November 14, 2024 • 23 mins
Author Manda Mazanec joins me to talk about her latest romantic suspense release, Far From Over.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kristen Bahls (00:08):
welcome back.
I'm kristen bahls and you'relistening to where I left off, a
bookish podcast, and today I'mjoined by author amanda M, who
wrote under the maple tree,nothing between us and there you
were, and her latest novel, farfrom over, which is what we are
talking about today.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
Manda Mazanec (00:26):
Thank you for having me and it's really nice
to meet you like in person.
I know.
Kristen Bahls (00:31):
Yeah, not just over Instagram, but actually
over podcast, yay, so the firstquestion that I always ask
everyone that's on the podcastis what are you currently
reading right now?
Manda Mazanec (00:44):
So I just finished.
It's called Mistletoe Misses byAlexandra Grace.
It was a great.
It's a Christmas novella, sothat was a really fun book.
And then, because I'm an audiolover, I'm kind of doing two
things at once.
I like to read physical books,kindle books and a little bit of
audio.
So I have it's Above the Truthby Sarah Tallery and then
(01:08):
Madison's Score.
It's a new one for me because Iam a big Lucy Score person.
I just love her banter and Ifigured I'm going to give her
sister a try.
Kristen Bahls (01:16):
Nice Now.
I can't wait to read all ofthose.
They're all on my list and Ilike the novella length of some
of the Christmas booksespecially.
It's nice to just kind of likeget a quick win and enjoy a
short story.
Manda Mazanec (01:26):
Yeah, and there's a lot of them that are coming
out right now that I'm reallyexcited about reading and it's
because I listen to so manyaudio books I can go through
more of them.
When I have a physical book ittakes a little bit longer, just
because you know I have a busyhome life.
Kristen Bahls (01:45):
So all the short novellas are going to be fun
ones for me this Christmas, verytrue.
I just found out on NetGalleythat you can select the auto
read function and even thoughit's like a really bad AI voice,
it still turns anything into anaudio book.
So now that I know I can listento my arcs on audio book, I'm
like, okay, this is kind of lifechanging.
Manda Mazanec (02:00):
Yeah, and I you know you could do that with
Kindle as well.
It's like a sys-tive reader.
It's not the best, but I'vekind of used that a little bit
as well sometimes.
Yeah, I mean, of course theinflection isn't perfect by any
(02:22):
means.
Kristen Bahls (02:22):
Like real voices are way better, but it's nice
when you, like you said, whenyou don't have time and you
still want to enjoy the book anddon't want to forget what's
going on, then at least you kindof have that option.
Manda Mazanec (02:27):
Yeah, absolutely, and what can you tell us about
your work in progress?
So what can readers expect next?
Normally I'm a one person, onebook type of person.
I focus on one and I don't havetime for anything else.
Right now, though, I'm workingwith there's a collaboration of
a few of us authors.
We're going to announcesomething in, I think, february.
We decided so.
Next year it'll start comingout, but that's going to be a
shorter novel.
It's not a novella, but it'sgoing to be a longer.
(02:48):
Oh, I think we're aiming around60,000 words.
It's going to be a forcedproximity adventure, road trip
type of fun book.
So I'm really excited aboutthat.
I'm pretty far into it.
But then my other one that'sprobably going to really sooner,
is going to be a spinoff fromFar From Over.
So I'm working with the Tatesiblings.
Kristen Bahls (03:07):
So is that one also going to be a romantic
suspense?
Manda Mazanec (03:11):
I don't know if I'll do suspense.
So like I always feel like Ijust kind of like naturally feed
into the suspense and I don'treally purposely start off that
way.
I just kind of do so I'm notreally sure where it's going to
lead us.
I'm not of do so I'm not reallysure where it's going to lead
us.
I'm not sure yet.
I mean, it probably will withmy characters, but I just
haven't gotten that far yet.
Kristen Bahls (03:28):
Well, that's awesome.
Yay, I'm glad that anotherbook's being worked on for them.
And then, of course, we getthat partnership.
That sounds like really fun tojust get to write with author
friends.
How did that idea kind of comeabout?
Did everyone just say theywanted to work on something
together?
Manda Mazanec (03:42):
Oh my God.
So it's really funny that youeven asked that I was thinking
it and I kind of threw it out toanother author and she was like
, well, I already kind of wasthinking it too and I already
have a group started.
Do you want to join us?
I was like, absolutely so.
There's a handful of us.
We all have our own book thatwe're writing but with the same
(04:04):
theme, and have our own bookthat we're writing but with the
same theme, and then there we'regoing to do a rapid release,
probably 2026.
But again, we it's still in thebeginning stages.
And yeah, it was just.
It was really funny that weboth were on the same wavelength
at the same time.
Kristen Bahls (04:16):
Wow, that is awesome, and forced proximity is
always a win.
That's one of my favorites.
What's your favorite trope?
Manda Mazanec (04:21):
Oh man, enemies to lovers yeah, enemies to
lovers.
Probably.
I do like a grumpy personsomewhere.
I feel like I always want toaim that way, and then none of
my people really end up beingtoo grumpy.
They end up being too nice, Ithink.
But this next one I absolutelythere's going to be some grumpy
people in my next book.
Kristen Bahls (04:41):
Oh yay, More to look forward to.
Manda Mazanec (04:44):
What about you?
What's your favorite trope?
Kristen Bahls (04:46):
Oh man, I would say that my top three, because
it's hard to pick, I know right.
Yeah, friends to Lovers isactually my favorite, and then
it gets.
It can kind of get a bad rap,but when it's done well, it's
really good.
And then Enemies to Lovers ismy second, and then, I don't
know, my third is probably a tiebetween fake dating and forced
(05:07):
proximity.
Those are always fun.
Manda Mazanec (05:09):
Yeah, I agree.
I do think the forced proximityit always ends up being like a
bed and it's like, oh, I wantsomething else besides a bed,
what else, where else can we beforced?
And so, like my road trip thing, it's going to, it's not a bed,
so it's going to be a littlebit different.
Kristen Bahls (05:23):
I like that.
