MIKE LUCAS is the author of Don’t Let Them Leave, a compelling and spooky thriller where Charlotte and her orphaned siblings are sent to live with their grandmother on remote Black Island, where ghosts may be real.
We caught up with Mike Lucas to ask what he’s reading.
MEET MIKE LUCAS
What are you reading now?
I’m in the middle of Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn which, like Don’t Let Them Leave, is set in Cornwall, though over a century before. I stayed at the inn once, in one of the most haunted rooms. And, yes, there were some mysterious, and inexplicable, happenings.
If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only have five books – what would they be?
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – I had to read this at school as part of the curriculum, and haven’t read it since. I enjoyed it a lot, but would like to revisit again now that I’m much, much older.
Shutter Island by Denis Lehane – one of the best plot twists in a book, so I’d like to reread it, knowing what’s going to happen.
The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden – excellent survival tips, and much more.
The Stand by Stephen King – The book I have read and reread the most. There are so many characters, and so much happens, that I learn something new each time.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – I’ve never read it, but it would keep me busy for a while and, if I didn’t want to read it again, I could warm myself over the fire for a good few hours.
Where is your favourite place to read?
In the winter – on the sofa, with the woodfire burning and a cup of tea.
In the summer – in a pool, on an inflatable, with a gin and tonic.
Do you read one book at a time or multiple?
I often have a few books going at once. One for relaxation, perhaps a few more for research. At the moment, I’m also reading London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd and a couple of other titles on the history of bodysnatching. Just a little light reading.
Do you use a bookmark or fold the corners of pages?
I definitely don’t fold the page. I try to use a bookmark, but often forget to. So I spend the first thirty seconds or so after picking up the book trying to remember where I was.
What inspired Don’t Let Them Leave?
I was walking back home with Holly the Bookshop Dog, and a sentence popped into my head. The sentence was, ‘Our grandmother’s house was over three hundred years old – just a little less than the age of our grandmother herself.’ As soon as I had this, I knew I had an orphan based story somewhere in there – something in the genre of Lemony Snicket’s ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’. From there, as usual, I just sat down and wrote, and I was soon introduced to Charlotte, Emily and Jack, only to find that they were soon to set off on a journey to their grandmother’s house in Cornwall. From there, I researched Cornish myths and legends, and the history of mining, all of which ended up playing a part in the story.
What makes a setting feel truly haunted to you when writing?
I need to set the scene from the perspective of the protagonist. There has to be a sense of entering the realm of the unknown, both for the character and the reader. Of course, it’s always good to use tropes – dark forests, derelict buildings, full moons. And edge the reader into the setting. Let them enter slowly, step by step, with the same trepidation as the person in the book. A backstory adds an extra dimension – knowing that death has visited before and may still be there. Use darkness and shadows over light, silence with the occasional unnerving sound. Take time to explore. The jump scare can come later.
Were there any real locations, folklore, or stories that influenced the world of the book?
I spent most of my life in Plymouth, Devon, which borders Cornwall. I’ve visited a lot of Cornish villages, and taken walks along the coast. North Cornwall is a beautiful place, but it can also be wild and rugged. There’s also Burgh Island in Devon, which though isn’t as rocky and harsh as Black Island in the story, has the commonality of only being accessible by foot via a causeway at low tide. This island, incidentally, is where two of Agatha Christie’s novels are set.
With regards to folklore, Cornwall is famous for its legends of giants and, within the mining community, the Knockers who, dependent upon what was believed, either warned the miners of disaster, or mischievously led them to it.
What book character would you be, and why?
The exciting answer is The Traveller from The Time Machine by HG Wells, for obvious reasons. Who wouldn’t want to travel forward and backward in time? But, as a romantic, I would have to say Mr Darcy, as my wife always wanted to be Miss Bennet.
If you could meet one author (living or dead) – who would it be and why?
It would have to be Stephen King, because I’ve been reading his books since I was twelve, and he is the author who has had the greatest influence on my work. I love the way he places ordinary people in the most extraordinary situations, and makes their reactions, and hence the story believable. I try to use this skill in my books, to help make the unbelievable believable. I’d also be able to get all of his books signed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Lucas is an author of picture books and young adult novels. His YA fiction has been shortlisted for the Readings Book Prize, CBCA Book of the Year Awards and the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. His picture book Where is Cheeky Monster? won the 2025 Speech Pathology Award for children from birth to 3 years. Mike presents writing and poetry workshops at schools, owns a bookshop in Blackwood, South Australia, and works as a full-time engineer. He has very little time to sleep, but often thinks up a poem or two while he does.
Follow Mike Lucas on Instagram here.
Visit the Penguin website here.
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