Ace Atkins: On the Joy of Engaging With Readers
Ace Atkins is an award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author who started his writing career as a crime beat reporter in Florida. Don’t Let the Devil Ride is his 13th novel. His previous novels include eleven books in the Quinn Colson series and multiple true-crime novels based on infamous crooks and killers. In 2010, he was chosen by Robert B. Parker’s family to continue the iconic Spenser series, adding 10 novels to the franchise. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi with his family. Follow him on X (Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram.
Ace Atkins
Photo by Billy Dabney
In this interview, Ace discusses the process of writing his new thriller novel, Don’t Let the Devil Ride, his advice for other writers, and more!
Name: Ace Atkins
Literary agent: Dan Conaway, Writers House
Book title: Don’t Let the Devil Ride
Publisher: William Morrow
Release date: June 25, 2024
Genre/category: Crime/thriller
Previous titles: Crossroad Blues; Leavin’ Trunk Blues; Dark End of the Street; Dirty South; White Shadow; Wicked City; Devil’s Garden; Infamous; The Ranger; The Lost Ones; The Broken Places; The Forsaken; The Redeemers; The Innocents; The Fallen; The Sinners; The Shameless; The Revelators; The Heathens; And 10 others novels for the Robert B. Parker estate.
Elevator pitch: A wealthy white woman in Memphis learns her husband isn’t an upstanding local businessman but instead a shadowy international arms dealer. With a help of a legendary black private detective, they unravel a conspiracy with ties to Dubai, Paris, and Istanbul.
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What prompted you to write this book?
I’d been writing a series of novels set in a rural county in Mississippi for more than 10 years. While those books were populated by a big cast of characters and told on a large thriller scale, I wanted to write something more in the classic Hitchcock tradition. An everyday person caught up in a global adventure.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
Whew. Well, I had the idea for this novel for a while but publication schedule of two novels a year—one for my series and one for the Robert B. Parker Estate—didn’t allow for much else. When I first met my editor, Emily Krump at Morrow, she immediately picked up on the idea (from several stories) for what became Don’t Let the Devil Ride. She felt strongly this should be my next novel and I definitely think she was right!
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
The only surprise was not having a book out for two years. Moving to a new publisher and launching a new novel without a known series character isn’t easy.
I’ve been publishing two books a year for a decade, and sitting out for a few summer seasons was tough. I really enjoy engaging with my readers and going on the road to promote. Very excited to finally have this book out this summer.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
The most pleasant surprise was the freedom I felt by stepping away from a series. There were no preconceived ideas of what this story should be and that gave me the room to go as far as I wanted with the story. When I first started this novel in Memphis, I had no idea these characters would take me to Dubai and Paris. There were no rules to break.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I want readers to have fun and hopefully a lot of laughs. I’ve personally grown bored of novels that are completely humorless. The writers I’ve always admired, from Elmore Leonard to Kate Atkinson, have a heavy bit of skepticism about the world but also manage to have fun with the absurdity of modern life.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
As simple as it sounds, write the story that excites you most. Never write for what you think a mass audience will want to buy. You must live with this story and these characters for long, long time. Day in and day out. If you love them and love telling their story, that enthusiasm will be contagious to readers.
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