About Books

  • I’m so excited …

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    I saw the first finished copy of Karma Girl this week. My editor and her assistant were kind enough to send me an advanced copy. Thanks guys!

    That loud, long squeal of delight you heard echoing throughout the land? That was me.

    I don’t have the words to describe how excited, thrilled, proud, and relieved I am.

    Karma Girl is done. Finished. Finito. The insane idea, the writing, revisions, editing, agent search, contract talks, cover art, cover blurbs, copy edits — it’s all done. And now I get to actually hold my book in my hands.

    Is it wrong of me to want to sleep with it under my pillow? 😎

    I know some authors feel that signing that first contract is the best part of writing. That that act makes them feel like they’ve “made it,” so to speak. For me, actually holding the book has been the best part. Because it’s tangible. It’s real. And it’s mine. Even if I don’t sell a single copy or never get another contract, no one will ever be able to take this away from me. I’ve finally achieved one of my lifelong dreams — and it’s a great feeling. 🙂

    I hope everyone gets to have this feeling at least once in their lives, whether you want to write a book or climb Mount Everest or go skydiving. Never give up on your dreams because they are a big part of what makes life worth living.

    What about you? What was the best part of being published? Signing the contract or actually holding the book in your hands? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • ·

    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 …

  • ·

    4 stars, baby!

    10 Comments

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    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 …

  • ·

    An ideal book?

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    So, I’m surfing some of the romance blogs I frequent, and I came across this post over at Magical Musings talking about what makes an ideal book — complete with the cover for Karma Girl.

    I sent an ARC of the book to Edie Ramer, one of the MM bloggers, and she wrote me back to tell me how much she liked it. But putting it with a blog about the ideal book? Wow. That’s a tremendous compliment.

    I got a good review in Publishers Weekly and some kick-ass cover blurbs from other authors, like MaryJanice Davidson and Erin McCarthy. But I’m most anxious to see what readers think about Karma Girl. Will they like it? Love it? Hate it? Think it’s the worst thing that’s ever gotten published?

    I know I’m going to get some bad reviews. Every author does (unless you’re J.R. Ward who seems to get universal acclaim). But one person liked my book — enough to recommend it to other people. That makes me smile. Makes me feel proud. Makes me feel downright giddy. It’s the reason I wrote Karma Girl in the first place – to entertain someone with my wacky world of superheroes and villains. 

    So, even if every other reviewer in the known universe rips me a new one for writing such drivel, I know I made at least one person happy. And the glow from that won’t fade for a long, long time.

    How do you cope while you wait for the reader reviews to come in? Inquiring minds want to know …