Jennifer Estep (edit name/settings)

By night, Jennifer Estep is an author, prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

By day, Jennifer is an award-winning features page designer for a daily newspaper with a wide range of media and journalism experience. She’s also a certifiable fangirl and an authority on fantasy literature and culture. Jennifer is a member of Romance Writers of America, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and other writ­ing groups.
More about Jennifer

I’m a Southern gal through and through. Sassy, sarcastic, and just a tad crazy.

I spent my formative years doing the usual kid things – playing, hanging out with my friends, and making up wild stories in my head.

It’s the last one that’s gotten me into trouble.

I don’t remember the first book I read. Or the second. Or even the third. But some­where along the way, I fell in love with books and reading. Fairy tales, fantasies, adventure stories, mysteries, romances, westerns. As a kid, I read every book that I could get my hands on.

My mom, bless her, encouraged this obsession by taking me to the library every week. It’s one of my favorite childhood memories. Most folks think penicillin, indoor plumb­ing, and the Internet are the world’s best inventions. Not me. The greatest thing ever created was a library. Indoor plumbing is a close second, though.

The more I read, the more I thought about writing my own stories. I penned a few poems and short stories over the years, mainly for class assignments. Somewhere along the way, I realized that I wanted to write books for a living.

In college, I majored in English because of my love of books. But what can you do with an English degree? I didn’t know. One semester, I got a job with the college newspaper and discovered you could write stories and make a respectable living. Since that light-bulb moment, I’ve earned a bachelor’s degree in English and journalism, and a master’s degree in professional communications. Currently, I’m an award-winning fea­tures page designer for a daily newspaper.

Now, after many, many years of toil and trouble, I’ve achieved my dream of being a bona fide, published, fiction author. I plan to keep on keeping on – writing, dreaming, making up wild stories in my head.

And getting myself into trouble.


Q&A: Question: Where do your ideas come from?

Answer: Everywhere. Movies, books, television shows, news stories, real life, my own overactive imagination. Whenever I read a book or watch a movie, I always put myself in a character’s place. What would I do? How would I react to these circum­stances? How could I be the hero or the villain?

I also have a tendency to invent new characters to add to my favorite books, movies, and television shows. I always thought Luke Skywalker needed a love interest in the Star Wars movies – someone with a southern accent. I’ve imagined myself as Sydney Bristow’s Alias sidekick, Buffy Summer’s nemesis, a member of The A-Team, and a thousand other characters.

My ideas grow from the world around me. I’ll hear, see, or read about something, and think what if … It’s one of the most powerful, inspiring thoughts you can have.

Question: What inspires you?

Answer: Everything. The smell of someone’s perfume. The way a man walks. The glint of sun on a woman’s hair. A person’s laugh. A smile from a stranger. A snippet of conversation. The world is full of beautiful and ugly things. They all inspire me.

Question: How long does it take you to write a book? How do you do it?

Answer: Writing a book is a long, complicated process. I start with an idea, then think about the characters, setting, etc. Once I have my story and characters in mind, I write a rough draft, usually about 50,000 to 70,000 words. This takes about a month.

Then, I let the book sit for a few weeks, before going back to it and seeing if the overall story will work and what revisions need to be done. I do this a couple of times, adding to the story every time, until the book is around 100,000 words and as perfect as I can make it. Overall, this can take anywhere from a few months to a year, depending on how busy I am with other projects. But I’m working on something all the time.

Question: What are the Elemental Assassin books about?

Answer: The Elemental Assassin books are set in the fictional southern metropolis of Ashland, where Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina meet in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. The books focus on Gin Blanco, an assassin codenamed the Spi­der who runs a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit in her spare time. Gin is also an elemental or person who can control one of the four elements – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone. Gin has the rare gift of being able to control two elements, Ice and Stone in her case. Besides elementals like Gin, Ashland is also home to giants, dwarves, and vampires.

The first book in the series, Spider’s Bite, was released in February 2010 by Pocket Books. Web of Lies, the second book in the series, came out in June 2010. Venom, the third book, will hit shelves in October 2010. Tangled Threads, the fourth book in the series, will be published in May 2011, while the fifth book (untitled at this point) will be released in October 2011.

Question: Why write about an assassin? That doesn’t seem like a very sympathetic character.

Answer: Ever since I started reading epic fantasy books in high school, I’ve been intru­iged by assassin characters and the moral questions they raise. Do some people deserve to die? Does killing someone for money automatically make you a bad person? Does an assassin ever feel guilty about killing? These are some ideas I wanted to explore, so I cre­ated my own assassin Gin Blanco, with her own motivations, quirks, powers, and problems.

Assassins might not be the most sympathetic characters or the easiest to identify with, but I think they are some of the most fascinating. Plus, I wanted to write a really smart, strong, tough female character, which I think that I’ve done with Gin Blanco.

Question: What are the Bigtime books about?

Answer: The Bigtime books are set in Bigtime, New York – a fictional city full of superheroes, ubervillains, and other larger-than-life characters. The stories are basi­cally fun, female-centered comic books without the art (think the 1970s Wonder Woman television show with Lynda Carter). Each Bigtime book focuses on a differ­ent heroine – what makes her unique, what she wants out of life, and how she goes about getting it – including the guy of her dreams. Titles in the series are Karma Girl (2007), Hot Mama (2007), and Jinx (2008).

Question: What’s the difference between urban fantasy and paranormal romance? They sound the same to me.

Answer: In many respects, they are the same. Both take place in fantasy worlds and feature larger-than-life characters with amazing magic and powers. However, there are some major differences.

In urban fantasy, the focus is on one main character, and the story is often told in the first person point of view. Readers follow this one character through her various trials and tribulations. Also, many urban fantasies have several potential love interests for the hero/heroine. The love interest may change several times throughout the course of a series before finally being decided. The love story is usually a secondary part of the plot. Examples of urban fantasy include my Elemental Assassin series, the Dres­den Files by Jim Butcher, and the Hollows/Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison.

In a paranormal romance, each book in a series usually focuses on a different couple. The main plot revolves around this couple achieving their happily ever after, and the couple commits to each other by the end of the book. Examples of paranormal romance include my Bigtime series, the Dark-Hunters series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward.

Question: Are your books just for women? Or people who like fantasy or comic books?

Answer: Absolutely not. My books are fun, sexy fantasies full of danger, drama, and romance – all the elements of any great story. They can be enjoyed by everyone, whether you read comics, fantasy, romance, or something else. That’s the wonderful thing about books – there are so many books with so many different characters that you’re bound to find a couple you love. Happy reading!