From Mary in Beijing

I just finished your book My Goat Ate its Own Legs which accompanied me for weeks after I obtained it from a trip to Hong Kong, as you know the mainland China market is quite limited to providing creative writing (English) material.

I believe you’ve heard too many of your fans talking about how refreshing your tales are and how catchy the wording is in each tale. I’m writing to tell you I really appreciate the fact I was able to read your works; it’s warm, witty, allowing as well as spoiling. I felt I was like a spoiled child being indulged with space to imagine and have innocent fun. I hope you’ll produce more works to keep this chaotic world quiet for a while.

I’m also curious about what kind of reading has inspired you for your own work; I would really appreciate any of your recommendations to add in my reading list.

My reply:

I appreciate every comment, good and bad, that people make about my book. It's obviously a real delight to hear that you enjoyed it and found personal meaning in the tales. I attempt with my writing to construct material that resonates with readers. I also hope that my material reflects contemporary life and issues. And timeless matters too, of course.

The works that have most inspired my writing are:

The complete works of Franz Kafka

The Outsider, Albert Camus

Animal Farm, George Orwell

Lord of the Flies, William Golding

Candide, Voltaire

Lucifer, Mike Carey (graphic novel series)

Preacher, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon (graphic novel series)

Sandman, Neil Gaiman (graphic novel series)

Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift

The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson

Poetry, multiple authors.

Sam wrote: I would be very interested to know how you honed your writing style as it is very different from anything I have read before. 'Goat' was a book I couldn't stop reading and desparately didn't want to end.

I replied with this, realising afterwards that I'd had a bit of a rant:

Your question about my style is astute. It’s a question not many ask – preferring to presume something is lacking rather than imagining intent. I could write an essay in reply, but that would take me months and several rewrites before I was happy – and, to be honest, I’m better at using fiction to display my thinking rather than describing it. So I’ll give it a go in email shorthand…

In any age, there are established ways of doing anything – from styles of writing, through ways of making war to philosophical processes. The vast majority of our well-received human output in any era will fall into these trends. There are countless examples. I’m sure there were celebrated Ancient Egyptian artists whose aesthetics are lost to us now, whose once heralded genius blends into the rest of the writing on the wall. To modern men and women.

I’m not interested in keeping up with the Literati Joneses. And, to be honest, lots about modern storytelling bores me witless. Much modern writing is about escapism – about creating characters who never were and who never will be. It’s a time of impotent literature. Many narrative forms have blended into one – the film plot narrative where a hero overcomes all to save the day. It’s how we can create film franchises from rollercoaster rides or shoot-em-up computer games. That is the tide. Swim with it and a writer increases their chances of making a living from what they do. But I’m in the writing game to engage, to challenge, to provoke. Not to make a living at all costs. Perhaps that’s why you like my writing. Perhaps not? Let me know what it is about my writing you like. All that matters to me is that you find something in it that works for you. I enjoy writing – and find it immensely satisfying to know that there are people out there (you and others) who enjoy reading it.