An Interview with Jeremy Engel

I’m a life-long reader and writer, taking some breaks to pursue competitive amateur Muay Thai kickboxing in my youth, which introduced me to other martial arts, allowing me to authentically inspire the action in my stories. Some of that ‘break time’ involved being a personal trainer, self-defense instructor, and defensive tactics instructor during my fifteen years in county corrections in my hometown.

Upon revisiting my love of writing, I continued to improve my writing until I decided it was time to no longer treat it like a hobby, officially becoming an author and a screenwriter.

While continuing to learn and evolve my creative endeavors, I’m also pursuing my personal fitness goals, promiscuously collecting T-shirts, and maintain a self-proclaimed ‘John Wickian’ level dog owner status for my bestest boy, Rockosaurus Rex, all while not enjoying the semi/mostly communistic, evergreen setting of the PNW.

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Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

My writing journey started in the sixth grade. Mrs. Wilson launched a clandestine journaling operation on the class to potentially gain information on two siblings in the class who were being abused. Under this designation, for twenty minutes every day we’d be given time to write in our journals, folded, and stapled products of a short crafting session. We were told to write whatever we wanted—stories, about home life, sports, draw if we wanted to—but it was an exercise to be creative and expressive. Vulnerable for some.

Now, I had nothing going on at home to write about, so I started out drawing, but that soon became my own rendition of a nineties Dolph Lundgren sci-fi/action film, I Come In Peace. I called it The Guardian. I read regularly and had thought of what it would be like to write a story of my own. Some books that I read were fantasy adventures like Conan, but others were thrillers by the likes of James Patterson and David Morrell. Those were the most prominent influences then.

Even with being my first foray into writing creatively, I had Mrs. Wilson hooked. I remember her excited validation giving me confidence and encouraging me to keep writing. I’d write through the twenty minutes and only get so far. There were times during the remainder of the day when I had finished my class assignment and so I’d continue to read. Mrs. Wilson would slip by my desk and drop my journal, saying, “Keep writing!”

When I was finished, Mrs. Wilson was impressed, and asked if I would permit her to type my story into a single document. She also knew it was my first legit story and thought it was good enough to submit to a friend she knew who worked for Reader’s Digest. Apparently, the publication did the occasional spotlight on young writers, and she thought I was worthy. In time, her friend also did, because their reply was that RD would publish my story, but I needed to make a couple of edits.

There were two words they wouldn’t print because I was a kid, or maybe in general, I don’t remember exactly at this point. But, those words were ‘damn’ and ‘hell.’ The obvious suggested change was for ‘dang’ and ‘heck’ to replace them. Despite the opportunity in front of me to be published in a national publication at twelve-years-old, I could not rationalize that my MC—a hard-boiled man of action-type narcotics cop—would water down his language to something so…G-rated.

I refused. The Guardian never made it any farther than that. I still have it in a file or packed in a box somewhere. I regret nothing.

Meanwhile, the two siblings the journaling assignment was created for wound up moving in with an aunt and uncle somewhere else in the state. We didn’t learn of this until they were safe and adjusted, according to Mrs. Wilson. I don’t recall whether she ever gained any recognition for what she’d done, but she deserved it for helping those kids and being so discreet. She was a protector I admired.

What inspired you to start writing this book?

A Dangerous Man was born out of frustration and anger and the need for an outlet, which stemmed from waking up to the reality that there was an abundance of evil in this world I hadn’t noticed before. I was a young, single father with a little girl. She was about two in those days, and the news cycle seemed to be showing story after story of abuse or violence against children. Terrible things had occurred, but the crossed line was when an Idaho father (if I remember correctly) had taken his children from their mother, kidnapped them because they weren’t supposed to be with him, and ultimately murdered them.

At this point, for context, I should explain that I am a former amateur Muay Thai trained kickboxer and had competed for five and a half years until life changed and I left the gym where I trained. Martial arts changed my life and literally woke up the warrior inside of me, and with it a deeply protective nature. That characteristic is a generality, and it is greatly exacerbated for those I care about, and you can multiply that by infinite scorched earths for my child. I’ve never loved anything the way I love her, so seeing that this father would commit such a horrible act unsettled me in a way that has never left me.

Since I wasn’t competing anymore or training regularly in a gym, punching and kicking people as an outlet was not in the cards. I hadn’t written for a long time, so I decided it was time to express myself in the written word again. Investigating crimes against children thinking that I’d pull from the headlines led me to learn about the prominence of human trafficking across the globe. I knew I would now write with a particular purpose.

It took much longer for A Dangerous Man to come to fruition beyond this point. I’d published it once before in 2021 through a vanity publisher that shall not be named. It had taken sixteen years to become a full-blown novel, and having to revamp the concept after Taken’s success at the box office was a minor hurdle I navigated.

