So what’s next?

I’ve been teasing this for a while, but I have a new Audible Original in the works, which should be out around this time next year. Which, after High-Rise and Andromache in the Dark, would make it my third book of 2025.

But this one is a little different. In fact, I’m not sure it will translate as easily to being published physically as The Hitchhiker or (hopefully) The Lodger.

It’s called Backstory and it’s a very deliberate attempt at trying something new. Firstly, it’s an epistolary novel, made up of emails and transcripts and in-universe documents. This will really make the most of the audio medium – you’ll have different readers for different documents depending on the character, but it also allows for ‘recorded interviews’ that can bring the narrative more into the territory of a radio play at times.

The other thing that sets it apart from anything I’ve tried before is that it’s a whodunnit by way of Rashomon with just a touch of Yellowface.

The premise is that ten years ago, five aspiring writers celebrated the end of university with a weekend away. One died in mysterious circumstances. It was ruled an accident, but whispers have persisted that his surviving friends, all of whom went on to success, knew more than they were letting on.

Now, in the present day, a disgraced journalist has managed to get her hands on a potential career saver – the memoirs each of the survivors tried to write about that night before lawyers shut them down. None of them tell quite the same story. But which – if any – is telling the truth?

The fun of this book will be getting to write four different versions of the same story, informed by the biases and agendas of the ones telling it. I’ve always loved stories that play with perspective, and I’m fascinated by the ways in which truth kind of shifts after the fact – once an event has happened, there’s rarely an objective way to prove how it happened, and we all edit and adjust and misremember whether we mean to or not, warping our version of events until it barely resembles someone else’s.

Don’t look for the usual links between my stories here either. Technically this takes place in the Maggieverse, but outside of maybe a couple of references or easter eggs you won’t find any crossovers or recurring characters. This is something different. And I’m not being self-effacing when I say I truly don’t know if it will work. But I’m very excited to try.

The Retirement Plan has its first festival wins

The Retirement Plan has started getting real traction on the short film festival circuit. Following on from its fantastic reception at Port Shorts, it took home both Best Film and Best Actor at the Benalla Shorts Festival and its first overseas win for Best Director at the Best Hollywood Day festival.

Next up, the film will be playing in two separate Venices – as part of LA’s Venice Shorts and Italy’s Venezia Shorts festivals. Stay tuned for updates on both.

Death of the Reader Interview

Back on book tour I stopped by the Radio 2SER studios in Sydney for a chat with Flex for Death of the Reader. I was in theory there to discuss The Hitchhiker but the conversation evolved into a much bigger dive into the entirety of the Maggieverse, covering recurring themes and characters, connection between the works, and what’s next. I really enjoyed this interview – have a listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Inheritance out in France

Of all the countries The Hunted was released in one of its warmest receptions was in France, so it’s very exciting that The Inheritance has finally hit shelves over there as well. Already it’s been getting some fantastic reviews; click the quotes below (and hit the translate button) to see what’s being said:

"A real pleasure to read. I think this is largely due to the character of Maggie ... it's really a pleasure to find her again here."

"Gabriel Bergmoser 's survivalist "heiress" is spared nothing by an author who is as mean as he is effective."

"At the center of this brutal and dangerous universe, Maggie stands out as a heroine who is all the more interesting because she never stops reflecting on her own relationship with violence. An abused child, she has never known love or true affection from those who have crossed her path."

"Maggie, a sort of Australian Lara Croft, is unleashed and leaves corpses in her wake."

The Lodger - Spoiler Blog

Given some of the game changing events that go down in The Lodger and some of the risks I took writing it, I figured I should speak a bit to why I made the choices I made. Check out my in depth spoiler blog here.

2024 in review

2024 has been a huge year. In fact, when I look back over all of it it’s hard to comprehend that so much happened in the same twelve month period.

The release of Andromache Between Worlds back in January feels like a long, long time ago already. But Andromache’s release might have been one of the year’s highlights. Not only was it picked for Dymocks’ Kids’ Book of the Month, but it was so well received by not just reviewers but by its target audience as well. I visited so many schools to talk about it and the enthusiasm was beyond energising. Without it I don’t know that I could have managed the frantic writing process to get Andromache in the Dark finished in only a couple of months. But Andromache Peters’ second adventure turned out to be one of my favourite things I’ve ever written – a darker, thornier, more morally ambiguous story that I’m beyond excited to share with readers very soon.

The Retirement Plan, meanwhile, made its debut to the world – a packed out premiere night at Cinema Nova, its first festival appearances, wins and selections proving that we were right to take a risk on this little story. Stay tuned for when and where you can see it for yourself.

Events went up a notch this year as well. Apart from book launches and book tours I visited more schools than ever before, and stumbled dazed through the glorious chaos of both Somerset Storyfest and the MidCoast Festival of Stories, hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones. There were weeks when I was barely home and had to apologise profusely to my dogs.

My biggest release this year was The Hitchhiker, which felt a bit like cheating given the massive success of the audiobook in 2022. But this was particularly vindicating given how proud I’ve always been of that book and the response from readers might have been the best I’ve gotten since The Hunted. There will be some exciting news on the film front for The Hitchhiker to come – unrelated to The Hunted’s own adaptation (more on that below) but stay tuned.

For the first time in my life I also had two books out in the same week, although it doesn’t quite feel that way. The Lecter Variations, my nerdy deep dive into all things Hannibal, also was released in August and being a more niche publication was somewhat overshadowed by Hitchhiker. But I have really exciting plans for Lecter, particularly for a book launch unlike any other. I’m hoping to announce what these are in the next few weeks.

Then there’s The Lodger, The Audible Exclusive sequel to The Hitchhiker. If I’m honest this one has felt a bit lost in the chaos of this year, but The Lodger has been overperforming in the US which is a first for me, and with some big promotions to come here in Australia (and fingers remain crossed for an eventual print release), I’m pretty confident it will still have its day.

But maybe the biggest thing to happen this year was the major announcement that The Hunted movie is happening and not only is it happening, it’s happening with a world class cast and director. I knew who was involved well in advance but that didn’t change how surreal it was to see those names and faces online, to realise that while nothing is ever guaranteed in the film world, the movie version of my book is closer to happening than it has ever been. All going to plan, within months it shoots.

Next year will see Andromache in the Dark release in May, High-Rise in August, and Backstory in October. Maggie will get a brand-new adventure in the third volume of the Dark Deeds Down Under anthology. The Hunted will go before cameras. The Hitchhiker will start its own journey to the screen. And that’s just the stuff I can talk about.

It’s a good place to be and I’m grateful every day to be in it. Thanks to everyone who’s read, followed along and made it all possible. See you in ’25.