• ·

    Realist or idealist?

    6 Comments

    Jane has an interesting post over at Dear Author today about realism vs. idealism in romance novels, especially in the Bob Mayer-Jenny Cruise book, Don’t Look Down.

    The post talks about a male character sleeping with someone other than the heroine during the course of the book and whether that was realistic or not. I read the book. The scene in question didn’t bother me.

    But Jane’s post made me think about something else that’s not so realistic in romance novels — the perfectly ripped guy with fantastic hair, obscene wealth, and a killer smile. My significant other brought this up a few days ago, asking me why most guys in romances (and especially on the book covers) are the male model of perfection, when most guys in real life, well, aren’t.

    And I didn’t know how to answer him.

    I have to admit that I’m guilty of writing the perfect guy in my books, while I tend to make the heroine more relatable (or at least with a more realistic body type). But I give the hero quirks too — a shy personality, guilt over a friend’s death, a desire for revenge that threatens the romance with the heroine.

    But Jane’s post also struck me as funny because I’m working on Bigtime 4 now — and the hero isn’t the perfect guy when it comes to looks. Oh, he’s wealthy and witty, but he’s more of a mortal superhero — one without any superpowers. Which means his body is covered with scars from all his battles, his nose is crooked from being broken, etc. I’m making an effort to make him more of a normal guy (in the looks department anyway).

    Of course, the heroine thinks the hero is handsome — after she gets to know him. I think that’s just part of the process of falling in love — learning to appreciate what’s beautiful about your partner. The more you love someone, the more you overlook their thinning hair or poochy stomach or thunder thighs in favor of what’s great about them (their smile, their laugh, their smoking eyes).

    Which do you prefer? Gorgeous, chiseled heroes? Or more realistic guys when it comes to looks? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • Another review …

    Karen Healey over at Girls Read Comics has reviewed Karma Girl.

    She had some good things to say about the book:

    Carmen’s an engaging, likeably-flawed protagonist whose first-person narration is fun and funny …

    And some bad things:

    … but Striker is a cardboard cut-out. He’s a cardboard cut-out of Batman, which is much cooler than the back of the refrigerator box, but he’s still disappointingly flat.

    Click on the link above to read the whole review.

    Not as positive as I’d hoped for, but I still appreciate Karen taking the time to review the book. And she gave me some things to think about for future books. So, thanks, Karen! 😎

  • Another bit of shameless self-promotion …

    In case you haven’t looked at my Appearances page in a while, here are the varios blogs and book signings I’ll be doing in April and May to promote Karma Girl. Hope to see you there! :cool: 

    April

    n April 28: I’ll be doing a guest blog about surviving the editing process at Magical Musings and my regular column over at Romancing the Blog.

    May

    n May 5: I’ll be appearing from 10 a.m.-noon at the Thomas Memorial Branch Library in Bluff City, Tenn.

    Then, I’ll be signing books from 1-3 p.m. at Barnes & Noble in Johnson City, Tenn.

    And finally, from 4-6 p.m., I’ll be at Mountain Empire Comics in Bristol, Tenn. signing books as part of Free Comics Day.

    n May 8: I’ll be doing a reading and signing books from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Madagascar Coffee Co. in Kingsport, Tenn.

    n May 12: I’ll be signing books from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at B Dalton Booksellers in Bristol, Va.

    I’ll be signing books from 4-6 p.m. at Books-A-Million in Johnson City, Tenn.

    n May 26: I’ll be signing books from 1-3 p.m. at Waldenbooks in Kingsport, Tenn.

    n May 27: I’ll be signing books from 2-4 p.m. at Carpe Librum bookstore in Knoxville, Tenn.

    Whew! I’m exhausted just thinking about all these … 😀

  • Another rave review …

    2 Comments

    karma-girl-cover.jpgKarma Girl has gotten another awesome review, this time from Fresh Fiction. Here’s what the reviewer, Paula Myers, had to say:

    KARMA GIRL, by new author Jennifer Estep, is a laugh- out-loud roller coaster ride of pure escapist entertainment! Readers are drawn into an amazing world of good and evil and heroes and villains with over-the-top settings and characters. Ms. Estep has painstakingly created a comic book world and populated it with a collection of creatively believable people entwined in a basic battle of good vs. evil, with some romance thrown in on the side.

    When I started reading this story, I had no idea what to expect. And when I read the words “spandex” and “superheroes” in the same paragraph, I was concerned about getting through the next 300+ pages. Well, I was up until 3 a.m. (not good on a school night!) because I couldn’t put this book down! Ms. Estep has a gift for storytelling and showcases it beautifully in what I hope is the first of many adventures of Karma Girl and the Fearless Five. This one is going on my keeper shelf!

    Wow! I’m going on her keeper shelf! Yeah!

  • Off to guest blog …

    Tehcnically, this happened yseterday, but I did a guest blog for Louise Ahearn’s site, Boom! Explosive PR Solutions for Authors, where I talk about what some authors dread the most — being interviewed by a journalist. 

    I recently took Louise’s PR Bootcamp class through Author MBA, and I would highly recommend it. She really makes you work hard and think about branding, themes in your writing, and how you can make the most of them. 

    Enjoy the blog! 🙂