Dragon Soul Press was able to interview Daryl Marcus, an author featured in All Dark Places 2 and Apocalypse.

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1. Introduce yourself.
   • My name is Daryl Marcus. I’m a professional troubleshooter in the IT industry, but I’ve been
     a writer since my youth. Writing is my play. Writing is my passion. I love reading and writing
     stories of all kinds, though I do tend to find myself in the horror, urban fantasy, and crime genres more than others.
2. What prompted you to begin writing?
   • My parents instilled in me a love of reading. It only seemed natural that I would continue
     reading as I grew up, and writing was an extension of that. I started by writing the stories that I
     can’t find anywhere else
     There are many instances of experiencing someone else’s story that lends one to start
     writing. For me, I really became serious as a writer watching movies that. After studying those
     films and the material that inspired them, I decided I could tell stories in my own way. I’ve been
     trying to do just that ever since.
3. Do you have a favorite story or poem you’ve written? What’s it about?
   • I have several pieces of published writing that I am very proud of. I’m proud that I was able
     to complete a story that someone else felt was worth sharing with the world.
     One of my favorite pieces is “Charger” published in Cheap Jack Pulp issue 916. It’s about a
     serial killer whose one escaped victim has come back for revenge. Their battle in an Arizona
     night fought from the steering wheels of two metal beasts shows just how destructive people
     can be when determination and anger overcome common sense.
     Another that I’m very proud of is called “Age is Just a Number” published in The Modern
     Deity’s Guide to Surviving Humanity from Zombies Need Brains. It is my first foray into Urban
     Fantasy and it’s about an ancient Egyptian god, Thoth, who’s been reduced to doing odd jobs
     and minor detective work in the modern era. In a plague-ridden Denver, Colorado, he’s tasked
     with finding a single guest in a party in a high rise. The only problems, the guests and the
     guards seem determined to prevent party crashers.
4. How many projects do you have planned over the next few years? Tell us about one.
   • I’m constantly on the lookout for ideas and thoughts that I think may turn into good stories.
     I’m currently working on an urban fantasy in the vein of Harry Dresden and Daniel Faust.
     In it, John Stoker is a private troubleshooter in the Denver area, working with local
     businesses and citizens to take care of the situations the normal authorities aren’t capable of
     understanding, much less resolving. He’s not a detective, but he does that work sometimes.
     He’s not a thief, but he does that work sometimes, too. He’s a magician, with a history of doing
     the right thing even if it is detrimental to his own interests.
5. What is your writing process like?
   • I try to keep a schedule. I sit at my computer at the same time every day, write a minimum of
     1000 words or more, and leave at the same time every day. When I do this without fail a story is
     written. It sounds simpler than it is. Sometimes I can get 1000 words in an hour. Sometimes it
     takes more. The key is to stick to it and don’t let life get in the way of accomplishing this goal.
     That’s for writing new materials. For revisions, I try to follow a similar schedule. The only
     difference is I spend the time not writing new words but revising existing and trying to improve a story. This is the hardest part, but the most rewarding. I find the stories may need plot element changes, reduction of sections to make them faster or punchier, or alterations of whole scenes. The revisions can sometimes be inspiration for what should happen earlier in the story to make the ending fit better. Rereading, reviewing, and revising are the pieces of the process required to make a good story better.
6. Where do you draw inspiration from?
   • This is always one of the hardest questions to answer. Sometimes an idea is sudden,
     surprising, and shocking all at once. It’s a thought that stems from some piece of conversation
     overheard in the office hallway or two concepts put together due to a book or tv show that you’re only half-listening to. Sometimes the inspiration is hard fought after hours of struggling with a particularly complex concept or piece of writing. The truth is inspiration is everywhere, it’s the angle of vision that generates a shrug or an story kernel.
7. Who is your favorite author / what is your favorite book?
   • My favorite author changes with how much I’m enjoying a particular book. When I was
     growing up, my favorite authors were Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Clive Barker.
     For Stephen King, my favorite book of his has shifted with the times, but I think his best is
     Under the Dome. It takes the concept of a small town doing bad things like in Needful Things,
     then cranks them up to 11.
     For Dean Koontz, my favorite is the Odd Thomas series. It’s more than one book, and each
     one is worth the time. The movie was pretty good, too.
     For Clive Barker, my favorite is Cabal, the inspiration for the movie Nightbreed. This dark
     fantasy novel hits so many different genres it is hard to classify. Its exploration of light and dark,
     inner and outer demons, makes it one of the best examples of the diversity of “Good” and “Evil”
     as concepts.
     Authors like these helped forge me into a writer, and have helped me see the world through
     the lenses of heroes, monsters, and every type of person and creature in between.
8. What is one goal you have for your writing future?
   • I love the short story format and hope to continue writing “one-reel horror movies” for as
     long as I can write. The first published novel is a goal on the horizon I still aspire to.
9. What do you hope readers enjoy most from your work?
   • I hope readers enjoy the journey. I try to tell stories that keep me guessing even as I’m
     writing them. I want my readers to experience a similar level of surprise and enjoyment.
10. Where can readers learn more about you?
    • I have a small personal website and my Facebook page.