Al Hagan Infuses His Post-Apocalyptic Vision with Military Precision

Mookie welcomes Al Hagan onto the Science Fiction & Fantasy Factory floor, a writer whose complex heroes and driving prose comes from his dedication to duty and service. Instead of MFA programs or writing circles, Al rose through the ranks of the United States Marine Corps, followed by decades in oil, intelligence-adjacent work, and real-world exposure to how systems break, and how people react when they do. That background bleeds directly into his fiction, especially his post-apocalyptic Hexen series that taps into his deep knowledge about logistics, weapons, human behavior under pressure, and the ugly reality of survival when the rules vanish.When Al writes about EMP strikes, pandemic-scale death, or armed conflict, the fragile infrastructure and dissolution of order become visceral. He blends lived experience with careful research to hurl us into his worlds, fueling his stories with the grit and credibility most sci-fi never achieves.Al and Mookie dig into:How Hagan’s Marine and intelligence background shaped his obsession with realismWhy most military fiction gets technical details wrong—and why readers notice and disengageThe origin of the Hexen universe, where 90% of humanity is wiped out and the grid goes darkWriting strong, ruthless characters who earn survival instead of coasting on plot devicesThe balance between research and storytelling—how one accurate detail can elevate an entire sceneAnd his latest release, Crescent City Shootout, which drops readers into a half-flooded, post-collapse New Orleans where empire-building meets violent resistanceThe GuestAl Hagan served four years in the Marine Corps, completed college, and worked for a major oil company. Bored with that, he next spent a number of years in the intelligence community, mainly running counternarcotics operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. He has recently retired from IT Project Management in the private sector and lives on a wooded property in Texas.Al's Books & CollectionsWant to be on the show? Have feedback? Send Mookie a text!Support the show