• 853 and counting …

    Finished Ice Blue by Anne Stuart. This is the third book in her Ice romantic suspense series.

    This one is about Summer Hawthorne, a museum curator determined to keep a valuable Japanese ceramic bowl out of the hands of a cult leader named Shirosama. What Summer doesn’t realize is that Shirosama wants the bowl as part of a ceremony where he will unleash nerve toxins and other nasty things on the world. Also on the trail of the bowl and Summer is Takashi O’Brien, an agent for the Committee, a group which prevents doomsday events from happening. Takashi saves Summer from Shirosama’s goons, even though he has orders to kill her. And it goes on from there.

    I like a lot of things Stuart does in this one, including the absolute, over-the-top evilness of the villain and Summer’s trickery (she has a bowl forged rather than let Shirosama get his hands on the real one). Stuart is also really good at bringing back characters from previous books in the series and weaving them into the action. Peter and Madame Lambert are always a treat to see again.

    But I really, really didn’t like the hero in this one. Takashi comes off as cold and hard and completely unyielding. I know he’s supposed to be a tortured agent of the Committee who’s forced to make hard choices that eat away at his soul. But Taka starts to kill Summer half a dozen times, and he’s not terribly remorseful about it. His treatment of Summer is also rough and rather callous. There’s a scene in an airplane bathroom that really made me want to shoot him. 👿

    I liked Summer’s character a lot better. Her backstory was interesting, and she has her own inner demons to deal with. But I didn’t really connect with Summer, mainly because she stays in a self-imposed, calm fog through most of the book. It’s hard to really get into a character who’s always five seconds away from hysteria. Although, given what she goes through, Summer has plenty of reasons to be hysterical.

    Another thing that bothers me about Stuart’s books in general (but especially this one) is the abruptness of her endings. It’s action, action, action. Then, the bad guy is defeated, and the hero and heroine go their respective ways. So far, so good. But then, at the very end, the hero comes back in for usually just a page or two. The heroine sees him, falls weeping into his arms, and that’s where the book ends. There aren’t any grand declarations of love between the two — Summer and Taka in this case – or any sense of them having overcome their inner problems or being better people. It just … ends.

    So, thumbs down on this one.

    Up next: Probably nothing for a while. Must do my own Assassin revisions!

  • · ·

    Top Ten Signs a Book is Written by Me …

    4 Comments

    So, I saw this over at HelenKay Dimon’s blog, which she found a couple other places. It’s called Top Ten Signs a Book is Written by Me. I thought it would be fun to do my own list. So, here goes:

    1. The words shrinking violet will never be used to describe my heroines. I write strong, kick-ass women, and I always will. Who wants to read about a heroine who has as much gumption as a wet noodle? 😎

    2. At least one of my characters will wear outrageous, costume-like outfits — whether they want to or not. What can I say? Sequins and eye-burning neon colors are cool. I like describing them, and I like putting my characters in them, mainly because I don’t have the body or courage to pull of electric-blue spandex in real life. Who does?

    3. There will be lots of explosions, death, or danger – the more the better. I’m pretty good at writing action scenes. In fact, I probably do that better than I write emotional or sex scenes. Plus, I love writing scenes where my heroine gets the best of the bad guys — and they get exactly what they deserve.

    4. I’m not going to hit you over the head with morals or life lessons or deep thoughts. Fun, sexy fantasy. That’s what I write, and I’m proud of it. 

    5. There will be no obsessive, crazy, stalker-like men as heroes in my books. Guys can be hot and sexy and loving without going bananas if another man so much as looks at their woman. Ugh.

    6. There will be witty banter, heavily tinged with sarcasm and sprinkled with irony. At least, I hope other people think that it’s witty.

    7. Stereotypes and genres will be summarily dealt with. There’s nothing I love more than taking a stereotype or genre (like comic books and James Bond movies) and giving it my own twist. Sometimes as a spoof (the Bigtime books), sometimes as a send-up (Live & Let Spy), sometimes just my own take on an old character/construct (my elemental Assassin book).

    8. Cleverness is key. More often than not, my heroines succeed by outsmarting and outlasting the bad guys — not necessarily by overpowering them.

