Author Interview: Dirk Biesinger

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to Friday Night Writes! As always, our goal is to shine a spotlight on members of the book community and introduce readers to awesome authors, narrators, event hosts, influencers, and more.

This week, we'd like to introduce our featured guest, author Dirk Biesinger!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Who are you?

I’m just me, a collection of opposites. I like to fiddle and tinker with things and details, but also think about the big picture. I dislike being in public or photographed, yet I like to share my ideas and views, talk about them. I like to be direct, to the point, but have a lot to share.

What are a few of your favorite things/least favorite things?

Time.

I’m conscious of how I spend my time. I spend my time on what is important to me or enjoyable. I abhor how others, especially companies providing “customer service” freely waste my time.

How long have you been writing?

Two years.

Did you always want to be an author?

No. It came by fluke: End of October 2023, I lost my job. We had been collecting and curating a lot of materials for a MMORPG video game for a long time by then. Getting the game off the ground without significant capital was a non-starter. So I had been contemplating how else to use the materials. The core ideas and motivations was always to go multi-channel.

Around the time I lost my job, I read a book that was pretty popular then. I considered it a mediocre work with many logical and structural flaws and very questionable premises. But: If a work with this obvious lack of quality can have that kind of success, then surely everyone has a shot at having some success. So, I opened my laptop and started writing. Seven weeks later, the first draft was done at around 117k words.

Besides writing, do you have any hobbies?

Archery. Detangling highly complex matters.

Do you have anything that you’re truly passionate about outside of writing? (Could be a cause, a project, etc.)

I like working with my hands: metal working, wood working, archery. I like the challenge of figuring out everything to renovate our house, or making YouTube content.

Which genres do you write in?

Hard sci-fi x high fantasy x speculative utopian; thriller and mystery.

Are you independently published or traditionally published? Why did you choose this route? What are the benefits/drawbacks?

Indie. I grew up in Germany at a time when books were still a form of art, the typical book available in hardcover and occasionally, as a budget version, as paperback. Books were meant to provoke, to animate thought and discussion, to be experiments. Vastly different from the standard templated stories for fast mass-marketing the North American market had started embracing.

I embrace the way books were when I grew up. My books do not follow the standardized templates. I challenge these templates as a form to make a point, to provoke, to invite and encourage thought, from the book covers that are fitting to the books, but do not conform to what is hip for the genre to not adhering to traditional publishers’ rules.

I could not go the trad publishing route if I wanted to, as my books would not be accepted.

What do you enjoy most and least about being an author?

The most enjoyable part for me is to get the first draft on paper. Followed by the accomplishment once the post-beta stage is all wrapped up.

Not surprisingly, the social media and marketing part is my least favorite. I guess this is the standard answer for most authors.

Are you a plotter, a plantser, or a pantser?

I’m a plantser. My books have multiple interwoven story arcs that also need to fit into the cycle of a year, including the complex scheduling of a college and dependencies to the seasons and planetary mechanics. I plan these parts out, setting a timeline for each story arc, then combining these into a skeleton layout based on the calendar. And then my characters enter the stage and all hell breaks loose. They take me on a wild ride.

Every time.

Do you have any writing routines (things you do that help you write)?

I write every night. No exceptions. This might not be actual writing; it might be thinking about scenes or researching details or developing tangential materials.

I have a playlist I listen to. No vocals in the songs, as these distract me.

How do you deal with writer’s block?

I've never encountered this so far. I don’t have enough time to get it all on paper. So much to write, so much to tell, so much to share.

How many WIPs do you have going right now? Can you tell us anything about them?

Two.

The first one's working title is Traitor. A Thriller / mystery around AI. I’m currently in the first draft stage there.

The second's working title is Book Four of my Boreas’ Tribes Saga. I doubt it will be published as one book. More like two, perhaps three. I tend to write long. It will be the third year we follow the delta cohort in The Academe. I’m outlining / developing the story arcs right now.

How many books do you currently have published? Tell us about them.

Four books. At the moment, all are utopian hard sci-fi x high fantasy and part of the Boreas’ Tribes Saga. This saga explores how a life focusing on what is important, what living consciously and purposefully in the moment as part of a community, could look like and how the society would look . I like to explore questions like if there is magic, how did it come about that it was discovered, learned? How did it look in the beginning?

In order of writing and publication:

A Discovery of Dragons, book one: The first year the delta cohort is in The Academe. First views at the world, some of the players, magic and dragons are being discovered in the world.

Xavie of Shamain, a prequel: This book follows the life of Xavie until we meet him in book one. He had a few obstacles to overcome and there are reasons why he ended up in The Academe.

A Discovery of Magic, book two: The first part of the second year in The Academe. Of course, there can’t be all good and quiet in a humanoid society, and there is a past that needs to be dealt

with.

A Discovery of Mages, book three: The final part of the second year in The Academe. There is more going on than meets the eye. But what? And why? And the magic is just about to become overwhelming. There must be knowledge somewhere? Someone?

Where do you get the inspiration for your books? Do you insert pieces of yourself and people you know into your books?

I always had a vivid fantasy, was able to live in my head. This does not mean everything generates there. I take many influences. For example, the solitary maple tree in the valley below The Academe is inspired by the maple tree standing in the yard outside my office window. Many details come from the materials we collected for the video game. I take inspiration for the many story-arcs principle ideas from how successful and interesting TV shows are set up.

Are there any other authors who have inspired you?

Umberto Eco. Each work unique and a challenge in it’s own right. Intricate.

