Ask the Author: Michael Marshall
Answered Questions (6)
Michael Marshall
I would go to the Culture universe from Iain M. Banks's science fiction novels. I would chill the hell out, then spend my time writing, playing music and generally doing all the things I enjoy without ever worrying about money, dictators or environmental breakdown, ever again.
Michael Marshall
I've been fascinated by how life might have begun since I was a child: I remember reading a children's dinosaur encyclopedia and being struck by the immense blank that was the Precambrian. It's one of the deepest questions science can ask, alongside how the universe began and how/why consciousness exists. I've written and read lots of stories about the origin of life, but I always got frustrated by the need to focus on just one of the hypotheses - none of which, I'm pretty sure, can be entirely correct. I wanted to explore all of the leading ideas, to compare and contrast them, and see if that pointed the way towards a "grand unified theory". I eventually realised that this book didn't exist (at least, not for a general audience) - so I wrote it.
Michael Marshall
I've been a journalist for over a decade so I've never really been in the position where I could worry about whether I was feeling inspired. Deadlines are deadlines, so I've learned to just get on with it! That said, it does help to be in a quiet room with a known amount of uninterrupted writing time ahead of me.
Michael Marshall
I'm promoting my first book "The Genesis Quest", editing a book chapter for a think tank, handling editors' queries on two covid-19 features, doing early research for two features for New Scientist and the Observer, looking for news stories for New Scientist, and piecing together ideas for a second book. Also: drinking caffeinated beverages.
Michael Marshall
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived by Adam Rutherford, Superior by Angela Saini, The Female Man by Joanna Russ
Michael Marshall
I do something un-creative but useful, like digging up new references and putting them into order. This often helps me figure out what to write next.
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