Meet S. S. Fitzgerald
Indie Author Spotlight
Welcome to Indie Author Spotlight where I interview talented writers who have valuable insights to share on their writing process, publication, and what it means to be an indie author.
Shaun S. Fitzgerald grew up in Carson City, Nevada, and served in the Army before settling in Tallahassee, Florida. He writes horror stories, thrillers, and science-fiction, grounding his works in reality with actual experiences from his travels, and stories he accumulated along the way. When he is not writing, he is researching, building terrifying costumes, at the range on some humid Florida range, or spending time with his wife and loyal Doberman.
When did you know you wanted to become a published author? Tell us how you got started.
To some degree I could point to elementary school, where I tried writing poetry and told my parents I wanted to write. In high school I met several friends who did text role-play games, which were essentially just taking turns writing a story. In college, I made my first attempt at writing an entire book. Thank goodness I never tried to publish that slop. Over the years I attempted several novels but never had the knowledge and experience to move beyond the drafting stage. Once I ended my military service, I gave myself a deadline to publish a book. I told myself either I’m going to do it, or I will never waste time doing this again. That’s how I wrote A Fold to Extinction.
How does your military background find its way into your stories?
Depends on the piece I’m writing. None of it came out in Sinner’s Pass because the characters did not need that part of me. A Fold to Extinction allowed me to develop action scenes and write military experiences without overwhelming a non-military audience. Most of my background comes out in Alone Together. I wanted to break down the idea that the military is overpowered or completely useless in a “zombie” style outbreak. My time serving with COVID shaped a lot of those scenes, in particular the experience and thoughts of Captain Dillion Hawkins. To bring the audience into the frustration, I used actual communication problems, resource limitations, and manpower limitations I experienced. I hope anytime someone reads “that’s dumb, would the military really do that?” Yes, not only yes, we already have. A great example is the sat-phone conversation in Alone Together. Something I hear as an excuse for easy communication in other media. There’s a moment when the sat-phones don’t work because a SIM card isn’t present and is kept miles away with another unit. This really happened to me while working disaster recovery in Florida during a hurricane.
Tell us about your newest release, Alone Together.
Alone Together is a passion project I have always wanted to do. I have loved zombie media in all its forms since my father let me rent my first R-rated movies in the 90s. I say “zombie” here loosely, but these creatures are more the “infected” style we see in media such as 28 Days Later. Not truly a walking corpse. I needed to prove to myself and refine methods of writing before tackling Alone Together. A Fold to Extinction refined my action scenes, Sinner’s Pass refined my character development. With those areas covered, I spent months researching tropes and survival blogs. I wanted readers comfortable with the setting, without feeling too predictable or asking why the government didn’t just roll in with tanks and end the outbreak on day one. COVID gave me a ton of inspiration, and the ideas I left lingering from A Fold to Extinction found a new home.
While world-building and expanding the lore, the characters help us explore morality. Our existing relationships are tested. Our world begins to evolve, rapidly, and humanity has to decide if it will evolve, or perish as a footnote in time.
I originally planned Alone Together to be an 8 books series, but as I currently draft book 4, I am seeing 8 books won’t provide the closure we need. Stay on the lookout for further updates.
What is your writing process like? Do you start with characters or plot?
This question is very difficult for me to answer. I’ve said before in my podcast, A Fold to Extinction is essentially a love letter to a younger me. I wrote what I wanted as a depraved gore and dinosaur fan. The tying moment came from a sound a particular song started with.
Sinner’s Pass started from a loose plot around a house I listened to on a podcast. I was already writing notes on a story exploring sins and atonement, and when I heard that podcast, I drafted three characters that became the basis for the protagonist.
I suppose Alone Together started with a plot, but so much has come and gone over time that I can’t say plot drove the creation of the series. These characters lived inside me since I started writing, and they needed a world to be set free in. If you saw the plot of what originally started as Alone Together to what it became, they would be two completely different stories because of the characters I created.
Do you have any creative rituals or a favorite place to write?
My office. No rituals. I just need my computer and time to write and pace. Maybe my pacing is a ritual, but it’s a way to work off anxiety from scenes I write. I’ve become mentally very attached to my characters, and particularly book 4 of Alone Together has been extremely taxing on me.
Who are some of your favorite authors/books?
Both Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton have majorly influenced me. I’ve read Jurassic Park probably a dozen times because I love how he weaves pseudo-science in his work.
D.J. Molles gave me the courage to write. When I read how he started his first series working as a cop, it spurred me to throw myself to the chaos of the writing world.
What marketing strategies seem to work best for you? Are there any that haven’t worked out so well?
Facebook doesn’t work for me. I keep a presence there to ensure some of my friends and family have a landing page, but if you really want to stay up-to-date, my newsletter on Substack is the place to go.
While X (formerly Twitter) isn’t great for ads, I have met a great community there is no doubt I’ve sold more just making friends there than any other single platform. But the key to any new writers here is reading between the lines, you need to be active, and make friends, not just spam your cover ten times a day.
Amazon ads do return results, but I don’t rely on them. There’s a little play with the method, but I think I have found a sweet spot for Alone Together.
The real win for selling is just making friends, either in person or virtually. Half of my newsletter subscribers I know by name. I keep my lines of communication open, and engage with anyone who reaches out.
As an indie author, how do you define success?
I don’t. That’s up to my readers. I see the comments and messages from people who loved my work, that’s a win. I’ve learned a lot, and I truly believe the writing between A Fold to Extinction to Alone Together is drastically different, in a good way. Even the difference between Alone Together, and what I am seeing in the later entries shows a progression. Just like lifting weights, improvement comes with time and effort. When you make a difference, other people will see it before you do looking in the mirror.
What are you working on now?
As I write this in July, I’m drafting book 4 of Alone Together. I’m waiting on edits to come back from book 3. I will keep working on Alone Together as concurrently as possible so that there is no delay between entries. I owe that to my readers. I will say, it does make it difficult to answer questions about book 1 since I’m so invested in the events of book 4, so excuse me if I take a few minutes to respond.
There is also a mystery project I’m working on with Shaun Jooste, another Dark Veil Society author. We plan to make that announcement in September, so ensure you’re on my newsletter and watching for my podcast, Birds with Words.
Where can readers find you?
I am on Facebook, X (aka Twitter), Instagram, Substack, BuyMeaCoffee (BMAC) and I have my own website, SSFitzgerald.net.
To make it easier, I grouped them all in a LinkTree so that readers can find which one they prefer. My newsletter (Substack) gets preferential treatment with book giveaways and early announcements.
Get your copy of Alone Together!
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