Author Spotlight: Scott Ickes

By Jody Savage  / February 9, 2026

Honor. Integrity. Infinity.

Some writers chase spectacle.
Some chase twists.

Scott Ickes writes about something quieter, and far more enduring.

He writes about honor.

The Foundation: Right and Wrong Still Matter

Scott’s worldview is simple, though not simplistic. There is right. There is wrong. And the choice between the two shapes everything that follows.

His sense of morality wasn’t developed in theory. It was formed early.

“My parents were foundational for my brothers and me. If I get to my car and realize the cashier gave me an extra nickel back in change, I go back inside and return it.”

That integrity carried into his professional life as a mechanical engineer. Customers trusted him. Contracts were earned not just on technical skill, but on reliability.

“One of the most important things a person can have is honor and decency. If you lose that because you weren’t trustworthy, you may never get it back.”

That same mindset shapes his writing.

“When I put a book out with a blurb, that blurb is a promise. I strive to make it honest so my readers receive what they were promised.”

Scott doesn’t just want readers to enjoy his stories. He wants them to trust them.

Heroism, Sacrifice, and the Long View

At the core of his FIRST CONTACT series is a simple but expansive theme:

Infinity is the Key.

His protagonist is a moral and ethical leader who faces life and death decisions repeatedly. What is best in the present is not always what is best for the future. Leadership, in Scott’s universe, requires looking beyond the immediate moment.

Everybody wants to be the hero. Few are willing to make the sacrifices required.

Some are destined to be heroes to the masses.
Others may only be a hero to one person.

“That does not lessen the effort,” Scott says. “The one person they were the hero to may become the hero to many more.”

It’s an exponential philosophy. One choice becomes two. Two become four.

From his engineering background, Scott understands the power of doubling.

“If you start at one and double it twenty times, you reach one million. One person can make a huge difference.”

His contribution, as he puts it, may be a small drop in the ocean. But if even two readers change the way they approach leadership, sacrifice, and decision-making, that ripple expands beyond what he will ever see.

A Scene That Defines His Moral Universe

One battle scene in his first book captures Scott’s worldview perfectly.

A Marine Captain, 5’4” and 120 pounds, steps forward to fight an alien nearly eight feet tall and 400 pounds of muscle. The alien removes his armor. She removes hers. An EMP has disabled alien weapons, but the Marines’ weapons still function.

She could have ordered her team to open fire and end it quickly. Instead, she chooses hand-to-hand combat.

Unbeknownst to the humans, this alien species values honor above all else. Her decision earns the respect of the entire species. It leads to a treaty. Eventually, an alliance that shapes the entire series.

She wins the fight. But she loses something too.

The time it took to defeat him costs the life of an injured Marine who might have survived with immediate care.

Victory and grief coexist. Honor is not free.

What readers don’t initially know is that the fallen Marine carries the name of Scott’s brother.

Writing Through Grief and Survival

Scott did not begin writing early in life. He began writing in crisis.

In September 2023, he was diagnosed with Leukemia. His survival odds were uncertain. Chemotherapy began immediately. Hospital stays became routine. His immune system disappeared.

In February 2024, he received a phone call that shattered everything further. His brother, Timothy Lloyd Ickes, died in a car accident on his way to work.

Scott could not attend the funeral due to his compromised immune system.

He sat in his recliner for two days, numb. An avid reader, he had lost all interest in books. Television didn’t matter. A bone marrow transplant loomed ahead.

His wife intervened gently but firmly.

“You’ve been telling me for twenty years that you think you could write a book. I think it’s time you tried.”

He began writing that day.

The medications made his hands tremble. He typed with two fingers. He missed keys constantly. It took ten months to finish the first book.

By the time it was complete, his transplant had succeeded. The tremors subsided. He wrote the next four books in five months.

• On May 12, 2025, his doctor told him he was cured.

• On May 15, he celebrated his 66th birthday, one he wasn’t sure he would reach.

• On May 17, he began releasing his first five books, one per week.

It was one of the most memorable weeks of his life.

He has since lost 135 pounds and says he is healthier than he has been in two decades.

Legacy in Fiction and in Life

Scott’s brother was a 22-year Army veteran, a former Green Beret. Later in life, he returned to college to earn a degree in psychiatry so he could help veterans with PTSD and homeless individuals without insurance. He did extensive pro bono work.

Scott dedicated his first book to him.

And in the battle scene where honor changes the course of an alien alliance, he memorialized him.

Not as a monument.
Not as sentimentality.
But as sacrifice with meaning.

The Shift He Hopes to Create

When asked what he hopes changes in readers after finishing his books, Scott answers without hesitation.

“My hope is that there is a foundational change in how they approach people in their lives. If they see life through a new lens and treat people with more respect, maybe I will have done something good.”

Leadership. Sacrifice. Morality.

These are not abstract ideals in his stories. They are daily decisions.

“If each little decision they make helps create a better world for all of us, then I’ve made a difference.”

Infinity is not just a theme in his series.

It is the ripple effect of integrity lived consistently.

One honest decision.
One honorable choice.
One life influencing another.

And then another.

To get started on the First Contact Series, Check out Book One: Lemurians now!