As you may know, my novel Fierce released on 8/14/14. Fierce is a contemporary sports fiction with romance elements, focused on mixed martial arts (MMA). You can read more on Fierce HERE
To celebrate the release, I'm hosting some awesome interviews and guests posts that look at women in male-dominated areas, gender-stereotypes, and, truly, people with passion. Today we bring this round of Squishing Gender-Stereotypes to a close with an interview with coach Arlene Sanchez. 

LG: What made you get into Karate and kickboxing?
AS: My dad was a boxer. We moved out here from California as a teenager, and I don't know if it was the culture or what in New Mexico, but girls wanted to fight. I guess it was a good thing I knew how to defend myself.  When I was 19 I got started in Karate.  For me, I knew how to use my hands and I thought it was really neat to watch people use their kicks. I just thought wow, ya know, to be able to do that. I think it was meant to be. I really do. Neither of my siblings ended up in this sort of thing, not even close. 

LG: You were the only girl competing under training from Bill Packer. Not many gyms have that female component as far as having female coaches goes. You've seen the sport evolve for women, what do you think about it?
AS:  Boxing has always been tehre for women, since the 60s. MMA has so many components involved, it was always going to take longer for women to get into. First of all, because not very many women are fighters. Not very many women go into those sort of gyms to train.  So, when gyms started making them more everybody friendly, like with kickboxing aerobics and cardio, that's when every day person started walking into these fight gyms. That's what broke the ice. It made men actually go "hey, maybe some women can be fighters" because there was always that stigma that women couldn't fight. It just took a little bit of time, once the ice broke, the door was left open and women started getting involved in all the single disciplines so they could start MMA fighting, and once women started fighting things started to happen.
Women definitely have to work harder to get the same amount of respect as men in the sport. I've had to work three times as hard to get the recognition my husband gets. But that's just what it is, and we just have to keep working on it.


LG: Did you ever have that moment where you thought you were done with fighting?AS: I did. In 1993 in Amsterdam I blew out my ACL. ACL repairs weren't something they did very often back then. It took a year and a half to recover and still not really recover, they didn't do therapy like they do nowadays so I had to figure stuff out on my own. I took a fight two years after, right away for a world title in Vegas. I  hurt my rib in 6th round and it had me thinking, do I really want to do this? Or was it time? I thought maybe I didn't want it bad enough so I called it quits. I was 34. I still stayed involved and in shape, but I thought maybe mentally I should step out. 


LG: How was being the only girl in Mr. Packers team? Did he treat you differently because you were a girl?
AS: You know, here's the thing, I'm sure Mr. packer downplayed some of this aggressiveness in the beginning but after that, no, man, he saw I was one of the guys. That's how it worked. I was one of the guys. He used to tell us I want you spitting and farting, and so I just took it. I'm part of the team and that's how it worked. You're blowing snot, it didn't offend me. I wanted to be the best I could be, so if that's what it took, so be it. The guys were cool to, to this day, they're all my brothers. 
There was Rose and Gwen too. They would jump into class but they weren't competitors, and they weren't there consistently. They were my friends, they are still my friends. I haven't run into them lately but I won't ever forget them


LG: Now you coach both male and female fighters. Does your coaching techniques differ between the genders?
AS: In some aspects yes. Some girls are real fragile in the way of responding to being told what to do. And most men--most of them, not every one of them--are used to being ordered around and told what to do, and they get on it and get it done. The structure for men is easier than for women, although there are some guys I have to be careful with as well. You kinda gotta pick and chose. I enjoy working with everyone that wants to do it. It does drive me nuts when I'm in a class and someone is there, male or female, and doesn't apply themselves. 

