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Latest Posts:
- Brisbane: Professional Photographer Hanged By Camera Strap
- Just How Many Books Aren’t Written by Humans?
- Caught Me
25th April: The temperature’s starting to dip now. It tells me winter isn’t far off.
I’ve been feeling it in the mornings, especially—crisper air, longer shadows, a slower start to the day.
Behind the scenes, I’ve kept myself busy, continuing to write new content for the website while steadily reorganising older pages to improve structure and searchability. It’s a gradual process, but one that already feels more coherent.
Interestingly, Draft2Digital reached out recently about a new fee structure aimed at tackling the growing wave of AI-generated “Junk Books.” It’s a sign of where things are heading—and perhaps a necessary correction to save the self-publishing industry from rogue authors.
You can read about it here. -Mx
28th March: I posted “Let’s Commit Murder” a few days ago and instantly lost some subscribers. Although it was a piece about writing fiction, the title must’ve smacked INBOXES pretty hard, because I lost a few followers.
My writing crosses many worlds. The novels contain moral ambiguity. At times, the posts that support them will venture into dark places, like murder. It’s not my intention to offend, but I know that it will happen anyway.
Thanks to those of you staying on! -Mx
17th March 2026: Behind the scenes, I’ve been quietly reshaping the site—realigning tags, tightening structure, and refining how everything in the site connects.
With a clearer understanding of where my work sits among other author sites and how search engines interpret content like mine, it felt like the right time to adjust things. For readers, nothing changes. The stories remain. The experience doesn’t change. It’s simply a stronger foundation beneath it all. -Mx
8th March: Today marks a milestone on this site: the 1000th post. I’ve actually written more than that over the years, but not everything survives the long haul. Some posts quietly disappear. Why? Because websites evolve, and so does the writing. Some posts just become irrelevant and outdated.
A post about a book sale from a year ago, for example, ages fast once that sale ends. Other times, I read back through something and realise it simply wasn’t written well enough to deserve a permanent place here. Out it goes.
The goal has always been to keep the site fresh, readable, and worth your time. That means pruning the garden from time to time so the best material can stand out.
So while more than a thousand posts have been written, one thousand remain. That feels like a solid milestone worth acknowledging.
Thanks for being here and reading along the way.
Happy 1000th post! 🎉-M
7th Feb: This year is flying by at a ridiculous pace. I blinked and suddenly weeks vanished.
Somewhere in all that, I realised I’m almost at my 1000th blog post on this site, which feels equal parts satisfying and slightly absurd. Even better, readers from Europe are starting to discover the SEETHINGS trilogy, which is genuinely exciting to see from this side of the world.
On a quieter note, it’s been three months since we lost our beautiful Levi. It’s still hard. I’m not sure you ever really get over losing a companion like that—you just learn how to carry it a little better. -Mx
25th Jan: The past few weeks have been productively busy, with days filling quickly as new posts take shape. (Although we’ve managed to fit in some fishing and crabbing time.)
Recent pieces have ranged from Who Counsels a Counselor?, looking at those who carry emotional weight for others, to When Sex Slows Down After “I Do”, tackling long-term relationship shifts.
Imara Smile drifted into quieter observation with Haiku and black-and-white photography, while No Ideology. Just Pattern Recognition. focused on behaviour over belief.
The First Members of The Mars High Club on Standby looked forward, and slightly sideways, at who would get to do it first. Writing hasn’t slowed—and that feels about right. -M
1st January 2026: Happy New Year!
Where has the time gone? December rushed by so fast that it’s been almost a month since my last update. (Do you find December goes faster than any other month?)
Now that SEETHINGS III has officially been released, I can say it’s been a successful start. It’s the fastest take-up of books in the series so far. Of course, the narrative has crossed many borders to reach this point, so it’s not surprising that the main arcs moved quickly by book three. Once the character’s positions were solidified in the earlier ones, all that was left was to put them in the places I wanted to take them. So I did just that.
There’s also a little thing called author growth to include. I’m several years and hundreds of thousands of words older than I was when I started these writing projects. Each time I made a pass on a story rewrite/edit for any of these novels, as a writer, I was one more book experienced.
Book one was heavy going because I didn’t know what I was doing. At the start, I didn’t even know I was writing one. And then when I did, the edit afterwards nearly killed me (I’ll speak more about that later in a blog post). I was prepared to end it. But I stuck with it and got it out. Eight years after I began writing SEETHINGS, it entered the market. It’s had an awkward time finding its feet (and I’m still working on teaching it how to walk), but it’s developed a life of its own. It’s also the foundation stone for the other two novels. Each is dark, obsessive and utterly wrong for the contemporary reading market, but a writer must follow something, if not their heart, right?
