In this episode of Elena Meets the Author, I speak with critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Amazon bestselling author Robert Dugoni, whose books have sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, primarily across his police, espionage, and legal thriller series.
Today we focus on Robert’s standalone literary novel, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, published in 2018. The book has sold over a million copies and has become a word-of-mouth favourite among readers.
Newsweek once called it “the best book of all time.” I must admit, I felt as if I’d been sleeping under a rock, because I hadn’t heard of Sam Hell until a few months ago when I was interviewing Lisa Scully, the owner of Locust Valley Bookstore in Long Island.
Lisa told me that the store sells about 15,000 books a year, and The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell is the only book they sell with a money-back guarantee.
If you don’t like it, you get your $14.95 back.
She said to me, “We tell people: trust me on this one.” According to Lisa, readers have gone “Bonko nuts” for the book. Men and women love it equally.
I absolutely adored it. It grabs you right away and doesn’t let go of your heartstrings until the tearful and hopeful final page.
The novel tells the story of a man looking back on his life. It’s a coming-of-age story about a boy who was different from everyone else, and how that shapes his relationships with his family, other people, and most importantly with himself.
Maternal love, bullying, resilience, deep friendship, romance, humour, forgiveness, and faith all feature in this poignant, page-turning story.
In our conversation, Robert shares the journey behind the book, how the story developed over many years, and why the novel explores faith rather than religion. We also talk about his writing process, character creation, and the long path that led him from journalism and law into a full-time writing career.
Topics we cover in this episode
00:00 Welcome to the Podcast00:16 Why The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell Matters00:34 Why Sam Hell Stands Out02:18 Moving from Series Thrillers to a Standalone Novel02:24 Early Reading and Classic Influences03:34 From Journalism to Law School04:27 Leaving Law to Pursue Writing05:04 The Breakthrough of The Cyanide Canary05:35 Writing Sam Hell: Five Weeks to Draft07:22 Finding Sam’s Emotional Throughline09:19 Publishing the Book and Its Slow-Burn Success10:54 Religion Versus Faith in the Story13:24 Accepting Imperfection in Writing14:15 Where Great Lines Come From16:19 An Organic Writing Process and Character Development19:39 Thrillers Versus Literary Craft22:21 Using Humour as Relief in Difficult Stories23:36 Humour in War Stories25:00 Teaching the Craft of Writing25:19 Avoiding the Information Dump26:41 Writing with All Five Senses27:42 Ambiguity Versus Tension in Storytelling29:29 Finding the Right Agent, Editor, and Publishing Team32:23 From Rejection to Amazon Publishing36:04 Ideas for the Next Literary Novel40:18 Wrap Up and Outro
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