Chattin It Up with Bryan Davis

Mr. Davis: Hello.

Jason: Hi Mr. Davis. So, how are you doing?

Mr. Davis: I'm crazy busy, but that's a good thing. Ask me a question. I'm not afraid!

Jason: What was your childhood like?

Mr. Davis: Although I moved around a lot in my early years because my father was in the Navy, I have mostly happy memories. My parents provided well, and they were loving. My father was absent quite a bit on long Navy tours until he retired.

So, after about sixth grade, we were together most of the time. I had very few worries and had strict rules through high school. Since I made good grades, I was close to being a classic nerd, but I worked on my athletic skills to stay away from that label. Overall, my childhood was easy and blessed.

Jason: What was it like where you lived as a kid?

Mr. Davis: For the early years we lived on or near Navy bases, so I was familiar with the military way of life. Most of my peers were also military. When my father retired, we moved to a lakefront house in Florida, pretty much a sub-tropical paradise.

Jason: What was it like at the school you went to as a kid? Rather, the schools.

Mr. Davis: I changed schools a lot, so I didn't make many close friends. I also skipped first grade, so I was always the youngest in my class.

That didn't help in the friendship department, especially since my classmates didn't like it when I always got the top test scores even though I was the youngest. I was pretty much a loner, but I liked it that way. I didn't like conforming to cultural norms, so I just kind of went my own way.

Jason: What was your favorite subject in school?

Mr. Davis: Definitely math. I am numbers oriented. I love to solve huge, complex problems. It gave me a sense of satisfaction to see the solutions after pages of work.

Jason: And, about the last question, I can relate to you on that too, although I was the tallest, but I had few friends.

Mr. Davis: I was also the tallest.

Jason: As a kid, did you always want to be a writer? If not, what did you want to be?

Mr. Davis: I never thought about being a writer. I didn't even like to read very much. I kind of drifted along through school, without much in my mind in the way of future plans. I probably thought I would go into a science or math related field, but I didn't have anything concrete in my mind.

Jason: What was it like when you were a teenager. What were you like?

Mr. Davis: I was obedient to my parents but a rebel to the culture. I didn't play go along with the crowd at all. In fact, if the "crowd" did something, I would likely want to do the opposite.

I was always an analyst. I carefully studied everything. I refused to take anything as true simply because somebody said so. I was also quite religious, seeking for truth in spiritual realms. I was not, however, a Christian yet.

Jason: What were your talents as a kid?

Mr. Davis: As I mentioned, I was an analyst, excelling in math and science. I picked up athletic skills quickly, but I never wanted to play on organize teams. I much preferred pickup games.

Jason: Who was your hero as a kid?

Mr. Davis: Most were sports heroes. I remember liking Nolan Ryan in the early seventies, so I guess I was about 13 years old. In my younger years, I liked some fictional characters, such as Flash and Batman. I liked the idea of being as fast as Flash. I still do.

Jason: Flash Gordon?

Mr. Davis: No. The Flash. The guy in the red tights from the DC comics.

Jason: How did you get started writing?

Mr. Davis: About ten years ago my wife and I decided to begin a writing course for our children, all of whom are home schooled, but we couldn't find good workbooks. So I decided to teach them through writing something myself. I thought, "I've read good books. I'm sure I can teach them."

So I wrote a chapter a week of a novel and shared it with my family every Friday night. I found that writing ignited a passion in me for communicating truth through the written word, and that launched me toward a new vision for serving God. It took years to learn the craft and the publishing ropes well enough to get published, but it has been worth all the effort.

Jason: What inspires you to write? I.e. music, pictures

Mr. Davis: I have multiple types of inspiration. One is watching people, especially sad and hurting people. I want to make a difference in their lives. A second one is my children. I want to reach them with the truth in a way that they can understand. I want to speak to their concerns in a contemporary way.

In short, put Biblical truths into story format in a way that communicates the gospel. When I want to write something that I hope will pull emotional strings, I listen to music. Music draws out own emotions and helps me write at a heart level. Finally, movies help me see how actors create characters and make them realistic in a performance way. My characters have to do that same thing, and they have to portray real struggle, pain, and, we hope, success.

Jason: What does your writing space look like?