The significance of shining a spotlight on A Dangerous Man now is because its second edition independent publication is looming on the horizon. I don’t have an exact publication date as of this writing, but it will be before the end of 2025 if things come together the way I hope they will.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

Titles have never been an issue, and deciding on A Dangerous Man came easily for me. I’m an eighties/nineties kid and grew up watching any number of one-man-army type of films that made a huge impression on me. Compound that with fictional characters like Mitch Rapp, Jason Bourne, and Jack Reacher, and my motivation to write about a black-ops splinter cell operative seeking revenge for his family against a Russian trafficking syndicate drove the decision home. Dangerous is exactly what he is. Perhaps even an understatement.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

If my book were a soundtrack it would be filled with moody, ominous, dread-inducing tracks. Music doesn’t influence my writing, so I don’t use it as a helper when developing my stories. I rarely ever consider what would/could accompany what I’m writing other than gunshots and screams.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I was a corrections deputy for my local sheriff’s office for fifteen years. Before that I was a production worker at a truck bed roll-top cover company and a personal trainer. Both occupations led me to law enforcement. I was twenty-four when I started in the jail with a three-year-old daughter, and my sales and training experience helped me communicate with the inmates, who I was locked inside of a concrete block with for at least twelve hours a day.

I came to learn that beyond the piss and vinegar I was filled with, I was also compassionate, patient, adept at reading behavior well, and skilled at negotiating with the worst of the worst. The mentally ill were particularly challenging, but they were the ones most gave up on the soonest. I, perhaps, liked the challenge and became quite good at working with them in times of crisis. It was akin to turning on a switch, like Lincoln Hawk rotating his hat backwards before an arm wrestling match, igniting a different area of professionalism I sometimes wished I didn’t have, because gaining those successes was exhausting. I was quite confident in dealing with them because I was not concerned about the potential violence. I was well-trained in that element, and using force was a last resort. I excelled in my communications with the mental health inmates, so much so that in 2016, when I was awarded a commendation for Corrections Deputy of the Year, I was labeled by the sheriff in his presentation as ‘The Crazy Whisperer.’ Not an overly flattering title, but it also wasn’t wrong.

Additionally, I was the defensive tactics instructor for the corrections bureau for the last eight years of my time at the jail. Myself and a coworker had revamped the program, updated it, and enjoyed instructing. I had previous experience training students and fighters when I was kickboxing, and have also taught self-defense classes.

What books did you read (for research or comfort) throughout your writing process?

I don’t read any books throughout my writing process for comfort. I began to notice that I would subconsciously take on the narrative voice of the author I was reading. At the time, they were greatly different from what I was working on, so that was of no help to my own project. I stopped reading outside of my writing unless it correlated with my topic. For A Dangerous Man, I’d done so much reading and investigating in books and online prior to ever putting any words to the page that I focused only on writing. My inspiration and themes were set before I even outlined.

What advice would you give your past self at the start of your writing journey?

I wouldn’t change anything. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. I will give the advice that I was given from another author that stuck with me.

I’d written a werewolf short story/novella based on a dream I’d had. At the time, it was the latest thing I’d finished. My dad is a fabricator and did work for a horse rancher named Jim, who had also written a few books. Ever supportive, my dad mentioned to him that I wrote, and Jim offered to read my story for me and give me some feedback. We took him up on his offer and delivered my story to him. Jim said it would take him some time to read it—the story was somewhere around sixty pages or so—and he’d reach out when he was finished.

Two months passed before we heard from Jim, but we returned to his house to speak to him about my story. He is an older, no-nonsense kind of guy. He’d initially told me that he’d be honest in his assessment, and like it or not, not to let my feelings get involved. “It’s just a story.” That’s not the advice he gave me that I’m speaking on, but it is good advice.

Jim read my story and had this to say:

“This took me so long because I work the ranch and horses and all that. I don’t actually read very often, so when I do, it’s purposeful. I got to this off and on when I could. My wife liked all that Twilight stuff, so she ate this up. Read it four or five times, at least.” I remember Jim holding up my manuscript, half-rolled, shaking it with consideration. “Now, I don’t normally read shit like this. She loved it. But I’ll be damned if you didn’t make me enjoy it.”

He extended the manuscript to me, which I accepted with a big smile. I’d converted the surly old man to enjoying a supernatural thriller he’d just referred to as ‘shit.’

And Jim closed with this: “The day you decide to stop treating this like a hobby is the day you’re going to become a real writer, and that’s when you’ll truly make something of this gift you have, kid.”

So, if I’m to digress and give my past self any advice at the start of my journey…that would be it. But I became ready when I was truly ready, and here we are.

What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?

There really isn’t just one thing I want to stick with readers. The go-to answer is that I want the reader to become a fan, to want to read more of what I’ll write. To associate my name with quality, entertaining stories they’ll want to recommend as an independent author. That is the truth. Beyond that, I hope that they’ll see below the surface of the story and are perhaps inspired or moved to look into ways to help fight trafficking, be it by donations, spreading awareness, or volunteering if able. There are a ton of amazing organizations that can always use help. Sentinel Foundation is one run by veterans that I particularly promote.

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