LG; What are the differences between the genders when it comes to fighting? What does the female component mean to you?
AS: To have that female component sometimes was the key. I was so used to training with men, and men tell me I fight like a man. Well, that's what I trained with.  Men are pretty strategic. They are precise and will break you down and then get the finish.
Women do fight differently. They are very aggressive and often less technical. Men are very strategic. Women are just going to slit your throat, they're just going to go at you and get it done. I think it shows if you watch most women fighters.
Technique is everything. That’s what I've always fallen back on,that's how I've figured it out. When you train with men, it's not going to be the power. I'm not going to be able to keep up with those guys power wise. There are other differences too. Men have bigger lung capacity, and that influences their cardio. So I think that's why I became very technical. 
If I had trained with women, would it have made me a different fighter? I don't know. Probably? 
It used to throw me off when I started fighting women because they would just come at me. Seriously, it would throw me off in the 1st round, I'm like what is this? Hands and feet flying all over and it would take me the first round to get through the what the hell is going on and pull it together

I'm real hard on my girls. I want them to be the best they can be, and that won't happen if I baby anyone. 

And the guys get it. They're like ”holy shit". It makes my females better.

It does help the guys with control, but I don't want them to be like "oh man, I don't want to work with her." Because it does happen. Oh yeah, it happens. The girl will be like 'where is my partner ?' and all the guys have wondered off. 

As a female you gotta get out there and push yourself and be aggressive and "you're my partner" so they can't back out. Once you do that and stand your ground, it's an awakening for them.

And females move different. I didn't know back when I was fighting that I was missing the female component, and I don't really mind that I missed that, but I am glad our girls have that. We have five girls at the gym. They need each other for certain things but other than that they are fine with the guys. 

LG: What are your thoughts on MMA?
AS: I think in a lot of ways, the problem with MMA is it has lost its tradition. They call it mixed martial arts, but it's really its own thing. And nowadays, it's just a game of who can go the distance. We don't fight to go the distance. We don't train for the fight to go to decision. It used to be that you go in there and you submit your opponent or you knock them out. Now, these top pros go in there and just go the distance. I get it, they're scared to lose that paycheck. If they take a risk, and fail, well, there goes a couple thousand dollars. It's become a sport about the paycheck. It used to be about going in there and finishing your opponent. 

A note from LG: Thank you, Arlene for the fantastic interview! 

Readers, don't forget to check out the rest of the interviews and guest posts from the past two weeks, and be sure to check out Fierce :) 

Hello wonderful people!
It's been TWO WEEKS since FIERCE released. Thought I would pop in and give a reminder about upcoming Fierce events and what's been going on the past two weeks. 
Those two weeks have been awesome, terrifying, nausea-inducing, joyous, and, occasionally, frustrating. Fierce is my first work that's out there (besides a few poems and some articles), and there are so many components to that. 
I tend to be a worrier, and have a pretty logical-thought process. I've been called methodological like five times by various people over the past week, so yes, I tend to make decisions based off logic. Which means, publishing can be downright terrifying, especially when you know the market and you know that the market can both help and hurt you, and you're publishing a book that is not cookie-cutter in the current market.  I had a few days rough days mixed with the good.

But, today has been a revelation. I started working on Shane's novel, and within typing the first sentence, all those worries and negative thoughts vanished. I've been so caught up in the marketing and business side and worry side over the past week. I feel back in balance now.


I'll tell you more about Shane's story soon, and my other projects. I'll give you a hint: Think the authenticity and originality with Fierce, and add some new dynamics, new subcultures, and increase some steaminess. 

Please, please, please, if you enjoyed Fierce and want to lend your support, consider writing a review. Reviews and word of mouth are what helps allow us to keep writing, so please post your reviews on Amazon and Barnes & Nobles. Don't forget, ebooks and print are also available there. There are some really nice reviews, so check 'em out :)  If you write a review and want some swag, email me :) 

I consider Fierce to be diverse contemporary NA, and definitely diverse MMA fiction. It's been called original, unique, and authentic. There is a lot of MMA erotica out there--please be aware that Fierce is not erotica. If you're wanting something different, please check the book out. I know we all want diversity in NA, ranging from diversity within genres to more genres. 

And a reminder: Fierce's Blog Tour will be happening from September 15th-26th. Check out this link for more info or to take part. 

Also, I'll be involved in some #NALitchat fun in a few weeks. Stay posted, I'll give you more info as the date gets closer. 

Oh, and I'm sending out swag the next few days, so if you have won stuff or asked for swag, keep an eye on your mail. 

