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    Romantic Times convention wrap-up …

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    Last week, I attended the annual Romantic Times convention in Columbus, Ohio. So I thought I would do a little wrap-up of some of the sights and sounds:

    1) Southern Ohio is a massive speedtrap. Why is the speed limit 55 mph when the road is straight, flat, and I can see for two miles?

    2) Columbus is a pretty cool city. The hotel was on one of the main drags through town, so there was lots to see/do within walking distance, which is always nice. I especially liked the North Market and all the food goodies inside. Yum!

    3) I hit several panels during the convention — one on blogging, one on Twitter, a suspense panel with Barry Eisler and some other authors, a panel on contemporary romance, and one on publicity/marketing. One of the best panels that I went to was one with Jim Butcher and Charlaine Harris talking about how their books went from being books to being TV shows. Charlaine was hysterical. A very funny lady, and Jim was really cool too.

    4) I also did a panel with author/TV producer Julie Kramer. We talked about how authors can pitch themselves and their books to the media. Julie had the idea to go around and figure out a quick pitch for everyone who came, which I thought was a really cool idea. I hope folks went away with some good information and some ideas for pitches.

    5) During my panel, I had a bit of a fangirl moment. An author came in and described her book. As soon as she said Warprize, I knew that it was Elizabeth Vaughan, author of the book by that same title. So me being me, I pointed to her and shouted across the room “Elizabeth Vaughan! Warprize! I love your books! My friend loves your books!”

    Elizabeth probably thinks I’m a freak now, but I went up to her after the panel and we had a nice little chat. She’s putting out a new book in the Warprize series, so I’m looking forward to that.

    6) I met lots of authors at the conference, like Victoria Dahl, Julie James, Michelle Rowen, Shiloh Walker, Jackie Kessler, Heather Brewer, Kasey Mackenzie, Kat Richardson, Mark Henry, Lilli Feisty, M.A. Ellis, and tons of other folks. Almost everyone was really nice. One of the things I love most about conferences is putting faces with names and meeting other authors in person. It’s a treat.

    7) The RT folks are great too. I chatted with the ladies who put the magazine together every month, and they are a lovely bunch of women. If you like books, RT really is a great magazine to subscribe to.

    8) Of course, I did meet a few folks who weren’t so friendly or were downright rude. Meh. It happens. So what do I do when someone is less than polite to me? I simply don’t read their books. I know that people get tired and cranky at conferences (including yours truly), and I can’t even begin to imagine the demands on the big-name authors from fans at an event like RT. It’s got to be tough and exhausting for everyone to want a piece of you during a conference. Still, I always try to put my best foot forward and be nice to everyone. I hope I succeed at that, but at least I know that I’m not acting like a total diva. And yes, I have seen authors act like divas at conferences/book signings. It’s not pretty, and that kind of behavior does not endear an author to anyone — not to readers, not to booksellers, and not to other authors.

    9) The big Saturday book signing went well. I had 15 copies of Spider’s Bite to sign, and I sold them all. This is the first time that I’ve ever sold out of books at a conference, which was a really nice feeling. Plus, several folks were looking for early copies of Web of Lies. I didn’t have any since the book isn’t out until May 25, but it was still nice of folks to ask. I also signed copies of the Bigtime books, although I didn’t sell out of those.

    To everyone who came up and talked to me at the signing, thanks. I really do appreciate that and all the nice things that you had to say about my books. You totally made my conference. 😉

    10) My only complaint about the book signing was that the aisles were not nearly big enough, but they never are at these things. I was down the row from Jeaniene Frost, and her line quickly took up most of the aisle. They really should have given her a table by herself. Eventually, they did move her out to a bigger area. On the bright side, I got to chat with her fans about her books (which I really like) while they waited in line and some of them were interested in Spider’s Bite as well. So I figure it was win-win for everyone.

