https://www.amazon.com/Gena-Mantz/e/B009P8O7VQ
https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Edenburn/e/B013217GNM/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1488852783&sr=8-1
Gena Mantz is my Woman In Horror today! Gena and I did a Q&A interview a while back that you'll find quite refreshing. Here we go, me lads and lassies. Gena Mantz. Front and center.
Q. I don't know many horror authors from Kansas, although I have spent some time there and know a few interesting legends of my own. Could you explain to the folks how you manage to use the great state of Kansas to your advantage when writing your tales? Also, do you miss not having a lot of horror authors in your area that you can physically sit and talk to?
A. Kansas is a very interesting place. I do miss having others of my genre to talk to, but I do have several groups in different places of various authors. Some of the groups I can only attend a couple times a month, and some I try to attend weekly. I love the unique qualities of my home state and it is fun to show this to others.
Q. I love how you write of Vampires and Werewolves. And, you are able to weave them together and even toss in some erotica. Quite an achievement.
A. Thanks. I have a “what if” attitude. What if there were not just people of different faiths and races here in Kansas, but fey folk, paranormals, and other folk too? I want my characters to have depth, problems, and have to overcome obstacles while living a somewhat normal life.
Q. Now I come to a part of you that I find most interesting: Gena Mantz and Angel Edenburn, one and the same and yet perhaps not. A rather interesting paradox, might I say. Does this ever confuse any of your readers?
A. Sometimes. I started writing a few years ago. I live in a very small but lovely town and have ties to my even smaller home town. I wanted to separate my spicier stuff from my sweeter stuff. Angel lets me fly- so to speak. I can push the limits and not worry. Gena has to be a little more conventional and more proper in a way.
Q. In Light Shards and Shadow Dances , both Gena and Angel share the spotlight. I find this way cool!
A. I occasionally merge my personas. I am one or the other, and sometimes both at once. I wanted all of my readers to have a chance to view me in a different light.
Q. Back to your home state once more. Yes, I'm intrigued. Could you explain more about your vision of A Darker side . . . of Kansas ?
A. I want people to see that Kansas is just more than a bunch of lines on a map. There are unique geographic features and here be monsters as well as heroes. Kansas is complex, and so are the beings who live here- no matter if they be human or paranormal. The lives of my characters are sometimes complicated, occasionally dark, and even a bit messy. Just like real life.
Q. I love your Isys The Vampire posts. Very intriguing. Funny and refreshing. However, it must have taken a lot of work to re-do things when you changed the name due to events beyond your control.
A. Well, I have been developing her for several years now. Isys was not happy about the name change thing, but agreed it would be best. She wants her story told in hopes it helps others heal. She is the most vocal of my characters and has a mind of her own.
Q. How soon before Flip Side comes out? Could you tell us a little about it?
A. My editor has the draft right now. She will go through it, and hopefully in a few weeks, I will have the rewrites done and be working on the cover. I want to have Flip Side out before summer.
It is the second book in the Kansas Vampire Chronicles. We will get to learn more about some of the other characters, as well as Isys herself. This may be a hard book for some to read, but it also shows some of the complexity of the relationships of Isys and her clan. She has a hard road ahead of her.
Q. Kansas Library Association's Authorpalooza sounds like a ton of fun. What say thee, my friend?
A. If I get the chance, I would go again in a heartbeat! I not only carpooled with an amazing author, Jo Mach (who has children’s books about ABILITIES instead of disabilities), but I was exposed to book lovers from all parts of Kansas and beyond. So many interesting people who love books!
Q. You are the only horror author I know who is also a belly dancer. Wow! What got you interested in this form of dance? Sounds like a lot of fun.
A. A friend of mine suggested I take a belly dance workshop. I did ballet, tap, and jazz when I was younger. I was looking to shed a few pounds, so I took a belly dance workshop workshop, then another. I was almost 40 when I started belly dancing and have kept up with it. In fact, I sometimes dance with my first belly dance teacher.
I have had teachers who are over 60 wear me out at a workshop! I think that is a very good indicator that I will be able to keep on doing this for a few more years. I am in better shape now than I’d been in for a very long time.
Q. In addition to dance, you ride horses, four-wheelers, motorcycles, and you also work on classic cars. Then, too, you have a day job. Do you have any time at all for sleep?
A. I am woefully underemployed in my day job but I love what I do as a home care worker. I refuse to give that up because I make people smile. Sometimes, I am the only face they have seen in days.
The other stuff I do in fits and spurts because of finances, weather, and needing funds for parts.
I sleep when my energy runs out.
Q. I found your experience at Ellen Plumb's City Bookstore to be quite exciting. Could you explain to us what happened?
A. A friend had found it when he and his wife were lost in the Flint Hills on a day trip. He went inside and pitched his books. When we had lunch a few days later, he told me about his discovery. It took me a few days to gather my courage, but I finally grabbed one paperback copy of each book and marched inside. Marcia and Michelle and everyone there is so helpful and friendly. The selection will surprise you!
