For Port Macquarie's Drew Lindsay, the release of his latest book Winterwood is a mark of a decade-long passion that does not look like waning.

His latest novel, which was released just last month, reached the number one top selling Australian fiction book on Amazon within 24 hours of its release.

Mr Lindsay's novels, while fiction, draw on the characters and people he has met over his lifetime and during his many years working with the police and as a private investigator. He is also a professional dive leader and holds a private pilot's licence.

There is one character who features prominently throughout his writing - the rather rough and tumble ex-police detective named Ben Hood.

The character, he says, embodies many of his own traits.

Ben's history is somewhat checkered. He served 28 years in the NSW Police Force, most of that time as a detective. He had a reputation for being tough and refusing to take nonsense from criminals and lawbreakers generally.

After resigning from the Police Force, Ben now works for a VIP Protection Agency which is run by an interesting character named Rodney Reid.

Rodney considers Ben to be his most valuable field operative, notwithstanding the regularly disastrous although usually successful results to each and every assignment.

In Winterwood, Ben Hood is caught up in a murder and mystery investigation surrounding the death of a man once living in Katoomba which had been built over the graves of an almost long forgotten Aboriginal and executed bushranger's cemetery.

There is no doubt that the mansion is haunted. There is no doubt that the spirit of the murdered man has evil intent.

"The characters are the most important part of the book and you have to get them spot on. People that are reading must feel the character is alive or relate to them to stop the book falling flat," Mr Lindsay told the Port News earlier this year.

"The plot comes last. Most of the time I have no idea what is going to happen at the end or even halfway through the book. I don't think I've ever plotted it out and half the time I have no idea where I'm going."

All of Mr Lindsay's books are currently selling worldwide, particularly in Australia and the USA.

They are available from Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Apple iBook's, Kobo and other e-distributors. Six of his novels are also available in printed form.

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