Ed Davis Speaks Out

Wednesday, March 11 saw the Concord University Library play host to professional writer Ed Davis. Davis, who was a first generation college student and a Concord alumnus, taught writing, literature, and humanities at Sinclair Community College from 1978 to 2011. In addition to teaching for over thirty years, Davis founded a literary magazine known as Flights, and was an Assistant Director at Antioch Writer’s Workshop.

Davis has written four poetry books, as well as three fictional novels. His first novel, I Was So Much Older Then, was published by Disc-Us books in 2001. A “semi-memoir” story, I Was So Much Older Then is still available from Amazon.com. His second novel, The Measure of Everything, was released in 2005, and chronicles the story of fictional Shawnee Springs, Ohio and the town’s attempt to escape the ever encroaching hand of urbanization.

“One thing you have to know about me is that I am an uncured Beatlemaniac,” Davis said in his talk, “Which is sort of why I wrote ‘The Last Beatlemaniac’ that was included in the short story collection In My Life: Encounters With The Beatles. Music has always been a major influence on me in my life, especially in the creation of my latest novel.”

The novel in question, The Psalms of Israel Jones, was recently published by West Virginia University Press. In this story, a Reverend named Thomas Johnson learns that his father, rock star Israel Jones, has been acting strange onstage. Eager to escape his problems, and hopeful to get an apology from Jones for abandoning his mother, Johnson joins his father on his Eternal Tour on journey of both spiritual and familial redemption.

“I was inspired a lot by Bob Dylan,” Davis stated when asked about the origin of Israel Jones, “Bob Dylan’s one man that has toured for a long time. He also has a massive cult appeal. With my own character Israel Jones, I tried to emulate that kind of cult appeal. You can see that in his fanbase. Jones’s fans, who are mostly young people, cut their faces during his live performances. It’s like they no longer want to watch the show, they want to be the show. Though I do not want my potential readers to worry too much about it being completely bleak and dark.” With a chuckle, he added, “I’d never leave my readers down in the depths of hell. Other writers like to do that, and I respect them for it. But I’d never do that.”

Davis then talked about the difficulties he had finding a publisher for this novel. “Before I submitted The Psalms of Israel Jones to the West Virginia University Press, my agent and I tried about thirty different publishers. Eventually, we were able to get into West Virginia University Press. Before any work submitted to them gets published it is read by three different people, and a majority have to vote for publishing it. 2 out of the 3 readers voted for publishing. All in all, this process took about five years. I finished writing Israel Jones in 2010. That gives you an idea of how long it takes to get published.”

In a word of advice to budding writers, Davis said, “My recommendation for writers is to write. Take a few hours to write every day, and you’ll eventually get something. Having a good network of support is also great help. Doing research for a work is fun and can be beneficial. But don’t get bogged down in the research or make it an excuse to not write. I have been guilty of this before, so I know what I’m talking about.”

Finally, he stated with a smile, “I hope my readers will say that I know what I am talking about.” The Psalms of Israel Jones is now available from Books a Million, Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble.

Photo Courtesy of wvupressonline.com