Q. Like me, you are a seat of the pants author. Do you find this to be an exhilarating way to write a story?
A. It just sort of happens. I know where I want to start and where I need to end. The middle seems to sort of fill itself in when I let the characters talk to me, when I’m not throwing more problems at them!
Q. Little Apple Comic Expo is coming up soon. How are you preparing for it?
A. PREPARED?! Still working on that! I’ve restocked my selection of books. The “Great Writers, Right Here” in Topeka this year was a success, and I sold half of my stock of books in one day!
Q. I really love your attitude about strong, real women, with real size. I wish more folks felt the same way.
A. I do too. I got so tired of the cookie-cutter ideal female characters and decided to write some of my own. Yes, I am guilty of “doing a Mary Sue”, because I know how to be 5’5 and a size 12-14 with an attitude. I know how to be a woman who sometimes ends up in a difficult situation and has to handle it by herself, as best she can.
Q. Who are some of your favorite authors and books? Any genre.
A. Oh, my! Jeanne Kalogridis is one of my heroines. I fell in love with her “Diaries of the Family Dracul” series at a very difficult time in my life. Dennis E. Smirl’s Prime Trace series is good hard-core scifi, while his Sandeen novels are Chandler-esque detective fare. Aimee Gross and D. Dalton each have their sword and sorcery YA tales. Mark Bouton’s detective, Max, is a very good read. R.L. Naquin’s Monster Haven series and Mount Olympus books are as close to touchy-feely, emotionally feel-good reading as I get.
It's your turn now, Gena. Tell the world whatever you wish to say about anything.
I appreciate you for having this interview with me, and for all of my fans. Without support, I would not be where I am today. THANK YOU!! And support your favorite authors. Leave a review. Tell others about their books.
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It's been a real pleasure having you visit today, Gena!
Thanks again, Blaze. I appreciate your work and continued support of women horror writers.
Blaze McRob
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Some of Gena's great books.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JYSSVQV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
Jenn’s allegiances are constantly called into question because she lives on the edge of two werewolf territories. Can she really be loyal to her Alpha, stay neutral to the local pack leader, and remain faithful to her husband?
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Mykal
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book! Reminded me of Wolfen
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2012
Verified Purchase
Good Book! Jenn is a canine shapeshifter, but she's got real world problems. She struggles to keep her mate and community happy without giving up her independence. She shows respect where it's due and bares her fangs when it isn't. Author Gena K. Mantz is adept at combining the everyday with the supernatural. Her characters are immediately likable and familiar. Pick up your copy today!
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JNPN481/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1
Vampire Gracie Morrow leads an ordinary life-some might even say an ordinary one. She's got a comfortable home, a loving husband, a good job, and a steady supply of beef blood from the local butcher. But Gracie's world is turned upside down when a killer begins targeting nonhuman couples with violent attacks. Though she's never quite fit in with her husband Mitch's werewolf pack, she'll fight to the death to protect what is hers. And when push comes to shove, this mild-mannered Kansas girl fights dirty.
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V. J. Ashen Studio
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable!
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2012
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed reading this book. The author created a setting with well-defined parameters; one twist off normal. Within this setting the characters are well-defined, the plot reasonable and the action believeable. This type of fiction is not usually what I like but I really enjoyed the book. Readers of the vampire/werewolf romance style will probably love it!
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Shy, bookish vampire Cati is out for a night with the girls when she catches the roving eye of Simeon. He's wrong for her in every way-- wild, loud, aggressive- but Cati can't help becoming swept up in his passion. But she's been burned like him before, nearly at the cost of her life.As she begins to question her life with Simeon, she meets his best friend Kristos, who offers her a deep, sincere love. Torn between them and her own insecurity, she fears driving a wedge into their centuries-old friendship.Stepping back isn't an option, either, as a murderous rival vampire clan has set their sights on her. With her life in the hands of the two men who are after her heart, survival could prove to be impossible.
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Andrea Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Bad boy or badder boy?
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2016
The suspense is high in this novel, as the reader joins Cati as she struggles to choose between Simeon and Kristos. One walks on the wild side, while the other promises security for her mistrusting heart.
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K5YK268/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i4
Isys, Contessa of the Swords Clan has fought and survived to win the life she's always longed for. Still, her gift of prophecy will not allow her peace, nor will her guilt over her past. As she struggles to put together the pieces of a new life, enemies old and new watch her from the shadows.
Twitch, the Contessa's bodyguard, has sword to protect her from these enemies at all costs. Little does Isys realize the connection between the two of them, and Twitch intends to keep it that way. The last thing he expects to jar him out of his single-minded devotion to duty is a startling new love.
As bonds form and loyalties shift, Isys finds herself in danger once again. Can her allies put their differences aside and come together as a team to help her eliminate the threat? Or will their secrets tear their clans apart?
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Andrea Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Isys for the win!
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
Isys' story continues in this fast-paced novel filled with love, lust, and battle scenes. The topic of PTSD and various forms of abuse are handled expertly, and the conclusion leaves readers ready for the next book!
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There is no doubt that Gena Mantz is a Woman In Horror!
Blaze McRob
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