Time shatters into shards of the past, present, and future. A group of survivors dodges threats from across history to locate the source and repair the damage before it’s too late.
Not only are Dana Fredsti and David Fitzgerald co-authors of Time Shards and its upcoming sequel, Shatter War, but they’re also husband and wife! We had the pleasure of talking to these two talented authors about their new novel, what it’s like working together, advice for aspiring writers, and more!
Hi Dana and David! Tell us a little about yourselves!
Dave: Hi all—I’m David Fitzgerald. I’m mostly a historical researcher, public speaker, and writer of fiction and non-fiction, though I’ve also been a film festival director, speak some fairly obscure languages, and love a crazy mad swordfighting woman.
Dana: Evidently, I’m crazy AND mad. I admit to being a little bit of a crazy cat lady (except I know I’m a little crazy, so doesn’t that actually make me sane?), and I do love swordfighting. I started training in theatrical combat when I was eighteen, and it’s been a large part of my life. I also write fiction, non-fiction, and screenplays, have had a full-grown leopard sit on my foot, and am a bit of a wino. Oh! I also love our dog Pogeen (means ‘little kiss’ in Gaelic) and the best part of every day is walking her on the beach.
Shatter War is the sequel to Time Shards and it’s set to publish on September 24th. For those who aren’t familiar with the series, can you tell us what it is about?
Dave: It’s a time travel/post apocalyptic mashup; the story starts with a 23rd century cataclysm that shatters the timeline, leaving the world like a jigsaw puzzle with each piece from a different historical period. Our ragtag group of heroes are from all across the timeline: a first century Celt; a girl from 21st century San Diego; a WWII commando; and a Victorian snake oil salesman, just to name a few. They’ll soon discover they have to save the world—but to do that, they’ll need to cross a post-apocalyptic world, facing dinosaurs, historical armies, robots and more.
Dana: What Dave said, except he left out some of my favorite bits, like dire wolves, megalodons, Roundheads, and other assorted scary-ass obstacles.
Where did the inspiration for the series come from?
Dave: Coming home from Comic-con one year, I was telling Dana about an idea I had for a GURPS RPG campaign in college. The more I told her, the bigger her eyes got, and as soon as we got home, we put together a 3-book pitch, and Titan Books snapped it up.
Dana: Okay, my eyes didn’t really get that big, but the hair on the back of my neck and on my arms did stand up, and I got this tingle up and down my spine that I only get when I hear a really great idea. I frickin’ fell in love with the concept for Time Shards. Dave also exaggerates when he says ‘as soon as we got home, we put together a pitch.’ We actually unpacked and fed our cats and dog first.
Were there any differences between writing Time Shards and Shatter War?
Dave: Some of the stranger mysteries in Time Shards start to come to light in Shatter War, though more questions arise…
Dana: Huge differences. I was also writing Blood Ink, the second book in my Spawn of Lilith series (also for Titan Books), so instead of switching back and forth between chapters (I wrote the Amber chapters in Time Shards, Dave wrote the Cam chapters, and we both wrote the ones that take place after the two of them meet), Dave took point on Shatter War while I finished Blood Ink. Our way of making sure I was in the loop and we were doing this together was to brainstorm during our beach walks, work through plot points, talk about character motivation, figure out what kind of horrific giant prehistoric monster would be included, who it would kill, how it would kill them, etc. When I finished Blood Ink, I edited, wrote the chapters we agreed I should do from scratch, and then the two of us went over it together before turning it into our editor.
As a husband and wife duo, how does that work when it comes to writing a book together?
Dave: Much better than we expected! We both brought our strengths to the series in ways we never could have on our own.
Dana: I’ve collaborated many times before, so I was a lot less apprehensive about the process than Dave. The biggest issue was how to approach the fact that this was originally Dave’s brainchild, so he was understandably a little proprietary about it. Imagine a solitary male leopard with its fresh kill, and another leopard (a cute female leopard, of course) approaches with ideas of how to prepare the fresh kill. Yeah, kind of like that. J Bottom line, we both love the finished books, are really proud of the work we’ve done, and we’re STILL MARRIED!