    9. Little things matter. I like adding in little details to make my worlds richer, like all my superhero and villain names and random encounters in the Bigtime books. Halitosis Hal, anyone?

    10. It’s written in first person. I know lots of people hate first person, but it’s the voice that really sings to me and lets me get inside my character’s head. I don’t know that I’ll ever write a third-person book.

    What about you? What describes the books you write or the ones you love to read? What do you think makes a Jennifer Estep book a Jennifer Estep book? 😎

  • ·

    The good times are over — for now …

    2 Comments

    Well, I knew it couldn’t last. Over the holidays and the last few weeks, I’ve been lazing around – reading books, watching my A-Team DVDs, cleaning out my basement. Basically waiting around for the publishing folks and everyone else to get over the holiday madness and get back to work.

    Yesterday, I got some thoughts on revisions for my Assassin book from my agent. Which is good because I’m out of my holding pattern. And bad because it means I have to get back to work now, too. Sigh.

    Ah, well. The sooner I finish it, the sooner is will (hopefully!) sell. :bub:

    Ideally, I’d like to send the revised Assassin book back to my agent and finish a rough draft of my second Spy book by the end of January. We’ll see how that goes.

    What about you? What do you want to accomplish this month?

  • · ·

    Clean dreams …

    7 Comments

    Magical Musings had a post a few days ago about Feng Shui and New Year’s. The post basically talks about getting rid of all the crap you don’t need anymore and making sure everything in your house is in good working order. Feeling all inspired and needing to do it anyway, I decided to systematically go through my house and get rid of everything I hadn’t used in the last six months.

    The crap. Oh, the crap.

    I never really considered myself to be a pack rat, but since I started cleaning, I bet I’ve thrown out at least a dozen trash bags of old report cards, school papers, newspapers, magazines, and general debris. Not to mention all the clothes I’ve taken to Goodwill and the old VHS movies I donated to my local library. And I’m not done yet.

    Among the more interesting items I’ve rediscovered during my cleaning frenzy are rejection letters I’ve gotten over the years. I had a big blue binder full of them. It was kind of funny and depressing to go through the letters and see all the ways a writer can be rejected — and realize just how many times I had been. (I lost count after about 200.)

    Form letters, form notecards, handwritten scrawls that read Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve gotten them all. One rejection letter from an editor said she/he was passing on my book because the heroine was a journalist. That’s it. That was the only reason she/he gave. Perhaps if my heroine been a chef or something else, she/he would have bought it. Maybe the most succinct and depressing rejection was this one: I just didn’t like it enough.

    Okey-dokey.

    Some authors keep all their rejection letters. Not me. They went in the garbage, with everything else. I’m Feng Shui-ing my house and life, and I figure it’s good to get rid of as much negativity as possible, including rejection letters. 😉

    I did keep a few of the letters, mainly for motivational purposes and to remind myself how hard I’ve worked to be published. Among the keepers? The three rejection letters I got from the agency that now represents me.

    What about you? Are you cleaning house in the New Year? What will you keep? What will you throw away?

  • Baby, it’s cold outside …

    10 Comments

    It was a whopping 11 degrees when I left my house to go to work this morning. I know that’s nothing compared to up north, but 11 degrees is pretty chilly for my neck of the Southern woods.

    All week long, I’ve been playing a new game — how many layers of clothes can Jen put on? Today, the answer is five. Long underwear, jeans, a camisole, more long underwear, and a turtleneck sweater. This doesn’t count my jacket, purple toboggan, gloves, socks, and boots. I look … puffy. And my hair is a disaster from the toboggan.

    I’m considering going to Wal-Mart, buying a pair of cheap gloves, cutting the fingertips out of them hobo-style, and wearing them to work — so I can still type and keep my hands moderately warm. My hands are always cold. My significant other says I have ghoul touch and accuses me of sucking his precious body heat. This, from the man who uses his cats to warm his bed at night.

    Good times. 🙄

    Hey Amy, Susan, and Edie — what’s the weather like where y’all live? Stay warm and stay safe!