    11) It always amazes me how clever people are at the book signing. Like Jackie from Literary Escapism, who had a board for authors to sign that she’s going to do a giveaway with. I thought that was really cool. And I’m totally going to invest in my own board to get my favorite authors to sign. Framing that and being able to see all the autographs is a great idea. Kudos, Jackie!

    Instead of books, another lady had labels (bookplates) that she had authors sign. I thought that was clever because it meant that she didn’t have to try to lug a bag of heavy books down the crowded aisles. And I’m not just saying that because she said that she loved my books and had me sign several labels for her. 😉

    So there you have it. Some highlights from RT. If you’ve never been, it really is a fun conference and worth checking out. Got questions? I’ll answer them in the comments.

  • Stars from RT …

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    As the May 25 release date gets ever closer, the reviews for Web of Lies are starting to trickle in, including this 4 1/2-star review by Jill Smith at Romantic Times:

    Retirement doesn’t seem to be in the cards for the assassin Spider. The second chapter of the first-person Elemental Assassin series is just as hard-edged and compelling as the first. Gin Blanco is a fascinatingly pragmaic character, whose intricate layers are just beginning to unravel. Estep has truly hit the jackpot with this outstanding series!

    SUMMARY: Following the murder of her father-figure/handler, Gin decided to retire from the assassination business and run her inheritance, the Pork Pit BBQ joint. When a fire-elemental thug named Jake McAllister tries to rob the Pork Pit and threatens Gin’s customers, she gets pissed. Gin doesn’t kill Jake, but now her troubles have mulitplied, for Jake’s father is extraordinarily powerful — and out to get her. To cap off her week, someone shoots up the restaurant, and it turns out the target is not Gin, but rather college student Violet Fox. Gin decides to help Violet and her grandfather against a mine owner trying to drive them off their land. This time Gin is going to need both her stone and ice magic to survive. Some retirement this is! (POCKET, Jun., 384 pp., $7.99)

    4 1/2 stars! Woot! Thanks for the great review, Jill. Although I wonder what a girl’s gotta do to get 4 1/2 stars and be an RT Top Pick. Ah, well. Maybe when Venom comes out in late September. As for right now, I’m doing the happy dance! 😉

  • Titles, titles everywhere …

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    For the past several days, my editor, agent, and I have been working to come up with a title for Elemental Assassin #4. We’ve tossed around dozens of titles at this point and are still trying to find that magic title that really captures what the book is about and sounds cool at the same time.

    I originally suggested The Silken Noose for the title. Some of the other ones we’ve considered have been Black Widow, Widow’s Web, By a Thread, Tainted Threads, Tangled Web, and Death Weaver.

    There are lots of things to take into consideration when coming up with a title. In the case of the Elemental Assassin books, we’re trying to use a spider-related word in all of the titles, as well as words with an I or O in them, so we can continue to use the spider rune on the cover of the book.

    The title also needs to at least hint a little bit as to what the plot is about (in this case, an assassin coming to Ashland to kill Gin). The title should be catchy, and the publisher’s marketing folks should like it as well (since they’re the ones who will promote the book to various sellers). And, of course, you don’t want your book to have the same title as another book that was recently released or will be released soon. That’s confusing for everyone involved.

    All of which means that we’re having a tough time this go around settling on a title. There’s an old saying about how laws are like sausages, and that it’s better not to see them being made. I think we should add book titles to that list too. Sigh.

    But we need to decide on something soon, so the book can go into production. I’ll keep you posted as to what we come up with …

  • Why does epic fantasy have to be so epic …

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    I love epic fantasy books. Battles, magic, nasty villains, noble heroes. One of the best summers of my life was when I discovered this genre and devoured books by the likes of David Eddings, Terry Brooks, and Robert Jordan. Reading these adventures made me want to write my own epic fantasy books.

    But lately, I’ve been wondering something — why do epic fantasy books have to be so, well, epic?