That’s it from me (from a hot and steamy Mandurah).
Like my dream to complete this trilogy, may your New Year’s resolutions and all your wishes come true this year. – Michael 2026
6th December: Spotify’s Wrapped came in today.
For those unfamiliar with Spotify—it’s another audio platform—and I publish my podcast episodes there. Wrapped is 12 months of stats bundled together. This is a small part of 2025’s Wrapped for The Dirty Rabbit Hole Podcast:
The podcast has been active for a few years now, so it’s fantastic to see continued growth in listeners and new followers. Thanks to everyone who has discovered (and will soon discover) these niche topics at the edge of the audio world. – Michael
28th November: It’s happening! It’s really happening!
The release of SEETHINGS III is on December 1 (just days away), and I’m thrilled about it. If you want to be the first to read it, go to Smashwords.com one minute after midnight and download yourself a copy.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), Smashwords has its Super eBook Sale just a week later, and SEETHINGS III is part of it. So, if you can hold out, you’ll get a super discount when the sale is on! -M
15th November: It’s ready. [SEETHINGS III, that is]
Did I say that aloud? A post will be sent out as soon as the publishing host confirms it is set to go. If you’re subscribed to this site, you’ll be the first to know. We have some contractual and formatting matters to finalise at my end, but I expect a release date to be announced before the end of this month. Did I say it’s ready? OMG! -Michael
31st Oct: I owe you all an apology for the delay in releasing the third SEETHINGS novel. I’d forgotten just how long editing takes. I love the thrill of a first draft—but loathe the tedious grind of revisions. This book was actually finished before the COVID days; it’s just been waiting for me to roll up my sleeves and face the nitty-gritty world of the edit. Thanks for hanging in there. It’s getting closer.
3rd OCT: SEETHINGS III is almost at the finish line. The manuscript isn’t being written from scratch anymore—it’s in the editing stage. Each chapter has been combed through, edited, and then summarised. If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll have seen those summaries appear there. They’re not for the faint-hearted. This book is shaping up to be the darkest of the trilogy. Read a summary or two, let them lure you in, and subscribe here to catch the release date.
21st Sept: With the help of AI (scanning and building a likeness from the text), I can introduce you to Sandra Williams, a new character introduced in this trilogy. The image was so accurate on its very first attempt that it shocked (and scared) me. I’ll be sharing more of her details soon in a future blog post. Stay tuned to find out where and when. -Mx
4th Sept: SEETHINGS III is stepping into the light (from the dark). I wrote it in 2017, finished it in 2018, but held it back while I promoted the first book. Truth is, I hesitated—this story pushes boundaries, not only mine but those of readers too. That reluctance slowed me. Not now. SEETHINGS III is being worked on again, and it carries a level of neo-noir narrative not seen before. Expect something raw, unsettling, and unforgettable. -Mx
24th Aug: For the past eight months, I’ve noticed a curious pattern. Several people—each claiming to be a professional—have reached out, eager to be interviewed on my podcast. They send polished emails, complete with detailed rundowns of their expertise. On the surface, it looks promising. But there’s a problem. They all get my name wrong. Every. Single. Time.
My name isn’t hidden. I say it clearly on every episode. If they were actually listening, they’d know it. Instead, they keep using the same incorrect name across multiple messages. That tells me one thing: a machine is generating these emails. No human ear has been involved.
Because my podcast is deeply personal, I’m reluctant to entertain interviews with anyone who can’t get my name right. If they can’t find time to know me—really know me—they’re not the kind of voice I want to share with my listeners. -M
8th Aug: A huge thanks to everyone who took part in the recent Smashwords sale — the response was nothing short of amazing! Your support means the world.
If you enjoyed my work, please take a moment to leave a review on Goodreads. Positive reviews are invaluable for authors, especially those of us in the self-publishing world, helping our stories reach fresh eyes beyond the corporate publishing sphere.
I’ve also added several new blog posts to the site, exploring the darker corners of fiction. If you’re new here and love unsettling, thought-provoking tales, you’re in for something special. Click Blog on the menu to see what’s available. -M
27th July: Thanks for dropping by the update page.
This time around, I’m fixing and deleting broken links on the site. With nearly 820 blog posts written and collected over many years, a few outdated links have crept in—some pointing to my old website, which hasn’t existed in over four years. I noticed broken link stats appearing in analytics, but they didn’t show where those links were hiding. Tracking them down manually? Nightmare. So, I downloaded a tool to hunt them. Bingo. Found them. Fixing is underway.