Mr. Davis: I have an office that is attached to my bedroom. There are two desks, one for me and one for my wife. My desk is almost always heavily cluttered and decorated with various dragon figurines that readers have sent me. I have posters of the three dragons books on the wall directly in front of me. I have bookshelves brimming with books.

Jason: How do you prepare your mind before writing?

Mr. Davis: Every morning I go for a three mile walk with my wife, and we pray together. That sets my mind in a good spiritual state. I try to get all my other little chores out of the way first, then I begin to write. I never have writers block, just lack of time. In the cooler months, if I get tired, I get up and go for a run. In the summer, I run before I work, and I don't seem to get tired during the day after running in the morning.

Jason: What do you do to drown out distractions?

Mr. Davis: I don't get many distractions. I don't consider interruptions from my children to be distractions. If it gets noisy in the house, I just close my office door.

Jason: What do you do to get over ?writer?s block??

Mr. Davis: I never get writer's block. I have so many ideas trying to bust loose, I can hardly wait to get them down. My problem is having the time to write.

Jason: What would be your advice to aspiring writers?

Mr. Davis: Learn the craft! There is so much to know! I'm certainly still learning. And if you believe God is calling you to write, never give up. It took eight years for me to get my first royalty contract. Also, learn to develop thick skin. Seek out tough critics for your work. They are actually a blessing.

Jason: If you ever stopped writing, what do you think you would do instead?

Mr. Davis: I don't think I can answer that question. I haven't considered that possibility. I simply think I will never stop writing.

Jason: Without giving anything away, could you tell the readers what the Dragons in our Midst series is about?

Mr. Davis: It's about a boy who learns that he has volcanically hot breath, and the secret to why it's hot is revealed when he learns about his father's dragon past. A girl also learns more about her own dragon heritage, and together they battle a fierce enemy from centuries ago.

Jason: Do a lot of your books feature dragons, knights, and the legend of King Arthur? If so, why?

Mr. Davis: My book for husbands, Spit and Polish for Husbands, also features illustrations using knights and dragons. I think the perception of the knight in shining armor is a good picture of what a man ought to be. We fight our own dragons in our own culture. If we learn the ancient code of the knight, we will do well in our battles.

Jason: What inspired you to write the Dragons in Our Midst series?

Mr. Davis: I had a dream about a boy who could breathe fire. I told my eldest son about it, and we brain stormed the series concept together.

Jason: Which of the books in the Dragons in our Midst series did you enjoy writing the most?

Mr. Davis: Writing the third book, Circles of Seven, was a gut-wrenching, thrilling adventure. That story means so much to me, I wanted to give it the kind of quality it deserves. I poured my heart into it. There is one portion of The Candlestone that is also one of my favorites, Bonnie's prayer for Billy. I can't tell you how many e-mails I've received about that passage.

Jason: What was the most fun part about writing the series?

Mr. Davis: It's always fun to create something new. When I get finished with a part of the story that I enjoy, it gives me a great deal of pleasure. It was also fun doing the research, because I traveled to each location, including England for the third book.

Jason: Who do you think is your favorite character in the Dragons in our Midst series?

Mr. Davis: Without a doubt, it's Bonnie Silver. She is my ideal female.

Jason: What was the most challenging part of writing the Dragons in our Midst series?

Mr. Davis: The editing is challenging--going over and over and over the words. I want it to be perfect, so I keep making changes until I have to turn it in at the deadline. It can get very tedious, but it's worth it.

Jason: Which character in the Dragons in our Midst series do you see your personality most in?

Mr. Davis: Jared, Billy's father, a.k.a. Clefspeare the dragon. He is on a journey that won't end until the fourth book.

Jason: What do you do in your spare time?

Mr. Davis: I teach my children, play with them, and exercise. I lead Bible studies at church, so I spend a good deal of time studying for those.

Jason: Do you like to read? If so, what do you look for in a story?

Mr. Davis: I like to read. I want a story that has heroic characters. The worst story for me is anything with a "sinful Christian" in it. I don't mind if a Christian character learns along the way, but if he or she is purposely disobeying God, I will usually put the book down for good.

Jason: How many kids do you have, and what are they like? Do you think any of them will become writers?

Mr. Davis: I have seven children, four girls and three boys. They are all very different.

Jason: I'll e-mail you the other two questions now. I have to get offline because Mom needs to use the phone. Later Mr. Davis.

Mr. Davis: Bye. Thank you.

Jason: Bye. It was fun.