Interview with Edward Hochsmann, Author of Engage At Dawn

by grant

in Author Interviews, eBook, News, Science Fiction

01 Jun 2021

What can you tell us about your new release, Engage At Dawn?

Engage at Dawn: Seize and Destroy is the sequel to my bestselling first novel Engage at Dawn: First Contact. It features a Coast Guard Patrol Boat crew sent on an extremely hazardous mission to recover alien technology from a vicious Central American drug gang/cult. It continues the tone of the first book, exploring the strong relationships and incidental humor common in elite military teams against a background of international intrigue and soft science fiction. It also includes a romantic sub-plot between the lead character, Lieutenant Ben Wyporek, and the beautiful neurodiverse DIA analyst Victoria Carpenter, building on their chance meeting in the first novel. If you enjoy an action/adventure with escalating tension, very engaging characters and relationships, and a sweet military romance overcoming the challenges of distance, danger, and special needs, this is the story for you.

What books are currently on your night stand?

I am currently enjoying the last novel in the Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen series: Down Styphon. However, whenever Jeff Shaara comes out with one of his superb historical fiction pieces, it quickly finds its way onto my Nook tablet.

What’ advice would you give your teenage self?

Relax: you don’t have to get everything right on the first try.

If you had an extra hour each day, how would you spend it?

These days, it would be either reading and or writing. I greatly enjoy both.

What makes your world go round? Why does it bring you joy?

Writing. The joy I experience writing fiction was a great surprise to me. I am an Operations Research Analyst by trade, and I enjoy the process of getting at the truth that work brings. Early on, people commented on how well-written and interesting my reports were, so I decided to give fiction a try. I found it offered the same satisfaction of cracking a difficult problem and finding an elegant solution in the form of crafting an interesting challenge for appealing characters. I hope that I can be successful enough to make it my day job.

What scene from Engage At Dawn was your favorite to write?

That’s a hard one because I like so many of the scenes for different reasons. I think my personal favorite is when the crew sails into the lair of the drug gang to recover the boat with the embedded alien technology. The stakes are enormous, and the penalty for failure is a truly horrific death. Yet, they face this danger without hesitation, not from lack of fear, but because of their absolute confidence in each other. It is a scene that is fascinating, exciting, and poignant, all at the same time.