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    Write Your Own cake essay released today …

    Read it now — Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series has been released today, Jan. 14. Woot!

    Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series book cover with blue backgroundGET THE EBOOK:

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    This is a 2,100-word essay about writing and worldbuilding. The first essay in this series is Write Your Own Cake: A Worldbuilding Essay. If you are interested in writing a book/story, you might find some helpful tips in the essays.

    Both of the essays are only available as ebooks, due to their short length. Thank you for reading! 😎 

    WRITE YOUR OWN CAKE: TIPS FOR WRITING A LONG SERIES DESCRIPTION:

    New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep continues her Write Your Own Cake series with an essay about creating and authoring a long book series. Estep is the author of more than 50 fantasy and science-fiction books, including the long-running Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

    Writing a book is hard. But writing book after book with the same characters and settings? Well, that is even harder.

    Whether you are penning epic fantasy adventures, pulse-pounding thrillers, or swoon-worthy romances, writing a book series comes with its own unique challenges. This essay offers some tips and tricks for setting up your initial worldbuilding and magic system in anticipation of writing multiple books in the same series. It also offers suggestions on characters, tropes, and more that can help keep an ongoing book series fresh and interesting for both authors and readers.

    Note: Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series is a 2,100-word essay about writing and worldbuilding. 

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    My 2025 books/release schedule …

    4 Comments

    MONDAY MORNING MAILBAG

    Question: Can you share your book/release schedule for 2025?

    Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series book cover with blue backgroundAnswer: Of course! Here is my tentative schedule. Please keep in mind that some of these dates might change due to various publishing whims:

    • Jan. 14 — Write Your Own Cake: Tips for Writing a Long Series: This is a 2,100-word essay about writing and worldbuilding. The first essay in this series is Write Your Own Cake: A Worldbuilding Essay. If you are interested in writing a book/story, you might find some helpful tips in the essays.
    • Aug. 26 — A Touch of Treachery: This is a full-length book (about 128,000 words) about Charlotte Locke and Desmond Percy. This is book #3 in my Section 47 urban fantasy, spies-with-magic series. If you like Alias and James Bond, then you might enjoy this series.
    • A Touch of Treachery cover art with a man and a woman on a snowy background with an explosive in the distanceOct. 14 — Only Rogue Actions: This is a short book (about 52,000 words) about Vesper Quill and Kyrion Caldaren. This is book #5 in my Galactic Bonds science-fiction fantasy romance series, which I often describe as “Star Wars meets Bridgerton“. If you like space operas, then you might enjoy this series.
    • Potential new book/series: I’m also working on a new book/series. This will be an epic fantasy aka romantasy book with a thief heroine. Right now, I’m pitching it as “Robin Hood meets Leverage“. I’m hoping to find a traditional publisher for the book, but if that doesn’t happen, I can always indie publish it. I’ll share more news as it becomes available.

    What books are you looking forward to reading this year? Thanks for reading! 😎 

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    All my books/releases from 2024 …

    MONDAY MORNING MAILBAG
     
    Question: Can you recap your book releases from 2024?
     
    Answer: Sure! Here is a list of all my books/projects from 2024 in the order they were released:
    Only Cold Depths ebook cover art with a couple on a purple background
    Tune in next week for a look at my 2025 projects. Same Bat time, same Bat channel, as they used to say in the old Batman TV show with Adam West. 😎 
     
    Thank you for reading. Happy New Year to all!

  • Happy Holidays!

    ‘Tis the season for holiday celebrations. Woot! 😎 

    Kitty Boodle sitting on Jennifer's purple yoga mat

    I will spend some time with Little Debbie and Kitty Boodle, along with my dad and stepmom. Food will be eaten, presents will be opened, and Boodle will get lots of scritches.

    I also hope to have lunch – and/or a hot chocolate-dessert meetup – with some friends. I also like to text/call/message my cousins and other friends who live in different states and let them know that I’m thinking about (and missing) them.

    One thing I do that’s a little unusual is that I will usually start taking my tree down on Christmas Day. As soon as we open presents, I am itching to put all the decorations away, put all the furniture back where it is supposed to go, and clean up my glitter-ball disaster of a house.

    Christmas is over, nothing to see here, time to move on.

    I enjoy the holiday season, although all the cooking, shopping, wrapping, and decorating is a *lot* of work. So is the family drama that so often comes along with holiday gatherings. Don’t forget to take care of yourself during this busy, stressful time of year.

    I was going to do some yoga, but as you can see in this photo, Kitty Boodle decided she wanted to plop down on my old yoga mat. She looked so cute that I took her picture. ? #Iameasilyswayedbycuteness

    I hope everyone has a great holiday season filled with family, friends, food, and all the things you love, along with great new books to read.

    Thank you for reading. Cheers to all!

    What are some of your holiday celebrations/traditions?

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    My favorite reads of 2024 …

    MONDAY MORNING MAILBAG

    Question: What were your favorite reads this year?

    Dungeons and Drama book cover with a young couple and pink backgroundAnswer: I read more than 30 books this year, which was my goal. Woot! Here are some of my favorite reads this year:

    • Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce is a young adult romance about a girl who is forced to work at her dad’s game store and agrees to fake date a co-worker. This book/story is like a giant love letter to Dungeons & Dragons gaming and game/comic book shops. Boyce has another gaming-themed book, Dating and Dragons, coming out later in December.
    • The Spider Heist by Jason Kasper focuses on a former FBI agent who gets tangled up in a complicated heist. I love, love, love books about thieves/heists, and this one was really fast-paced and fun.
    • Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland is an epic fantasy about five people who join forces to try to kill a king and end up caring about each other more than they ever expected. Four Ruined Realms, book #2, will be out in January.

    What were some of your favorite reads this year?