The Midpoint

I’m in the middle (literally) of the first draft of my next Nick Harding book. I don’t have a title yet. The premise is pretty straightforward: The story opens with Nick regaining consciousness in a barn somewhere in rural suburban Sydney. He’s been whacked on the head. He can tell by the painful lump on the back of his skull and the low-grade, behind-the-eyes headache he’s sporting.

He’s got no recollection of what happened or where he was when it did happen.

Davie and Lucy, worried about his disappearance, are on their own hunt to track him down, encountering a special group of people trying to stop them. People they’ve never met before.

Odd-numbered chapters are first-person, Nick’s POV, and his efforts to get through the mess. Even-numbered chapters are third-person, POV of whatever characters I need to drive the rest of the story. Mostly Davie and Lucy, but as the story unfolds, more are added to the tale.

Right now, I’m at the midpoint of the first draft. My favourite part of both the plotting and writing process. If I do my job well, I’ve led you down a path where you think you know what’s going on, where you start having a shade of an inkling of a possible ending.

Then I give you the midpoint, and you hurt your back changing direction.

I think this one has a good midpoint. Thought about how to set it up for months.

And even though I’ve warned you, when you read the final product, it’ll still make your brain lose traction on the turn.

Sometime in July or August, the Nick Harding book I haven’t named yet will be ready to ride.

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“Fast Track”

Fast Track is Mac Durridge’s latest case.


On the NSW Central Coast, Mac Durridge has been asked by Sophie, his on-again, currently off-again girlfriend, to look into the disappearance of her friend, Central Coast Network News reporter Linda Carmody.

Linda has been on extended paid leave from CCNN while she runs down a news story. She regularly disappears for weeks at a time, investigating this story. This time, though, she missed a mutual friend’s hen party with no excuse. Very out of character.


As an author, I was faced with a bit of a problem. I enjoyed writing two series featuring two different P.I.s: Mac Durridge, an ex-NSW cop now flogging his wares as a PI in a small coastal town, and Nick Harding, an ex-AFP Financial Crimes investigator who is now flogging his wares as a PI in a much larger coastal town (Sydney).

I didn’t know which one to work on next.

I split the baby and decided to write both. One huge crime spanning the state. Each PI gets pulled into the case independently. In fact, the first half of each book has no reference to the other PI at all. They connect at the halfway point, and by the third act, they’re quasi-partners.

All of the regular characters from past books are there, and a couple of new ones are added.

Like young Josh Cole, a thirteen-year-old, who hires Mac to find his stolen coin collection. A seemingly trivial case to open the story, yet the conclusion pivots on the information he gains from helping the young lad.

Cynthia Tanner and Joe Mason are state and federal employees, respectively, working hard on the development of Australia’s first high-speed rail network.

It’s now my most popular Aussie-based PI book

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Book Sprout

I confess to having never heard of these folks before a week ago.

Book Sprout allows readers to find books to read and review, and authors to find readers, and thus reviews. I set up an account a few days ago (a very reasonable monthly subscription), so it’s a little early to say how effective it is, but I’ll be sure to pass on the efficacy after a month or so.

I’ve put my three Nick Harding novels up there if you’re a reader.

Pop by booksprout.co and look me up. And if you check out one or more of my books, be sure to leave a review.

Looking for ARC Readers

Dead Tomorrow will be available on Amazon (eBook) and everywhere in paperback format on May 1. It’s available for pre-order on amazon now (as an eBook) and will be available for pre-order in paperback format in about a week.

I’m looking for avid readers who enjoy a fast-paced crime story to provide ARC reviews on Amazon for me. Got to get that algorithm working for me.

ARC copies are available now. They will be pdf copies. If you’re interested and think you can read (or attempt to read) a 70k book and review it by May 1, please leave a comment below, and we’ll chat, and I’ll send you a personalised copy.

Available now for preorder. Help me kick the Amazon algorithm in the arse. If the description below interests you, please preorder at Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU

Looking forward to hearing from you all.