I like the idea of a road trip.
Oh yay, I need to read what isit.
It's called Take Me Home byMelanie Sweeney.
I think that one there on aroad trip as well.
Manda Mazanec (05:32):
I feel like I read that one.
So I'm like one of those peoplewhere as soon as I read
something, it kind of like goesoff and then I get a new one and
it goes off and.
I can't remember which ones I'mreading, so I just sometimes
look at the actual you knowcover of the book to know if I
read it or not.
Kristen Bahls (05:47):
Yeah, I can be the same way If I have, like a
book spreadsheet, only because I, you know, have to keep up with
the books.
Manda Mazanec (06:04):
So that's the same book.
Kristen Bahls (06:05):
Yes.
And then you start reading itand you're like, why does this
seem so familiar?
And then it's like, oh yeah,that's yeah.
Before Bookstagram I definitelydid, but now that I have to
like keep such careful track,it's a lot easier.
It just takes a little bit moreeffort.
That you know.
If your life is busy and youdon't need to do it, then I
(06:27):
wouldn't suggest it.
Manda Mazanec (06:28):
Yeah.
Kristen Bahls (06:29):
So focusing a little bit more on Far, Far From
Over.
So the title in itself kind ofsuggests that there are some
unresolved issues.
So how did that theme kind ofmanifest itself in both the
suspense aspect and the romanceaspect of the book?
Manda Mazanec (06:47):
So that's a really good question.
I was going in a completelydifferent direction when I first
started the book Last summer.
There was a lot of things thatkind of happened, transpired,
and I had a totally detour fromthe book itself and I knew that
I had to have some kind of griefwrapped in there.
And you could clearly see itwith Kinsley.
There's lots of grief that shehas to overcome, lots of
(07:08):
backstory for her, because itall revolves around Ethan.
There's so much that she buriesinside herself and that's what I
think a lot of people do.
They bury things insidethemselves instead of like
opening up, and so that's wherethe grief kind of stems from.
And then you know you have himwho's got.
You know this grief because ofa father, you know death of a
father and because I think he'sable to overcome his so much
(07:30):
faster, like his is a.
I want connections and youcould see it in the military
when he, when his friend, passesaway, he surrounds himself with
other people for the veteranoutreach program, but for her
she kind of shrinks into herselfand she kind of puts up a wall,
even with her sister, and so Ithink the suspense more comes
(07:52):
along when she doesn't even havea clue what her sister is doing
.
She's been so self-absorbed withwhat she's doing that she
doesn't even see outside likehey, here's my sister, this is
what's going on.
Or with the whole adoptionprocess, like we don't get
glimpses of that until laterbecause she doesn't.
She just kind of sucks insideherself.
I mean, I think that's like alot of us just in real life, and
(08:13):
they have to overcome these,both of them together, by like
having these discussions aboutwhat, why and I don't know it's.
That's a that's a really hardone, because then when you think
about it far from over you'rethinking it's not over because
they were fake dating but at thesame time you have all this
grief.
How do we work through it?
Kristen Bahls (08:34):
Yeah, there's a lot deeper things going on, that
kind of unravel as the bookprogresses and, speaking of both
Ethan and Kinsley, they do havea lot of grief that they're
dealing with.
But which character overall doyou feel will resonate the most
with readers?
Manda Mazanec (08:55):
So I want people to say Ethan, just because you
know I'm a Marine veteran and Iwrite Marine veterans inside all
of them, and I do think thatfor some of my female Marine
veteran friends they will easilyidentify with him.
But the vast majority of usaren't veterans and the vast
majority, I think, are womenreading these books and they're
going to identify with Kinsley.
(09:15):
I kind of wanted to write heras a badass and she comes across
as doing this job that no oneelse does.
Right, she's got to confrontpeople but at the end of the day
you know you have it doesn'tmatter how many curveballs
you're thrown, you're stillgoing to have this fatigue at
the end of the day.
And so I wanted to wrap herinto this.
I might look like a badass, Imight have an awesome job, but
(09:40):
I'm not living really a badasslife on the inside and there's
so many women that we put somuch stress on ourselves,
there's so many curveballsthrown our way that I think that
women will really identify withher.
She's just got so muchadversity.
Kristen Bahls (09:53):
I agree and thank you for your service, and I
feel, like anyone that's readingit, it's nice to be able to put
yourself in Ethan's shoes andkind of understand it a little
bit more on a human perspective,versus just you know the facts.
And then same with Kinsley it'snice to be able to get a feel
into her very unique job andeverything that she's dealing
(10:15):
with and it does.
There are kind of parts of bothof them that I could definitely
see a lot of people resonatingwith.
Manda Mazanec (10:23):
It was also the fact that, like you know, with
guys, you know there's so manywomen who they start to fall for
someone and they realize, oh,that's not really who I was with
that person, or that's not whoI pictured.
And you know, people change andit's not always the other
person, sometimes it's you.
You know you're, you'representing yourself to someone
(10:43):
else and it's like a brand newrelationship and then you're
like, oh, now I realize that,you know, it's not what it was
cracked up to be.
Kristen Bahls (10:48):
And yeah, you don't realize until you get into
it that that's just kind of thedirection that it went and what
would you say was kind of yourfavorite scene in the book where
the romance and suspense reallykind of collided into one
without spoiling it.
It's kind of hard.
Manda Mazanec (11:05):
I know.
So when I think about like myfavorite scene, I don't
necessarily think it's wherethey collided.
I really liked the beginning,when we meet Ramon with his kind
of like snarkiness, right, itkind of gives it the little fun,
banter, and I was hoping therest of my story was going to go
that way and you know it waskind of fluctuated a little bit.
But I think that scene whereshe first like sees him again it
(11:29):
I that was one of my favoritescenes.
And then the bowling activitywhere they were, you know, fake
dating but they're, you know,they're on a bowling date and
you see them both kind of likejust having fun, even though
this is fake and she's bitterright, she still has this
bitterness to her but they'reable to have fun and she sees
him for an adult.
Now, this isn't when they werein high school, it's a little
(11:49):
bit different.
So those were kind of myfavorite scenes.
