Naylor Reloaded

Alright, it has been some time. The new instalment is now up.

Many may even ask, “Naylor, what the hell is Naylor?”

“Naylor’s Canberra” is the tentative title of a crime-novel-in-progress which has its beginnings over here. My objective is to publish 1,000 words a week until I have a finished draft. Some bits were worked over with the help of a writer’s group in Sydney last year and so are more polished than others.

I am a little scared about the project’s fate in light of the reading and writing burden I’ve assumed with the return to study, but finishing this draft is now in the “if it kills me” category of things to achieve.

The story so far? Elliot Naylor, a law graduate who has been refused admission to practice for reasons to do with a fatal car accident, is an under-employed part-time law librarian. A former girlfriend of his is missing, Marina – a highflying political staffer to Milton Dawes, Minister for Justice and Customs. Her father, David Carmichael, a prominent local barrister, hires Elliot to find her before he has to report it to the police: an attempt to keep it quiet and close to the family and avoid scandal.

There should only be about another 19 instalments after this. Although, if you want to skip straight to an ending, one version appears over here, courtesy of Lyn.

Elliot proceeds by interviewing a lot of people, debating possibilities with his flatmate Eva and embarking on a new relationship with Danielle, a friend of Marina’s.

Easy money? It seems so, until Elliot begins to dig into David’s shady business dealings and close ties to the Minister. Further, Elliot is the first to discover that one of Marina’s co-workers, Jenny, has been murdered and is (so far) the only person questioned by the police.

Understandably, he’s nervous. Worse, he’s no closer to finding Marina.

He's exhausted, it's been a very bad, very long day - so of course, there's a plot twist in the offing ...