Blog Post: Author Interview with Daniel Moore

Interview with Daniel Moore, author of Proxy.

The Book Landers: What inspired you to begin writing?

Daniel Moore: When I was twelve, I got very interested in theater, especially English and German theater. I grabbed any play I could get my hands on and read them dozens of times over. That sparked my interest in literature as a medium, and within the year I got my first copy of Neuromancer by William Gibson. Mind you, at that age many things in the book were lost on me, but that book held my imagination hostage for years. To me, Gibson's use of imagery, the way he strings words together—it's like interpretive jazz; it only makes sense when it's taken together as a complete work. The idea that a person could influence my imagination that much through words was an effect I wanted to have. After reading that book I began writing short stories and haven't stopped since.

TBL: What is your favorite aspect of writing?

DM: A great deal of time is spent on characters, particularly my hero and their immediate circle. If I can not see the hero as a real person—not necessarily one I can relate to, but an actual person—then I find that the story around it begins to feel hollow. I've always imagined books to chronicle but a portion of a character's life, as if their purpose was to be that of a diary or an historical excerpt from some forgotten time. To have a piece of work published, regardless of the medium, and not given the hero proper treatment and development would feel poorly produced and insulting to my audience. Make no mistake that I write for myself, but I doubt people want paper thin heroes and compelling circumstances. I'd be much more interested in reading about a manic-depressive sushi chef than a nameless, faceless hero watching the world come to an end.

TBL: What piece of writing are you most proud of?

DM: Writing since I was a kid has left me with much for failures than successes to my own standard of writing. I think like most artists I suffer from a lack of temperance when it comes to the post-production stage of my work. There's always something that doesn't sit just right, something that can be cut or added—it's never good enough. However, of all the work I have completed, I must say I am most proud of my debut novel Proxy. It was a grand labor of love, with a bit of head-banging, and I feel I produced something that comes close to my own unattainable standard of perfection.

TBL: What are some of your hobbies?

DM: I assume you mean other than writing and reading? Well, I'm a very active person and focus quite a bit on my health. I'm educated as an American boxer and have helped fighters train on amateur circuits. I'm also quite the music nerd, though some might call me a snob. I love collecting rare LPs and EPs from underrated or forgotten bands and musicians like Hybrid, Underworld, and Martina Topley Bird. I spend a great deal of time listening to music when I'm doing just about everything and think that it and literature are two of the purest forms of art left.

TBL: What are some of your favorite books?

DM: This is a really hard question to answer. I'm a huge William Gibson fan. Everything the man has written, I have read at least thrice over. I really appreciate him as a writer and all that he has done for my generations of writers. But, gun to my head, asking me to make a list I'd say it is: Neuromancer, Count Zero & Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, La SireneRrouge & Les Racines du Mal by Maurice G. Dantec, A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth, London Boulevard by Ken Bruen, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, The Company by Robert Littell, and The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum.

TBL: Which character do you enjoy writing about the most when writing Proxy?

DM: Of all the characters I have written, killed off, resurrected, and reimagined, Alyx Markov is closest to my heart. She went through many mutations before arriving to where she is in the book, but that maturation developed her as a person. I must admit that I am a little biased as there is quite a bit of my own person locked away in her. I used a lot of my own personality and experiences to mold her and as a result I feel the book reads like a diary in third person—Alyx makes the experience of reading the book very intimate. I have ideas of where to go with her, but there's quite a bit of anxiety surrounding what might come of it. I've grown protective over my own creation like a father.

TBL: Which fictional character is most like you?

DM: This is hard to answer. And no, I'm not being glib in saying so. I feel that on different days I'm different things. At times my temperament makes me feel like a different person by the hour. Finding someone in fiction that feels like a mirror image to who I am is difficult as my identity feels like a very convoluted thing. But, I did identify heavily with Philip Marlowe from The Big Sleep at one point. He's a different man at different times and shows different sides of his face to the people he meets. He also keeps a great deal of himself to himself and values his own thought more than the influences of the people around him. I'd like to think that is how I truly am, but one can never be too sure that the image they hold of themselves is who they truly are.

TBL: If a genie could grant you 3 wishes, what would they be?

DM: I'd like to be frozen for a century then reanimated to see the state the world is in. It's my own personal opinion that the global stage is priming itself for some generational shift that'll impact many people, and the speculation over the ripples that come simply itches my brain with curiosity. I definitely need to see it all. A second wish would probably be equally selfish. I suppose money or stability of some kind would be expected, but I would prefer the ability to be invisible and observe the private lives of others. I can only imagine what I could write after spending a year simply watching people behave like no one was watching. And just to be magnanimous, I'd raffle off my third wish to the most selfless person I could find.

TBL: Chocolate or vanilla?

DM: Vanilla for ice cream, chocolate for everything else.

TBL: Any fun facts you want readers to know about you?

DM: I'm a news junkie, particularly C-SPAN, but I have no stomach for politics.

Stay tuned for the chance to win an autographed copy of Proxy! Click on the book cover below to learn more about the book.