Today we’d like to introduce you to David Dominé.
Hi David, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m from Wisconsin, originally, and I went to college in Eau Claire, so not too far from the Twin Cities, which was our weekend getaway as students. I moved to Louisville in 1993, after spending most of my 20s traveling, working, and studying abroad. I immediately fell in love with the Old Louisville neighborhood because of its hundreds and hundreds of beautiful old houses. In 1999, I bought a six-bedroom Victorian home, which the previous owner insisted was haunted. My subsequent time in the Old Louisville historic district led me to write books about its quirky residents and beautiful architecture. Louisville is my new hometown, and it seems to keep popping up as a character in many of the books I’ve written. Especially my most recent book, a true-crime memoir titled “A Dark Room in Glitter Ball City,” which is book number 13 for me. It deals with the 2009 murder of drag queen Jamie Carroll in a spooky mansion in Old Louisville that once doubled as a sanatorium. It was a house I had considered buying as well.
My first book came out in 2oo5, and it dealt with ghost stories from the neighborhood, which has come to be known as “America’s Most Haunted Neighborhood.” People wanted more, so I continued writing, and then they wanted to see the places they were reading about. That led to me giving guided tours of the neighborhood as a way of promoting it and helping neighborhood organizations raise funds for different projects. Now I’m going on my 18th year of giving tours in some form or other and we get people from all over the world coming to visit us. The New York Times recommended a tour with Louisville Historic Tours as the first things to do during a visitor’s “36 Hours in Louisville.”
You can find out more at my agent’s author page: https://www.speilburgliterary.com/david-domin and at our tour website: https://louisvillehistorictours.com.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not been a smooth road, but there has been consistent growth. The pandemic presented many challenges. However, we used the downtime to strategize and rethink our online and social media presence. Also, every night for three months straight during the height of the pandemic, I went live on Facebook at 9PM EST and conducted virtual tours of the neighborhood. I also told stories and read from my books and gained thousands of followers from around the world. They, in turn, went on line and gave my books good reviews on Amazon.com and elsewhere, and they also gave our tours great reviews on TripAdvisor and other sites. This was a wonderful thing, because when tours started up again, things went gang-busters and we often had to turn people away because our tours sold out. It also formed a wonderful community that still stays in touch today.
Currently, our biggest challenge is companies that are copying our business model and infringing on my intellectual property. All of my tours are based on original stories and information from the books I’ve written and these stories, for the most part, did not exist until I researched and cobbled them together. In April, the self-proclaimed “World’s Number 1 Ghost Tour Company” came into the neighborhood and started copying my tours. In August, I filed a multi-count complaint in Federal Court, alleging copyright infringement, violation of my rights to privacy and publicity, and unfair competition, among other things. Understandably, this has been very stressful as I’ve never done anything like this before.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a writer, a profession that allows me to combine and draw up all my passions: cooking, eating, traveling, foreign languages, old houses, etc. I am most proud of my recent book, A DARK ROOM IN GLITTER BALL CITY, which took me over ten years to write. It received a nice write-up in The New York Times and because of that, Hollywood found out. Currently, a major network is working on adapting the book into a docuseries or documentary feature film. (I’m contractually obligated to not release the details, however, so I can’t give the name of the company, but it’s a big one.) I’m known as an “expert” on all things Louisville and one of its biggest fans. I’m considered an authority on folklore and true crime as well. My book has been described as a “love letter to the city of Louisville.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/29/books/review/dark-room-glitter-ball-city-david-domine.html
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I love showing travel writers and social media influencers around the neighborhood, so they’re always welcome to join one of my tours as a guest and learn about the Old Louisville neighborhood, and the city in general. They can write about the neighborhood I love so much and they can also give my books and tours good reviews on Amazon and TripAdvisor. They can also tell people about my books and tours. Word of mouth is a great resource!
Pricing:
- $25 is the average price for a guided tour with us
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.daviddomine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluegrasspeasant/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBluegrassPeasant/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/david_domine
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAr4Qbz9UAScUGxcb_IKeuQ | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBmLJaseeoM8pw9sBmvjwxg
Image Credits
David Dominé
