
David Fitz-Gerald
Frontier & Pioneer Western Fiction

David Fitz-Gerald is a multiple award-winning author of frontier and pioneer western fiction.
His breakthrough series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail, won the Chanticleer Grand Prize for Book Series and the Laramie Award Grand Prize for Book One, A Grave Every Mile. His standalone novel, Rathuun: King of the Prairie, won the American Fiction Awards, Western category and the NYC Big Book Award for Western Fiction.
Dave writes from the wilds of western Vermont—about as far west as you can get without slipping into New York. Though he’s never wrangled beeves to market, Dave was a top hand on his grandfather’s dude ranch in the Adirondack Mountains… before he turned ten. He’s lived most of his life on dirt roads. Whenever he gets the chance, he travels west to recharge his spirit on the windswept prairies.
He’s an Adirondack 46’er which means that he’s hiked to the top of every mountain in the park. In 2018, Dave completed the 1960s fitness craze by hiking 50 miles in one day. That’s one heck of a long walk, but not nearly as grueling as the iconic trails that he chases in his fiction.
Even after all these years, Dave still has his head in the clouds like Ken from My Friend Flicka, and a quiet, self-reliant spirit like Sam from The Trumpet of the Swan. That blend of wonder, heart, and spirit runs through the characters he portrays. His editor states he is “exceptionally good at creating real moments between characters”—and readers seem to agree.
As long as there’s coffee in the kitchen, Dave will be plotting one adventurous story after another.
Honors and Awards
Rathuun: King of the Prairie
Winner - Western Fiction, NYC Big Book Award
Distinguished Favorites - Cover Design, NYC Big Book Award
Bronze Medal - Audiobook, Readers Favorite
Honorable Mention - Fiction/Animals, Readers Favorite
Winner, Western Category, American Fiction Awards
Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail
Grand Prize, Book Series Awards, CIBAs
A Grave Every Mile
Grand Prize, Laramie Awards
Honorable Mention, The Coffee Pot Book Club
Winner, Western Fiction, Book Excellence Award
If It's the Last Thing I Do
Popular Book Award, Joyce Rothschild Book Prize
First Place - Best in Category, Somerset Awards
First Drive
First Place - Best in Category, Laramie Awards
The Curse of Conchobar
Gold Medal, The Historical Fiction Company
Finalist - Action & Adventure, Readers Favorite
Waking Up Lost
Bronze Medal, The Historical Fiction Company
She Sees Ghosts
First Place - Best in Category, Laramie Awards
Wanders Far
First Place - Best in Category, Laramie Awards
Winner - Best Cover Design: Fiction, American Book Fest
Finalist - Fiction: Western, American Book Fest
Book Cover of the Month, Coffee Pot Book Club

Memberships
Western Writers of America
Western Fictioneers
Historical Novel Society
Buffalo Bill Center of the West
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum