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Bill Fitts

Goodreads Author

Born

in Tuscaloosa, The United States

Website

http://www.billfittsauthor.com/

Twitter

billfitsauthor

Genre

Mystery, Fantasy

Influences

Robert A. Heinlein, Robert B. Parker, Dorothy L. Sayers, Rex Stout ...more

Member Since

October 2012

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I used to say that I grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, when, in truth, I only started growing older there. After nineteen years I left to go to college and, for the most part, spent the next twenty years aging somewhere else—New Jersey, Florida, Panama Canal Zone, Massachusetts, and Georgia. Then I returned to Tuscaloosa and continued the maturation process for another twenty-six years. In 2015 my wife and I moved to Vero Beach, Florida, where I hope to continue growing older for a good long time.

The locations I’ve lived in have had more influence on my mystery novels (the Needed Killing Series) than on the fantasies (Song of Narne). The town of Shelbyville in the NKS is based in large part on Tuscaloosa with some wrinkles from other location I used to say that I grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, when, in truth, I only started growing older there. After nineteen years I left to go to college and, for the most part, spent the next twenty years aging somewhere else—New Jersey, Florida, Panama Canal Zone, Massachusetts, and Georgia. Then I returned to Tuscaloosa and continued the maturation process for another twenty-six years. In 2015 my wife and I moved to Vero Beach, Florida, where I hope to continue growing older for a good long time.

The locations I’ve lived in have had more influence on my mystery novels (the Needed Killing Series) than on the fantasies (Song of Narne). The town of Shelbyville in the NKS is based in large part on Tuscaloosa with some wrinkles from other locations thrown in to keep things interesting—and keep the inhabitants guessing. That’s not to say that the places I’ve been aren’t reflected in the fantasies—but most of the geography of Narne is imaginary.

While growing older, I’ve tried my hand at a number of jobs—newspaper collator, darkroom technician, farmhand, factory worker, sailor, salesman, underwriter, account executive, accountant, systems administrator, information specialist--and professional writer. As an author I find that those earlier experiences contribute to what happens in my novels—again more in the not-as-fictional mysteries than in the fantasies. There’s just not enough magic in the real world.

Interestingly, the event that crystallized my decision to start writing full-time is one that I haven’t used in any of my novels. The tornado that ripped through Tuscaloosa on April 27, 2011, destroying an eighth of the town—including the back half of my house—hasn’t made it into any of my novels. Shelbyville and Narne have both been spared.

On the other hand, the support, encouragement, and editorial assistance my wife provides have been part of every novel since the beginning.

I hope you enjoy reading my books as much as I enjoy writing them.

For more information about my writing, visit my website http://www.billfittsauthor.com/.
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Bill Fitts’s books

Average rating: 3.92 · 392 ratings · 63 reviews · 22 distinct works

	He Needed Killing (Needed Killing, #1) 3.50 avg rating — 125 ratings — published 2012 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	He Needed Killing Too (Needed Killing #2) 3.88 avg rating — 73 ratings — published 2012 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sokhal's Star (Song of Narne Book 2) 4.36 avg rating — 47 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Screaming Sword (Song of Narne Book 1) 3.98 avg rating — 50 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	She Needed Killing (Needed Killing, #3) 4.07 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 2013 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Deacon Needed Killing (Needed Killing #4) 4.24 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Who Needed Killing? (Needed Killing, #5) 4.28 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	They Needed Killing (Needed Killing, #6) 4.33 avg rating — 12 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Scattered Winds (Song of Narne Book 3) 4.55 avg rating — 11 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fink Needed Killing (Needed Killing Series Book 7) by Bill Fitts (Goodreads Author), Anne R. Gibbons (editor) 4.17 avg rating — 6 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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On writing

As an author, once you let a book go—once you publish it—you lose control of everything in it—plot, characters, motivations, meanings, descriptions—everything. It’s all the reader’s responsibility from there on out. They control the horizontal; they control the vertical; they control it all. They may ask you what you meant, but it’s what they think that matters.

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Series by Bill Fitts

Needed Killing (6 books)
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3.80 avg rating — 276 ratings

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The Scattered Winds (Song of Narne Book 3)

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