Arts & Culture
3 October, 2026
No plan a good plan for popular Australian author
Popular Australian author Chris Hammer describes himself as a ‘pantser’. He doesn’t plan any of his books – he simply sits down, starts writing and sees where the story takes him.
Popular Australian author Chris Hammer describes himself as a ‘pantser’.
He doesn’t plan any of his books – he simply sits down, starts writing and sees where the story takes him.
It’s a case of writing by the seat of his pants.
And it works.
Hammer, a former journalist, now has a string of best-selling crime novels to his name.
His latest offering, Full Circle, was officially released this week – on the same day he appeared at a special literary luncheon at Bendooley Estate near Berrima.
Hammer says Full Circle is a stand-alone novel, but fans won’t be disappointed.
It boasts a complex plot, sympathetic characters and is stylistically similar to his previous works.
There is even a (very minor) cameo appearance from journalist Martin Scarsden, who came to life in Hammer’s first novel, Scrublands, and who has struck a chord with readers around the globe.
Unlike Hammer’s previous novels, Full Circle is based in a real location – Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.
He describes it as a story of “corporate greed and dynastic ambition” based around stock market manipulation as a motivator for murder.
And with it, fans welcome two new characters into the ‘Hammerverse’ – including Travis Somerland, a former undercover cop seeking redemption following a bungled police operation.
Hammer finished work on Full Circle in July and started work on his next novel almost immediately.
At this stage it will be another stand-alone novel.
“Come back in a year and it might be something completely different,” he told The Southern Wire on Tuesday.
Hammer is currently on a national tour promoting Full Circle and enjoys being on the road.
He says writing is a solitary pursuit and public appearances in bookstores, at festivals and at literary luncheons come as a welcome distraction.
That’s not to say he doesn’t love what he does.
“I love doing it (writing). It doesn’t feel like work to me,” he said.
“I couldn’t do a book a year if I didn’t enjoy it.”
And will Hammer fans continue to see a new book every year?
At this stage yes, but if the time comes for a break he said would prefer not to publish than to publish something sub-standard.
As an aspiring journalist in his younger years, Hammer studied at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst (then Mitchell College of Advanced Education) where one of his lecturers was acclaimed Australian crime writer Peter Temple.
Temple – best known for his Jack Irish novels – was the first crime writer to ever win the prestigious Miles Franklin Literary Award for his standalone novel Truth.
Hammer concedes that he will never be as good a writer as Temple but said his old lecturer definitely planted a seed.
“Once I started (writing crime novels) I really enjoyed it,” he said.
“Now I love it.”
Hammer now has a growing legion of fans around the world and two of his novels – Scrublands and Treasure and Dirt – have been adapted for the small screen.
His involvement in the screen adaptations has been limited but he has enjoyed watching them to see how his works have been ‘re-imagined’.
“I like to see what they’ve done with them,” he said.
And he’s not about to give up his day job just yet.
“I don’t want to be writing scripts – I’ll leave that up to the professionals,” he said.
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