The first and last time I’ll talk about starting my new novel

The series of guest posts by US crime writers I’ve hosted over the last month on this site were sub-titled ‘Noir Con or Bust’.

Looks like, in this instance, it was bust.

Super storm Sandy and my daughter’s broken collarbone put paid to my carefully worked out plans to visit New York and Philadelphia.

Yes, I’m pissed off about it. But not half as pissed off as all those in the US and the Caribbean who have had to deal with the storm’s consequences.

Anyway, with an extra two weeks up my sleeve, it’s time to do something I’ve been putting off for a while now – start novel number 2.

And this post is the first and last time I’m going to talk about it until it’s finished.

That means I’m not going to Tweet, Facebook or blog any further about my daily word count, any trouble I’m having with certain plot points, my writers’ block or lack of it, and what progress generally I’m making with the manuscript.

End of story.

Full stop.

I don’t mean any disrespect to those writers out there who do this a part of your writing regimen, but it’s not my thing.

What else will I say about the new novel?

It’s a heist story.

It’s set in Australia, Thailand and Afghanistan.

The main character is Gary Chance, a former Australian soldier turned criminal who has featured in the short stories, ‘Two Men and a Car’, ‘Two Blind Cats’ and ‘Chasing Atlantis’. I’ve grown increasingly fond of Gary over the course of these and other unpublished short stories and am keen to give him his own gig.

Hopefully, it’s going to kick arse.

That. Is. All.

In the meantime, I’m going to continue to push my debut novel Ghost Money. I love this book, it’s gritty Cambodian setting and the lead character, a fucked up Vietnamese-Australian ex-cop called Max Quinlan.

Ghost Money could definitely with a bit more love.

If you’re read and liked it, please consider giving it a plug or a short review on the Amazon page, Goodreads, your blog or whatever social media tickles your fancy.

If you’d like to review it, drop me a line and I can shoot it to you in whatever file format you want.

If you haven’t read it, why not get a copy. Here’s what the reviews have said so far.

Ghost Money is one of just a handful of solid hard boiled crime reads set in Asia and will set you back $4.99 at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. A paperback edition will hopefully be out soon.

If I can just quickly pull on your coat about one other matter.

The Reader’s Feast Crime and Justice Festival is back, 16-18 November, at the Reader’s Feast Bookstore, 162 Collins Street, Melbourne. Special guest is Ian Rankin.

As part of the program, on Sunday, November 18^th, I’ll be chairing a panel, Hard Labour: the State of Australian Crime Writing, featuring Garry Disher, Angela Savage and Leigh Redhead.

All three writers have stories in Crime Factory’s all Australian Hard Labour anthology and copies of our books will be available for purchase on the day. If you’re interested in attending, note you’ll have to purchase tickets. Details on the site.