Todd Babiak on how teaching fighting helped his fiction
CBC Radio | Posted: May 9, 2016 1:44 PM | Last Updated: May 9, 2016
The Son of France author shares how martial arts helped his career as a writer.
Todd Babiak is the author of three novels, most recently the thriller Son of France. His very first job taught him a lot about fighting — which he would go on to use in his fiction:
My first day job was as a self-defense instructor. I was only fourteen and I started to go to school less and less, and to teach fighting more and more. This framed my life in some ways. It made me think about violence in new ways. That certainly helped me as a writer, but it certainly didn't help me as a student.
Todd Babiak's comments have been edited and condensed.