Gregory Lee Renz, author of Beneath the Flames, was a Firefighter for 28 years in the inner-city areas in Milwaukee he describes as a unique landscape with crushing poverty and violence. He retired (Captain) after being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and decided to use his stories to write a novel- how hard could it be to write a book? Answer: very hard. He studied the craft of creative writing and spent 10 years polishing his novel. He described the process of finding an agent (after sending out 90 inquiries) so his book could be sold to a publishing house. He hired 4 editors throughout the writing process, had beta readers, and when assured the novel was ready to submit, had a NYC Agent offer to take on his book if he gutted the story and started over! Eventually a small publishing house in Milwaukee took on this story of a rural farmer's hero journey into the world of firefighting. It has already garnered the 2019 Reader's Favorite International Book Award. As he travels the book reading circuit required by authors, validation comes from firefighters who tell him how the stories resonate with them, helps them with their PTSD and sharing their own stories. Making a difference in some lives is better than selling books, he stated. This book "demanded to be written". He told us a powerful story of a house fire in 2004 which is not only recounted in the book but you can hear all about here directly from Greg: https://glrenz.com/dramatic-fire-rescue/. 

Reviews of his book can be read here https://glrenz.com/advance-reviews-for-beneath-the-flames/ and it can be purchased through Amazon.