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    Elemental Assassin reading order …

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    So I’ve gotten a couple of questions about the reading order for my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

    Of course, I would suggest reading the books in order, starting with Spider’s Bite, the first book in the series. But, as you finish each book, I would check my Excerpts page and read the free short story (or stories) that go along with each book. For example, Spider’s Bargain goes along with Spider’s Bite, while Web of Death and Web of Deceit go along with Web of Lies. And so on and so forth.

    You’re not necessarily missing anything if you don’t read the free short stories, but I thought those would be fun extras for readers.

    I also have an e-novella — Thread of Death — and a couple of short stories that I’ve done for anthologies — Haints and Hobwebs and Parlor Tricks. So I’ve listed the reading order of those below with the books:

    • Spider’s Bite — book #1
    • Web of Lies — book #2
    • Venom — book #3
    • Tangled Threads — book #4
    • Haints and Hobwebs story in The Mammoth Book of Ghost Romance — takes place after the events of Tangled Threads
    • Spider’s Revenge — book #5
    • Thread of Death e-novella — takes place after the events of Spider’s Revenge
    • By a Thread — book #6
    • Widow’s Web — book #7
    • Deadly Sting — book #8
    • Parlor Tricks story in Carniepunk anthology — takes place after the events of Deadly Sting
    • Heart of Venom — book #9

    Does that make sense? Anyway, hope this answers some questions about the reading order of the series. Happy reading!

  • Blogging break …

    I’ve got some writing deadlines and other things going on, so I’m taking a brief break from blogging.

    I’ll be doing a post next week about the annual RT Booklovers Convention, but other than that, I’ll won’t be doing much here on the blog until the second week of May — or later, depending on how long it takes me to catch up from being gone for RT.

    I’ll still be around on Facebook and Twitter, though.

  • · · ·

    Guest blog: Edie Ramer on strong heroines …

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    Edie RamerToday, I’m please to welcome Edie Ramer to my blog. Edie is one of my author friends. She’s the author of Stardust Miracle, Dead People, and other books. Take it away, Edie:

    STRONG HEROINES:

    Garrison Keillor uses this phrase to describe the fictional town of Lake Wobegon: “Where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.”

    Books with strong women and good-looking men are my favorites. (I take “above average” children for granted.) Though my first introduction to stories was fairy tales, where the average heroines are passive, I quickly graduated to Nancy Drew, devouring her mysteries. At the same time, I loved Wonder Women comic books. In my teens, I found great books filled with strong women, like Little Women, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Pride and Prejudice. I love a strong heroine and dislike whiny heroines.

    Jennifer writes three series with strong heroines. Gin, the assassin heroine in her Elemental Assassin series also runs a barbeque restaurant. So she kills and cooks. I honestly think the cooking part might be harder for me. I’m sure my husband would agree. Her other heroines are strong in different ways. You won’t find a weak one in the bunch.

    And the men … She does well by them, too. They are good looking. And usually they have a few dollars or more in their many bank accounts – which often makes a man look even more good looking.

    Since my first published book, Cattitude, in which a cat changes bodies with a woman and thinks anything a human can do, she can do better, my heroines have been strong. That includes the woman in my Miracle Interrupted books. In Mo’s Heart, the fifth book, Rosa Fabrini is probably one of the emotionally strongest characters I’ve written – and it’s something the hero loves about her.

    Mo's HeartHere’s a short excerpt from Mo’s Heart that takes place after she’s been forced to leave her home, and she’s temporarily staying in an apartment above the hero’s restaurant – right next to his.

    All this ran through her mind in a second as Mo stopped beside her. “It’s not a palace.”

    “I wouldn’t know what to do in a palace.”

    “You’d be the queen. Anything you wanted.”

    She laughed, surprised by his comment. Surprised that she had laughter in her. “I’d rather be a cook.”

    “You are that. The best sous-chef in the village.”

    There was a quiet moment between them, and a sense of peace sighed inside her as she looked at his serious face and knew he saw her as a strong woman, a woman who was temporarily down but not out. Never out. Not as long as she had breath.

    She stood taller.

    “The furniture is pretty ugly,” he said.

    “I don’t know. The couch is the same color as your eyes.”

    “Do me a favor?”

    She looked at him. He never asked her for favors. “Of course.”

    “Run downstairs and get my chef’s knife and bring it back up here.”

    She laughed again and felt a shift inside her. Kind of like she imagined the earth felt when a boulder in a precarious spot moved. “Why?”

    “So you can gouge my eyes out.”

     GIVEAWAY TIME:

    CattitudeEdie is offering up digital copies of Cattitude and Miracle Pie to one winner. To enter, just leave a comment on this post talking about some heroines that you like.

    The giveaway will be open through midnight, EST, Wednesday, April 17. The winner will be randomly selected and announced here on the blog on Friday, April 19.

    ALL ABOUT EDIE:

    Edie Ramer is funnier on the page than in real life. A multiple award-winning writer, she writes stories with heart, attitude, and magic. She lives in southeastern Wisconsin with her husband, dog and one important cat. She’s happy to do what she loves nearly every day.

    MO’S HEART will be available online any day. For more information, visit edieramer.com and follow Edie on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. 

    Thanks so much for being here today, Edie.