Reverend Luke Davis, upper school Bible teacher, published his novel Litany of Secrets this summer. The following is the full interview with Davis featured in the article “Interview with the Author”.

The Roar: How long have you been writing this book?

Davis: I began the process back in the autumn of 2010. I’d just self-published a poetry book about our late son, Jordan, and I wanted to do something more extensive in fiction. I’ve loved crime fiction/murder mysteries for some time and so I thought I’d take a crack at writing that—not just one book, but an entire series. I took about three or four months to plan the plot, characters, and setting of the first novel. So by the time I was done with the pre-writing phase, it was January 2011 and by Memorial Day that year, I had written a ninety-three thousand word book.

The Roar: How long has the publishing process been?

Davis: Longer than it has taken me to write the first four books in this series. What a lot of people see is the tip of the iceberg, when the book comes out. But there are a lot of twists and turns and false starts and heartbreak along the way of even getting someone to believe in your story. One local publisher was interested in Litany of Secrets, but when she (a) told me she wouldn’t print it until March 2015 and (b) said she didn’t find my main character [a wheelchair-bound detective] believable, I told her to forget it. From the time I finished the book to when Mark Sutherland of Dunrobin Publishing said “Let’s do this!”, it was about seventeen months. I learned a lot about patience and believing in what you produce.

The Roar: What was the publishing process like for you?

Davis: Once we had a contract signed and started moving forward, it was incredibly efficient and pain-free. I had several people—including Dr. Gibson and Mr. Graham—take a look at it, so when my publisher did the editing, he didn’t have to deal with too much. And Ciarra Peters (WCA junior) did an amazing job on the cover design. In short, what would normally have been a six-month timeline was completed in less than two months. In truth, now the hard part has begun: Marketing and promoting the book is something I have to commit myself to every day…being on my Twitter and Facebook pages, my blog, and discovering new venues and places to get the word out.

The Roar: Are there any more books planned for this series?

Davis: The entire Cameron Ballack Mystery series is going to be eight novels in length. They will all take place in the greater St. Louis area, and almost all the settings will be religious or spiritual in nature: a seminary, a church, a Christian counseling center, a hospice, and so on. I’ve begun research on a historical novel that takes place during the First World War, but that project is years down the road.

The Roar: What inspired you to write this story?

Davis: Several factors: I wanted to prove to myself I could write a murder mystery. I also liked the idea of this kind of story being done in a Christian setting while not being a “Christian” book. The Christian faith is my life tradition, but there is no doubt that some Christian environments are marked by deep flaws and—tragically—great evil. So my writing explores this brokenness, this flawed nature of faith, while I still remain loyal to the Gospel. I use my lead detective character, Cameron Ballack, to pose these issues as a skeptic who can’t bring himself to embrace faith. And the human inspiration would be our son, Joshua, who is the prototype for Cameron Ballack. They share a common neuromuscular disorder and common quirks. Both are wheelchair-bound yet very determined souls. I wanted a story that would show people like Joshua are primarily “handi-capable”, not handicapped.

The Roar: Who would be your target audience for Litany of Secrets?

Davis: I would say that would include anyone from ninth grade through the most seasoned adult who enjoys a great crime fiction story. It is especially enjoyable for readers who like characters to face not only crime mysteries, but also personal mysteries within themselves.

The Roar: Do you have any advice for student writers at Westminster?

Davis: Read, read, read! What’s in the result must be in the cause. If you aim to be a great writer, you MUST be a voracious reader. Second, write about what you want to write about, not what others want you to write about. Third, while there is no one-size-fits-all system for how to write a book (some are more spontaneous, others follow a more regimented schedule), there is no substitute for perseverance. Write consistently, and when you aren’t writing, be thinking about what you could write. And finally, believe in yourself! Writing is less than you think about the nuts-and-bolts and it’s more than you imagine about what you have inside you from the very beginning.

Litany of Secrets: A Cameron Ballack Mystery is available for purchase for eBook and paperback from barnesandnoble.com and amazon.com.