The suspense part where thatall kind of met up, not so much
my favorite, it just had tohappen, right, that makes sense.
Kristen Bahls (11:59):
Yeah, will Ramon possibly ever get his own?
Manda Mazanec (12:03):
book.
I don't think I'll make his own.
I'm not, I don't know.
I don't even know if I'm goingto make one for.
So I was thinking about all theyou know Tate siblings and you
know Carter is a for sure.
I've had a couple people talkabout Carter and Maya.
You know Beckett, detectiveBeckett, and that is probably
one of my favorite ones.
I did set it up that waypurposely to make another story
for them.
And then you got Logan, who'skind of quieter.
(12:25):
And I kind of fed a little bitin to make one for him and Jill
for sure.
But I don't even think I'llmake one for the youngest
brother.
I think it's just going to bethose three more.
I'm not sure We'll see where ittakes takes us, because I do
also like throwing them into thebook, so maybe something will
pop up.
Kristen Bahls (12:41):
I could see how that would happen, but yeah, oh
my gosh, I would love for theirstory to happen, especially
after again trying not to spoilit after all the events that
they run into.
Manda Mazanec (12:51):
I'm sorry, so actually, when you just thinking
about it.
So in my current book Ramon'ssister has a cameo.
Okay, so I do like to throwcameos into reina books, so they
his sister will have a littlecameo.
Kristen Bahls (13:03):
Oh good, yay good , yeah, who knows, maybe he'll
show up in a novella orsomething.
You never know.
How do your characters trustissue?
Trust issues affect the romance, especially when they're in the
midst of danger, or it could bewithout danger.
Manda Mazanec (13:19):
I think with Kinsley, like, okay, so Ethan's
a little bit obvious, right,he's kind of he's not really he.
He ends up saying like I'm notpretending at one point Um, I
think for him it was just amatter of timing and seeing her.
But for Kinsley, I think she'sreally guarded.
She has to keep up that wall.
She wants to let him in, butthere's so much that she does.
(13:44):
I think it's a timing issue too,because her sister's leaving
and she doesn't know the wholestory with her sister, so she
doesn't want to like blow thingsup too fast.
That's what she's thinking isgoing to happen.
Yeah, I think it's just mostlyshe's super guarded for
everything and it it's him whohas to pull it out of her.
And then at the very end youknow, without giving too much
away, it's she sees Victoriaagain and she's like, oh well,
(14:04):
oops, like this isn't what Ithought it was, and she kind of
retracts again and she has toovercome it on her own instead
of having someone do it for her.
I mean, the trust issues aredeep with her.
Kristen Bahls (14:15):
And I mean it makes sense, based on her other
relationships or previousrelationships that she talks
about kind of in the book andhow all of those led her to her
feelings today.
How did you make sure that thecharacters had believable
chemistry throughout the book,because Ethan and Kinsley had
some chemistry.
Manda Mazanec (14:37):
Yeah, they heartache, for sure, and grief.
I think in order to bebelievable, you have to have
some kind of heartbreak and,because this was a second chance
, you had to see a little bit ofboth.
Right, you had to see it at thebeginning and then, you know,
some people call it like thethird act breakup.
It wasn't a breakup becausethey weren't really together.
It was fake dating.
But they had to overcomesomething you know, but they had
(14:57):
to overcome something you know.
So they had to have thatheartache.
They had to have to see what itwould have been like to not
have each other.
Now that they were back in eachother's lives yeah, they had,
like the family.
So I was really happy with theway Ethan's family came out.
I really wanted them to bebelievable characters and the
only way I felt like doing thatwas really tying in some
believable characters.
Especially on his side, youcould see the family dynamics.
(15:18):
On her side it was a littleharder and I wanted that was
where more of the suspense hadto come from.
So I was trying to play an evenfield of it being like here's
some information, but I don'twant to give out too much
information because we're notsupposed to know this yet, but
there was little, you knowtrickles of pieces of stuff I
was trying to throw in.
So it wasn't just out of shot,you know, out of nowhere.
One of my beta readers actuallymentioned it.
Kristen Bahls (15:39):
She was like I think you might need to fill in
a few more holes here and thereI was like, oh my God, you're
right, and I was even going toask about how you kind of
decided when to reveal the clues, and that makes more sense that
it was coming more from kind ofher side of the family and that
probably helped kind of keep itstraight as you're writing.
(16:00):
And then, what are, what do youthink are the most important
qualities in a romantic suspensethat a story should always have
, because it's a hard genre.
Manda Mazanec (16:08):
It is.
It is the suspense is.
It was hard, especially becausein my mind I'm seeing it one
way, and then again, when mybeta readers are reading and
it's not coming across the way Iwanted it to come across, and
then sprinkling it in, you know,because I didn't want it to be
a full out suspense.
I think when I first startedwriting it, like I said, it was
totally different.
It ended up being like morethriller, borderline thriller,
(16:33):
and I was like, oh God, that'snot what I want.
So I was like, well, how is heradoption going to play a role
into?
Why is that even an importantaspect of it?
And then, with this Hernandez,who's in prison, and you know
now we have Tessa's husband, andlike there was all these little
(16:54):
elements.
So I had to try to verycarefully just sprinkle them in
without giving out too much.
And I know someone hadmentioned she's like whoa.
I was not anticipating any ofthat, like I probably should
have sprinkled a little bit morein earlier on, but I felt like
if I did, I was just giving uptoo much.
Kristen Bahls (17:06):
Yeah, and then the focus might've been more on
the suspense than the romance,which was you know part of it.
Manda Mazanec (17:14):
Yeah, and I know a lot of people want it to be
very and I really struggled withbalancing it because if I did
it would have been too muchsuspense and that's not really
where I wanted to go.
I wanted it to be primarily theromance, with that sprinkle of
suspense towards the end,because that's where that's
where Ethan had to find out like, oh my god, like they had to
have that you know kind offriction of I'm about to lose
(17:35):
you again and, yeah, somethinghad to happen.
Kristen Bahls (17:37):
So that makes sense and that sounds really,
really difficult.
