About Daan Katz

Daan Katz is the author of the literary speculative novels Night’s Reign and Death and the Maiden, which explore themes of disability, neurodivergence, and mental health issues. He also writes poetry—sometimes deep and quiet, sometimes fun and whimsical, but always accessible and grounded in lived experience.

‘What if…?’ 

This question, which lies at the root of so many great stories, is also the one that drives Daan’s stories forward. He has no use for outlines, but rather trusts his intuition to guide him through the narrative so the plot can unfold organically.

His deep understanding of story structure—ingrained in his bones thanks to thousands of hours spent devouring books and his grandmother’s made-up tales—doesn’t hurt, of course. He feels the weight of events, and the subtle shifts in atmosphere that add tension at just the right moments. 

Yet, he never loses sight of what’s most important: people.

Daan doesn’t just create characters. He writes living, breathing people—as real as your next-door neighbour. Their joys and triumphs are his, but so are their disillusions, their grief, their pain. When he puts his characters through hell, he is right there with them.

And he does. No matter how much it hurts. Because these are the stories that need to be told. Stories of disability, physical and mental illness, trauma, abuse, suicide—Daan is not afraid to write about the harsh truths of life. To speak for those who can’t.

Lifelong learning

Blessed with an insatiable intellectual curiosity (and a remarkably high IQ) Daan loves learning. For his writing life, this means he’ll happily spend hours researching, not even caring if he gets sucked into unexpected rabbit holes. Because he knows he might just be able to use this or that little nugget of knowledge somewhere down the line.

From psychology, to music, to plate tectonics, to mythology, to medicine… Daan loves it all, and uses it in his characterisation and worldbuilding. That’s what makes his worlds feel realistic and lived-in: They have history, and their core concepts rest on solid science. From his perspective, the excuse ‘but it’s fantasy’ is just that: a lousy excuse for lazy writing.

If there’s one thing Daan abhors, it’s exactly that: lazy writing.

His dedication to the craft of writing knows no bounds. He spent many hours studying, refining his craft; always striving for perfection. His lyrical writing never crosses the line into purple prose. His words are carefully chosen, and each one earns its place.

Whether by accident or through destiny, his contacts with fellow authors led Daan to start his own editing company, INKarakter—after taking several elementary courses on proofreading and editing. It goes without saying that he continues to learn, eager to develop his editing skills further.

Currently on his reading table: The Emotional Craft of Fiction, by Donald Maass, and The Fiction Editor, the Novel, and the Novelist, by Thomas McCormack.

Personal Journey & Identity

Daan Katz was born in The Hague, the Netherlands where he spent most of his youth. When he was 19, he moved to London suburb Twickenham, where he only stayed for 6 months, after which he went to Belgium to study theology.

There, he soon discovered he wasn’t cut out to be a theologian, so he moved back to the Netherlands, where he studied psychology at Utrecht University. Unfortunately, by that time, his disabilities began to take over, and Daan was unable to finish his studies.

Wheelchair dependent, diagnosed with Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder, Daan knows what he’s doing when writing disabled and neurodivergent characters. His own experiences—mixed with those of friends, family, and random strangers he observes at the bus stop—become fuel for his characters’ ups and downs.

Daan currently resides in the east of the Netherlands with his three cats, Thalia, Rafaela, and Mozart. In his free time, he loves to play the piano and sing the beautiful works of Bach, Handel, and Schubert (to name a few) in his light lyrical tenor.

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