Welcome Gennita Low and her Hot SEAL Hunks!

I'm totally jazzed to round out our stable of great military romance writers by bringing you Gennita Low, a three time RWA Golden Heart finalist. All my books at Amazon refer to her books (I can only hope it's vice-versa) as a good buying decision. And I'm sure it is.

Learn from one of the best how she got started writing Military Romantic Suspense. And you won't believe what she does for her day job. Honest.

Welcome, Gennita, and please tell us what inspired your military romance journey?

I started writing military heroes by accident. I was in love with medieval romances, the ones with swashbuckling knights, kings, noble ladies and wicked queens. When I used to travel and backpack overseas, I’d visit the castles and walk though every nook and cranny, imagining life within those walls centuries ago. Intrigue and romance—all that blood and gore and yet, noble quests and knightly duty too—among that breed of men who went off on their mighty horses.

Yum.  

I totally agree. It's like you can feel the heart and courage of those warriors speaking to you through the centuries. Great place to begin.

So, when I started to write seriously, of course I picked a knight as my hero. A group of knights at a border town fighting an invasion of bad guys…Vikings…yeah. Then, umm, something took over. I couldn’t stop myself. I created a captured woman as a heroine. Not just any captured woman, mind you. No, she was this long-haired, kick-ass, going-to-turn berserker warrioress. She was my Chiang Pei-Pei, a Chinese actress from the 60s (also the bad guy in Crouching Tiger) who excelled in kung-fu movie parts as the lone female fighter coming into town to kick some ass. I had no idea why my heroine appeared but man, did I enjoy writing her doing some mighty fine sword-wielding in my medieval tale J.

The only trouble was, every agent and editor about died laughing at my poor historical submission. I didn’t blame them. I even called it my histErical because I knew my characters were not acting very “standard” medieval. I had quite a few suggestions to change the heroine to be more “lady of the castle” because she wasn’t very believable.

Oh, that's funny. Not that it didn't hurt and frustrate you. So glad you didn't give up.

This was back in the days when “kick ass” wasn’t even considered part of any allowed description of the heroine. She could wield a weapon but she couldn’t kill. She could be the baddest assassin in the business, but only in name, like those virgin widows in historical romances, you know, the ones whose dead husbands were impotent or gay, so the heroines were still pure for the heroes. So, one day I was reading this romantic suspense; this time, the “tough” female “assassin” was not just a fake one who really didn’t kill, she was also a virgin. And oh, she couldn’t stand the sight of blood. I remember the bump on my head that day from repeatedly smashing my head on the desk while reading.

I take it you healed properly. And knocked some sense into yourself at the same time...

It was then I decided that, no matter what, I’d write the kind of action-packed story I wanted. One of my neighbors, an avid reader, told me my hisTErical knights reminded her of a hero, Zane McKenzie, a character in Linda Howard’s book.

My turn to say Yum. YUM.

I went to the UBS and bought the book the next day. Zane McKenzie, oh my. Handsome, lethal and seductive. And a navy SEAL. A complete package of hunk tied with a big bow.

It occurred to me how I was wasting a gold mine in my own backyard. I was a roofer. I worked with men. My partner was an Airborne Ranger. He had many friends in the military. Here was hands-on research material right under my nose and I never thought to mine that!? More head-desking ensued.

I took out my rowdy knights and polished them anew, giving them a different uniform. I decided my heroines were going to be the way I* wanted to read smart and tough women; they wouldn’t be held back by the usual “rules.”

Writing military action/adventure romantic suspense wasn’t that different from my love of writing medievals. I had military action. Political/spy intrigue. Men having pissing contests. Big battle scenes. And of course, I could now insert my beloved long-haired warrioress in various dangerous forms, upsetting that cart filled with all those alpha males. Writing had never been so fun.

Exciting!

My first serious single title manuscript I submitted with great success was Into Danger. It finaled in, and won, many writing contests. I sold the book to editors with the blurb “Navy SEAL on dry land vs the world’s most dangerous female assassin.”

Love it.

To my delight, I have readers out there who love my kind of women and men. I went on to write my navy SEAL trilogy, the Crossfire series. So, when you read my stories, just think of my froggers as medieval knights with flippers!

Here are the new covers to my Crossfire series. The second editions have new scenes in them. My books are action/adventure and set overseas. The subject matters are serious. My characters are flawed. But they are passionate men and women, with a sometimes dark sense of humor. I hope you enjoy my SEALs and the women who love them!

Excerpt from PROTECTOR:

Jazz had never hiked with a woman this long before. He had to admit it, he had had doubts about Vivi’s stamina, but she had once again proven him wrong. They had traveled at a fast click the past four hours and she had only stopped once, to take off the soggy and muddy socks he had given her. They kept an eye out for signs of life, that roving gangs weren’t nearby. Sometimes, Vivi explained, the bandits traveled this far up the mountain.

I’d rather go barefeet,” she’d told him.

You might cut yourself,” he’d warned.

I’ll take the risk. Besides, we’re far away enough to stop soon to signal T.”

It was getting very muggy again. He watched Vivi wipe away perspiration on his sleeve, leaving a smear of dirt on her cheek. He offered her a drink from his small canteen, then pointed at the canopy of trees nearby.

As soon as we’ve activated your locator, we’ll head over to the shade and wait.”

Sounds like a brilliant idea.” She smiled. “If I weren’t so tired, I’d race you over there. Besides it isn’t fair that you have shoes.”

Most women would complain about the dirt and the heat, but Vivi had not only kept up with him, but also injected humor in the situation. He grinned at the sight of her blackened feet.

I offered to carry you,” he reminded her.

For four hours? You wouldn’t be quite this perky,” she lightly mocked back as she handed back the canteen.

He made a face. “Please. SEALs aren’t perky.”

She grinned, then eyed a specific area of his body. “If you say so,” she said. Without warning, she started taking off the black shirt. She unhooked the front of her bra and worked a finger inside the cup, giving him glimpses of her nipple. When she looked up, her eyes had a definite twinkle. “It’s getting perky again.”

Jazz’s lips quirked. “That’s my personal locator,” he informed her.

She laughed. “Do you think, while we wait, you can get Perky to help me find something?”

Oh yeah. Definitely.

Buy Links:
You can purchase Protector here.
You can purchase Hunter here.
You can purchase Sleeper here.

BIO:

Gennita Low roofs during the day and knows how to kill 600 different ways with tools.  It's no surprise then that she writes romantic suspense as an outlet for her daily frustrations with male workers.  Navy SEALs and spies are her favorite personal choice for mayhem and assassins.  Her latest series is called Super Soldier Spy, with Book Two titled Virtually Hers. When she isn’t working or writing, she’s the prisoner of three mutant poms and a mutant squirrel.

Gennita's Website




Thank you, Gennita. Your stories sound awesome. I'm going shopping today to pick all of them up. Let's see if we get some great questions from our audience. What would you like to know about Gennita, her heroes, or her writing?