If you've been following my blog, you'll know that for the past two weeks, I've been hosting interviews and guests post that share common threads of being a girl in a male-dominated sport/hobby/art and passion. I have one more post for tomorrow, but here is a recap of the past blogs post in the Squishing Gender-Stereotype series:

• Professional female fighter Jodie Esquibel, discusses fighting and being a girl in the gym- Part One and Part Two. ""When it comes to comparing myself to guys, I think, maybe my takedown doesn't look like your takedown, but I still took you down. You're still on your back, and you can't deny that. It fuels you a little bit to have that chip on your shoulder, the will to try to prove yourself"- Jodie
  
• Author Diana Gallagher discusses coaching gymnastics and "girl pushups" 
  
• Fighter Andrew Tenneson discusses his passion for MMA and working with girls. 
  
• Author Carrie Butler discusses being a girl with a gun. 
  
• Writer and blogger Bailey Knight discusses ballet and soccer, and how her gender influences these. 
  
• Coach Ben discusses the differences between coaching men and women in fighting, and how jiu-jitsu impacts his life.
  
• And tomorrow, female coach and women's fighting pioneer Arlene Sanchez will share her thoughts on fighting in an all-male gym, being in a girl in the gym as a fighter and then as a coach.
  

If you think you would like to be featured in a future Squishing Gender-Stereotype program, send me an email.

We are continuing our Squishing Gender-Stereotypes Program with an interview. As you may know, my novel Fierce released on 8/14/14. Fierce is a contemporary sports fiction with romance elements, focused on mixed martial arts (MMA). You can read more on Fierce HERE
To celebrate the release, I'm hosting some awesome interviews and guests posts that look at women in male-dominated areas, gender-stereotypes, and, truly, people with passion. 

Today, my guest is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ninja Ben. If you couldn't tell, Ben is a guy. I know, I know. Above, I talk about celebrating women in male-dominated areas, so, why is today's guest a guy?

• Fierce is about passion for a sport/lifestyle/art. Celebrating passion, regardless of gender, is part of Fierce and part of celebrating its release. 
  
• I know, first-hand, that our guest strongly supports females in mixed martial arts. He has experience working with and coaching men and women.
  
• I don't know that Fierce would be here--at least not yet--if it weren't for Ben providing my introduction to mixed martial arts. 
  
• BJJ is an absolutely amazing martial art that, I believe, doesn't always get the attention it deserves. 
• Quick BJJ intro: BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) is a component of MMA, falls under the umbrella "grappling", is considered the "ground game". It's designed to teach a smaller person to defend themselves against a bigger person. It involves using body angles, weight distribution, joint locks, chokes etc to submit your opponent. 
  

Also, this will not always need to be the case: men often train with stronger opponents, and it is good for women to be exposed to that as well.

LG: Do you feel like its different coaching women and men? If so, how?

B: Yes, very. The major difference here is that men and women have different psychology, and have been typically socialized in very different ways. Thus, when helping students or athletes bring out their best selves for learning or competing, you have to approach men and women very differently. 

About Ben: Ben has been training self-defense and MMA for 12 years, and BJJ ten years. He is a purple belt in BJJ He has trained in various martial arts, and was a professional coach for 9 years. 

A note from LG: If you couldn't tell, Ben is a fantastic coach. Thank you, Ben, for sharing your thoughts with us. 


My question for YOU: Do you guys do any coaching/teaching/instructing? Does your plan of attack for these things differ between the genders?

A few words about Fierce...

In celebration of Fierce's release, we continue with MMA fighter Jodie Esquibel's interview. 
Yesterday, Invicta Fighter Jodie Esquibel told us about how she came to boxing and then MMA, as well about being a girl in MMA. You can read Part 1 HERE. Below, is Part 2 of her interview. 

LG: Women and men tend to fight differently. What are your thoughts on fighting a guy verse a girl?
JE: There are guy partners in the gym that you know are going to make you better, and others that aren't. John Dodson and I will stand toe-to-toe and knock the shit out of each other, but he was one of the first friends I made at the gym, so just having that friendship and trust and familiarity makes a difference. We push each other, and trust each other.

