Interview with sci-fi author Nathaniel Koszer

Sci-fi author Nathaniel Koszer joins me today to chat about his new novel, Kinetics: Part Two of the Energy Crisis Series.

During his virtual book tour, Nathaniel will be giving away a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn participant. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour sites and enter there, too!

Bio:
Nate has had ideas for science fiction plots since he was in the fourth grade, but didn’t think to start putting them on paper until 2016. So while the adventure of writing a novel has been a relatively short one, it has nevertheless been thrilling and frankly, awe inspiring.

Nate’s career outside of the writing realm is with The City of New York. Before that he received two degrees, a BA from the University of Rhode Island and an MS from Touro College. He currently lives in The Bronx, NY with his wife Haruka, and their sons Alex and Elliot. They have two cats named Tilt and Olive, as well as a 40 gallon fish tank. Nate’s biggest writing influence is Michael Crichton, and he is a huge fan of The X-men, Star Wars, and pretty much anything else that falls under the sci-fi umbrella.

Welcome, Nate. Please tell us about your current release.
Kinetics is the second book in the Energy Crisis series and is a direct sequel to Latency, which was released in March 2024. Both books follow the story of the LO-ECs, six individuals superpowered by biotechnology gone awry. They are the last six LO-ECs alive after the world government led an extermination campaign against the rest, which they survived by hiding and running.

In Latency, the six remaining LO-ECs unite and stoke a rebellion against the world government that wants them dead. In Kinetics, that world government has resorted to desperate measures to bring them down, and forces the LO-ECs to bring the fight directly to the world leaders front door.

Excerpt from Kinetics:
“We’ve got to leave now!” Naren yelled to Edgar and Symon as he landed and set Sera down. She was shaky, but able to stand on her own. Symon and Edgar were walking onto the field from a tunnel in the southeast corner of the stadium. Both of them had their hands wrapped around the grips of their elcycles, powerful electric motorcycles powered by their LO-EC energy. Walking with them was Eric, the person who had taken up the role of leading the rebellion in Pittsburgh.

“You’re leaving!? After what just happened!?” Eric screamed.

“That happened because we’re here!” Symon snapped back. “We need to get out of this city, and do it loudly enough that everyone knows we’re gone.”

“Sera told me the plan before she took off. Together we programmed the coordinates for her garden in New Orleans,” Edgar said.

“We aren’t going to New Orleans,” Naren replied. Sera’s head snapped up to look at him, then as she realized the issue, her head sank.

“Isn’t it the closest place that we have a safe hideout?” Edgar asked. “They just tried to bomb us here. If we get spotted entering New Orleans, the same thing will happen. It’d be the same no matter where we go. If there are peacekeepers there, then it isn’t safe now.”

“So where do we go?” Sera asked, her eyes filled with tears.

“Why are you all standing around?! We have to get to Symon’s hideout!” Nadine screamed as she and Victor set their feet on the ground. She was happy and relieved to know she could now carry him with little effort. The last time she had tried, it was almost a disaster.

The plan clicked into place in everyone’s head. They had spent weeks at Symon’s hideout, an old house in an abandoned city called San Diego. It was now their best chance at hiding out without risking the lives of others.

“Eric, we’re going to blast right through the peacekeeper’s front line, make sure they know we’ve left the city. Go up into the lookout and signal to us if you see any targets we can hit,” Naren directed.

“Victor, you’ll be at the front. When we get the signal from Eric up high, you mow the road,” Naren said. Victor nodded.

“Edgar, you’ll be on an elcycle in the middle, with Sera riding in front of you,” Naren continued. “If anyone gets close, you know what to do. Symon, you’ll be in the back providing suppressive fire to our rear as we escape. Nadine and I will be up high and go wherever we’re needed.”

When Naren concluded his directions, everyone moved with haste. Edgar and Symon re-programmed the elcycles to go to San Diego and put them into position at the north of the field. Symon reached into one of the cargo bags on the elcycle and pulled out the retrofitted peacekeeper armor part that he’d had  since the first major battle in Chicago. He slid his arm into the piece of armor and when it connected with the microtransformer in his hand, the mounted machine gun whirred to life, ready to fire once again. Naren helped Sera onto the other elcycle. Edgar hopped on behind her, and they were ready to go.

What exciting project are you working on next?
I have ideas for more books in the Energy Crisis series and hope I get the opportunity to write them. I also have an idea for a high-seas retelling of Star Trek: Voyager that I would love to write if I ever find the time.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Nine years ago, when I finished the first draft of Latency, I sent it to a few people to see what they thought of the story. My mom was the first to finish reading it and she was awestruck by it. That was the first time it dawned on me that I had actually done something very few ever accomplish: composing a full-length novel.

Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I unfortunately do not write full time. I have a day job working for the City of New York, helping to manage the City’s fleet of vehicles (garbage trucks, fire trucks, etc). I also have to young children so life is chaotic at best.

Most days, the only time I have to focus on things besides family and work is during my morning and evening commute.  A substantial portion of Kinetics was written on the NYC Subway.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I mentioned above that most of my writing is done while in riding the train to work. My phone is too small and uncomfortable to write on, and my laptop is too big to use in a crowded train car. So instead I use a tablet, specifically my 12 year old, 1^st generation Microsoft Surface. That version of the tablet has a metal shell, so its much less likely to break if the train comes to a sudden stop and my tablet goes flying.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
That depends how far back we go. When I was very young, I wanted to follow in my dads footsteps and become a plumber, it was the only job I could imagine! Later on I found a love for drawing, and hoped to be a cartoonist. I also loved earth science and at one point really wanted to be a meteorologist.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Find out if your local library has an e-book app and use it! I do and its amazing!

Links:
Website | Book site | Bluesky | Twitter/X | Amazon

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