So you can definitely maybemake the next couple romance uh,
contemporary romance to take abreak for a second and then go
back to romantic suspense,because that sounds like a
really hard yeah it's um whichI'm sure, like any kind of
sub-genre, is really hard to tryto balance multiple things in
one book and still keep thefocus on everything.
Manda Mazanec (18:00):
Yeah, but if I do Beckett and Carter, I feel like
there's going to be somesuspense in there, because she's
a detective, right.
Kristen Bahls (18:07):
Yeah, especially with them.
Yeah, I was going to sayespecially with them.
That would be hard, that's true, that's very true.
But I'm really looking forwardto their story.
Thanks, it'll be awesome eitherway, even though it's hard to
write.
Readers don't understand that,you know.
You just open a book and you'relike I love it and you don't
realize like all of the hardwork and planning and all of
(18:27):
that that goes into it,scrapping it and rewriting it
and throwing it away and oh yeah, it's a lot.
Are you generally a plotter or apantser?
Manda Mazanec (18:39):
I am very much a pantser.
I think I plot things in myhead first and I actually have a
friend, um, who I throw ideasoff of her all the time just to
get the general sense ofeverything, and then I kind of
go with it.
But my new book that I'mwriting right now with a
collaboration, I am absolutelyplotting it and it's really hard
to plot because I'm like I I'mstuck with that storyline and
(18:59):
I'm like, but no, my characterswant to go here and there and
yeah, it's hard to plot.
Kristen Bahls (19:05):
Yeah, I could see it being difficult for both
options.
Either way, you're writing abook which is hard, so no matter
which way you go, it's going tobe difficult.
But I was thinking that wecould play a game.
So with this game it's kind ofsimilar to like the wedding shoe
game, where the bride and thegroom like hold up a shoe based
on which character, uh, theythink would fit each question.
(19:26):
So if you can tell me if thisis gonna be more Kinsley or more
Ethan to each of my questions,okay?
So the first one is who isbetter at keeping surprises?
Manda Mazanec (19:36):
ethan, no oh man, I wanted to say ethan, but I
feel like kinsley, because shewas able.
Oh no, I think she's toosporadic, it would.
I would absolutely.
I think ethan, I think he canhold, hold surprises the best I
agree.
Kristen Bahls (19:54):
And then who is who would be the best gift giver
?
Manda Mazanec (19:58):
Ethan, I think he would, absolutely.
I think he's the sentimentaltype you know like at the end,
like he has his book you know oh, I already the code of conduct,
all that stuff, likeeverything's in there, and like
I have one.
It's called a monster, thestill, and there's stuff all
scribbled in it from boot campand if someone still has that
laying around then absolutely Ithink they're going to be a good
(20:19):
gift giver that's true.
Kristen Bahls (20:20):
I never even thought about it from that way,
so I like that.
Uh, what?
Who is more likely to berunning late?
Manda Mazanec (20:27):
absolutely Kinsley.
I mean simple fact.
Ethan's a Marine Corps veteran.
He's never going to be late,he's.
You know, if you're on timeyou're already late.
And Kinsley again, I just thinkshe's a little bit more of a
hey, I have to go with the flow,type of thing.
Kristen Bahls (20:39):
So and especially before the end of the book when
she's doing the weddingcancellations.
You never know how long thoseare going to take, so I could
see her also running, runninglate from doing stuff like that
yeah, I feel like she probablyhad a lot more anxiety like high
, high anxiety, especially fromyou know circumstances in her
life.
Manda Mazanec (20:58):
So I think that she's more likely to be late.
Kristen Bahls (21:01):
Who has the better shower?
Singing voice.
Manda Mazanec (21:04):
Ethan.
So I was thinking it likeEthan's got a guitar and he does
his little singing and I, aftereverything was all done and
over and it already went throughbeta reading and it was already
going through editing, I'm likeI didn't put more of his guitar
and singing in there and Ireally wanted to, just didn't
make the cut, I guess.
Kristen Bahls (21:23):
But it was really cute the parts that were in
there and who is the biggestthrill seeker.
Manda Mazanec (21:28):
Kinsley I want to say they both are probably
going to be good, but I feellike he'll probably take a step
back from it and it would haveto be Kinsley for sure.
Kristen Bahls (21:35):
Yeah a step back from it, and it would have to be
Kinsley for sure.
Yeah, I could see her runninglike headfirst into something
and just trying it.
Who and last question, who ismore likely to cry during a sad
movie?
Manda Mazanec (21:46):
For sure Kinsley.
But I also think that he'd beright there holding her hand the
entire time and he might justlike have that little look on
his face when he's looking ather.
But Kinsley for sure.
I agree, I think she's theemotional one.
Kristen Bahls (21:58):
And is there anything that you would like
readers to know that we haven'talready covered about?
Far From Over.
Manda Mazanec (22:04):
Oh, not without getting everything away.
I feel like I already gave somuch away.
No, it was a really tough bookto write.
The first few that I wrote weremuch quicker this one.
I took a long time re-editingand editing and editing again,
but I was really happy with thisone.
I'm really excited to writeabout the Tate family.
Kristen Bahls (22:23):
And if readers were going to start with one of
your books, what would yousuggest Publishing order, or is
there a specific one you thinkwould fit like a specific type
of person or reader?
Manda Mazanec (22:36):
My last book I wrote.
Nothing between us is notromantic suspense.
I think there's again.
There might be a little dusting.
It's a lot less of a dusting umcompared to this one and it's a
standalone, so no big deal.
You could, you know, they couldread that whenever.
My first two and there you wereand under the maple tree are
back-to-back um books in aseries.
But you don't really have toread the first in order to read
(22:57):
the second one, because they arekind of completely different
books.
You just from Under the MapleTree, you have the same
character that just happened tobe in the first book.
I just it's not very muchrelated.
So any book is fine, but FarFrom Over is my favorite for
sure.
Kristen Bahls (23:12):
So start with that one.
Okay, good to know, and that'sit for today.
Thanks for listening to when ILeft Off a bookish podcast, and
you can purchase Amanda's novelsthrough the links in the show
notes, and, of course, they arealso available on Kindle
Unlimited.
