About D.N. Schmidt

science fiction author, humorist, and brain in a jar

It all began with magic. D.N. Schmidt began performing magic shows at age thirteen. While his friends were earning extra cash with paper routes or mowing lawns, he was on stage telling jokes, reading minds, and walking on broken glass.

He learned dangerous stunts like the East Indian Needle Trick, filling his mouth with dozens of sewing needles and threading them with his tongue. He added the Human Blockhead Trick, pounding nails into his sinuses. He even did card tricks, risking serious paper cuts.

While performing magic was fun, it was the writing that changed his life. He wrote stories to tell on stage, fascinating the audience with words alone. Writing was more fun than performing, and presented much less risk of being heckled. (This was before he found out about internet trolls.)

At college, he wrote for the school newspaper. He wrote everything from political opinion pieces to humor columns. He even wrote horoscopes, although his horoscopes were just jokes, not life advice. He even became editor of the Politics and Lifestyle section.

He went on to get a degree in Creative Writing and Journalism, two things that are essentially impossible to make a decent living doing. He spends his free time daydreaming about traveling to Mars, where it would be impossible to make him repay his student loans.

D.N. Schmidt Books

D.N. Schmidt writes science fiction, horror, urban fantasy, anything weirder than real life. Although he mostly writes speculative fiction, his first novel was a mystery. “They Ate the Waitress?” is the story of a murder at a restaurant for wealthy cannibals. (Yes, it’s just as weird as it sounds.) After that came a collection of science fiction short stories called The Doom Tapes, and then The Screaming Void, a space opera novella. He also wrote Inspiration Overdose, a writing prompt generator.

D.N. Schmidt also enjoys writing flash fiction. He writes teeny tiny space opera adventures on Twitter and on this site called Eric Adair’s Interstellar Irrationality. Perhaps they will become a book someday?

His current work in progress is a sequel to The Screaming Void. A space junk salvage crew stumbles upon a historical artifact that may be proof of government corruption. They battle monsters, space pirates, a tyrannical galactic government, and more. There are ray gun fights, a variety of alien species, lots of jokes and silliness, and the worst food in the known universe.

Like The Screaming Void, the story also deals with Captain Jay Jordan’s history of mental health issues. He experiences more mental instability, and wonders if it’s the lingering effects of the Screaming Void, trauma from a recent misadventure, or something more.

The novel is currently being reviewed by several beta readers. After rewrites, it will be published some time in 2024. Sign up for the mailing list to be sure you are the first to know when it’s available. (A second edition of The Screaming Void will also be published in 2024, to retcon any inconsistencies with the new story.)

D.N. Schmidt’s Inspirations

D.N. Schmidt’s biggest source of inspiration is Douglas Adams. He rereads Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy at least once a year. His first copy of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was a used book. The previous owner had written “ha ha ha” in the margins next to all their favorite jokes. It was like reading with a laugh track. Other inspirations include Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, William Gibson, Philip K. Dick, and H.P. Lovecraft.