I had just finished writing Ronin the first book in what was to become the Col Sec series and I was in a difficult place personally. My partner and I were moving house and there were all sorts of complications, both with work and everything that this move encompassed. What had started out to be a relatively simple process was hindered and made worse by factors out of our control and a few that were within it but which became difficult because of the scope of the whole situation.

Around this time when I had some down time I was trying to write my next book, but because of everything that was going on I found it difficult to concentrate on writing. I didn’t want the next book to be terrible but everything I tried to write turned out unsatisfactory and no matter what I did to fix it just wasn’t working. I suppose it was a form of writers block but at the time I didn’t realise it. I thought writers block was simply when you sat down to write and nothing came and you stared at a blank page for hours with no ideas coming through with no end in sight, but I was wrong. It manifests in many ways.

My partner Joyce, came up with a solution, she advised me to try and write something new which is what I did. I tried an experiment with another story that had been brewing in the back of my mind. It didn’t matter if this was total crap because I had no intentions of ever finishing it and publishing it was never my intention. It was quite simply something to do rather than sit and stare at my laptop screen.

The move to a new home was completed and things began to return to normal but I was left with this story which had gone beyond the mere diversion stage into becoming a full blown story, the characters were all there and the plot was well under way. Without my even realising I had something that was too good to leave alone so I finished it and it became a short read, a novella called Paradise Cove featuring Colonel Jack Flynn of ATLAS Force. I originally published this under the pen name of Mark Strong and left it to go stale on the data banks of the Kindle Store. After I finished The Death List I wanted to continue the story after Paradise Cove because that novella ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger. As I started the second half of the story I had an idea to make it a short trilogy but then realised it would work much better as one novel. I finished the second part, reworked Paradise Cove a little and had the entire thing edited and it became The Satan Strain, book one in the ATLAS Force series under the author name of Jack Dillon. As with most books I write I tend to think that it will be a one off and it won’t go any farther, until I am writing the end. The ATLAS Force series has spawned two more titles, WIRE Tap and Pray for Death. This last book my editor, who has worked diligently with me on all my titles regards it to be my best book to date. The series won’t end there though it is just too good to waste and I feel I’m just getting started with it.

Why not grab a copy of The Satan Strain to see how this remarkable series started.