The Author

WRITTEN BY

Jack Neeley

PHOTO CREDIT

Ashley Oosthuizen

Tristan Seth Nettles was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1987 with a severe speech impediment, the first son of Russ and Olga Nettles. After his parents divorced when he was eight, Tristan and his siblings, Josh and Tabi, lived primarily with their mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Man-O-War Cay, in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas, and the rest in the Atlanta area, where he fell in with the wrong crowds. After attending five middle schools and seven high schools, Tristan enlisted in the Marine Corps infantry, where he was stationed in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Upon leaving the Marine Corps, following a home invasion and a stint in the brig, Tristan enrolled in a university Biology Program. In 2015, directly after graduating with a B.S. in Biology, a restless spirit took Tristan far beyond U.S. borders—through remote Pacific islands, Himalayan trails, Southeast Asia, and Europe. His travels have left deep cultural imprints, grounding his storytelling in rich, authentic detail.

But his path has not been ordinary. Tristan navigated the shadowed intersections of legality—using cryptocurrencies and the internet to import large amount of recreational drugs into Thailand to fund his medical school studies abroad, eventually leading to the arrest and imprisonment of his long time girlfriend, a South African woman named Ashley Oosthuizen. His creative work is not escapism but a reckoning with impulses past and present.

His debut novel, The Shepherd: A Bronze Age Tale (Histria Books, 2024), was written to bring awareness to Ashley's cause, along with a seven month stint in Ukraine fighting against Russia. Tristan's first novel debuted as a notoriously brutal and vivid vision of antiquity—a gritty coming-of-age tale immersed in love, sacrifice, and redemption. Praised for its “distinctive, narrative-driven storytelling” and stark portrayal of Bronze-Age life, it has earned rave ratings and an enthusiastic endorsement from the Midwest Book Review.

Beyond his literary pursuits, Tristan balances a multifaceted life: living predominately internationally, currently on his fourth passport, and working in digital finance as a crypto consultant and funds manager, all while continuously advocating for Ashley Oosthuizen's release.

Tristan Nettles writes with true conviction and authenticity—a man molded by real-world adventures, moral complexity, and an unflinching eye for human nature. His stories are as rugged as the Bronze Age, as layered as his own journey, and as unforgettable as the realities he explores.