Interview With R. J. Amezcua, Author of the Mantis Force Trilogy

Can you share a bit about your journey to becoming a writer/published author? Did you dream of being a writer from an early age, or did that come later?

The seed to be a writer began during High School when my English teacher remarked that I could be a very good writer. Being a teenager, I rebuffed the notion, stating “Writing is not for me, I want to work on computers as a career.” It was during my career in sales that I thought about writing stories. Then on April 4th, 2004 I wrote the first few lines of an adventure story.

Where did the inspiration for the Mantis Force series come from? For the characters that populate these books?

Review HERE!

I love science fiction; Star Wars, Babylon 5, Red Dwarf, Lost In Space, Dune, Doctor Who, and Forbidden Planet are some of my favorites As a Christian, I believe in biblical prophecies, so I set out to create a fictional holy tome called the Kodashah filled with prophecies from which I create fantastic stories. I had to create characters from scratch, meaning I had to know where they were born, what happened to them during their life and meld that to their current circumstances. Hence the Mantis Force is across 5 galaxies and has more than 500 characters. The possible storylines are endless. 

For this series, you had to create all new worlds and species that think are different from ours. As well you had to invent new names for people and places. How did you go about developing these worlds, races and names? How did you keep track of all the elements to avoid inconsistency as you wrote? 

I am a very visual person. I saw a movie in my mind and I wrote what I saw. I also have a detailed map of my stories and have created an encyclopedia to maintain consistency.

Review Coming Oct. 18th

Did you have to do any specific research to develop the science behind your plot?

No not really, it more theoretical science I use the Mantis Force universe. For instance, we know that matter occupies an “x” amount of physical space. Now take for example a cell phone tower somewhere in California and a cell phone tower in Florida. With my theory, they are connected in the transdimensional spectrum and can move from one occupied space to another space through that spectrum. A machine that accomplishes this in the Marium Kahnet series is the Mass Displacement Matrix (MDM). One enters a MDM on a certain planet and arrives in another MDM in a distant planet. 

How does the writing process work for you? Do you schedule a time every day, work madly when inspiration hits or ?

I really don’t have a schedule, I try to jot down at least a sentence, sometimes just a few words daily.

Review Coming Oct. 26th

When you relax with a book, do you find yourself immersed reading sci-fi or do you enjoy reading a wide variety of genres? Do you have a favorite book or author? 

I used to avidly read every genre. Shortly after I started writing, I felt I should limit my reading, so that my inspiration would be mine and not influenced by another writer’s style. My favorite authors are C.S. Lewis and Frank Hebert.

Do you have any new books in the planning or writing stage? 

Yes, I am currently working on the next Mantis Force book trilogy, this story takes place millennia in the future. I am also working on two holiday themed children’s illustrated stories.