About Books

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    Romfest wrap-up …

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    Over the weekend, I attended the first annual Romfest in Gatlinburg, Tenn. I couldn’t attend the entire convention, which ran from Thursday morning until Sunday morning, but I had a good time while I was there, and I thought I’d share some of my highlights from the event:

    THURSDAY

    There was a welcome breakfast and workshops all day on Thursday, but I didn’t get to the convention hotel until mid-afternoon. After that, my mom and I decided to do a little sight-seeing and walked down the main street in Gatlinburg. If you’ve never been to Gatlinburg, it’s definitely a tourist town. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many places to get fudge, ice cream, funnel cakes, and pancakes so close together before. (Not that I’m complaining about that. LOL.) Anyway, we had fun looking in all the candy and food shops, despite the heat and humidity.

    There was a cookout at the hotel Thursday night, and folks gathered under an outdoor pavilion to just eat, hang out, and talk about books and other stuff.

    After the cookout, there was a pajama party hosted by Smoky Mountain Romance Writers. Again, just another chance for folks to mix and mingle, along with some games, food, and prizes. I sat at a table and chatted with Mary Wine, Shannon K. Butcher, and Shannon’s assistant, Sarah.

    FRIDAY

    Sherrilyn Kenyon booksThere were more workshops on Friday, including one by yours truly on how authors can get media coverage for their books. I talked about how to write a press release, common interview questions, etc. I hope folks got some helpful tips out of my workshop.

    After the morning workshops, there was a luncheon with keynote speaker Sherrilyn Kenyon. Sherrilyn gave a funny talk about some of the ups and downs of being a writer. I’ve posted a photo of Sherrilyn’s books at the Saturday signing since my photos of the luncheon didn’t turn out that well.

    After lunch, there were more workshops, including one given by my friend Trixie Stiletto and Natasha Moore. Trixie and Natasha told funny stories of how they’ve incorporated some real-life events into their books and talked about how you can find inspiration in all kinds of events.

    There was a dinner and costume contest on Friday night. After that, there was bingo and prizes with Rita Sawyer and Adele Quinn. That was a lot of fun, and I actually won a T-shirt. I never win anything at conventions, but I also won a couple of raffle baskets too. Huzzah! Although I think I’ve used up my giveaway luck for the foreseeable future.

    SATURDAY

    Jennifer Estep booksOn Saturday morning, the mom and I got up, went out, and did some shopping, since the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge-Sevierville area is full of shopping outlets.

    After that, it was time for the book signing. Here are some of my books.

    We had a good turnout for the signing, and I was also able to talk to some of the other authors, including Kimberly Lang, Lorelei James, Joey W. Hill, and MaryJanice Davidson.

    I want to give a big, big thanks to the staff at the Books-A-Million in Sevierville that hosted the signing. The staff was so friendly and helpful. They were constantly asking if the authors needed anything, and they even brought us cookies during the signing. You guys rock.

    I had to leave after the signing, but there was another dinner Saturday night and a goodbye breakfast Sunday morning.

    AND THAT’S A WRAP

    And that was my convention. I just want to say thanks to everyone who organized the conference and all the readers and authors who attended. It’s always nice to hang out with people who love books.

    The Romfest organizers are already thinking about next year’s event. I’m not sure if it will be in Gatlinburg again or somewhere else, but I hope I get to attend.

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    Housekeeping …

    I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m slowly going through and updating the web site with all the excerpts, back cover copy, and information that I can share at this time, including the excerpt for Crimson Frost, Mythos Academy #4, that will be out on Dec. 24.

    Please note that the excerpts and back cover copy do contain spoilers, so if you haven’t read all the books in a series, you may want to skip the excerpts and back cover copy until you are caught up.

    I’ve also switched things around a little on the blog. I’m still posting on my regular Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I’ll be talking about my book news and other book-related things. I’ve moved the book reviews to Fridays, and I’ve also started my new book review system.

    Anyway, I think that’s all for now. Hope everyone is having a good week.

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    And the title is …

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    Well, it looks like we have finally settled on a title for Mythos Academy #5. And the title is … drumroll please … Midnight Frost.

    I think it’s a cool title and will fit in well with the other titles in the series. As of right now, it looks like Midnight Frost will be released in August 2013. Of course, that could always change, so I’ll keep you posted.

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    Crimson Frost cover revealed …

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    Crimson Frost coverWell, I can finally share the cover and the back cover copy for Crimson Frost, the fourth book in my Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series that will be out in January 2013.

    Here is the book description. Please note that this does have some spoilers for previous books in the series, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, you might want to skip over the description. Here goes:

    For a moment, a face flashed before my eyes — the most hideous face I’d ever seen.  No matter how hard I tried to forget what had happened, I saw him everywhere I went. It was Loki — the evil god that I’d helped set free against my will.

    I should have known that my first official date with Logan Quinn was destined to end in disaster. If we’d gotten into a swordfight, or been ambushed by Reapers, I’d have been more prepared. But getting arrested mid-sip at the local coffee hangout? I didn’t see that one coming.  I’ve been accused of purposely helping the Reapers free Loki from his prison — and the person leading the charge against me is Linus Quinn, Logan’s dad. The worst part is that pretty much everyone at Mythos Academy thinks I’m guilty. If I’m going to get out of this mess alive, I’ll have to do it myself …

    Crimson Frost is up for pre-order at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You can read the first chapter here. Again, the chapter has some spoilers, especially if you haven’t read Dark Frost yet.

    Anyway, hope everyone enjoys the book when it comes out. Happy reading!

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    Dark Frost blog tour wrapping up …

    So the blog tour for Dark Frost has pretty much wrapped up. I want to give a big thanks to all the bloggers who hosted me on their sites, as well as everyone who took the time to read and review the book. I really appreciate all that you guys do to support books. I also want to say thanks to all the readers and everyone who followed the blog tour and left comments on the various blog posts.  

    I am in the process of mailing out the books to the folks who won copies of Dark Frost through the various blogs, as the winners’ info is sent to me. So please be patient if you won, and you haven’t received your book yet.

    So far, I’ve gotten a lot of nice comments about Dark Frost, and I’m glad folks seem to be enjoying the book and the various story arcs in the series. Crimson Frost, the fourth book, will be out in January 2013.

    And now, it’s time to start thinking about Widow’s Web, Elemental Assassin #7, which will be out on Aug. 21. I’ll be doing another blog tour for that book, starting around mid-August and probably running into the first week or so of September.

    In the meantime, I’ll be getting back to my regular Monday-Wednesday-Friday posting schedule here on the blog, as well as linking to everything on my Facebook and Twitter pages. So stay tuned for more. Thanks again, everyone!