Dan Marshall is an author, musician, photographer and all-out geek living in Portland, Oregon. His debut cyberpunk novel The Lightcap was released in 2013. I reviewed it here.
Hi Dan! Can you introduce yourself?
Hi there, Richard! Thanks for giving me some space on your blog. It’s much appreciated. I’m a 33-year-old science fiction author, musician, photographer, and rare/vintage/collectible hunter living in Portland, OR, USA. I have a crazy dachshund / great dane mix dog and two long-haired black cats who keep me company.
How long have you been writing and when did you start? What was your inspiration to start?
I wrote my first song at the age of four on an old organ. I wrote my first science fiction story in the fourth grade. Before that I had a long-running Superhero character story I would act out in my free time: Powerful Daniel. All kid stuff of course, but I’ve always had a strong imagination. After high school I started writing and performing songs for real (you can hear some of my music at http://music.IAmDanMarshall.com), with some spoken word thrown in for good measure. I have blogged online for over 15 years under various names. The Lightcap is my first long-form fiction work. I’m inspired to write by the age in which we live, a world that is far more strange than past generations could have ever imagined!
What sort of writing do you enjoy? Which authors come to mind as notable, to you?
I love writing political blog posts. There are many terrible things happening in our world, and I want to make sure people know about them. I love writing fiction too. It’s a perfect vehicle for satire and imagery relating to current events. Some notable authors for me would include Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K Dick, Isaac Asimov, JRR Tolkien, Neil Gaiman, William Gibson, and Neal Stephenson. I’m a bit of a nerd.
How would you describe your novel, The Lightcap? What’s your pitch for it?
Imagine a device that could save you from stress in the workplace. You wear it at work and take it off when you’re done, ensuring you never take worries from your job home with you. After wearing this device, Adam Redmon begins to have terrible dreams involving acts he’d never commit under his own free will. Are Adam’s nightmares symbolic or repressed memories? Is he a pawn in a larger game?