Devoted to publishing, publishers and to those who craft the written word

We spend a lot of time talking about agents, query letters and other parts of the post-book-writing process. It's easy to forget the most fundamental part of writing, the one thing that brings us all together in the first place.

Reading books.

Today, Andrew Davidson, author of the much-anticipated novel, The Gargoyle, tells us about the books that inspired him to write his obsessive love story. 

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality conversations with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing. 

Jason Boog:
Your book contains an amazing reading list--from Dante to obscure religious texts to burn manuals. As a writer, what are the books you look to for inspiration? What are the books you recommend for aspiring writers?

Andrew Davidson:
I recommend that aspiring writers—and non-aspiring, non-writers—read whatever interests them. I read Dante because he puts me in heaven, hell, and purgatory. Continue reading...

I read medical texts because the treatment of severe burns is fascinating. I read Thomas Hardy because I’m in love with Tess Durbeyfield. I have absolutely no idea what constitutes “worthwhile” reading; I only know what interests me.

It doesn’t matter what you read: just read. And if you’re fifty pages into a book you don’t like, put it down. You don’t have to finish it just because you started it, because there’s no shortage of things out there that you will like.

If you happen to be a writer and you know what you like to read, you might as well write something along those exact lines. Because writing is like reading, in that if the subject matter doesn’t interest you, there’s no point in finishing.

Jason Boog:
How did you figure out how to mix a realistic look at obsessive love into the fantastical parts of the book--how did you channel your experiences into the love story?

Andrew Davidson:
You seem to be suggesting that the obsessive love in The Gargoyle is fantastical; I would counter that obsessive love is simply fantastic. What point is there in loving, if not obsessively?