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    The blogs, they are a’changing …

    2 Comments

    I’ve realized something about my blog habits — they’ve changed in recent months.

    When I was first starting out as a writer, I surfed over to Miss Snark’s just about every day. I also checked out blogs by other agents, like Kristin Nelson. Now? Not so much. The truth is I just don’t need info anymore about what to put in a query letter or how to act if an agent calls with an offer of representation. And I find that I get tired of reading about people obsessing about what “not right for us at this time” really means. (It means no people, nothing more, nothing less.)

    Now, I’m into review sites, like Dear Author and The Good, The Bad, and the Unread, and All About Romance. I want to see what people are buzzing about, what’s getting read and what’s not, what’s getting great reviews, and how my own book fits into the scheme of things.

    My blog habits have changed because my writing’s changed. I’ve moved from the desperately-trying-to-get-an-agent phase to the almost-published phase. The wide-eyed newbie has morphed into a slightly savvier, tougher chick. At least, I hope she has. 😎

    What about you? Has your Web surfing changed as your writing career’s taken off? Inquiring minds want to know …

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    Shock value …

    NOTE FROM JEN: This post has some spoilers. Stop reading now if you don’t want to know what happens in this book. 

    I’m currently reading Demon Angel by Meljean Brook. I’ll post an official review when I finish it (hopefully sometime next week). It’s a paranormal romance that focuses on Hugh and Lilith. Hugh is a Guardian (an angel-like creature sworn to protect men), while Lilith is a halfling demon (sworn to tempt and punish men). So, you can see why they’re at odds.

    But Meljean does something in her book that I don’t recall any other romance author doing (SPOILER ALERT) — she has Hugh kill Lilith. He kills her! Dead. Shoves a long sword through her heart and buries her. And he thinks that she’s really dead. Not mostly dead. Really, truly, forever dead. Dead-dead.

    I can’t remember this ever happening in any other romance that I’ve read. Oh sure, the hero will off the heroine so he can turn her into a vampire/werewolf/goddess, and they can be together forever. But he only kills her with the intention of bringing her back. Not Hugh. He kills Lilith to set her free.

    And it shocked me. Especially since it was only around page 100. (Yeah, yeah, deep down, I figured that Lilith would get resurrected some way. But still, he killed her).

    This is the first time in a long time that a romance has shocked me. And I started to wonder … why? Why is it so shocking? Because heroes don’t do things like that? Please. People drop like flies in Lee Child’s books. I don’t have a problem with his hero killing people. Heck, I expect him to dispatch bad guys in interesting ways.

    I think it’s because the book is a romance, and I expect the hero to be, well, romantic. Shoving a sword through his beloved’s chest isn’t the typical definition of romantic. I wouldn’t be rushing to forgive a guy who killed me, no matter how much I loved him. But it made me want to read on to see how Meljean pulls off the rest of the book. And that’s what books should do — make you want to see how it all ends.

    More to come later.

    What about you? What’s the most shocking thing you’ve ever read in a romance (or any other book)? Inquiring minds want to know …

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    4 stars, baby!

    10 Comments

    karma-girl-cover.jpg

    Karma Girl just got reviewed in the May issue of Romantic Times … and got a 4-star rating! Who-hoo! (The highest rating the magazine gives is 4 1/2 stars).

    Here’s what Jill M. Smith, the reviewer, said:

    Secret identities and superpowers take on a delightful and humorous new twist in Estep’s exciting debut, written in the first person. Fun and sexy, Estep’s caper demonstrates how revenge can backfire. Here’s hoping for more Bigtime adventures from this impressive talent.

    Wow! She liked it! Three sentences’ worth of like!

    Needless to say, I’m having an excellent day. 😎

  • It’ll change your life … or not …

    4 Comments

    There are exactly 35 days to go until Karma Girl hits store shelves. Not that I’m counting down or anything. 😀

    One of my co-workers who’s also an author (he writes non-fiction travel books) recently made a prophecy. “When that book comes out,” he said. “It’ll change your life.”

    And I had to wonder … will it? Will it really?

    Because I’ll still be me. Anal-retentive. Obsessive. Compulsive. Slightly crazy. A total fangirl. I’ll still get up and go to my day job every morning. Still have bills to pay. Still hang out with my friends and family.

    What’s going to change? I doubt very much that people are suddenly going to stop me on the street, shake my hand, and gush about how great my book is. (Although that would be awesome!) Oh, I imagine I’ll get a little more name recognition at RWA events and the like, but that’s about it. I hope I get some reader e-mails telling me that they enjoyed the book. Maybe even some from other authors that I read and like. But what else is going to happen? What’s going to change?

    I can’t imagine — but I hope I’m pleasantly surprised by the outcome. 😎

    What about you? Has having a book published changed your life? How? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • Weak in the knees …

    2 Comments

    stat_shot_top_superhero.jpgI saw a funny comic book panel posted over at Dear Author today and had to respond with something of my own.

    This is courtesy of my significant other, who spends far too much of his time looking at bad and cheesy Internet sites. This photo is from The Onion.

    This is definitely good for a laugh. Who knew public speaking could fell even a mighty superhero? 😎