Ten questions with Luke Dumas

“[Luke] Dumas’s layered and atmospheric writing shines . . . engrossing.” —New York Times Book Review. Luke Dumas spent years working on drafts and a few false starts before his publishing debut received the type of reviews debut authors dream about. “Get comfortable with failure.” This interview is filled with fabulous advice for the aspiring writer. Thanks Luke!

1. Please tell us about your debut novel.

Grayson Hale, the most infamous murderer in Scotland, is better known by a different name: the Devil’s Advocate. The twenty-five-year-old American grad student rose to instant notoriety when he confessed to the slaughter of his classmate Liam Stewart, claiming the Devil made him do it.
When Hale is found hanged in his prison cell, officers uncover a handwritten manuscript that promises to answer the question that’s haunted the nation for years: was Hale a lunatic, or had he been telling the truth all along?
The first-person narrative reveals an acerbic young atheist, newly enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to carry on the legacy of his recently deceased father. In need of cash, he takes a job ghostwriting a mysterious book for a dark stranger—but he has misgivings when the project begins to reawaken his satanophobia, a rare condition that causes him to live in terror that the Devil is after him. As he struggles to disentangle fact from fear, Grayson’s world is turned upside-down after events force him to confront his growing suspicion that he’s working for the one he has feared all this time—and that the book is only the beginning of their partnership.

2. I’ve read that only 4% of the people who start a novel finish writing it. Why do you think you beat the odds?

Completing a novel, especially a first one, requires grit, passion, and self-belief. Writing my debut wasn’t easy, and it took a number of drafts over several years to get it right, but ultimately I think I beat the odds because I believed in the story and was determined not to give up on it.

3. Was your debut novel the first book you wrote?  (Any prior efforts hiding on your hard drive?)

A History of Fear was the fifth full-length book and the fourth novel I wrote. My first book was a tragic memoir of unrequited gay love that poured out of me when I was seventeen, followed by three valiant misses—a dark middle grade fantasy and two adult comedies that had no place in the market. For years I thought of myself primarily as a funny writer. My debut was a departure creatively, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that murder and mystery came naturally to me.

4. What helped you become a better writer? Any books or resources you found helpful?

Well, having written four books before my debut was a fantastic education in what not to do. I also think studying literature as an undergraduate was helpful in exposing me to different genres, forms, and literary traditions that have influenced and inspired me as a writer. I was fortunate enough to later receive a master’s degree in creative writing, and though there are certainly lessons I took away from that experience, I think the most helpful part of it was probably just being able to carve out a year of my life to focus on fiction writing. Although many find them helpful, I’m not a huge fan of craft books personally; whatever skill I’ve acquired, I credit to careful reading, years of practice, and great editors.

5. What was your process like getting an agent?  

I’m so incredibly lucky that my agent is someone I knew and was friends with as a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh. As I was getting ready to start querying agents for A History of Fear, I reached out to her cold after eight years, feeling totally cringey and embarrassed and fully prepared to be shot down. But to my delight, Maria remembered and adored my early writing and loved my novel when she read it. I was querying other agents as well, but when Maria offered to represent me, I jumped at the opportunity.

6. How did you celebrate when you learned your book would be published?

With a nice glass of Scotch. It seemed appropriate.

7. What was the most exciting moment involving the publication of your debut novel?  (The moment you first saw the cover? The call when you learned when it was being published? When you cashed your advance check?)

For me, the most exciting moment came a few weeks before we received the offer. My agent Maria informed me that she was planning to start pitching the book to prospective editors that Wednesday. Thursday morning, I woke up to an email from Maria sharing feedback from an editor named Loan Le at Atria Books.

Loan’s message read: “I typed this out at 1:26 am, but I held back from sending until now because I didn’t want to be THAT person who emailed late, but—Maria: I FLEW through these pages.” It went on to describe everything Loan loved about the book. The voice. The narrative elements. How the ending made her drop her Kindle. How she was getting second reads from her colleagues and was hoping to speak with me soon.

I literally walked out of my bedroom in tears and just held the email out to my husband to read. Until that moment, it hadn’t occurred to me that my novel might ever engender that kind of reaction from anyone, let alone a major publisher, let alone THAT FAST. To me, it was still the janky little Word doc I’d been grinding away at for months at the desk in the corner of my living room. That was the moment it all started to feel real.

8. What’s your best advice for someone who wants to be published?

My advice is to read a lot, write a lot, and get comfortable with failure. It’s unlikely your first novel (or novels) will be published or even good. That’s okay. Treat each one as a valuable learning experience and keep writing. Don’t beat yourself up if it takes a few tries. Publishing is rarely a path of instant gratification. When I was younger, I was so determined to be one of those wunderkinds who was published before they were eighteen or twenty. Once I accepted that it might be years or even decades before I was published, I was able to reorient my priorities toward improving my craft and producing work I was really proud of.

9. What are you currently reading? Or, what's one of the best novels you've read lately?

I’m currently reading Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney. Her previous novel, Rock Paper Scissors, was one of the best things I read last year. A book I finished recently and really enjoyed was The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon. Such a great blend of beautiful descriptive writing, Gothic atmosphere, and mystery. The ending really got me.

10. What are you working on now?  Any projects coming out soon?

I’m looking forward the release of my second novel, The Paleontologist, on Dec. 5, 2023. It’s a supernatural thriller about a haunted paleontologist who returns to the museum where his sister was abducted years earlier and is faced with a terrifying, murderous spirit. I’m a huge fan of dinosaurs, paleontology, and ghost stories, so this has been a dream project for me. I hope fans of Jurassic Park, Simone St. James, and Katy Hays will love it. It’s now available to pre-order.

To learn more about Luke Dumas, check out his website and find him on Twitter and Instagram.