Thank you.
welcome back.
I'm kristen bahls and you'relistening to where I left off, a
bookish podcast, and today I'mjoined by author amanda M, who
wrote under the maple tree,nothing between us and there you
were, and her latest novel, farfrom over, which is what we are
talking about today.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
Manda Mazanec (00:26):
Thank you for having me and it's really nice
to meet you like in person.
I know.
Kristen Bahls (00:31):
Yeah, not just over Instagram, but actually
over podcast, yay, so the firstquestion that I always ask
everyone that's on the podcastis what are you currently
reading right now?
Manda Mazanec (00:44):
So I just finished.
It's called Mistletoe Misses byAlexandra Grace.
It was a great.
It's a Christmas novella, sothat was a really fun book.
And then, because I'm an audiolover, I'm kind of doing two
things at once.
I like to read physical books,kindle books and a little bit of
audio.
So I have it's Above the Truthby Sarah Tallery and then
(01:08):
Madison's Score.
It's a new one for me because Iam a big Lucy Score person.
I just love her banter and Ifigured I'm going to give her
sister a try.
Kristen Bahls (01:16):
Nice Now.
I can't wait to read all ofthose.
They're all on my list and Ilike the novella length of some
of the Christmas booksespecially.
It's nice to just kind of likeget a quick win and enjoy a
short story.
Manda Mazanec (01:26):
Yeah, and there's a lot of them that are coming
out right now that I'm reallyexcited about reading and it's
because I listen to so manyaudio books I can go through
more of them.
When I have a physical book ittakes a little bit longer, just
because you know I have a busyhome life.
Kristen Bahls (01:45):
So all the short novellas are going to be fun
ones for me this Christmas, verytrue.
I just found out on NetGalleythat you can select the auto
read function and even thoughit's like a really bad AI voice,
it still turns anything into anaudio book.
So now that I know I can listento my arcs on audio book, I'm
like, okay, this is kind of lifechanging.
Manda Mazanec (02:00):
Yeah, and I you know you could do that with
Kindle as well.
It's like a sys-tive reader.
It's not the best, but I'vekind of used that a little bit
as well sometimes.
Yeah, I mean, of course theinflection isn't perfect by any
(02:22):
means.
Kristen Bahls (02:22):
Like real voices are way better, but it's nice
when you, like you said, whenyou don't have time and you
still want to enjoy the book anddon't want to forget what's
going on, then at least you kindof have that option.
Manda Mazanec (02:27):
Yeah, absolutely, and what can you tell us about
your work in progress?
So what can readers expect next?
Normally I'm a one person, onebook type of person.
I focus on one and I don't havetime for anything else.
Right now, though, I'm workingwith there's a collaboration of
a few of us authors.
We're going to announcesomething in, I think, february.
We decided so.
Next year it'll start comingout, but that's going to be a
shorter novel.
It's not a novella, but it'sgoing to be a longer.
(02:48):
Oh, I think we're aiming around60,000 words.
It's going to be a forcedproximity adventure, road trip
type of fun book.
So I'm really excited aboutthat.
I'm pretty far into it.
But then my other one that'sprobably going to really sooner,
is going to be a spinoff fromFar From Over.
So I'm working with the Tatesiblings.
Kristen Bahls (03:07):
So is that one also going to be a romantic
suspense?
Manda Mazanec (03:11):
I don't know if I'll do suspense.
So like I always feel like Ijust kind of like naturally feed
into the suspense and I don'treally purposely start off that
way.
I just kind of do so I'm notreally sure where it's going to
lead us.
I'm not of do so I'm not reallysure where it's going to lead
us.
I'm not sure yet.
I mean, it probably will withmy characters, but I just
haven't gotten that far yet.
Kristen Bahls (03:28):
Well, that's awesome.
Yay, I'm glad that anotherbook's being worked on for them.
And then, of course, we getthat partnership.
That sounds like really fun tojust get to write with author
friends.
How did that idea kind of comeabout?
Did everyone just say theywanted to work on something
together?
Manda Mazanec (03:42):
Oh my God.
So it's really funny that youeven asked that I was thinking
it and I kind of threw it out toanother author and she was like
, well, I already kind of wasthinking it too and I already
have a group started.
Do you want to join us?
I was like, absolutely so.
There's a handful of us.
We all have our own book thatwe're writing but with the same
(04:04):
theme, and have our own bookthat we're writing but with the
same theme, and then there we'regoing to do a rapid release,
probably 2026.
But again, we it's still in thebeginning stages.
And yeah, it was just.
It was really funny that weboth were on the same wavelength
at the same time.
Kristen Bahls (04:16):
Wow, that is awesome, and forced proximity is
always a win.
That's one of my favorites.
What's your favorite trope?
Manda Mazanec (04:21):
Oh man, enemies to lovers yeah, enemies to
lovers.
Probably.
I do like a grumpy personsomewhere.
I feel like I always want toaim that way, and then none of
my people really end up beingtoo grumpy.
They end up being too nice, Ithink.
But this next one I absolutelythere's going to be some grumpy
people in my next book.
Kristen Bahls (04:41):
Oh yay, More to look forward to.
Manda Mazanec (04:44):
What about you?
What's your favorite trope?
Kristen Bahls (04:46):
Oh man, I would say that my top three, because
it's hard to pick, I know right.
Yeah, friends to Lovers isactually my favorite, and then
it gets.
It can kind of get a bad rap,but when it's done well, it's
really good.
And then Enemies to Lovers ismy second, and then, I don't
know, my third is probably a tiebetween fake dating and forced
(05:07):
proximity.
Those are always fun.
Manda Mazanec (05:09):
Yeah, I agree.
I do think the forced proximityit always ends up being like a
bed and it's like, oh, I wantsomething else besides a bed,
what else, where else can we beforced?
And so, like my road trip thing, it's going to, it's not a bed,
so it's going to be a littlebit different.
Kristen Bahls (05:23):
I like that.
I like the idea of a road trip.
Oh yay, I need to read what isit.
