About Terrick Heckstall (pen name T.H. Morris):
T.H. Morris is a lifelong writer who was born in 1984 and raised in Colerain, North Carolina. He has been living in Greensboro, North Carolina for the past twelve years. He is an avid reader, primarily in the genre of science fiction and fantasy because he enjoys creating people, situations, and worlds. He holds hold a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and spent several years as a therapist and mental health clinician. He has been writing in some way, shape, or form ever since he was strong enough to hold a pen or pencil, but the expectation of securing and maintaining a traditional 40 hour job was the expectation of all around him. The call of writing never diminished, though, and soon became too powerful to ignore. Morris began writing The 11th Percent in 2011, and is currently working on its sequel. He still resides in Greensboro, with his wife of six years.
What inspires you to write?
Any and everything that I see inspires me to write. It could be a thought that I’ve deliberated at length…random conversations…writing ONE thing that suddenly sparks another…or, of course, dreams. The series that I’m working on now was the result of a seven hour, uninterrupted dream.
Tell us about your writing process.
I write by the seat of my pants. I do not outline per se; I have bullet points that I expand once I reach them. I don’t really do character sketches, either. My characters tend to throttle me when I write, as if they know exactly how they want to be written. I roll with it, and it’s a fun thing!
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I’ll sit in contemplative silence and let my characters talk to me. It was almost like once I had the dream, the characters….well I don’t want to say that the characters fell into my head, because that wouldn’t be an adequate assessment. It was more like once I aware of the story in my head, the characters that were involved in it revealed themselves in my consciousness. And I talk to them regularly.
What advice would you give other writers?
Always remember why you love writing. Know it, have it in your heart, and keep it close. It will help you when people try to discourage you by remarking on how “tough” the business is. It will reassure when you come across people that aren’t fond of your work (and you won’t please everyone. It’s simply not going to happen). Never, never lose the excitement that you have for creating. And lastly, just write. Write all the time. Write, and keep writing, until your story is finished. And when you have written all you possibly can, write some more.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I’m indie published. I attempted traditional publishing, but was rejected at every turn. The recurring theme was that, even though my story “showed talent,” was “poised and polished,” and whatever else, it wasn’t a good “fit” on anyone’s lists. The fact that the marketability seemed to be the only thing anyone was concerned with was demoralizing. I felt that artistic merit should play some part in there somewhere.
But after I heard that my story didn’t fit for what seemed like the millionth time, I decided to do it on own through KDP and Createspace. I love being indie. I have control over everything. My book hasn’t been edited, heavily compromised, or anything of the sort. I wrote it to look exactly as I desired it, and it looks exactly that way.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think that the indies will continue to grow as more and more people tire of formulaic, “safe” plot lines. I think will begin to gravitate towards original stories even more heavily than they are right now.
What do you use?: Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Paranormal Mystery
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Link To Terrick Heckstall (pen name T.H. Morris) Page On Amazon
