luca-vesteAuthor of Dead gone, with great pleasure today we are interviewing Luca Veste. Enjoy our conversation…

Q. Hi Luca, welcome. Our first question is very easy: who is Luca Veste as a person and as a writer?
A. Hello! Thanks for having me. I’m a writer from Liverpool, England. Also a mature student at university studying Psychology and Criminology. I write crime fiction, with a leaning towards the psychological.

Q. You’re half Italian, isn’t it? What’s your relation with Italy?
A. My father is the link. His parents are (or were in one instance) both Italian, but he was raised in England when they emigrated here (something which has never been fully explained…why leave Italy?!). My nonna has lived here for over 50 years now, but has never lost the accent. She’s from Naples originally.

Q. Becoming a writer as always been a goal for you, or have you realized you wanted to write in a particular moment in your life?
A. It’s something which has come to me later in life (which, given I’m only 30, isn’t that late). I had no intention of ever writing anything, but I was always a voracious reader. It wasn’t until a chance conversation with a writer that I actually wrote a short story as a kind of joke. It has all escalated from there really, with the joy of bringing characters and ideas to life through writing becoming all for me.

Q. How was your novel Dead Gone born? Did anything in particular give you the idea?
A. It was during a psychology lecture in my first year at university. A lecture on ethics within psychology, and how historically they had often been overlooked in the past, piqued my interest. The examples used gave me the idea of a serial killer who used real historical psychological experiments to murder victims.

Q. Can you briefly summarize it for our readers?
A. Dead Gone is the story of two detectives – David Murphy and Laura Rossi – and their attempts to stop a serial killer who is stalking the streets of Liverpool, with each victim having ties to a local university and terrifying, real, psychological experiments. It’s a book about life, death, and grief… and how we deal with each.

Q. Why readers might like it? Is there anything they might find difficult to accept in the book?
A. I hope they like it for its dark and thrilling qualities. Also, that it makes them think a little, about the death process and how each of us deals with something that is universal differently. I suppose this has its own difficulties though, as there are some passages which are difficult to read (and difficult to write). Facing one’s own death is something no one likes to imagine.

Q. Are you and the protagonist David Murphy similar in any aspect?
A. In some aspects, yes. I don’t tend to bottle up emotions as much as Murphy does, but he makes mistakes which is something I can relate to and is possibly a reflection of myself. He also shares the same taste in music as myself!

Q. Are you already working on a new story?
A. Yes, THE DYING PLACE will be released later this year in the UK and beyond in English. It continues the Murphy and Rossi series.

Q. A suggestion to wannabe writers. A suggestion to passionate readers.
A. No such thing as a “wannabe writer”. If you write, you’re a writer. Just keep writing. Finish. Then write again.
Passionate readers are the lifeblood of our industry. It’s a major reason I write – to share my own thoughts, ideas, etc., with readers. Keep reading and we’ll keep writing.

Q. If you want to say anything, this is the moment…
A. Just that support of people has been overwhelming and much appreciated. I love hearing from readers, and that has been a real joy since the book came out. Similarly, sites such as this that want to do interviews etc., are of great importance in this new internet age. I started out reviewing and interviewing books and writers respectively, and did so out of the joy of reading and wanting to share my experiences. I still love sites such as these, and cannot begin to express my appreciation for all the support I’ve received from them.

Q. Would you like to say hello to our (and your) readers?
A. Of course! Hello – ciao! – I hope you’re all enjoying the books you’re currently reading and that there are many more to follow. And to my readers – thank you. I hope you continue to enjoy the Murphy and Rossi series.

Q. Thanks for having accepted our invitation, Luca: it’s been a pleasure having you.
A. More than a pleasure to be here. Grazie!