It's called Take Me Home byMelanie Sweeney.
I think that one there on aroad trip as well.
Manda Mazanec (05:32):
I feel like I read that one.
So I'm like one of those peoplewhere as soon as I read
something, it kind of like goesoff and then I get a new one and
it goes off and.
I can't remember which ones I'mreading, so I just sometimes
look at the actual you knowcover of the book to know if I
read it or not.
Kristen Bahls (05:47):
Yeah, I can be the same way If I have, like a
book spreadsheet, only because I, you know, have to keep up with
the books.
Manda Mazanec (06:04):
So that's the same book.
Kristen Bahls (06:05):
Yes.
And then you start reading itand you're like, why does this
seem so familiar?
And then it's like, oh yeah,that's yeah.
Before Bookstagram I definitelydid, but now that I have to
like keep such careful track,it's a lot easier.
It just takes a little bit moreeffort.
That you know.
If your life is busy and youdon't need to do it, then I
(06:27):
wouldn't suggest it.
Manda Mazanec (06:28):
Yeah.
Kristen Bahls (06:29):
So focusing a little bit more on Far, Far From
Over.
So the title in itself kind ofsuggests that there are some
unresolved issues.
So how did that theme kind ofmanifest itself in both the
suspense aspect and the romanceaspect of the book?
Manda Mazanec (06:47):
So that's a really good question.
I was going in a completelydifferent direction when I first
started the book Last summer.
There was a lot of things thatkind of happened, transpired,
and I had a totally detour fromthe book itself and I knew that
I had to have some kind of griefwrapped in there.
And you could clearly see itwith Kinsley.
There's lots of grief that shehas to overcome, lots of
(07:08):
backstory for her, because itall revolves around Ethan.
There's so much that she buriesinside herself and that's what I
think a lot of people do.
They bury things insidethemselves instead of like
opening up, and so that's wherethe grief kind of stems from.
And then you know you have himwho's got.
You know this grief because ofa father, you know death of a
father and because I think he'sable to overcome his so much
(07:30):
faster, like his is a.
I want connections and youcould see it in the military
when he, when his friend, passesaway, he surrounds himself with
other people for the veteranoutreach program, but for her
she kind of shrinks into herselfand she kind of puts up a wall,
even with her sister, and so Ithink the suspense more comes
(07:52):
along when she doesn't even havea clue what her sister is doing
.
She's been so self-absorbed withwhat she's doing that she
doesn't even see outside likehey, here's my sister, this is
what's going on.
Or with the whole adoptionprocess, like we don't get
glimpses of that until laterbecause she doesn't.
She just kind of sucks insideherself.
I mean, I think that's like alot of us just in real life, and
(08:13):
they have to overcome these,both of them together, by like
having these discussions aboutwhat, why and I don't know it's.
That's a that's a really hardone, because then when you think
about it far from over you'rethinking it's not over because
they were fake dating but at thesame time you have all this
grief.
How do we work through it?
Kristen Bahls (08:34):
Yeah, there's a lot deeper things going on, that
kind of unravel as the bookprogresses and, speaking of both
Ethan and Kinsley, they do havea lot of grief that they're
dealing with.
But which character overall doyou feel will resonate the most
with readers?
Manda Mazanec (08:55):
So I want people to say Ethan, just because you
know I'm a Marine veteran and Iwrite Marine veterans inside all
of them, and I do think thatfor some of my female Marine
veteran friends they will easilyidentify with him.
But the vast majority of usaren't veterans and the vast
majority, I think, are womenreading these books and they're
going to identify with Kinsley.
(09:15):
I kind of wanted to write heras a badass and she comes across
as doing this job that no oneelse does.
Right, she's got to confrontpeople but at the end of the day
you know you have it doesn'tmatter how many curveballs
you're thrown, you're stillgoing to have this fatigue at
the end of the day.
And so I wanted to wrap herinto this.
I might look like a badass, Imight have an awesome job, but
(09:40):
I'm not living really a badasslife on the inside and there's
so many women that we put somuch stress on ourselves,
there's so many curveballsthrown our way that I think that
women will really identify withher.
She's just got so muchadversity.
Kristen Bahls (09:53):
I agree and thank you for your service, and I
feel, like anyone that's readingit, it's nice to be able to put
yourself in Ethan's shoes andkind of understand it a little
bit more on a human perspective,versus just you know the facts.
And then same with Kinsley it'snice to be able to get a feel
into her very unique job andeverything that she's dealing
(10:15):
with and it does.
There are kind of parts of bothof them that I could definitely
see a lot of people resonatingwith.
Manda Mazanec (10:23):
It was also the fact that, like you know, with
guys, you know there's so manywomen who they start to fall for
someone and they realize, oh,that's not really who I was with
that person, or that's not whoI pictured.
And you know, people change andit's not always the other
person, sometimes it's you.
You know you're, you'representing yourself to someone
(10:43):
else and it's like a brand newrelationship and then you're
like, oh, now I realize that,you know, it's not what it was
cracked up to be.
Kristen Bahls (10:48):
And yeah, you don't realize until you get into
it that that's just kind of thedirection that it went and what
would you say was kind of yourfavorite scene in the book where
the romance and suspense reallykind of collided into one
without spoiling it.
It's kind of hard.
Manda Mazanec (11:05):
I know.
So when I think about like myfavorite scene, I don't
necessarily think it's wherethey collided.
I really liked the beginning,when we meet Ramon with his kind
of like snarkiness, right, itkind of gives it the little fun,
banter, and I was hoping therest of my story was going to go
that way and you know it waskind of fluctuated a little bit.
But I think that scene whereshe first like sees him again it
(11:29):
I that was one of my favoritescenes.
And then the bowling activitywhere they were, you know, fake
dating but they're, you know,they're on a bowling date and
you see them both kind of likejust having fun, even though
this is fake and she's bitterright, she still has this
bitterness to her but they'reable to have fun and she sees
him for an adult.
Now, this isn't when they werein high school, it's a little
(11:49):
bit different.
So those were kind of myfavorite scenes.
The suspense part where thatall kind of met up, not so much
my favorite, it just had tohappen, right, that makes sense.