Oh—and don’t forget! The book sale is still on, but only for a couple more days. If you’ve been meaning to grab a copy, now’s the time! -M
17 July: It took a while, but I’ve finally finished updating SEETHINGS 2.
It’s done—polished and ready—so you can upload a fresh copy now. The timing couldn’t be better either. The sale on SMASHWORDS.com has been outstanding! I’m blown away by the response.
On another note, I’m grateful I made the switch to a mobile-friendly website two years ago. Back then, it felt like a gamble, but the results speak for themselves. More than 65% of my site’s traffic now comes from mobile users, and this number continues to grow. Simplifying the layout and improving the site’s speed have clearly paid off. It’s faster, cleaner, and easier to navigate—just what today’s visitors want.
Between the updated book, the great sale, and a solid online presence, I feel like everything’s finally syncing up. Let’s keep the momentum going. -Mx
5th July: Things have been busy lately—lots of writing and revisiting old work. SEETHINGS II is currently on the Summer/Winter sale at SMASHWORDS.COM, so it felt like the perfect time to refresh its arc. After the rewrite of the original SEETHINGS and seeing how well that turned out, I couldn’t resist opening the second novel’s file. I’m already halfway through and, unsurprisingly, finding a few issues. It’s strange how no matter how many times I edit a manuscript, something always manages to slip through. Still, that’s part of the process. If you’re curious, grab a copy during the sale and enjoy the ride.
21st June: For the next nineteen days, I’ll be sharing something different here—a daily dose of SEETHINGS 2, stripped down and repackaged into micro-episodes. Each post offers a brief glimpse into the story’s progression, carefully condensed and edited.
But here’s the catch: AI helped shrink it… and, well, it got shy at what I showed it.
Anything violent, suggestive, or remotely non-consensual was politely scrubbed away. Gone is the grit. The fire. The dangerous edge. What’s left is a surprisingly fluffy, rainbow-tinted version of my darkest novel—something that reads more like a suspenseful Disney fairytale than the psychological thriller I originally wrote.
Still, the essence remains. The characters breathe, the tension simmers, and the arc holds, just with its teeth removed. It’s a curious experiment in narrative resilience.
If you’d like the full, uncensored experience—the story as it was meant to be—head to https://www.smashwords.com/books/1054240 and grab the complete version.
See you tomorrow for episode one. I can’t wait! -M
13th June: I’ve been a little quieter than usual this past week—an inner-ear infection had me off balance, literally and figuratively. I’m on the mend now and slowly returning to the rhythm.
Despite that setback, I’ve seen something encouraging: a noticeable uptick in downloads and interest since re-releasing SEETHINGS with its darker, tighter, and more psychologically intense narrative. I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read, share, or download it. Your support means a great deal. More content is coming soon as I regain full strength. For now, I’m just grateful to see the story gaining traction again after all these years.
4th June: To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of starting my novel SEETHINGS, I’ve gone back to the very beginning.
I’ve revisited the original draft, refined the narrative, and deepened the psychological shadows that define the story. What began as a disturbing thriller has become even darker—more twisted, more unnerving. It’s a tribute to the obsession that drove me to write it in the first place.
For a limited time, SEETHINGS is available as a free download on Smashwords. If you’ve never dared enter this world before, now’s your chance. And if you have—well, it just got more sinister.
10th May: Just a quick update to share some exciting news—my blog has now reached over 700 independent posts!
Each one is connected somehow to the themes and content of my book SEETHINGS. It’s become quite a growing archive of thoughts, ideas, and twisted fragments that mirror the novel’s dark undercurrents. Lately, I’ve started adding condensed chapter excerpts, and the response has been immediate. Readership is climbing, clicks are up, and it’s clear those short glimpses into the narrative are resonating. It’s great to see the story catching fresh eyes through this format. Thanks to everyone who’s been reading, commenting, and sharing. Your support keeps the SEETHINGS world alive and evolving! -M
4th May: For over a month, I wrestled with a frustrating backup problem: I needed to transfer tens of thousands of large files onto a new USB thumb drive formatted in exFAT. No matter how many ways or times I reformatted it or how carefully I tried moving smaller groups of files, the files got lost. Eventually, I admitted defeat (and wrote about it here).
After some research, I purchased an NTFS-formatted Passport Drive. The moment I plugged it in and began transferring files, everything just worked. Decades of photos, podcasts, videos, documents, and old projects—moved effortlessly into a little black box smaller than a cigarette packet.