Girls, we tend to toe-to-toe right away. But guys go out there with us and we have to kind of see…how hard we are going to hit. If you don't hit me hard, you're wasting my time. If you don't tap me out, you're wasting my time. There are some guys that aren't beneficial for me to train with. Maybe they aren't comfortable training with a girl. But I don't want that. 

There are a handful of guys that don't really help me, but it's not a big deal. It's not awkward and we're friends. If I'm training for a fight, then I'll go for Dodson or one of the guys I know is going to push me and make me better. 

Overall, the caliber of fighter at the gym is unbelievable. Every day is a battle. If you don't bring your A game, it's a sad day.

It is different sparring with a girl than with a guy. We have a handful of badass girls I train with, and we're going light at first…and then we're going 30%, and it's harder, and then it's 70%, and we're just going, the intensity elevates. It's controlled but we just keep going. I appreciate that, it's very fight like. 

We do fight different. A girl doesn't punch like a guy. Girls throw differently than a guy, they walk differently, they move different. I'm lucky to have a great girl team, and great guys to work with also. 

Rolling [jiu-jitsu] is different with a girl also. We're more aggressive, less methodical. 

To be super nerdy, scientifically and chemically, we [women] are just wired differently. Females are emotional. In the beginning , when I was an amateur, my opponent would have this reaction that was like, "bitch, you just hit me" and it's like no, it's nothing personal. You signed up for this.

As women, sometimes we have to curb those raw emotions a little more, so that we can fight more strategically.  

LG: Having a female component in the gym is important for training.

JE: It is. Having the female component is awesome and beautiful and great. At first, it's hard because it's another girl in the gym and girls are territorial. Immediately, girls think "what weight does she fight at?" Sometimes, you have to be like, get over yourself.

When a new girl walks in, the response is usually like "who brought the new girl? Oh, that's so-and-so new girlfriend. Okay, cool." And then that's okay. It's instant scan mode.

It sounds horrible; it sounds animalistic. But it's very true. When a new girl comes in to fight, the other girls get dibs. "All right, cool, first round I got her,  you get her second round etc." It's ridiculous.

There's a  lot of dynamics being in male dominated areas. The fire department, being in the gym training in a male dominated field… You have to keep control. All of a sudden, you are just competing to be the best of everything but really not making yourself better. That's an ugly place to be. Everything is a competition. 'I can throw a ladder higher than you.'

LG: How does your yoga business tie into the rest of your life?

JE: Everything tied in well for me being able to learn with each career. The yoga studio was brought into my life to bring my ego down for sure. I was out of control. I feel a lot more grounded now. My ego may still be large, but at least I can acknowledge that. 

It was fun to open a business and try to slow life down a little bit. It's fun to offer classes and see people happy. It helps balance everything. 

Being so red-line all the time with training and paramedicine and helping the swat team makes it nice to step back and go teach yoga. Finding balance is important. 

LG: Any advice for women who want to pursue fighting or a life in other male-dominated fields?

JE: I would say, that it’s super important to stay grounded and stay true to yourself because if you're not happy with what you're doing, it's not going to work out. If that's truly what you want to do, whatever your path is, who cares what everyone else says.

You lose ten fights in a row but you still want to do it because it makes you happy? Stick with it. Put your head down and work hard and stay on that path, stay tough until you figure it out. There are people--including women--paving the way.

There are women in the UFC. Not long ago, Dana White said we would never be there. And we have Invicta, which is an unbelievable group creating a place for female fighters to go. 

Now is the time to stay with your dream and hard work will pay off.

Women's MMA is here to stay.

Even if it's not done the same way, the result is the same. 

We can do just as good as anyone else. 

Jodie has a fight scheduled for September 6th. You can find out more about Jodie: 
Twitter
Invicta

From L.G. : Thank you again, Jodie, for the great chat!

And thank you, readers, for checking it out! 

LG: What and when did you get into boxing?

JE: When I was 14, before high school. I had been involved in gymnastics, drill team, and dance team but none of those things kept my interest. My parents and I knew I needed to be involved in something to keep me active. I never was like 'Oh, I want to go beat someone up.' I just wanted fitness and fun. The first gym I went to was Mike Winklejohns and he was my first and only trainer I had. It was an after-school activity.

