Bio
Born in 1973, Tom Morgan is a native of Southern Illinois. He spent his childhood a short drive from the Mississippi River and a stone’s throw from the Ozark Shawnee Forest, in that sort of gray middle-ground between the Midwest and the South where fields of corn and soybeans give way to lush forestland.
Fiction and Film were always his favorite pastimes, and after earning a Bachelor’s degree in English in 1995 from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Tom moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the screenwriting program at California State University, Northridge. While there, he wrote several scripts and interned with Esparza/Katz Productions (makers of “Selena” and “Gettysburg”), where he picked up valuable experience writing coverage and learned how a production company works.
During this time, Tom won the Kathy McWorter Screenplay Award for his feature script, “Corsair“. (Ms. McWorter penned “The War”starring Kevin Costner). “Corsair” was passed on to a couple of agents at ICM, but unfortunately, despite several weeks of their pitching the project, there were no takers for a lavish period piece focusing on 17th century Caribbean pirates.
The writing continued, although after Tom earned his Master’s degree in 1998, he’s found that time has become a scarce commodity.
Since 1998, Tom has been busy working as an adjunct instructor (freeway flyer). He is currently teaching Speech Communication classes at Antelope Valley College and Screenwriting at California State University, Fullerton. In Fall of 2003, after a break from the other side of the desk, he decided to become a student once more and began a PhD program in English Literature at Claremont Graduate University. He is slated to finish his qualification exam in August 2007 and to finish his degree in 2008.
Despite the workload of being a graduate student and teaching college courses, Tom is currently collaborating on a screenplay based around the legend of Mad Myrtle with fellow writer, Kate Burgauer. Those who attended Pine Ridge Scout Camp or Camp Ondessonk (formerly Pakentuck) might remember this tale about a mad woman with an axe. Myrtle, the great granddaughter of a Cherokee Medicine Woman, survives the 1925 tornado (the worst in U.S. history), only to go missing. She reappears a dozen years later, having grown up to be a stunningly beautiful woman…but with a dark side to match.
Tom Morgan can be contacted at starvingwriter@starvingwriter.com.