Erik T. Hirschmann is the author of the debut historical novel Voyage of the Eclipse (Epicenter Press), published on March 14, 2023. He holds a Ph.D. in American history from the University of New Mexico, and is Professor of History at Matanuska-Susitna College, University of Alaska Anchorage. Dr. Hirschmann is available as a volunteer public speaker in south-central Alaska for schools, museums, clubs, historical and literary societies, among other organizations.
 
Author Interview/Podcast
https://www.bigcabbageradio.org/category/author/
Original Live Broadcast July 10, 2023, 89.7 FM (Palmer-Wasilla).
 
"A good adventure following the 'Hero's Journey' outline should include a hero, a quest, an unfamiliar environment, a villain, a risk and a transformation. Erik T. Hirschmann has mastered them all in his engrossing work of historical fiction....'Voyage' reads like a movie with fast action on every page." --The Northern Light
https://www.thenorthernlight.org/stories/book-review-voyage-of-the-eclipse-is-more-than-a-boat-story

"Erik T. Hirschmann's book Voyage of the Eclipse put me in an exploring, swashbuckling mood right from the start....It is evident that the author did his homework with this well-researched and accurate depiction of life in 1800s sea exploration."--Reader Views
https://readerviewsarchives.wordpress.com/2023/11/11/voyage-of-the-eclipse-hirschmann/

"There's something to be said for any novel where an American sea captain runs another captain through with his sword in a duel off the coast of Chile in the first few pages...(Voyage of the Eclipse) is both action-packed and filled with cromulent historical detail....Historical novels do something that even the very best nonfiction history writing can't--they put the reader inside the hearts and desires of people from the past. They show us the visceral lived experience of their time on Earth, and present events not as history with a capital 'H' but as just stuff that happened to folks who were living back then. Voyage of the Eclipse accomplishes this very well. It is a fast-paced swashbuckling action story in a similar vein to the seagoing novels of Patrick O'Brian, only set on ground much more familiar to students of Alaska's history. The historical detail is exacting, rich, and ineffably human...Voyage of the Eclipse is a worthy read that carries the reader away across the sea..."--Alaska History
https://alaskahistoricalsociety.org/publications/alaska-history/current-issue/

"The author...is well acquainted with the conditions of the time, and his text is rich with wonderful period details...Hirschmann succeeds in communicating the harshness of the era through the youth of the sailors, their distance from home, the general lawlessness of the time, and the ruthless exploitation of local populations. Stopovers in remote places like the Juan Fernandez Islands drive home the far-flung geography of the Age of Sail."-- Kirkus Reviews

Finalist, Historical Fiction, 17th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards, 2023. www.indieexcellence.com

MEDIA ARTICLE, April 13, 2023
https://www.frontiersman.com/arts_entertainment/mat-su-college-professor-publishes-first-novel/article_13e79d8a-d9c3-11ed-b54d-13ba500b3eca.html