• It’s not a competition … except when it is …

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    It’s not a competition.

    Those are the words that my significant other said to me last night when I told him about the myriad of book work I was attempting to accomplish.

    My response? Oh, babe. It is so a competition.

    Karma Girl comes out May 1, and I have been busting my ass for the last six weeks trying to get stuff done. I’ve set up book signings and advertising and guest blogs. The last two weeks, I’ve spent about three hours a night stuffing envelopes and mailing out bookmarks to readers’ groups and bookstores around the country. Oh yeah, and I need to work on Bigtime 4 too. And my paranormal spy book. And get ready to do interviews. The list is endless …

    Evidently, the way I was explaning things, my significant got the impression that I was in a contest with myself to see how much work I could do — and how crazy I can make myself. That’s not the case. I’m in a contest with all the other authors out there.

    Every single one.

    Because we all have books to sell, and folks only have so much disposable income. I’m a newbie, a nobody really. People don’t know who am I. They don’t know what my books are about. They don’t know that they should give me a chance to dazzle them with my brilliance and campy, fun books.

    But I can fix that. And that’s what I’m trying to accomplish with all this stuff — getting the word out. And I have to compete with all the other authors already out there who want you to buy their book instead of mine. I have to compete with the other newbies scrambling for position and the heavy-hitters who already have their fan bases in place.

    In short, we are all single women at a wedding, jostling and kicking and clawing in an attempt to catch that elusive bouquet — in this case, a loyal reader and climbing sales.

    Don’t get me wrong. I love writing. Love books. Love reading. Love talking with other authors. Love helping people out and spreading the word about books that I’ve enjoyed or authors I think are cool stand-up people.

    But I never forget that this is a competition.

    Call me cold. Call me cruel and calculating. But by hokies, I want another contract. And another … and another … And if that means that I have to stuff envelopes until the wee hours of the night and visit the post office every single day for the rest of my life, well, so be it.

    Folks might not buy Karma Girl, but it’s not going to be for lack of trying on my part. I’m going to work as hard as I can for as long as I can. So consider me your friendly neighborhood ubervillain, Jen-Jen, whose mission in life is to inform you about her books … and take over the world one reader at a time.

    So yeah, babe, it is a contest — one I hope to win. And hey, world domination is always fun. 😎

    What about you? Do you think of writing as a contest? A sublime experience? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • I’m off to guest blog …

    I’ve been added as a regular columnist over at Romancing the Blog. I’m going to be writing about reader interests and issues about once a month or so. Today, I’m talking about the end of the Harry Potter series. Check it out!

  • A mediocre ride …

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    Saw Ghost Rider with Nic Cage this weekend.

    I was interested in seeing it because it’s based on a comic book character, Johnny Blaze, who makes a deal with the devil and becomes Satan’s bounty hunter. I’ve never read that comic — never even heard of it until the movie came out, actually. But I like comics, and it looked like cheesy fun if nothing else.

    It was cheesy, all right. Basically, a teenage Johnny accidentally gives his soul to Satan (Peter Fonda) to cure his dad’s cancer. Only Satan double-crosses him and offs dad in a fiery motorcycle accident. Of course, when Johnny grows up, he sort of has a death wish and spends his time thinking of new and interesting things to jump over on his motorcycle (trucks! football fields! helicopters!) since he’s a bad-ass stunt driver.

    Satan finally gives him some bad guys to track down, which Johnny does with the help of a crusty old codger (Sam Elliot, the go-to guy for this sort of role) while trying to explain his new nighttime job to his old flame (Eva Mendes).

    There were some funny lines, and one scene with Eva Mendes chugging wine that was pretty humorous. Nic Cage looked like he was having fun and was entertaining enough.

    Overall, a meh movie. It was okay. Not great, but not bad. Pretty predictable all the way around. Save a few bucks and catch it on cable one night.

    What about you? What movies have you seen lately? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • And the winner is …

    I rolled the dice and the winner is … Renee Wissbrod! She won an advanced reading copy of Karma Girl as per my March contest.

    Renee, please send me your snail mail address at jennifer@jenniferestep.com so I can send you the book.

    And for everyone else out there, I’ve still got more free stuff to give away, including five $20 Barnes & Noble gift cards. All you have to do is sign up for my newsletter by April 15.

    Good luck and congrats to Renee again! 😎

  • People who rock …

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    I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but today, I’d like to spotlight some people who’ve helped me out during this whole book process.

    There are mean and nasty and ugly people in the world, but there are also lots of nice, thoughtful folks who are willing to help out a newbie like me, especially within the romance writing community.

    So, here we go, in no particular order:

    My agent and editor, of course. Without them, there would be no Karma Girl.

    Margaret Elsea, Kathryn Nichols, and Dottie Leonard with the Sullivan County library system, along with the Friends of the Thomas Memorial Branch Library for always being interested in and asking about my work.

    Meljean Brook, who gave me some great information about comic sites.

    Edie Ramer and the other gals at Magical Musings for letting me guest blog — and for always having something interesting to say themselves.

    To everyone (like the folks at RWA or Romantic Times) that I have ever e-mailed with a stupid question. Thanks for answering.

    To the folks who’ve e-mailed me and said how much they were looking forward to the book. Thanks for your notes. I really do appreciate them, and I hope that you enjoy the book.

    To my significant other, for putting up with my insanity this last year, listening to me babble on about contracts and deadlines and other things, and telling me to just relax.

    And to my mom, because everybody knows, you always gotta thank your mom. 🙂

    What about you? Who’s given you a helping hand recently? Inquiring minds want to know …