Douglas Adams. Demonstrates that you can transport a message, a lesson with humor. Lots of it. And challenge the status quo.

J.R.R. Tolkien. I read it at a young age in German. Even then, something did not feel right, but I could not say what. I should later learn that many of the names have been translated as well, and while the words were translated correctly, the subtleties and deeper meaning was lost in translation.

J.K. Rowling. (Hear me out!) I used Harry Potter as a preparation for our move to an English-speaking country. I knew school English, but not everyday English. Along the journey, through her books I learned two things: It is possible to create deep imagination with simple words, and that there is a risk of being too uniform, too prescribing and limiting.

Rebecca Yarros. Her book was the straw that broke the camel’s back so to speak. If a work of that quality can create a hype, anybody has a chance at some success.

Do you prefer standalone books or book series?

It does not matter to me. The message is important. However, if a series, it must be done in a way that does NOT resemble the ever-reheated same pattern TV shows tend to fall into.

No matter, things that can be mostly realistic is more important to me. Riding a horse in full gallop with two riders for hours? Come on. Distances that can be covered by traveling on foot, cart, or horseback in a day, week, fortnight? Does this match with what the maps show? Spatial and timely alignment needs to be correct and reasonable.

Do you have a favorite and least favorite of your characters? Why?

I’m impartial. I like certain traits in one or the other character. I instill certain traits in other characters. And yes, there is one side character that I most closely associate with. But my books are not about me. They are about the message, the immersion these characters together deliver.

What is your most popular book?

I’m seeing very limited traction so far. Too early to tell. I’m just starting my marketing push.

Which of your books do you wish received more love than it does?

I’ll have to go with the complete Boreas’ Tribes Saga. I have yet to find “superfans”. I know they are out there waiting to read this, to dive into the world. Then again, I wanted to get more than one or two books out first and have neglected marketing. This is what I focus more on in the next little while.

How do you handle the author/life balance? (i.e. writing/editing/graphic design/home life/etc.)

Mostly with scheduling. I have times in the day I write, times I use to renovate our house and property.

What do you do for your mental health and/or to recharge your creativity?

It appears the more I write, the deeper I get into the materials, the more wants to pool out of me. I think I have ideas that would keep me busy for several years if writing would also replace my full-time job. And I’m saying this while publishing 250k words a year as a hobby.

Do you have any advice for unpublished writers or people who hope to become authors?

First: sit down and write. Nothing else matters to get your story out to be read.

Second: Research background and lore. Do as much as is required, but as little as possible. It does not matter for your story if all the cities in your world are described and sketched in perfect detail if the book, the story you are writing only visits a few. Concentrate on these and details only in the areas that are visited. Leave the rest raw, unfocused, unfinished. For now.

Third: Find your process. The first draft does not have to be perfect. It’s not there to be perfect. It’s there to have a broad stroke of your story all in one place, down on paper. So you can refine, revise, change, toss, add. Don’t try to write a perfect story right away. Embrace the rough, embrace “that needs refining," embrace “I don’t like this but don’t have anything better right now." I tend to info dump. I do this in first draft, offload all the details, sometimes over five, six pages. It’s the job of the first draft to have it all on paper. It’s the job of revisions to make it fluid, to transform info dumps into organic discovering all the details. Concentrate on the job at hand, embrace the gap. Your process creates the finished product. Not the first step.

Thanks, Dirk! That was great. Let's do some fun questions now! Are you a clean or messy person?

While I appreciate order and cleanliness, I’m chaotic at times. Followed by a clean-up round.

Do you collect anything besides books?

Ideas, inspiration (just check my author pinterest), data.

Do you believe in ghosts or aliens?

In a broader sense, yes. I think there is some form of life, potentially intelligent life, somewhere out in the universe, some time. Is it likely we will encounter it? No. I think it’s very unlikely, but not impossible.

I think that we are all connected on a deep level. Even to our environment. Some call it intuition, some call it premonition, some call it belief or some form of deity.

Where can we find you online?

My website: https://dirkbiesinger.com/

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/dirkbiesinger.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@authorDirkBiesinger

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authordirkbiesinger/

Do you have any planned events?

No. I’m socially awkward in these kinds of settings. I’m very uncomfortable in these, and it shows. Always ends in disappointment.

Is there anything else you would like us to know?

Yes. While I work with Machine Learning and AI in my day job, I do not use AI in any way, shape, or form in my books. (I have to clean out my Pinterest boards to get rid of AI on anything I pinned there as well.)

We appreciate that! I also heard you're running an opportunity for Friday Night Writes readers! Can you tell us about it?

Yes. I’m currently accepting applications for my ARC team and also offer review copies of my books. Apply on my website.

Are there any rules or exclusions? (ex. Signed books available to the United States only)

Currently, this is limited to eBook copies in English, but no regional limitations.

Great! And how can readers expect to hear from you?

I’m building out my monthly newsletter (started in October 2025). This is going to be the most consistent over time.

Secondary channels are YouTube, Pinterest, BlueSky.

Thank you so much for joining us, Dirk! It's been a pleasure chatting with you!

To all of our readers, thanks for spending some time with our guest author this week! We hope you've enjoyed this interview! In the meantime, be sure to check out Dirk Biesinger's website so you can keep up to date with his journey. Building a better, stronger community is what Friday Night Writes is all about!

Be sure to join us next week when we talk to author Clint Baker!

See you soon!

The Friday Night Writes Crew

Evie Black & Samantha Moran

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