Were there aspects that were more difficult to write, such a character or scene?
Dave: Writing a sci-fi series that has so much historical basis to it is kind of the worst of both worlds—it’s fiction, so of course you have to make up the entire plot, and yet you still have to do all the research you would for a non-fiction book.
Dana: It’s funny to read Dave’s response because you have to understand how much he loves the research process of writing, be it fiction or non-fiction. At any given time, our living room coffee table, side table, and couch is filled with around…er…20-30 books related to whatever he’s working on. We go to the library weekly to checkout/renew books. He frickin’ loves doing research. I enjoy it as well and understand the dangers of going down the black hole of research, but he absolutely loves it.
Now in answer to your question, I feel the most comfortable when I’m dealing with Amber and Blake. The hardest stuff for me in book two would be the stuff in the city of Alexandria. And that’s because I didn’t do the same amount of extensive research that Dave did, plus he has a real love for the particular point in history that we chose for Shatter War.
Were there any ‘fragments’ from the past, present, or future that you knew you just had to include?
Dave: So many – but no spoilers… Even after the trilogy is done, there’s still plenty we’d like to explore…
Dana: Various prehistoric fragments so I could have a megalodon and a big ass ancient crocodile. England during the 30 Years War. Times and places that we created in the future.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Dave: Writing is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration…
Dana: Don’t expect to make money, but don’t let that stop you. It can happen; it’s just not guaranteed. Explore both traditional publishers and self-publishing. If you go with the latter, learn how to ask for and take critique (and learn the difference between constructive critique and asshats trying to crap on your dream); be willing to pay for an editor, especially on your first time out. Get decent cover art, and don’t rush it. If you’re serious about writing, put in the work (the 99% perspiration) and the research, and make sure your first time out of the gate is something you are proud of.
What’s next? Another book or project?
Dave: I have some non-fiction projects in the pipeline people have been waiting for in my The Complete Heretic’s Guide to Western Religion series, one on Sex and Violence in the Bible, and the other on the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Dana: I’m currently writing the third book in my Spawn of Lilith series, and then jumping on the third book in the Time Shards series. Sleep and more time to read are then scheduled. J
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for us?
Dave: at the moment I’m simul-reading Martha Well’s Murderbot Diaries series and Richard Kadrey’s The Grand Dark, and loving both. Also loved the A People’s Future of the United States anthology, which is a brilliant intro to so many of today’s hottest writers.
Dana: Black Swan Rising by Lisa Brackmann (this book is pretty much the author’s Cassandra-like predictions of what we’re now experiencing with the spate of mass shootings in America); the upcoming Rage by Jonathan Maberry, the upcoming The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge, Black Light by Martha Allard, and Lost Angels: So Above, So Below by Loren Rhoads and Brian Thomas. I have a lot more, but figured I’d better keep it short!
Bookseller at San Francisco’s Borderlands Bookstore by day, David Fitzgerald is also secretly a sword fighter, Gaeilgeoir, public speaker, historical researcher, editor and award-winning author of both non-fiction (mostly notably NAILED, and The Complete Heretic’s Guide to Western Religion series) and fiction, running the gamut of a wild assortment of science fiction and genre mash-ups, and (under the name Kilt Kilpatrick) erotica. His latest book, co-written with his wife Dana Fredsti, is the TIME SHARDS trilogy from Titan UK. You can find David on Facebook.
Dana Fredsti is an ex B-movie actress with a background in theatrical combat (a skill she utilized in Army of Darkness as a sword-fighting Deadite and fight captain). Through ten plus years of volunteering at EFBC/FCC, Dana’s been kissed by tigers, and had her thumb sucked by an ocelot with nursing issues. She’s addicted to bad movies and any book or film, good or bad, which include zombies. She’s the author of the Ashley Parker series, touted as Buffy meets The Walking Dead, the dark fantasy series Spawn of Lilith, and the science fiction series Time Shards, which she is co-writing her husband and fellow author David Fitzgerald. They live in San Francisco with a horde of felines and their dog Pogeen. You can find Dana on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, along with at her website.
