Kate’s 2¢: “Beneath the Flames” by Gregory Lee Renz

“Beneath the Flames” by Gregory Lee Renz

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

A writing colleague sent me “Beneath The Flames” by Gregory Lee Renz and I couldn’t stop reading it.  I cried and laughed and cheered and admired the characters.

This story demonstrates the power of writing what you know. Right off the bat, we’re fighting a fire, sorrowing with a grieving mother, wondering why Mitch’s mother wished he’d never been born, and bewildered by his father’s rejection, as well as, descriptions of sex  , race issues, and violence. There’s even a canine therapist!

The forward conveys the admiration Thomas M. Jones, Milwaukee Fire Department Battalion Chief, has for the author and his abilities as a fireman and writer.

Renz  published through https://henschelhausbooks.com, an independent and traditional publishing house that works closely with    authors to produce timely, high-quality paperback, hardcovers, e-books, and audiobooks.

You can hear Renz’s archived tele-conference presentation with a writer’s group on November 3, 2019 at www.BehindOurEyes.org

More information about the author can be found on his Website: www.glrenz.com.

After serving the citizens of Milwaukee for twenty-eight years as a firefighter, Gregory Renz retired to Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Over the years, he shared stories

of his experiences on the job with friends and family. People could not get enough of these stories, except perhaps his wife who heard them over and over

again. Gregory was involved in a dramatic rescue of two little boys from their burning basement. He received a series of awards for this rescue including

induction into the Wisconsin Fire and Police Hall of Fame in 2006. When he was asked to share the dramatic rescue at several awards banquets, he was moved

by the emotional responses he received and realized just how powerful storytelling can be. Gregory has always been an avid reader and thought maybe he

could craft a compelling novel if he could learn how to get these stories on the page. Numerous creative writing courses, workshops, and conferences later,

he typed

The End to his first novel, BENEATH THE FLAMES, which was inspired by two adorable little girls, around eight and five years of age, who lived across from

an inner-city firehouse he was stationed at for three years. Those two girls stayed in his thoughts over the years, demanding he tell their story. They

are two of the main characters in the novel. He hopes he did them justice.

Mr. Renz wrote  in a 2019October   e-mail to Behind Our Eyes Written Word Party Line:  “I’m looking forward to sharing my journey from retired fire captain to published author. And what a journey it’s

been. I should add that the book was recently awarded the Gold Medal in The Readers’ Favorite International Book Award competition. My head is still spinning

over this.

is.”