David Darling
The Egyptian Enigma
“A story filled with intense action and plot twists. The Egyptian Enigma is a superb, impossible-to-put-down thriller!” – Steve Thomas, Best Thriller Books ★★★★★
Update: 11/25/2024. David Darling has a whole new book out
DOSSIER: THE EGYPTIAN ENIGMA is something completely different from your Noah Hunter series and your science fiction books. What’s the one thing you want people to know about this new book that you’re most excited about?
DARLING: I like the concept of ordinary people in the wrong place at the wrong time. The protagonist of The Egyptian Enigma, is a twenty-two year old man living in his mother’s basement trying to make a living designing websites and logos. Ryan isn’t a Green Beret or Navy Seal, just an average guy. The story is different from my previous works and I wanted a challenge. I’ve always enjoyed action-adventure novels, as well as a good treasure hunt. Who doesn’t love Indiana Jones or The Da Vinci Code? So I jumped into the research. Almost every historical fact, location—from Toronto to Egypt—is correct. I may have changed a few things to suit the narrative (While the street intersections of Jane and Finch in the opening chapter are real, the alley location doesn’t exist) but overall, the majority is true.
DOSSIER: That type of character sounds really familiar for this day in age. *Dossier guy checks phone contacts. Yup, I know a few.
Seriously. Who wrote this?
DOSSIER: Your latest book jumps off the page with quick action where your protagonist, Ryan Petey, finds himself right in the middle of things in chapter one. How would you say your writing has changed over the last few years? This new story screams!
DARLING: I have recently spoken with a reviewer. They had trouble believing that the same author wrote The Tipping Point (Book 1 in the Noah Hunter series) and The Egyptian Enigma. I will take that as a win! Writing is one of the few professions that you must keep doing it to get better. Since The Tipping Point, I’ve wrote seven other novels, and I’m pleased with my progress. I’ve learned a few lessons from more experienced writers and it’s taken a while for their advice to sink in, but hopefully my readers will enjoy my progress. I will be looking forward to my 20th novel and seeing my progress. I am always learning.
Moving stones with his mind
DOSSIER: There’s still a lot of new developments happening with Egyptology, even in 2024. What made you decide to go with this kind of theme? Did you simply find it interesting, was it all the new stuff happening in the field that got your attention, or did you just always want to be Indiana Jones (not that this is an Indy book or anything!)?
DARLING: I have always been fascinated with the pyramids and ancient Egypt. One day I was watching a documentary on the stone monolith that sustained a fracture mid-point, and the project was abandoned. However, when you viewed under the monolith, it appears the stone was scooped away. It looked like an ice-cream scoop was used… and I had an idea. Sonics. What if the ancient masons used sonics to work the stone? From that idea a story was born. Stonesingers. And of course, you can’t research methods of moving monolithic stones without doing a deep dive into Stonehenge… so that location had to appear in the story as well. Legends and myths have been passed down for over two-thousand years on the Hall of Records. Does it exist? We are discovering new information about the pyramids and Egypt and one day, I’d love the real Hall of Records to be discovered. As I finished the story, a new corridor was found on the Great Pyramid… we are not done with Egypt just yet!
Here is David’s first Dossier. It was disclosed on 7/28/2023 as part of the launch of The Writer’s Dossier.
DOSSIER: What were you doing when you heard Killer Nashville had announced that SIGNS OF ANUBIS was a finalist for Best Action Adventure?
DARLING: I was on holiday with my family in New Brunswick, Canada. What a great announcement!
His Noah Hunter series
DOSSIER: What thing about your protagonist Noah Hunter surprised you most after you created him?
DARLING: I was mostly surprised that when you create a character, give them a personality and emotions, they grow on you. At times, they seem to be speaking to you from the digital world, and at times, I was shocked to discover the main characters reacting differently than I planned.
Up early to write
DOSSIER: When and where do you write, and what kind of environment do you prefer? (Music/silence/closet?)
DARLING: I like to keep the same schedule, seven days a week. I get up at 5am daily (yes, even on weekends) and after my first cup of coffee, I reread the previous days work. Then I jump right in! I manage to squeak in two hours of writing before work. Late afternoon, or evening, I try and get in another two hours. I do have a playlist of music that I like to have on in the background, or headphones if others are about, but I tune it out and focus on writing.
There’s a lot going on in that head
DOSSIER: Your writing is broad, are you going back to crime stories or sci-fi?
DARLING: I have twelve-pounds of ideas in a ten-pound bag. Overflowing, to say the least. I have (yet another) unpublished manuscript that is book one in a fantasy trilogy, completed. Book two in that series is 50% done… I also have another standalone fantasy novel 40% completed. I love that genre, and it is what I grew up reading. BUT with that being said, I have two novels sketched out for a new series, more of a Private Investigator/Mystery series, and I’m working on Operation: Force Recon (a military thriller novel). I may have accidently begun book two in that series, while working on book one. I like variety, and the ability to bounce around with the different genres. Just to make things more complicated, I wrote Edge of Time and for 18 months, I thought it was going to be a standalone science fiction novel, but I may have accidently started the sequel. Aiming to have that published for spring 2024. Long as the ideas are there, no matter the genre, I will keep writing!
DOSSIER: What’s in store for Noah Hunter?
DARLING: The Noah Hunter series is on hold for the moment. I hope to finish book four this year, with an early 2024 release.
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