LG: When did you decide to make it more than that?

JE: I decided to take it to the next level after I went to some amateur fights. I went with teammates, and it was just like…wow, I want to do that. The energy level is high, and everyone is screaming and yelling, and I said sign me up. Wink said no, that I was too young. He didn't want anyone fighting that young, and I was grateful for that. The more I get into my career, the more of an advocate for safety I am. So, I was 15 and he made me wait another year.

LG: What was it like when you finally got to fight?

JE: When  he let me fight, I had my first fight at the old school [gym]. I won. I often think about if I had lost would I be on a different path? But I won that fight and that was the biggest high.

LG: How did you go from KB to boxing and to MMA?

JE: Majority of my amateur fights were in kickboxing. After you start winning a couple of amateur titles, it's hard to find fights--at least, locally. Traveling as an amateur is just spending money (at that point, I was spending my parent's money). When it was hard to find fights, it was time to go pro. Boxing was a big deal in New Mexico so my early professional fights were boxing. After Wink and Jackson merged, Wink would ask me every day if I was going to start doing jiu-jitsu. I would say, no, I kickbox and box, no, no, no. Now I look back and think if I had given in earlier, I'd be a lot further than where I am now [she laughs].

Being around the best coach and being around the best fighters in the world, you can only say no for so long. And, it started getting hard to get boxing fights as a pro and getting professional kickboxing fights is really hard. MMA, on the other hand, well, there are MMA cards every weekend. How could I keep saying no? I'm at the best school in the world and how can I say no to this amazing thing [mma] that is taking over?

In preparation for the interviews I'll be sharing over the next two weeks, and to lend some perspective on Tori from Fierce,  I thought I'd do a brief history of females in MMA. 

If you've heard anything about Fierce, you know that Tori was a female fighter, and started this journey when women in MMA was new. It's still new, but growing. In Fierce, Tori is still faced with some gender issues even though women are getting steady footholds in the fighting world, because, well, women still deal with these things.  While female fighting organizations are becoming big and female fights tend to be some of the biggest money-makers for quite a few organizations, it's still a relatively male-dominated area. 

I'll be the first to say that Tori can be a little abrasive and explosive, and sometimes her decisions don't match what we want/the 'normal'.  A reader made the comment that this fits, though, and her characterization matches the world she grew up in. Being in a mostly male field, especially one as intense as physical combat, impacts a person. It impacts males, it impacts females. Tori, I hope, shows that. You can read more about Fierce here. 

So, here's a little background. Sometimes, I think, we forget how new women being accepted (for the most part) in this sport is, because it got so big so fast. It reminds me of New Adult fiction--it was barely there, not really known, and then bam. NA Alley became an info hub, new adult pioneers wrote books that people wanted to read, and in a matter of months, really, NA wasn't just a possibility, it was THERE. It's easy, sometimes, to forget to that it is still new. That it is still growing, and new and diverse NA is still emerging. 

Female fighting is the same way.

The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is the largest MMA organization. The first UFC fight was in 1992. 1992. 

1992. 


Got that? 
In 2001, the Fertittas bought the UFC, with their business partner Dana White.  
The Ultimate Fighter ( a reality TV show that led to a UFC contract for the winner) aired in the early 2000s.  UFC pay-per-view exploded in the early 2000s as well. 


2011. Dana White says women will NEVER be in the UFC. That's right. He says we will never seen women in the UFC. 
You can watch the video here, if you'd like.


My own snarky comment: Funny, how that changes when it's realized women fighters bring in money too, huh?

Back to the facts:


2012. UFC announces Rhonda Rousey, a female fighter from Strikeforce, will fight on their card. 

Yup, twenty years after the UFC is created,  a women fights in the UFC. 

2013. UFC signs 11 female fighters, all in the same weight category.  UFC added a second female weight class in 2014.


So, as you can see, female fighting being accepted is still new. It is still growing and evolving. 
I can make another NA comparison with this one: NA started primarily in one category. It's evolving out of it just that one. 


Strikeforce was another MMA organization that existed from 1985 to 2013. Strikeforce hosted female fights starting in 2009 (I believe).