    Seriously, have you seen The Gathering Storm, the latest book in the Wheel of Time series by the late Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson? It’s 784 pages long and 2.6 inches thick, according to Amazon. You’d have to start lifting weights just to have the arm and wrist strength to hold that sucker in your lap for any length of time. And I don’t even want to imagine how many clicks or scrolls that it would take to get through an e-book version of it. Thousands, probably.

    I used to love the Wheel of Times series. I read the first several books during the course of that magical summer that I mentioned above and eagerly awaited the next installments. But as the years progressed, I started to like the books less and less. Why? Because they were so epic — not in the story that they told but in the hundreds and hundreds of pages that it took to get from the beginning to the end of each book. Everything was described in vivid detail in each book, but I began to feel like not much was actually happening, as far as the action and story arcs went.

    Maybe it’s me, but as I’ve gotten older, I just don’t have the patience or the desire anymore to read pages and pages of world building that do absolutely nothing to move the story along. And I’m not just talking about Robert Jordan here. Lots of fantasy authors are guilty of this, although it seems to happen more in epic fantasy books than in say, urban or young adult fantasy.

    Why? I think it’s because world building is such a big part of what epic fantasy is all about. Readers of the genre expect to be transported to another world full of magic, swords, sorcery, creatures, court intrigue, mythology, demons, or whatever populates an author’s world. It takes time and space to build an intricate world, explain the rules, and fully immerse the reader in the wonder and adventure of it all.

    But when did folks get so long-winded about it?

    Sure, you may have a cast of thousands in your epic fantasy book a la Robert Jordan, but do you really have to tell me every single thing about their appearance, clothes, customs, religion, money, and politics? With no dialogue or action to break up the descriptions? There’s a fine line between world building and info dumps. Sadly, for me, that’s what a lot of epic fantasies have turned into.

    This is why I like books by the likes of Alex Bledsoe, Lisa Shearin, and Scott Lynch so much. Each one of these authors offers the epic fantasy reading experience, but without going overboard on their world building. And they’re doing some different things in the genre too. Bledsoe combines fantasy with a world-weary, film noir-type detective. Shearin is writing female-focused epic fantasy. Lynch incorporates elaborate heists into his books.

    They all help me remember why I fell in love with epic fantasy books in the first place, and I hope to find more authors to read like them, folks who can tell a good story and not get bogged down in the details.

    What about you guys? Are you still digging epic fantasy? Why or why not? What are some of your favorite books in the genre? Share in the comments.

  • E-ARCs and bookmarks policies …

    I’ve posted this on the Extras page, but I thought I would mention it here on the blog as well. I currently have electronic advanced reading copies (e-ARCs) available for both Spider’s Bite and Web of Lies (coming out on May 25)

    The e-ARCs are for librarians, booksellers, and book reviewers for review purposes only. I do ask that folks who request an e-ARC actually review the book in a timely manner — around the release date in other words — as well as send me a link to the book review when it gets posted online. You don’t have to like my books, but I do like to check and make sure that they actually get read/reviewed — that’s the whole point of having e-ARCs in the first place, whether the reviews are good, bad, or indifferent.

    Interested in an e-ARC? Send me an e-mail and include the name of your library/bookstore/review site, as well as which e-ARC that you want.

    Note: Please don’t e-mail me if you don’t have a review site and are just trying to get and read the books for free. If folks start trying to scam me, then I’ll have to rethink my policy.

    Also, I offer free bookmarks to readers. I currently have bookmarks available for Spider’s Bite and Web of Lies and will be getting some made for Venom when the cover art is finalized. These are available to anyone who wants some — librarians, booksellers, book reviewers, readers, and other groups.

    However, I do ask that folks send me a self-addressed stamped envelope to help me cover postage costs. Also, I’ve gotten several requests from overseas readers about getting bookmarks. Overseas postage can be expensive, so I also ask those folks to send me a SASE or international postage coupons to help me out with the cost of mailing the bookmarks back to them.

    Got questions? Ask away in the comments.