never able to drink the kool-aid that I was special, when I knew from experience that I was fortunate and blessed. Fortunate that I did not perish when the situation seemed hopeless. Blessed for the opportunity to attend college where I could receive the education to change my stars.
The instinct of hard work became a core strength with one critically important lesson – never forget where I came from or lose my compassion for those who were not as fortunate or as blessed. I still see myself in the eyes of those hoping for a better life. That realization continues to drive me forward.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

If I were to choose a single word or phrase that drives me, it would be ‘to enlighten’. Of course, I want by books to be wildly entertaining, and they have achieved that goal, but that is not enough for me. We live in a singular time in all of history, unlike anything seen by any generation before us. An age of extremes. A world of mind-boggling technologies that still clash in contrast with the inhumanities of war, food insecurity, polluted drinking water, wealth disparity, loss of privacy, climate change and more.
When I was younger, we believed that our generation was poised to leave our children and grandchildren a far better world than the one we had inherited. In truth, we failed. Our rapid progress has outpaced our ability to establish the moral, ethical, legal and practical ways to contain the negative impact of our hubris on each other and the world around us. We failed to elevate the benefits of a modern world on the breadth of humanity as opposed to an entitled few.
This in no way suggests that there is not genuine good, compassion and acts of humanity all around us. In fact, we have all of the resources, technology, and people necessary to impact every one of the problems we face. Yet, we don’t. We are undermined by the age-old steamrollers of greed, power, tribalism and ideology.
I write often about AI, artificial intelligence, because AI will impact nearly every major industry, as well as national security, cyber security, information, and our weapons of war. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking and many others have warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence. Sadly, the current trends of AI, even under the most optimistic scenarios will benefit the few to the disadvantage of the many.
In many ways, writing thrillers inspired by deep research into history, current events, science, artificial intelligence, politics and religion gives me a platform to speak to these profound issues through the eyes of fictional characters and thoughtful scenarios or plots.
Fiction allows me to illustrate both the best and worst of who we are without preaching or condescending. Beyond the entertainment value, my goal is to provoke my readers to think seriously about the issues which are not being discussed openly, and to engage in a meaningful dialogue. And maybe, just maybe that dialogue can result in change – if not in society as a whole, perhaps one individual at a time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.guymorrisbooks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorguymorris/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialGuyMorrisBooks
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guybmorris/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/guymorrisbooks
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpi7NdEOG3ASJMo-Q6SmQLg
• Other: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18363786.Guy_Morris https://www.amazon.com/stores/Guy-Morris/author/B08LCPW8T6?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Image Credits
Guy, Guy and his lovely wife Darcy or Guy’s books.