Fantasy fiction author Gomez to visit Jennings

A fantasy fiction author will soon visit Jennings to share her humorous and often dark tales of characters living in Texarkana.

Author D.C. Gomez currently lives in Texarkana, a place she uses as a backdrop to explore her fantasy fiction characters.

“I find humor and entertainment in many of the situations life presents us,” Gomez said. “Writing has become therapy and a way to express how we feel about things in the world.”

The first two books in her first series are “Plague Unleashed” and “Death’s Intern,” which recently reached number-two spot on the Amazon’s bestseller’s list. Despite their dark titles, Gomez said that readers would enjoy the play on pop culture and humor in many different situations.

The main character in “Death’s Intern” is army veteran Isis Black, who moves to a small Texas town thinking, “nothing ever happens in Texarkana.”

“She is brand new to Texarkana and has no idea what is going on and that her time here will be filled with kidnappings, murder, witches the devil and even an evil cat that ends up being a 15-pound dictator,” Gomez said. “Death herself has also come to town and she is searching for an intern. Isis accidentally killed the previous intern several months before and now she’s been marked to take over the job. Assigned to her in her new positions are Constantine, an ancient cat, and Bartholomew, a 10-year-old genius.”

“The story is a more upbeat and different way of looking at war and famine, and is more dark comedy than horror,” she said. “I try to create a fun perspective on life that will make you smile.”

Gomez has also published the children’s book, “Charlie What’s Your Talent?” and is working on a third book, as well as experimenting with writing a romance novel.

Gomez said she went to school for film and television, and always been interested in storytelling.

“It has taken me a very long time to get the courage to put my work out there and be published,” she said. “People would ask my what are you afraid of? What are you waiting for? What’s the worst that can happen? Finally I decided to take the plunge and I could not be happier being able to express myself through writing.”

Gomez was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to Salem, Massachusetts where she lived until she turned 18 years of age. She went to college in New York and then completed a fouryear stint in the U.S. Army, serving one year in Iraq on active duty.

“I completed a yearlong deployment in Iraq and the military truly helped me to see the good in people,” she said. “Freedom has a price I realized U.S. soldiers are risking their lives protect our freedoms. People don’t appreciate that sacrifice here like they do abroad. I had a great experience with a great team during my deployment.”

Gomez currently lives in the Texarkana area and works during the day as a full-time federal employee the U.S. Army. She also serves as the youth minister at her church.

She said she balances her time strategically because she loves writing and spending time on projects she is passionate about.

“I am so excited to meet the people in Jennings,” Gomez said. “My main goal is to motivate people to dream. We get so busy in our daily lives and if I can help just one person by making them smile or changing their perspective, I have done my duty.”

The book signing will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25 at the Steamer Trunk, located at 526 N. Main Street in Jennings.