Damien Larkin shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Damien, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What are you chasing, and what would happen if you stopped?
More than anything, I want to be a best-selling author. Not for fame or glory or even to be recognised in public. I would absolutely love to earn enough money per month that I could support my family and quit my job.
Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against most authors. Surveys over the years have shown that 99% don’t sell more than 1000 copies of their works per year. It really is the top echelon of brand name authors and celebrities who can monetise their dreams and turn it into a profession. There have been some indie authors that have broken through the mould and managed to reach the top ranks, but for most, it’s a daily struggle to get your name out there and smash through the glass ceiling.
I could stop writing tomorrow and still live a fairly contented life. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful family. My wife and children are the best thing about being alive and they make everything worthwhile. I’m sure I could even channel my passion for writing into something else. But for me, it isn’t an option. What I’m doing delivers enormous satisfaction to me. I never really had a dream of what I wanted to be when I was younger, until I uncovered the joy of writing, so I can’t imagine ever surrendering it. The way I look at my future, it’s a two-fold win-win scenario.
If I make it big as an author, then I’ve shown how hard work, grit, and a little luck has paid off. I can support my family through my writing while still trying to be the best husband and father I can be (I admit, I’m far from perfect, but I’ll never stop trying!)
In the event I don’t succeed in my goals, then forty years from now, looking back, at least I can say I tried. I pumped my energies into crafting something I thought people would like (and pay me for) but never at the expense of my family. I never missed a football match or drama recital and spent as much time as I could with my children. I’d like to think I’d have taught them that if you want to pursue your dreams, then never surrender. Keep trying. Hold onto the faith and if it doesn’t work out, at least you gave it your all and lived your best life in the process.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Damien Larkin and I’m a Fantasy and Science Fiction author who lives in Dublin, Ireland. I spent seven years in the Irish Reserve Defence Forces in the infantry, finishing up as a weapons specialist with the 60mm Vektor Mortar.
I channelled a lot of my experiences into my military sci-fi ‘Big Red’ book series, published by North Carolina-based Dancing Lemur Press. The first two books, ‘Big Red’ and ‘Blood Red Sand’ were longlisted for the BSFA award for Best Novel. Over the years, I’ve networked with plenty of writers across Ireland and UK and with a small cohort of like-minded individuals, I contributed to an anthology called ‘Sky Breaker: Tales of the Wanderer’ which was shortlisted for the BFA’s award for Best Anthology.
In 2024, I self-published a military-fantasy novel ‘Lizard Skin and Sharpened’ steel which made the semi-finals of the SPFBO 10 competition and this year, I self-published ‘Motherland Climax by Vlad Puting’ (by Damien Larkin) which is a satirical overview of a certain Russian politician.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
Standing shoulder to shoulder with my brothers and sisters in uniform in the Defence Forces. It wasn’t holding a weapon, or learning how to contribute to and defend my country, but understanding that by working together, we could achieve anything.
The uniform we wore and the experiences we’d been through, bonded us all. We all came from different parts of Ireland, some from different countries. Many of us had little in common and in the real-world, would probably never have moved in each other’s social circles. In the Army, we were torn down and built back up. Mental and physical exhaustion taught us resilience. We learned to problem-solve, face down adversity, and work together as a team to achieve a common goal.
I’m extremely grateful for the privilege of being able to serve my country and recommend it to anyone, especially younger people, looking for a purpose or a new way of seeing the world.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes, absolutely. As a side-hustle to supplement my income, I created an emoji-app development business. By sheer force of will, I landed three contracts as part of a partnership share agreement (I build it, they share with their networks, and we split the profits).
I had a fantastic team of outsourced developers and graphic artists who I paid for out of pocket, from my very meagre savings. One by one, we created some fantastic apps and one by one, each of them bombed. They did terribly. Hardly any sales.
It was a horrific moment to experience, watching each one of those projects I’d poured countless hours and cash into, slowly stagnate. At one point, I had, what poets refer to as ‘the dark night of the soul’ where I really considered all my options. Do I keep funnelling more time, energy, and money into these projects in the hopes they’ll eventually succeed or do I cut my losses? I took a deep, hard look at my life, and asked myself what I really wanted out of my app development side-hustle. It struck me like a hammer to the chest.
In all my timelines for success, I dreamed of growing the business and then, when profitable, quitting my job and growing it even more. The end-game for me was earning enough to support my family, live comfortably, and then pivoting into something I’d always wanted to do. Writing.
At that moment, I cut the middleman out. I wound down my app business, switched my focus to writing and within a year, my first book was published. With five books published to date and two more coming next year, I haven’t looked back.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
They’d probably say ‘family.’ It’s at the heart of everything I do.
I know it probably sounds like a cliché, but parenthood was an absolute life-changer for me. My wife has an extremely successful career in the corporate side, while I’ve always been the dreamer – working jobs to support the family while creating side-hustles to escape the nine-to-five drudgery. When she returned to work after maternity leave, I switched to part-time work to raise our daughter (and our son a year later) and it was a profound experience for me.
In my culture/generation, men were rarely the stay-at-home parents and it wasn’t something I’d ever aspired to do. Purely from a financial point of view, it made sense since my wife was so successful in her field and neither of us wanted strangers raising our children. I dived straight into it and those early years are some of the most rewarding, if not tiring, of my lifetime.
I loved being there for my children, watching them grow from babies into toddlers. Playing endless games and taking them for strolls. Being there for there first words and steps. All the pivotal milestones and watching them grow, slowly, into young adults now. One of the proudest things I have of being a father, is how happy they are. They’ve had a better life than I ever had and I’m grateful for the opportunity.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope they tell any story about me that involves chasing your dreams.
I still haven’t reached where I want to be (best-selling author), but the motivation within me burns to reach it. Throughout my day, I don’t have a lot of free time (working full-time, spending quality time with my family, chores etc) so I try and maximise free time as much as possible to further my goals. Even if its just a few minutes here or there, I write. I catch up on admin work. I post on social media.
As a father, my children tell me about their hopes and dreams and I try and reinforce that with positivity. I encourage them to do whatever it is they think will bring them happiness and I’d like to be the living embodiment of that. They see me writing, or going on podcasts or livestreams to promote my work. They witness the hours I put in on my laptop over the weekend or after I’ve finished a gruelling shift because I’m fighting for my dream. I do genuinely believe I’ll make it someday, but if I don’t, at least I’ll be able to say I gave it my all. Never surrender dreams.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.damienlarkinbooks.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/damo_danger_larkin/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Damo_Dangerman
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DamienLarkinAuthor/
- Other: Threads: https://www.threads.net/@damo_danger_larkin
TikTok: @damo_danger_larkin
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