Jennifer's biography

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

Jennifer writes the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. The books focus on Gin Blanco, an assassin codenamed the Spider who can control the elements of ice and stone.

When she's not busy killing people and righting wrongs, Gin runs a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit in the fictional southern metropolis of Ashland. The city is also home to fire and air elementals, giants, dwarves, and vampires.

The first book in the series, Spider's Bite, will be released on Jan. 26, 2010 by Pocket Books. The second book in the series will be released in June 2010, with the third book to follow in October 2010.

Jennifer is also the author of the Bigtime paranormal romance series for Berkley. The Bigtime books feature sexy superheroes, evil ubervillains, and smart, sassy gals looking for love. Titles in the Berkley series include Karma Girl (2007), Hot Mama (2007), and Jinx (2008).

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.

Jennifer's books have been featured in Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Southern Living, and a variety of other publications.

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. I read everything I could get my hands on, then I got a dozen more.

My mom, bless her, encouraged this obsession by taking me to the library every week. It's a tradition I've continued. 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 started thinking 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.

Frequently asked questions

n 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.

n 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.

n 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 40,000 or 50,000 words. This takes about a month.

Then, I let the story 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.

n 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 in her spare time. Gin is also an elemental or person who can control one of the four elements – air, stone, ice, and fire. 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, will be released on Jan. 26, 2010.

n 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 strong female character. What's stronger than having the power to decide whether someone lives or dies? Not much.

n 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).

n 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 an 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 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 the Dark-Hunters series by Sherrilyn Keyon and the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J. R. Ward.

n 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 – they're for everyone. There are so many books with so many different characters you're bound to find a couple you love.