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Graeme Brandham

@graemesatlas.substack.com

370 followers 830 following 230 posts

Writer | Artist | World-Builder 🌀Charting the intersection of story, philosophy & wonder in my Substack Atlas. 🌀Currently navigating rabbits, dinosaurs & the nature of reality. 🐰🦕☯️

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Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 11

Every story has a spirit.
This is Terrance - a character I keep returning to, a personal locus of wonder who has transcended time. He's a creature of energy, imagination, and fun. (1/2)

#characterdesign #illustration #storytelling

A gentle, black-and-white line-art illustration of Terrance the triceratops, shown in three forms to represent his journey through time. On the left, he joyfully hatches from an egg, his long tail ending in feathers, sometimes with a butterfly resting there amicably. In the center, he stands as his full self, waving warmly at the viewer. On the right, his animated skeleton waves with equal cheer, its own tail a delicate string of detached vertebrae. He's a character who has transcended his mortal body, and here he is waving hello to the past, the present, and the future, all at once and with the same friendly smile.

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Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · 16h

Do you ever feel brave enough to do writing that spins a yarn on social commentary? To be a bit Dickensian?

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · 16h

Deciduous and Evergreen:
This is a new short story I’m writing for spooky season, Inspired by that feeling you get from movies like Casper, Hocus Pocus, and Stranger Things, all wrapped in the folkloric texture of a book like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.
graemesatlas.substack.com/p/deciduous-...

Deciduous and Evergreen

Part 001 of a spec-fic Halloween adventure.

open.substack.com

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · 15d

What is my serialised book about?

Genre: Sci-fi 🛸

Description: Humans and Rabbits must work together on a journey that will take them into deep space, to discover why it is that Rabbits are gravitationally aligned with the centre of the galaxy.
graemesatlas.substack.com/p/the-string...

The Strings Of Us

Chapter 001

graemesatlas.substack.com

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · 17d

This is awesome! Thank you for sharing! It's always nice to meet creatives exploring the same thing.

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Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · 25d

Is anyone else doing #Pentober on substack?

graemesatlas.substack.com/p/pentober-2...

Pentober 2025

A month of freely exploring daily word prompts.

graemesatlas.substack.com

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Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · 26d

#Pentober Day 001 - Fog

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Graeme Brandham (@graemesatlas)

Pentober : Day 01 #Fog I have only just seen this today, but I am keen to catch up. So here is my day 1 piece featuring an unusually lonely person sat trying to render the thickly packed fog about h...

substack.com

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · 28d

Im back after a long holiday, within which, I decided to re-addict myself to Downton Abbey. Foolish? Yes. Worth it? Also yes.

I have spent time here composing some thoughts about what this show does well, and how it uses story to keep you addicted.

graemesatlas.substack.com/p/the-downto...

The Downton Abbey Engine:

A Writer’s Guide to Addictive Storytelling

graemesatlas.substack.com

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Sep 2

Sometimes my IRL work permeates into my storied life. This is part 001 of a short story about what happens when an ancient bottle of Madeira wine decides to share its memories.

graemesatlas.substack.com/p/wine-wind-...

#fiction #shortstory #wonder

Wine, Wind and Whipping Sails

A short story: Part 001

graemesatlas.substack.com

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 28

22) WIP Aesthetic Board
#FantasyIndiesAugust

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 28

This detail from the 1st chapter comes early, and it lingers. I really enjoy the sense of space and time it creates within the text. It has a length to it. Like a fine wine.

substack.com/@graemesatla...

Graeme Brandham (@graemesatlas)

I am finally getting around to starting this series. I am loving discovering peoples fiction and fantasy projects on Substack, and this is further proof that I have found a good place. This detail fr...

substack.com

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 28

21) Is my MC a morning person?
I would say yes and no. Once they get into their journey, strict regimented industrial earth time, i.e. doing a 9-5, is less relevant. He sleeps with the curtains open. So that helps to be a morning person by virtue of the light seeping through.
#FantasyIndiesAugust

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 28

Ahh running out of time!
20) Superstitions in WIP
There is a thing called the strings. Its relatively unknown by humans, and those that have heard of it think its nonsense.
Rabbits on the other hand live with it every day. To them it is a way of life. Who has the truth of it?
#FantasyIndiesAugust

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 28

My Raw & Unedited series continue. Where you can see both what comes directly out of my notebook, and any thoughts I have about how I might improve it once i get to the second draft.