Kristen Bahls (11:59):
Yeah, will Ramon possibly ever get his own?
Manda Mazanec (12:03):
book.
I don't think I'll make his own.
I'm not, I don't know.
I don't even know if I'm goingto make one for.
So I was thinking about all theyou know Tate siblings and you
know Carter is a for sure.
I've had a couple people talkabout Carter and Maya.
You know Beckett, detectiveBeckett, and that is probably
one of my favorite ones.
I did set it up that waypurposely to make another story
for them.
And then you got Logan, who'skind of quieter.
(12:25):
And I kind of fed a little bitin to make one for him and Jill
for sure.
But I don't even think I'llmake one for the youngest
brother.
I think it's just going to bethose three more.
I'm not sure We'll see where ittakes takes us, because I do
also like throwing them into thebook, so maybe something will
pop up.
Kristen Bahls (12:41):
I could see how that would happen, but yeah, oh
my gosh, I would love for theirstory to happen, especially
after again trying not to spoilit after all the events that
they run into.
Manda Mazanec (12:51):
I'm sorry, so actually, when you just thinking
about it.
So in my current book Ramon'ssister has a cameo.
Okay, so I do like to throwcameos into reina books, so they
his sister will have a littlecameo.
Kristen Bahls (13:03):
Oh good, yay good , yeah, who knows, maybe he'll
show up in a novella orsomething.
You never know.
How do your characters trustissue?
Trust issues affect the romance, especially when they're in the
midst of danger, or it could bewithout danger.
Manda Mazanec (13:19):
I think with Kinsley, like, okay, so Ethan's
a little bit obvious, right,he's kind of he's not really he.
He ends up saying like I'm notpretending at one point Um, I
think for him it was just amatter of timing and seeing her.
But for Kinsley, I think she'sreally guarded.
She has to keep up that wall.
She wants to let him in, butthere's so much that she does.
(13:44):
I think it's a timing issue too,because her sister's leaving
and she doesn't know the wholestory with her sister, so she
doesn't want to like blow thingsup too fast.
That's what she's thinking isgoing to happen.
Yeah, I think it's just mostlyshe's super guarded for
everything and it it's him whohas to pull it out of her.
And then at the very end youknow, without giving too much
away, it's she sees Victoriaagain and she's like, oh well,
(14:04):
oops, like this isn't what Ithought it was, and she kind of
retracts again and she has toovercome it on her own instead
of having someone do it for her.
I mean, the trust issues aredeep with her.
Kristen Bahls (14:15):
And I mean it makes sense, based on her other
relationships or previousrelationships that she talks
about kind of in the book andhow all of those led her to her
feelings today.
How did you make sure that thecharacters had believable
chemistry throughout the book,because Ethan and Kinsley had
some chemistry.
Manda Mazanec (14:37):
Yeah, they heartache, for sure, and grief.
I think in order to bebelievable, you have to have
some kind of heartbreak and,because this was a second chance
, you had to see a little bit ofboth.
Right, you had to see it at thebeginning and then, you know,
some people call it like thethird act breakup.
It wasn't a breakup becausethey weren't really together.
It was fake dating.
But they had to overcomesomething you know, but they had
(14:57):
to overcome something you know.
So they had to have thatheartache.
They had to have to see what itwould have been like to not
have each other.
Now that they were back in eachother's lives yeah, they had,
like the family.
So I was really happy with theway Ethan's family came out.
I really wanted them to bebelievable characters and the
only way I felt like doing thatwas really tying in some
believable characters.
Especially on his side, youcould see the family dynamics.
(15:18):
On her side it was a littleharder and I wanted that was
where more of the suspense hadto come from.
So I was trying to play an evenfield of it being like here's
some information, but I don'twant to give out too much
information because we're notsupposed to know this yet, but
there was little, you knowtrickles of pieces of stuff I
was trying to throw in.
So it wasn't just out of shot,you know, out of nowhere.
One of my beta readers actuallymentioned it.
Kristen Bahls (15:39):
She was like I think you might need to fill in
a few more holes here and thereI was like, oh my God, you're
right, and I was even going toask about how you kind of
decided when to reveal the clues, and that makes more sense that
it was coming more from kind ofher side of the family and that
probably helped kind of keep itstraight as you're writing.
(16:00):
And then, what are, what do youthink are the most important
qualities in a romantic suspensethat a story should always have
, because it's a hard genre.
Manda Mazanec (16:08):
It is.
It is the suspense is.
It was hard, especially becausein my mind I'm seeing it one
way, and then again, when mybeta readers are reading and
it's not coming across the way Iwanted it to come across, and
then sprinkling it in, you know,because I didn't want it to be
a full out suspense.
I think when I first startedwriting it, like I said, it was
totally different.
It ended up being like morethriller, borderline thriller,
(16:33):
and I was like, oh God, that'snot what I want.
So I was like, well, how is heradoption going to play a role
into?
Why is that even an importantaspect of it?
And then, with this Hernandez,who's in prison, and you know
now we have Tessa's husband, andlike there was all these little
(16:54):
elements.
So I had to try to verycarefully just sprinkle them in
without giving out too much.
And I know someone hadmentioned she's like whoa.
I was not anticipating any ofthat, like I probably should
have sprinkled a little bit morein earlier on, but I felt like
if I did, I was just giving uptoo much.
Kristen Bahls (17:06):
Yeah, and then the focus might've been more on
the suspense than the romance,which was you know part of it.
Manda Mazanec (17:14):
Yeah, and I know a lot of people want it to be
very and I really struggled withbalancing it because if I did
it would have been too muchsuspense and that's not really
where I wanted to go.
I wanted it to be primarily theromance, with that sprinkle of
suspense towards the end,because that's where that's
where Ethan had to find out like, oh my god, like they had to
have that you know kind offriction of I'm about to lose
(17:35):
you again and, yeah, somethinghad to happen.
Kristen Bahls (17:37):
So that makes sense and that sounds really,
really difficult.
