The Genesis of a Book - Mantequero by Jenny Twist

Mantequero by Jenny Twist

MANTEQUERO

 BLURB

Nobody had ever wanted to kiss June until she met her holiday romance.

Ignacio wanted to kiss her all the time.  But was it just kisses he wanted?
Or did he have a more sinister purpose?
Soon June begins to lose weight. 
A lot of weight! Could Ignacio be . . .  The Mantequero!

THE GENESIS

I first read about the mantequero in Gerald Brennan’s books.

He tells the tale of how a tall, thin and very pale aristocratic friend of his was captured by some peasants when he was walking in the mountains. They were convinced he was a mantequero because he was so pale and thin, and were about to murder him on the spot, but decided, to be on the safe side, to take him to the mayor. Luckily the mayor was not so superstitious and told them he was not a mantequero but an Englishman.

I was very intrigued by this and did some research. There isn’t a great deal written down about the supernatural being but, as with other kinds of vampire, real live people have been accused of imitating the mantequero, the most notorious being Juan Diaz de Garayo, who confessed to six murders but was probably responsible for many more. He was, however, only given the title 'mantequero' because a child he attacked was so horrified by his ugly face that she thought he was the sacamantecas. A more viable candidate is Manuel Blanco Romasanta, born in 1809, who was a travelling vendor of fats used for greasing wheels. He was accused of using human fat in his products, but escaped justice and went on to murder a further nine people, inflicting horrible wounds and partially eating their corpses.

As recently as the summer of 1910, Francisco Leone, a healer, kidnapped and killed a seven year old boy with the sole purpose of extracting his blood and fat, for use in the cure of a third man suffering from tuberculosis.
 

But of the legend there is very little, so I felt justified in inventing my own mantequero. I hope you liked him.

Mantequero 2 will be released later this year.

Follow me on:
my Website: https://sites.google.com/site/jennytwistauthor/

Amazon: amazon.com/author/jennytwist
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Goodreads Blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4848320.Jenny_Twist/blog

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JennyTwist1 

 

First Kiss Wednesday

Kisses are the mainstay of romance writing.  No matter how sweet or spicy our stories are, they usually involve at least a kiss or two.  And the first kiss is especially lovely - that first, soft touch of lips - or perhaps the kiss is fierce and hungry.  Maybe the characters murmur words of love or words of teasing while discovering the texture and taste of each other.  Maybe the only sounds they can emit are gentle, timorous moans or deep, throaty groans.

 

Okay, now that we've set the premise, here's what you can do for First Kiss Wednesdays.  In the comment box, give us a maximum of 300 words of the first kiss of a published work or a work-in-progress and one link to your website or blog or Amazon Author Page. 

 

Read and luxuriate in the glories of the first kiss...

Oh, and lips only...  ;-)

First or Third Person?

When I wrote my first book, Letting Go, it was in first person. I told the story from Sabrina's POV. When I got that first acceptance letter from Siren Publishing (still hearing angels singing,) they made it conditional that I change the story to third person and add in Jonas's point of view.

I was deflated. I liked it in first person. A lot. But I did it because I so badly wanted to be published. The story did benefit from having Jonas's thoughts and feelings put in, but I felt like it lost something when I had to take out thoughts, observations, and insights that now fell under the category of "head hopping." You see, in first person, a character can make suppositions. In third person, those suppositions become taboo. When I get the rights back to Letting Go, I plan to revise it back into a first person story.

In the meantime, I've recently returned to writing from the first person perspective. Surreal Neal, the sixth book in the Awakenings series, is written in first person. I learned my lesson from Letting Go, however, and the chapters rotate between Sophia, Drew, and Neal. If you're not familiar with Hanging On, you can still pick up Surreal Neal and enjoy it, though I think you'll enjoy the second story more if you've been with Drew and Sophia from the start.

Rotating the chapters allowed me to present all points of view--which I think is the big fear with first person stories, that you'll lose the global perspective--and still delve deeply into the characters. I think it's one of the best in that series so far. With In Their Hearts (Two Masters for Samantha #2--due out in December),  I returned to the third person perspective. It wasn't for any particular reason. Hanging On was originally written in 1st person as well, and I think it works for those stories. In Their Hearts did not call to me on a first person level. It works very well from third person, though I did again rotate points of view so that the reader gets to experience the story from all perspectives.

In the meantime, I started a new series. It's a mainstream romance (with heat--don't worry, there's still sex) that's written entirely from the heroine's perspective. She has the most to lose in this series (Kiss Me, in case you were wondering.) I wrote them almost like a diary, and I took inspiration from the classics. Lacey (main character) speaks directly to her readers, at time dropping the figurative fourth wall. In the second book, she does give the epilogue to the hero so that he can vindicate himself a bit. He doesn't even bother with a narrative style. He speaks directly to the reader in a conversational tone. I think it's the best thing I've written yet. It's a two-book series (so far), and it's the first series I've ever contracted where I had a deadline for a book I hadn't yet written. It'll be out sometime in 2014 (I hope) from Omnific Publishing. (More to come about that later.)

Overwhelming Response

Due to the overwhelming response of authors for our new interview series, we're going to be running it weekly. Tune in to meet a new author every Saturday!

Also due to the large volume of interest, the interview series is currently closed. We're booked through February 2014. I'll reopen the calendar early next year for more interviews. Stay tuned!

Authors Wanted!

Exquisite Quills is getting ready to launch a brand-spanking-new bimonthly Saturday series of author interviews. If you're an author and you'd like to be interviewed, please contact Michele Zurlo at michelezurloauthor AT yahoo.com to schedule a date.

Set the Scene in Six Sentences - Sunday

  

One of the finest aspects of fiction writing is the ability to set the scene.  Characters act and react, but they don't do so in a vacuum.  In their world, they meet, fall in love, solve problems, sometimes horrendous problems.  Maybe it's a small town, maybe the big city, the green, humid jungle, dust-dry desert, a mountainous region.  On the sea.  Under the sea.  In space! 

Setting the scene is also done by using character dialogue to paint a picture of loveliness, danger, evil, trepidation, excitement, awe...

Give us six sentences that set the scene.  Set the Scene in Six Sentences - Sunday is a new opportunity on the Exquisite Quills! Blog to tout your talent.  How have you set the scene in your books?  How have you put the reader into the life of your characters?

Every Sunday, the blog will be open to six-sentence scene-setting.  Just post your six sentences (Only 6), your name, and one link in the comment box.  We can't wait to read you!

Pass the word!  Open to all!