Norman Reedus on How Pink Floyd Inspired His 'Love of Storytelling' and His New Novel The Ravaged

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Norman Reedus has long loved storytelling in its many forms. The Walking Dead star chatted with PEOPLE about his passion for writing and the inspiration behind his recently released debut novel, The Ravaged.

Reedus, 53, shared how he enjoys everything from books to short stories, song lyrics and visual storytelling — but one childhood memory in particular comes to mind when he tells his own origin story as an author.

"My mother used to play Pink Floyd really loud when I was a kid, she had these Big 7 speakers and it just blew me away," Reedus tells PEOPLE exclusively. "I think my love of storytelling started with the illustrations from The Wall album. I just spent so much time fantasizing about what the characters and artwork meant, that I started writing short stories as a kid."

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In service of his creative ventures, Reedus founded Bigbaldhead Productions in 2019, then partnered with Blackstone Publishing in 2020. But with so many "different stories in the back of [his] head," Reedus acknowledged that he never really found himself "sitting still" until the pandemic lockdowns in 2020.

"I had all this time so I started a book and learned how to make the perfect martini all at the same time," he says.

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While Reedus revealed that the timing isn't yet quite right for him to release a book about his own life, The Ravaged does pull from his personal experiences and elements from his past — with a fictional twist.

The Ravaged is comprised of three stories that chronicle the personal quests of characters Jack, Hunter and Anne as they embark on individual journeys and each discover unique lessons with some eerie parallels.

"There are ideas in the book that I didn't realize until after I finished it," Reedus says. "I was like, 'All of these people are either running from something or running to something and they're finding a sense of family along the way.'"

"I was thinking," he adds, "Maybe I was on that train of thought because of The Walking Dead and I was so enveloped in shooting the final season. We kind of find a sense of family in an apocalypse. Maybe that inspired it and I didn't realize it."

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Though his time on TWD has come to a close, Reedus is also an avid visual storyteller who will continue to share his perspective of the world skillfully, thanks to his experience both in front of and behind the camera.

"Once you know how a camera and visuals work, I think it helps you with being in front of the camera," he explains. "You start to ask questions like, 'What lens is that?' Once you learn one skill, it helps you with the others."