So you can definitely maybemake the next couple romance uh,
contemporary romance to take abreak for a second and then go
back to romantic suspense,because that sounds like a
really hard yeah it's um whichI'm sure, like any kind of
sub-genre, is really hard to tryto balance multiple things in
one book and still keep thefocus on everything.
Manda Mazanec (18:00):
Yeah, but if I do Beckett and Carter, I feel like
there's going to be somesuspense in there, because she's
a detective, right.
Kristen Bahls (18:07):
Yeah, especially with them.
Yeah, I was going to sayespecially with them.
That would be hard, that's true, that's very true.
But I'm really looking forwardto their story.
Thanks, it'll be awesome eitherway, even though it's hard to
write.
Readers don't understand that,you know.
You just open a book and you'relike I love it and you don't
realize like all of the hardwork and planning and all of
(18:27):
that that goes into it,scrapping it and rewriting it
and throwing it away and oh yeah, it's a lot.
Are you generally a plotter or apantser?
Manda Mazanec (18:39):
I am very much a pantser.
I think I plot things in myhead first and I actually have a
friend, um, who I throw ideasoff of her all the time just to
get the general sense ofeverything, and then I kind of
go with it.
But my new book that I'mwriting right now with a
collaboration, I am absolutelyplotting it and it's really hard
to plot because I'm like I I'mstuck with that storyline and
(18:59):
I'm like, but no, my characterswant to go here and there and
yeah, it's hard to plot.
Kristen Bahls (19:05):
Yeah, I could see it being difficult for both
options.
Either way, you're writing abook which is hard, so no matter
which way you go, it's going tobe difficult.
But I was thinking that wecould play a game.
So with this game it's kind ofsimilar to like the wedding shoe
game, where the bride and thegroom like hold up a shoe based
on which character, uh, theythink would fit each question.
(19:26):
So if you can tell me if thisis gonna be more Kinsley or more
Ethan to each of my questions,okay?
So the first one is who isbetter at keeping surprises?
Manda Mazanec (19:36):
ethan, no oh man, I wanted to say ethan, but I
feel like kinsley, because shewas able.
Oh no, I think she's toosporadic, it would.
I would absolutely.
I think ethan, I think he canhold, hold surprises the best I
agree.
Kristen Bahls (19:54):
And then who is who would be the best gift giver
?
Manda Mazanec (19:58):
Ethan, I think he would, absolutely.
I think he's the sentimentaltype you know like at the end,
like he has his book you know oh, I already the code of conduct,
all that stuff, likeeverything's in there, and like
I have one.
It's called a monster, thestill, and there's stuff all
scribbled in it from boot campand if someone still has that
laying around then absolutely Ithink they're going to be a good
(20:19):
gift giver that's true.
Kristen Bahls (20:20):
I never even thought about it from that way,
so I like that.
Uh, what?
Who is more likely to berunning late?
Manda Mazanec (20:27):
absolutely Kinsley.
I mean simple fact.
Ethan's a Marine Corps veteran.
He's never going to be late,he's.
You know, if you're on timeyou're already late.
And Kinsley again, I just thinkshe's a little bit more of a
hey, I have to go with the flow,type of thing.
Kristen Bahls (20:39):
So and especially before the end of the book when
she's doing the weddingcancellations.
You never know how long thoseare going to take, so I could
see her also running, runninglate from doing stuff like that
yeah, I feel like she probablyhad a lot more anxiety like high
, high anxiety, especially fromyou know circumstances in her
life.
Manda Mazanec (20:58):
So I think that she's more likely to be late.
Kristen Bahls (21:01):
Who has the better shower?
Singing voice.
Manda Mazanec (21:04):
Ethan.
So I was thinking it likeEthan's got a guitar and he does
his little singing and I, aftereverything was all done and
over and it already went throughbeta reading and it was already
going through editing, I'm likeI didn't put more of his guitar
and singing in there and Ireally wanted to, just didn't
make the cut, I guess.
Kristen Bahls (21:23):
But it was really cute the parts that were in
there and who is the biggestthrill seeker.
Manda Mazanec (21:28):
Kinsley I want to say they both are probably
going to be good, but I feellike he'll probably take a step
back from it and it would haveto be Kinsley for sure.
Kristen Bahls (21:35):
Yeah a step back from it, and it would have to be
Kinsley for sure.
Yeah, I could see her runninglike headfirst into something
and just trying it.
Who and last question, who ismore likely to cry during a sad
movie?
Manda Mazanec (21:46):
For sure Kinsley.
But I also think that he'd beright there holding her hand the
entire time and he might justlike have that little look on
his face when he's looking ather.
But Kinsley for sure.
I agree, I think she's theemotional one.
Kristen Bahls (21:58):
And is there anything that you would like
readers to know that we haven'talready covered about?
Far From Over.
Manda Mazanec (22:04):
Oh, not without getting everything away.
I feel like I already gave somuch away.
No, it was a really tough bookto write.
The first few that I wrote weremuch quicker this one.
I took a long time re-editingand editing and editing again,
but I was really happy with thisone.
I'm really excited to writeabout the Tate family.
Kristen Bahls (22:23):
And if readers were going to start with one of
your books, what would yousuggest Publishing order, or is
there a specific one you thinkwould fit like a specific type
of person or reader?
Manda Mazanec (22:36):
My last book I wrote.
Nothing between us is notromantic suspense.
I think there's again.
There might be a little dusting.
It's a lot less of a dusting umcompared to this one and it's a
standalone, so no big deal.
You could, you know, they couldread that whenever.
My first two and there you wereand under the maple tree are
back-to-back um books in aseries.
But you don't really have toread the first in order to read
(22:57):
the second one, because they arekind of completely different
books.
You just from Under the MapleTree, you have the same
character that just happened tobe in the first book.
I just it's not very muchrelated.
So any book is fine, but FarFrom Over is my favorite for
sure.
Kristen Bahls (23:12):
So start with that one.
Okay, good to know, and that'sit for today.
Thanks for listening to when ILeft Off a bookish podcast, and
you can purchase Amanda's novelsthrough the links in the show
notes, and, of course, they arealso available on Kindle
Unlimited.
Thank you.
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