https://sebastianfitzek.de/autor/
SEBASTIAN FITZEK

Author

Write about yourself objectively has to be the most uncomfortable task for any author. I mean – to make things seem nicer and to change the truth so that it sounds interesting to the reader is just simply our job. How glad I would be to be able to make myself look like a knight in shining armour (alright, I guess you can refute that by simply looking at one of my pictures) who used to be popular early on and who was just born with the gift of being successful without ever doing anything for it.

Station 0

Childhood

The truth – and nothing but the truth – is a little different to read. And stupid as I am, I’ve already published it once before. Read for yourself what I wrote in my non-fiction book “The Fish That Climb Trees” about a very formative childhood memory:

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If I would’ve listened to my mind when choosing my friends and if I would’ve divided them into groups of usefulness/ uselessness companions – I dare say, my life would have taken a much worse course.
It all started at the age of 10! I attended the fifth grade of a primary school in Berlin and I was as popular as a student can be, who was forced to wear the clothes of his 7 years older brother. Not to mention my hair style which lag a decade behind (Thanks mom!).
Picture a broad-nosed grouch with a bowl haircut, leather pants and an aluminum briefcase, who couldn’t think of anything more exciting than spending his free time inside a library. Yes, you’re right: I was exactly that nerd, which you didn’t pick to play in your dodgeball team, except you needed cannon fodder.
Well- and then my friend Ender came. Enrolled in school very late, he had to repeat several classes and the teachers referred to him as the “Deutsch-Türke” (the german turk) who was the school’s biggest bully. When he stepped through the door of my classroom for the first time, I thought a father came to pick up his child. But then, the coolness in person was placed right next to me at the desk. The teacher probably thought the nerd (me) could have a positive influence on the troubled student (Ender). But the exact opposite happened.
Ender has changed my life – mainly because he liked me – probably because I did his homework. Believe me, I didn’t do it because he forced me to or because he stole my sneakers. No. Quite the opposite happened, because he gave me my first Adidas sneakers. He got them from his father’s store. I guess he didn’t want me to wear my beetle crushers any longer. And since the popular student Ender became my friend, all of a sudden, all the other students (that didn’t even know I existed) started to notice me. Ender even taught me some very valuable things. Things an elementary school student “definitely” needs to know: for example, he showed me how to smoke a cigar (bad idea to do it right next to the gymnasium while the PE teacher comes by).
I owe Ender a lot and I’m very happy to still be friends with him. Of course, I visit him in prison every Sunday (just kidding) ….

Well- now you know why I’ve used Ender’s name in “Abgeschnitten” (“Cut off”) and why I like unusual stories so much.

To get an even better picture of me, I would like to outline some of the most important stations of my working life.

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Station 1

Drummer

When I realized that even the ugliest dudes were adored by the prettiest girls just because they are holding a guitar in their hands, I knew I had to become a Rockstar.

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Let’s not talk about the fact that I’ve used to dream of paying my bills by smashing a felt ball over a tennis net for hours until the age of 15. When I realized that even the ugliest dudes were adored by the prettiest girls just because they got off their tour bus with a guitar in their hands, I knew I had to become a Rockstar. But my plan failed – because my “tour bus” was a VW-Beetle and my stage wasn’t the Berlin’s popular Waldbühne but the canteen of a local hockey club. Furthermore, I couldn’t impress the girls by playing the drums. They couldn’t even see me behind the drum kit.

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Station 2

Lawyer

Let’s also forget, that I used to study veterinary medicine for three months before I realized that I would need a damn good lawyer if I kept following that career aspiration.

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Let’s also forget, that I used to study veterinary medicine for three months before I realized that I would need a damn good lawyer. Because to be honest, my fingers are all thumbs – so I expected many lawsuits for wrong treatments.
I thought I was better off if I would study law right away. I was hoping to end up managing rock bands and their record deals since I wasn’t meant to be a Rockstar myself but I only made it to the first state examination and wrote my doctorate in “copyrights” shortly after that. I only did it because I wanted to have some kind of degree. I used to think if I introduce myself with a doctor’s degree that everybody would think I’m a lawyer or judge. Additionally, my friend told me that a doctor’s degree would grant me with free hotel room upgrades. (Did I mention that I’m naive?) Let me tell you, I’ve never got an upgrade because of my doctorate.

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Station 3

Chief editor

You probably wonder why I didn’t do my second law state examination. You don’t? Never mind, I’ll tell you anyway….

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Because in 1996 I felt like I reached my career goals. I made a study-related internship at the radio station 104.6 RTL. Only three years later the Berliner Rundfunk offered me a job as chief editor. Yes, back in the 90’s it was possible to make a career in private media.
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Station 4

Author

You can tell that a) my career is not really straight and b) I never wanted to become an author in the first place.

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(Critics can hardly believe their bad luck that this has happened after all.) But I always loved reading and just like everyone else who loves to read, I’ve always asked myself if I was able to come up with an idea which is good enough to write a book. (Critics are still wondering about that.)

The initial spark came while I was sitting in a waiting room of an orthopedist in 2000. I was waiting for my ex-girlfriend who had a doctor’s appointment. After 45 minutes of waiting, I’d ask myself the crucial question: “What if my girlfriend never returns? What if everyone tells me that she has never entered that room in the first place?”
This was my very first idea for a thriller. In case you will ever read my first book “Therapy”, you will recognize a parallel. Because I wrote about a little girl who disappeared from a treatment room without trace. The father who waited for her in the waiting room was told that his daughter has never entered the doctor’s room…

Well, there is not much left to say. Except: Thank you for letting me put my nightmares on you. That makes me sleep better at night. Now that’s what I call great work-sharing….

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Author

SEBASTIAN FITZEK

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