Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
The bug first bit in my early thirties. I’d decided to write the closing chapter in John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series in which Travis would, like MacDonald himself, meet his demise. Wrote a few chapters and an outline. Snagged a major New York agent. And then learned the MacDonald estate wouldn’t release the rights. Since then I’ve written seven novels, featuring everything from gumshoe detectives to angry punk rockers to even a god or two.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Breaking In is my latest baby. The premise is simple: when a frustrated artist can’t get any traction, he decides to break into the Whitney and hang his own painting on the wall. And it was in part a way for me to vent my own frustrations about the absurd process of trying to find an audience for my work. Like they say, write what you know.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’ve discovered I have to write upside down, suspended from the ceiling, preferably just inches above a large tank filled with piranhas.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
What hasn’t? I obviously owe a debt to numerous authors, mainstream and genre alike. And while it’s great to be inspired by those with talent, I’ve also learned a whole lot about writing thanks to the flops and near-misses, books that would never rank as classics, but have too much heart to ignore. As for the last book that really blew me away, I’d’ probably nominate Ann Padgett (sp?) and Bel Canto.
What are you working on now?
I’m thinking my next will be a coming-of-age set in 80’s San Francisco. The punk rock scene. The AIDS epidemic. Youth meets the guy with the scythe. I’ve even got a working title: Learning to Die.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a conflicted relationship with social media. Yes, I recognize its enormous potential for connecting authors and readers, but still, it feels like eighth grade. Who’s hot. Who’s not. Buzz over substance. That said, I got more downloads from a one day promotion with Ebook Stage than I did in a year on my own. Bottom line? It’s all a crap shoot.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Treasure the writing. The process of trying to get your work out there, of finding an audience, can crush your soul to dust. Which means you need something to sustain you, to give you hope, and that something has to be your own work. A perfect sentence. The exact right word. Moments when your own characters do something that surprises you. If these things don’t give you joy, then go back to macramé.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There’s no such thing as the right path. Only your right path.
What are you reading now?
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan. It’s her attempt to write a classic Big Novel, instead of her usual more experimental work. And while it’s beautifully written, it’s almost funny how she can’t stop being herself, how her awareness and quirky perspective leaks out on every page.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m trying to put together an event called LiveWord with my writing group. The idea is we’d work with a local theatre to present excerpts from our work read aloud, sort of midway between a standard reading and a performance. Problem is, I’m discovering most of them are too bashful to submit anything. People. Go figure.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Probably big ones – more words means more time. Maybe one Neal Stephenson. Halpern’s Hero of the Great War. War and Peace, by that Russian dude? And I suppose I’d have to add Finnegan’s Wake, just to torture myself.
Author Websites and Profiles
Brian Marshall Website
Brian Marshall Amazon Profile