Describe your
hero, or heroes.
That’s a relatively easy start, my mum and
dad. I’m pretty sure most people come out with a load of stuff about some great
historical character or modern-day scientist or tech guy. Not me.
Let me explain why. For all the time, I
was lucky enough to spend with my parents I never really knew them until a lot
later in their lives than I wished. As a young man, 17 ½ and more a child than
a man, I joined the British Army and that was the last time I really spent at
home. It was only years later because of the jobs I was doing that I had to
undergo what was called at the time ‘vetting’. They dig into you and your family’s
past to ensure that there is nothing hidden there which could possibly have a bearing
on your security clearance. And what they found out surprised me.
My father had originally been an officer
in the Irish Army prior to the outbreak of World War Two. He resigned his
commission, left his family in safe and neutral Ireland, to join the RAF to
fight with the British against the Nazi’s because he thought it was the right
thing to do. During his service, he met my mother and therein lies another
story.
My mother had been a nurse with the air
ambulance. She served in the western desert where, on one occasion, the pilot
of the plane carrying her and a load of wounded got lost, was low on fuel and
was forced to set down at a German airfield. Rather than fling them all in a
POW camp the Germans treated the wounded, refueled the plane, and sent them on
their way. She also somehow took part in Operation Market Garden, the abortive
allied attempt to secure the Rhine bridges.
You couldn’t write this stuff! All the
time I was growing up my parents never mentioned any of this. When I asked them
about it they just told me they thought it was the right thing to do so they
did it.
Tell us about your
main character.
In my latest novel, ‘The K’Tai War, Book
One, Invasion’, there is more than one central character but the main story
circulates around the Carter family, Dave and Sue, the parents, and Chris and
Jodee, teenagers who are rapidly nearing adulthood.
The planet they live on is invaded by an
alien race called the K’Tai, the family becomes separated during the initial
invasion and in their struggle to become reunited we learn more about them and
the K’Tai.
Without spoiling the story, it quickly
becomes evident that Dave and Sue are not the clean-cut family types that they
pretend to be, displaying martial skills that only highly trained combat troops
would have. In reality, they are… Oh no sorry you are just going to have to
read the book to find out.
What type of setting
did you place your story in?
The main part of the story takes place on
the planet Agate. Once thought to be nothing more than a farming world on the
edge of human controlled space bordering the ancient K’Tai Imperium, with the
discovery of the rare mineral Redlazore, a key component in the construction of
the only known star drive, Agate quickly becomes a major mining colony becoming
humanities key source of Redlazore.
The K’Tai Imperium is having its own
internal problems and civil war is brewing just beneath the surface and the
leaders of the Imperium see the seizing of Agate as an opportunity to slap down
the upstart humans and deal a decisive blow in their own war against the
secessionists.
What inspired your
story?
Having written the
Saiph Series, my previous science fiction series, I noticed that it had been
almost exclusively concerned with the military and political side of conflict, huge
space armada’s blowing the crap out of each other while ignoring the effect war
had on the normal guy in the street.
With ‘The K’Tai
War’ series I’m trying to tell the story of not only those massive armored
combatants but those that are stuck in the middle just trying to keep their
family safe during it all until they inevitably get sucked into the conflict.
Is your story a
part of a broader work or series?
‘Invasion’ is Book
One in ‘The K’Tai War’ series. A series of three planned novels made up by
‘Invasion’, ‘Resistance’, and ‘Secession’.
‘Resistance’
should be out around Christmas with ‘Secession’ out before Easter ’18.
In four lines, tell
us about your story.
On the ground, Dave, Sue, Chris and Jodee
Carter get caught up in the whirlwind of violence that is the K’Tai invasion of
their homeworld. Separated they must each fight to survive and reach safety.
In space, the K’Tai forces easily vanquish
the much smaller human forces of the League. What they had assumed would be an
easy victory and a short, sharp conflict rapidly turns into a war of attrition
they cannot afford.
Who is your
favorite author or book series?
Well I read a lot of alternative history
as well as science fiction so if I could indulge you with two authors.
Firstly, General Sir John Hackets ‘The
Third World War’. A book which I read while serving in Germany shortly after
the Berlin Wall came down. The book is a terrifyingly realistic telling of how
easily it would have been for the world to descend into a Third World War and
how that war could have been thought. For a young man sitting only a few miles
from what was a couple of years before the Inner German Border and the
overwhelming forces of the Warsaw Pact it had an impact on my outlook on life
and politics.
The second book, a series really, was one
which most probably inspired me to begin writing my own military science
fiction. The Starfire Series by David Weber and Steve White.
What can I say, outstanding military
science fiction by two of the biggest names in the game. An enemy we all love
to hate and fear in equal measure. A mix of races who come together to fight a
common enemy because if they don’t it’s the end of the line for all of them. A
war that rages from one side of the galaxy to the other. Yeah it does not get
any better!
What are you
working on now?
Busy, busy. I am working on the fourth
book in the Saiph Series, ‘Legacy of the Saiph’, due out mid-October. The
second K’Tai War book, ‘Resistance’, due out before Christmas. An untitled work
in another successful author’s universe which I hope to be able to tell you all
about in the near future but for now my lips must remain firmly sealed. And
last but not least the first book from my own small publishing press, Matthew
Williams ‘The Cronian Incident’, which will be released in mid-September.
About the Author
Author of the Amazon bestselling Saiph
Series, PP Corcoran writes fast-paced military science fiction because he gets
to mix his two loves; shoot em ups and science. A 22-year-veteran of the
British Army, Paul began his writing career in 2014. After serving all round
the world, this native of Scotland now lives in Northern Ireland and writes
epic space opera for a living; he recently ranked #10 in Amazon's Sci-Fi
Authors.
