✯ A disgraced spec-ops officer forced to lead the fight for survival on a forbidden planet.
✯ An injured military veteran thrown back into uniform to defend against British invaders.
✯ And a rookie journalist putting his life on the line to uncover the truth.
The Atlas Nations series would be nothing without its characters. There are three in particular that carry the narrative in the first book, WRITING IN THE SAND, which is currently on sale on Amazon.
Before you dive in and explore the worlds of the Atlas Nations, I want you to meet Harper Mulgrew, Donald Stafford and Washington Parker. These guys have been living inside my head for nearly five years. It’s an honour and privilege to introduce them to yours.
THE MAIN CHARACTERS
Harper Mulgrew
Harper is a former special operations sergeant forced to join Britain’s maiden colonial expedition on Proxima B.
Hailing from Scotland, she is a fierce individual who you never bet against in a scrap, weapons or not. A fight comes as second nature to Harper but, as tough as she is, this woman is damaged goods.
Harper arrives on Proxima B still bitter following her dismissal from the police, an event shrouded in mystery as the novel begins. All we know is she no longer trusts anybody, least of all herself.
The last thing Harper wants is the lives of others on her hands but when things go wrong on Proxima B, that’s just what Harper will get whether she likes it or not…
Donald Stafford
Donald Stafford is the man tasked with leading the Atlas Nations’ defence against a British invasion in the Proxima system.
This military veteran spent most of his career on the Arkan border, earning his reputation as a scourge of the Choctaw people, a breakaway state from Proxima A’s early colonising period.
Don’s exploits in the last war earned him the nickname Bloodaxe of Choctaw… and a life-changing injury at the hands of his nemesis. You can read all about that period of his life in this FREE novella.
Since then, Don has returned to the more civilised city of New Boston to wind down as the permanent secretary to the department of defence. But is he satisfied with his new life? Well…
The past means a lot to some people, especially if it was when everything was just as it should be. All too often, we are guilty of dressing these experiences up as something more beautiful than they probably were; retconning our memory centres, treasuring what made us feel good and ignoring the rest.
That’s what Don has done since leaving Choctaw. He knows he had to leave, and that things should never go back to the way they were before. But deep down, he misses what it felt like to be powerful. And now another war is heading his way…
Washington Parker
Wash is a young reporter for the Daily Citizen, one of Britain’s national newspapers based in central London.
Unlike many of his peers, Wash is inquisitive and determined, two things a British journalist in 2075 should never be.
In this world, the media have become publicists for a totalitarian government and, as a result, Wash’s own father views him as one of them.
This volatile relationship with his only living relative only pushes Wash to ask more questions. More than is safe…
Some friends have concluded that this character is based on myself! Well, Wash does share some of the fire in my belly, but the young journalist is more of an amalgamation of several different people.
After seven years in the media, four as an editor, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some tenacious reporters, men and women who know exactly how to ask the hard questions. These guys make me look like a mouse, I can promise you. We all know a number of high-profile journalists with a similar ability too. It is all these individuals who I have melted together and poured straight into Wash’s head.
The question is… is he ready for the backlash set to come his way?
Who will be first to uncover the dark secrets of Britain’s interplanetary colonisation programme?
When disgraced spec-ops officer Harper Mulgrew and her fellow colonists crash on a forbidden alien world, their fight for survival starts with a terrifying message in the sand. Can they decipher it in time to illegally establish Britain’s presence in the Proxima system?
Atlas Nations military veteran Donald Stafford intends to protect his planet from a British incursion but first, he must face up to the sins of his past and broker an uneasy alliance with old foes.
And, as a serial killer stalks the streets of London, rookie journalist Washington Parker puts his life on the line to expose the unthinkable truths of the corrupt British government and their secretive colonisation programme.
The Expanse meets 1984 and TV’s Lost in WRITING IN THE SAND, a page-turning science-fiction thriller. Buy it today.
“A great world-building space opera” — “An intriguing plot in a richly-developed dystopian future” — “An engaging sci-fi thriller with a compelling message”