It feels incredible to have that lingering task finally finished. Now I can focus on the future without the past hanging over me—or scattered across half a dozen unreliable old drives. -M
19th April: Writing fiction in English is a joy—until it’s not. You see, I write in British English, which means I get friendly (and not-so-friendly) messages from American readers about all the “spelling mistakes” I’ve made.
“Colour” often gets flagged. So does “counsellor.” I try to explain that they’re perfectly acceptable spellings… on this side of the world. Then someone accuses me of poor grammar because my commas and periods play by different rules, too. I promise, they’re not rogue punctuation marks. They’re just British ones.
The funny thing is, the story’s still there. I promise! Nestled behind all these linguistic quirks and cultural commas is a tale worth discovering. I only hope readers can climb over these peculiar blockades I’ve built and find the treasure I buried on the other side. I left clues. The spelling was part of the map! Just… in a slightly different dialect. 😉 -M
6th April: I’ve been thinking about the length of blog posts and updates. This one, for instance, is a quick check-in—so brevity feels right. But what about the others? The deeper pieces, the stories, the ones that dive beneath the surface. Do you prefer a glimpse or a long stare?
Endless scrolls and notifications bombard us each day. There’s enough to read without trying. Would you keep going if something took more than two minutes to read? Or do you skim and move on?
When I read updates from others, I like clarity. They don’t need to be long—just need to stick. But I won’t stay if they don’t get to the point.
So, I’m torn about how long I should write my blog posts. Should I compress them to 150 words or risk losing readers by going deeper?
Anyway, this one’s short on purpose. But I’d love to know what length of posts you keep reading. Do you crave bite-sized or full-course meals? Let me know—comment, message, anything. I’m listening.
-M.
14th March: I’ve been sending out posts at lightning speed lately—firing off words, recording a podcast or two, and generally keeping the creative engine running. It might seem like I’ve got all the time in the world to write, but the truth is, life has been anything but quiet. Work demands its share, and play—well, play has been claiming more than a little, too.
Margo and I have been making the most of the good weather, squeezing in as many bike rides as we can before winter sets in. The new bikes have opened up a world of exploration, letting us roam farther and see more. There’s something about feeling the wind against your face as you pedal through unfamiliar places—it clears the mind, resets the soul. In between our rides, we’ve even managed to sneak in some fishing. There’s a certain patience to it that mirrors writing in a way. Cast the line, wait, hope, reel in, repeat. Sometimes you get a bite. Sometimes you don’t. But the process itself is worth it.
Of course, winter lurks just around the corner. It’s the kind of weather that keeps you indoors, listening to the drumming on the roof while the world turns grey outside. Maybe that’s when the writing will pick up, fueled by the storm.
Wishing you all the best in your own reading and writing journeys. -Mx
1st March: Hey everyone. I know it’s been a while since my last update—sorry for going quiet! Life has been a whirlwind of projects, travels, and just enough adventure to keep things interesting.
First, I’ve been deep in writing mode, working on new posts for the blog. Some of them have the kind of twist endings I love, and I can’t wait to see who picks up on the hidden layers. If you enjoy a story that makes you second-guess everything, stay tuned.
On top of that, a new book sale is happening at Smashwords, so if you’ve been thinking about grabbing something of mine, now might be a good time. Keep an eye out for discounts!
I also managed to sneak away for a quick camping trip in Busselton—just three days, but enough to enjoy some fresh air, ocean views, and the strange mix of relaxation and exhaustion only camping provides.
And because I (We) clearly can’t sit still, Margo and I have been cycling around Perth’s Swan River. It’s a beautiful ride, perfect for clearing the mind and plotting new stories.
Thanks for sticking around, and I hope you’re all doing well!
Until next time.
18th January: A quick note about logins for this site. I’ve simplified them.
A new Google one-step login has been included for those who want to add a comment but don’t want to register for a new account. It does away with another pesky sign-up!
Previously, a WordPress account was required. It was done to stop spammers, but it also stopped genuine visitors. (Who wants to remember another username and password just to comment on something?)
Most of us use a Google sign-in to connect our devices to various browsers and apps. If we’re already logged on to that, we can use it to log on to this site, comment, and subscribe to new posts, receiving notifications when they are published!
-M
10th January: Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2025. I wish you my best for any or all ventures you plan to do this year. (I think the words New Year Resolutions follow close behind)
Margo and I plan to do more fishing and crabbing this year. We’ve already begun the process, and it’s paying off. We also want to camp more. In fact, getting away from home is the general plan. Margo loves her garden, and I spend hours writing and podcasting. We both need reminding to take breaks every once in a while.
Wherever you are in this big world, may all your dreams come true.
-M.