SuperPsyched with Dr. Adam Dorsay #305 Writing Great Fiction | Andrew Davidson
Psychologist and SuperPsyched host Dr. Adam Dorsay interviews novelist Andrew Davidson about Davidson’s debut novel The Gargoyle and the role fiction can play in empathy and mental health. Davidson summarizes the book as a burn-ward patient approached by a woman who claims they were lovers 700 years ago, highlighting the tension between the narrator’s atheism and Maryanne Engel’s faith. He discusses his research-driven writing process, including firsthand outreach to a burn survivor, extensive historical sourcing, and deliberate choices balancing accuracy with emotional truth. Davidson explains cutting a much longer manuscript, securing representation from agent Eric Simonoff, and how the book’s global publication—including translations and a reported $1.25 million advance—led to an overwhelming publicity tour that altered his relationship with writing. He describes later work in theater and ends by naming empathy as the key insight to improve society.
00:00 Welcome to SuperPsyched
00:26 Why Fiction Matters
00:49 Introducing The Gargoyle
02:28 Meet Andrew Davidson
03:24 What The Book Is About
06:44 Characters and The Author
09:09 Researching Worlds and Trauma
13:59 Accuracy vs Emotional Truth
19:02 Trusting Intuition and Editing
21:12 Loving the Writing Process
22:26 Why Only One Novel
24:39 Writing for Love
25:40 Japan and The Gargoyle
26:30 Fame and Touring Burnout
29:11 Reset in Paris
30:26 Theater and New Writing
31:57 Writer Identity and Intrinsic Drive
33:48 Landing a Top Agent
36:07 Editing Down the Manuscript
40:11 Luck Preparation and Gratitude
42:35 Movie or Limited Series
45:34 Winnipeg Theater Mission
47:54 Empathy and Farewell
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