Success Comes to Those Who Seek It: The Andrew Davidson Story By Doreen Pendgracs
(A variation of this story was published in the Fall 2009 issue of WEST magazine )
It was a success story I just had to know more about. So I invited Andrew Davidson, author of the best-selling premiere novel, The Gargoyle, to speak at a conference I was attending and he blew the audience away with his frankness, his humour and the story of how an unknown writer from small-town Manitoba could garner a record-breaking advance from one of North Americaís largest publishing houses.
The basic answer in a nutshell, is that Davidson believed that what he had written was good and he found himself (what he calls) 'the best agent in the world' to get it into the right hands. But there is much more to this story.
Andrew Davidson is just 40 years of age and one of Manitoba's newest millionaires. On August 5, 2008, his first novel was released in Canada (by Random House Canada) and the US (by Doubleday Books) earning him a reported $2million in advances before even one copy of the book was officially sold. Since then, the book has been translated into 27 languages around the globe and is selling well in most jurisdictions - apart from the US.
But he wasn't an overnight success. Davidson worked on the book for seven years. He painstakingly researched what burn victims must endure. (The main character in The Gargoyle -- a morphine-addicted modern day porn star with a sad childhood unlike Davidson's -- has been severely burned in a car crash.) He had to research life in medieval Germany. (The main character is said to have had a relationship during the 14th century with the woman who helps heal him in the present.) And he had to research and come to understand the patterns of behaviour of a schizophrenic. (His love interest in the book and primary source of information for its story, Marianne Engel, is said to be schizophrenic.) The time shifting and mind shifting make The Gargoyle a compelling but difficult read.
How did a guy from Pinawa (population 1,450) achieve this magnitude of success? "I was fortunate to have had the right English teacher at the right time in my life," says Davidson. "She opened my eyes at age 16 to the fact that I could - and should --write and that my life would be better for it if I did."
Getting published (and striking it rich) wasn't Davidson's initial motivation. He wrote pretty much every day for 23 years as an unpublished writer. He wrote because he felt he had to. "l simply had to write, " says Davidson. "I concentrated on poetry for the first five years. I then went on to stage plays. It was all bad, but it didnít matter, and it didnít stop me from writing."
Prior to publication of The Gargoyle, Davidson had earned very little money from his writing. "I was really past thinking I would ever be a professional fiction writer," he says. "By the time I started The Gargoyle, it was really all about doing the work and telling the story I wanted to tell. Writing stories helps me make sense of the world."
Davidson says it has taken hard work and determination to fully hone his craft as a writer. "I certainly wasn't born with some skill that came fully formed," he says. "Hard work and determination helped me develop the skill of writing. If there was one thing I was born with, it was a desire to write that even I don't fully understand. It just is."
In 1999, Davidson moved to Japan, where he taught English for five years. "I loved Japan," he says. "I loved the people, the culture and the job that I had. My time there was absolutely amazing, and although I'm a Canadian through and through, I now consider it my second home and return whenever I can."
Davidson admits he experienced a bit of a culture shock while living in Japan. "When I lived in Tokyo, my biggest challenge was that at some intersections, there were more people crossing the street than in my entire hometown!"
From 2004-2007, Davidson shared his time between his hometown of Pinawa and Winnipeg, returning to Japan briefly on contract. In 2007, he took up permanent residency in Winnipeg in a cozy neighbourhood within walking distance of Corydon Avenue, the trendy restaurant strip he has been visiting for much of his life. "I really like the Corydon area because of the selection of restaurants, cafes, galleries and shops," he says.
Why not take the money and move to somewhere more exotic - and warmer? "My parents still live in Pinawa and I have a sister who lives in (Beausejour) Manitoba - and a lot of friends here in Winnipeg," says Davidson. "These are lasting, lifelong friendships. I'm also still in touch with the grad class from high school in Pinawa. There are about 25 of them who I went through grade school and into high school with. Those friendships mean a lot to me."
Davidson emphasizes the fact that he likes being closely connected to his roots. " I could have gone anywhere, but I like it here. I grew up here. It's my home," he says. "There's something very grounding and calming about living on the Prairies. There's a sense of community that only people from a small town would understand."
He also salutes the artistic talent that surrounds him in Winnipeg. "The artistic community in Manitoba is amazing," says Davidson. "It gravitates here in Winnipeg. We have produced terrific writers and filmmakers. And let's not get started on music. There have been so many fantastic musical artists who have come out of Winnipeg."
To help him survive the long and cold Manitoba winters, Davidson plays hockey. "I like winter a lot more when I'm playing hockey," he says. But he hasn't been able to play for the past couple of winters because of his travel with the book. " It's not fair to sign up for a team and then be unable to show up for games."
I asked Davidson how else his newly acquired notoriety has changed his life. "Either it hasn't changed my life at all, or itís changed everything - depending on how you look at it," he says.
Seeing the globe has been a major benefit of penning a bestselling novel for Davidson. "Certainly the amount of travel Iíve been doing has changed," he says. "Since the book came out last August, I've traveled extensively throughout North America, been to Germany and London three times, much of Europe, and in May I'll be visiting Australia for the first time to attend the Sydney Writer's Festival."
Has he had a favourite experience related to the promotional travel for his book? "I really loved Croatia," says Davidson. "It is a beautiful country. I was there the first week after the book had been released in the country and was having breakfast before we started our day when I asked by the waitress whether I'd written the book. That was pretty amazing."
Davidson is presently working on his second novel, but when asked about it, he declined to give too many details. "I can tell you that it's no Gargoyle II," he says. But he did confirm that he's still in the research stage of his new work and that he has not signed any contract regarding its publication. (Although his contract with Random House Canada has committed him to a second book with them.)
When will Davidson's second book be out? "To coax a life story out of a character (whether in real life or in fiction) requires a different treatment," he says. "I'm hoping it doesn't take seven or eight years to write this book, but if it does take that long, so be it. I just don't want to ever publish anything that I can't stand completely behind."