Invicta is an All Pro Women’s Mixed Martial Arts fight series founded in 2012. It is committed to women in MMA and growing that area. Invicta has really helped women's MMA explode into the limelight. A beautiful thing of Invincta? Multiple weight divisions. Why is this so important? Think about having women ranging from 5'2 to 6'2 have to fight each other/cut weight to get to the same # of pounds. Think about a 6'2 woman having to fight at 115) You can check out more on Invincta. 

So, there you have it. Women's MMA is here, and growing, and still relatively recently accepted. The acceptance isn't everywhere, obviously, and you can find plenty of female fighting hate if you talk to enough people or even just google female fighting. Tori deals with some of these things in Fierce. But, the women in this are nothing but strong, mentally and physically, and I know that women's MMA isn't going away. 

Tori's MMA career was taking off...
...until she beat the wrong man. Her training partner, nursing a bruised ego, snapped—shattering her trust and confidence.

Three years later, Tori’s keeping her fists to herself as she struggles to put herself through college. But when a group of gangbangers hassle her at work, old habits kick in and her fists fly. Max Estrada, a frequent diner customer, steps in and gets them out of hot water, but Tori is still fired... days before tuition is due.

With no other option, she’s forced to take a desk job at her old pounding grounds, where her demons still haunt the cage and the temptation to go glove-to-glove with familiar pro-fighter, Max Estrada, is too much. The sexy Colombian draws her back into the world of MMA and revives her dreams of becoming a professional face-puncher—until Will, her old partner and current Middleweight Champion, struts back into the gym. The secret they share is an unexpected liability to his career, and he's determined to keep her silent. 

With her life on the ropes, Tori will have to face the past for a shot at winning back her future, or carry the weight of a loss even greater than before.

Fierce is a NA Contemporary Sports Romance/ Sports fiction with romantic elements. It's suitable for upper YA and adults, in my opinion.  Formats available: ebook and paperback

Here is an excerpt shared for the Release Day Blitz (this excerpt is for you, romance fans)

Thank you all for helping me share this day!
For the next two weeks, I'm going to host some interviews and guest post about people who are super passionate about their sport/art/hobby, and also about/by women in male-dominated sports. I have some fighters you may know of stopping by the site, and some authors and writers you may know as well! 

One more Fierce note: Release Blitz, through Inkslinger PR, is going on today, and there is a giveaway. THANK YOU TO ALL PARTICIPATING!!!

Last week, we got a look at Tori, the main character in Fierce. This week, I want to introduce you to Max.
Max 'The Lobo' Estrada: I'm not going to give too much away here. You can find out about Max in the synopsis (pro-fighter, Colombian), but there's also a nice surprise (at least I think so) that you'll find out only by reading (hint:  it involves books!)

Here's a teaser of your leading man in Fierce. I'll be honest, these teaser stirs up my emotions, because I know the exact scene it's from, obviously. And, well, it's nice to look at, right?

I'll post another Max teaser on Thursday

Want to know more about how I picture Max, and my physical inspiration for him? Check out my Pinterest Fierce Board. You can also google Roger Huerta :) 

We are less than a month away from the release of FIERCE (8/14/14)! So, in preparation, I thought I'd share with you a little bit about the characters, and some teasers, over the next few weeks.
Today, here's a glimpse at your leading lady, Tori "the Amazon" Rhoads:

When you first meet Tori, she's an ex-pro MMA fighter. You will have to read to find out why she left her dream of becoming a professional face-puncher behind.. Ever since, she's been trying to live up to her plan: graduate college, career, marry a guy who can't throw a punch to save his life, get old, die, and all the while keep her fists to herself. 

She can be rough around the edges, a little explosive, and her exterior isn't exactly soft. After all, she's grown up in a male-dominated world.  Not only has she grown up in it, but she's lived it. But, of course, there's always a side of themselves everyone keeps hidden. 
She may have been called a tomboy a time or two (or maybe more than that), she says things that surprise even the guys, and she's always prepared for a fight. 

Here's one last quote from her:
"...where my dreams were fermented in the bloodstains on the mat, and the ghosts of my nightmares still haunted the cage..."