Let me know what you think!
graemesatlas.substack.com/p/raw-and-un...

The Strings of Us - Raw & Unedited - 002

A Story Within a Story

graemesatlas.substack.com

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 26

AI is a hot topic. There are many facets to the discussion that range from ethics, philosophy, politics, creativity.

In this entry, I have focussed only on what we can do, as creatives, to not lose ourselves to the machine entirely, if we do decide to partake.

open.substack.com/pub/graemesa...

Navigating the Age of AI

The cartographers dilemma.

open.substack.com

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 26

Oh nice, yes this makes a lot of sense. It also shows up my filmic background starkly because of how I tend to think of expression as a composition of the face.
I like this though, and I've always felt characters really do need to have unique expressions in the way they talk. Especially in writing.

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 23

I tried to give Cash’ya a posture that mixes confidence with a hint of impatience and uncertainty. But I'm curious what details you all notice first.
What's the most revealing element of a character's design for you?
(Poll Options: 1. Their expression, 2. Their Posture/Stance, 3. Their Clothes

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Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 23

When you’re first introduced to a new character design, what’s the first thing your eyes are drawn to that gives you a clue about their personality? For me, a character's stance and overall posture can say so much before they even speak a word.

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Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 22

Time to break up my feed with some personal art. A quick scroll through my albums uncovered this. Painted on my iPad (procreate) about 2 years ago. It's an interpretation of Gavilar Kholin, from 'The way of kings' by Brandon Sanderson.
#ArtSky #Art #Illustration #ConceptArt #DigitalArt #Drawing

An Arabic, ottoman looking interpretation of Gavilar Kholin in royal attire. Deep blues, yellows and gold's. Persian architecture.

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 22

19) "It's called ma. Emptiness. It's there intentionally. The time in between my clapping is ma. If you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it's just busyness, but if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension".
#FantasyIndiesAugust

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 22

Still catching up
18) a WIP playlist. I tend to let the music fit the mood of what I'm writing. This recent fit of words has been quite a serene one, and so this playlist of mine has been in rotation. It's called 'working in the garden'
#FantasyIndiesAugust

open.spotify.com/playlist/6j5...

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 22

A fun worldbuilding problem I had to solve: Do my rabbits wear clothes?
My answer: Mostly no, but they wear robes around humans as a polite gesture to make them more comfortable.
What's a small worldbuilding detail you absolutely love in a book/film/game? #worldbuilding

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 20

There is so much cosy upon this piece of art. Cosy has settled into it like squirrels in a tree. Cosy has settled into it like hedgehogs under a log. Cosy has settled into it like Badgers in a set. Cosy has permeated every inch of this picture, like bubble tea in a gentle rain shower.

Maxine Vee @maxinevee.bsky.social · Aug 20

Rainy Bubble Tea ☔️🦡🧋 #art

A digital illustration of a badger behind a bubble tea stand. He’s hold a bubble tea to give to a customer. There are four customers in front of him: a squirrel holding an umbrella, two bunnies in raincoats and one mouse holding a blue umbrella. We can see a fox enjoying a sip of bubble tea on the left side while her hedgehog friend is also enjoying the bubble tea. The illustration is set under a cozy rainy day.

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 20

Perhaps it's more accurate to simply say we grooved together. It was the best band I never played in. (7/7) 🎏

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 20

Funny that in hindsight, my language would be used in much the same way. To shout ‘their’ at their naming of me served to divide them too. To approximate a shape and size thrown into a humanmans bucket. 👇

Graeme Brandham @graemesatlas.substack.com · Aug 20

They didn't realize that in this moment. I was the subject of their bass-line. And boy was I walking. I wasn't coy about it either. I loved being that thunderous beat that watered their conversation with something approaching consistency. 👇