5 questions with Gary Chapman

5 questions with Gary Chapman

In Author Conversations by Scribd

5 questions with Gary Chapman

We love any opportunity to get to know authors better. So a lightning round of questions sounds like a good place to start. Here, we ask five quick questions (and a couple of wildcards) about books, genres, reading preferences, writing style, and their secret to success. 

If you’ve been liking and sharing all the “my love language is…” memes on social media as often as you’ve been reading the Books Trending on #BookTok, then you’ll appreciate this author spotlight. The current #lovelanguage craze can be traced back to Gary Chapman’s book, The 5 Love Languages. First published in 1992, it asks readers to reflect on whether we express or receive love as:

  1. Words of Affirmation
  2. Quality Time
  3. Receiving Gifts
  4. Acts of Service
  5. Physical Touch

Allow us to suggest a sixth: reading.

Whatever your love languages are, here, The 5 Love Languages author shares the books he enjoys reading, his writing process, and what his love languages are.

1. What are your all-time favorite books?


Gary Chapman: I honestly can't answer this question. While I can’t name my all-time favorite, some books I’ve enjoyed include Help is Here by Max Lucado, books by authors A. W.Tozer and Charles Spurgeon, and the novel A Piece of the Moon by Chris Fabry.

2. What’s your favorite genre to read?


Gary Chapman: Anything on marriage and family. For example, The Six Conversations by Dr. Heather Holleman, God, Sex, and Your Marriage by Dr. Juli Slattery, Happily Even After by Dannah Gresh, The Ten Commandments of Marriage by Ed Young, Jr., and The Blessing by John Trent.

Editor’s Note: What’s your favorite genre? Take our quiz to find out.

3. Which do you prefer: ebook or audiobook?


Gary Chapman: ebook

Editor’s Note: Here are some tips to decide whether you should listen to or read your next book.

4. What’s your writing routine or process? 


Gary Chapman: Through the years I have dedicated Thursday as a writing day. It takes time, but eventually, the book gets written. Almost all of my books have grown out of my counseling. They are an effort to help people I would never have time to see in my office. I choose a topic. Then list the key issues that will need to be covered. (These later become chapter headings. When given permission, I seek to use real-life illustrations.

5. How much of your writing success is due to hard work, talent, or luck?


Gary Chapman: Writing is hard work, but I give God credit for the acceptance my books have had.

Wildcard: If you could have coffee/tea with anyone alive or dead, who would it be and why?


Gary Chapman: My grandfather, because I never got to know him.

Wildcard: What are your love languages?


Gary Chapman: My primary love language is Words of Affirmation. My wife's primary love language is Acts of Service. That is why I wash dishes, vacuum floors, take out the trash, and do anything else she wants me to do. I live with a happy woman who tells me I am the greatest husband in the world. I know that is hyperbole, but my love tank is full. Life is beautiful when we learn to speak each other's love language.