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    Attending the Frankfurt book fair …

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    A shot of one of the many convention floors/halls at the 2015 Frankfurt book fair.

    Back in October, I got to do something really, really cool — attend the annual book fair in Frankfurt, Germany.

    My books — especially my Mythos Academy young adult books — are very popular in Germany, and my German publisher, Piper Verlag, invited me to attend the fair. So away I went.

    It was a really wonderful experience. The book fair is huge — something like 300,000 people attend it every year — and it takes up large several convention halls, all of which have multiple floors. We are talking miles and miles of books here, and every different kind of book you can possibly imagine, from fantasy books like mine, to cookbooks, to sports books, to calendars, to stationary … You get the idea. And many of the book displays were just stunning — works of art in and of themselves.

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    A large banner with the German cover of Cold Burn of Magic, along with a display of my other German books/covers, at the 2015 Frankfurt book fair.

    I did several readings and Q&As, meet with bloggers, and of course signed books — lots and lots of books. I knew that my books were popular in Germany, but I had no idea how popular. For a couple of my signings, there were probably 100-200 people in line. It was like being a rock star. LOL. And all of the readers were so enthusiastic, not just about my books, but about all of the books and just the book fair in general. It was great being around so many folks who love and are so passionate about books.

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    A charm bracelet with the German cover of Cold Burn of Magic.

    And everyone was so nice, from the folks at the publishing house, to the book bloggers, to the readers. One blogger brought me a lovely gift basket of chocolates, while another made me a personalized charm bracelet with the German cover of Cold Burn of Magic, which was awesome.

    Some of the cultural differences were interesting too. For example, in the U.S., people shake hands when they meet. In Germany, people shake hands when they meet and when they leave. And if you ask for water in a German restaurant, you will often get sparkling/fizzy water, whereas in the U.S., you would just get plain old tap (non-sparkling) water.

    I had such a great time and met so many wonderful people. I want to give a big, big thanks to everyone who helped with my trip and all the bloggers, readers, and other folks that I met at the book fair. It was a fantastic experience, and I hope to go back again some day. Danke schon! 🙂

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    Bitter Bite, Elemental Assassin #14, up for pre-order …

    Bitter Bite, the 14th book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, will be out on Feb. 23, so it’s time to start sharing the pre-order links.

    Bitter BiteBitter Bite will available in print, e-book, and audiobook formats from all the usual retailers:

    Amazon Kindle / Amazon paperback / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / Google Play / iBooks / IndieBound / Kobo

    The audiobook will be available through Audible and Amazon, and the awesome Lauren Fortgang is once again the narrator. Audible usually puts their pre-order links up about six weeks before the release date, so the audiobook links should be going up any day now.

    And here is the book description:

    Which is stronger: blood ties or a battle-tested friendship? That’s the question Gin Blanco is asking when a friend’s long-lost relative comes strolling back into Ashland under suspicious circumstances. 

    It’s not easy being queen bee of an underworld abuzz with crooks and killers. Wielding my potent Ice and Stone elemental magic will only get me so far—my real secret is my tight-knit makeshift family, a motley crew of cops and criminals, dwarves and playboys. My foster brother Finnegan Lane is my right-hand man, but when his suddenly not-dead relative comes back into the picture, I’m the one on the outside looking in.

    It’s funny how life works: one minute your best friend is rock-steady, and the next he’s doe-eyed and buying into this whole loving-relative routine to the point of ignoring you. I’d like to be happy for Finn, I really would. But all of my instincts are telling me that beneath the syrupy sweet demeanor and old-fashioned charm, this sudden interloper is planning something. The whole shtick leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. This person might have avoided the grave once, but I’ll put anyone who hurts Finn in the ground—for good.

    In other words, this book is all about Finn. 🙂

    You can read the first chapter of the book here. Scroll down and click on the Read Excerpt tab.

    I hope that everyone enjoys Gin’s (and Finn’s) latest adventure when it is published. Happy reading!

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    Jennifer’s 2016 Book Release Schedule …

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    Greetings! I hope that everyone had a good holiday season and that everyone got lots of good books to read. 🙂

    A new year also means new books from me. Here is my book release schedule — so far — for 2016.

    JENNIFER ESTEP’S 2016 BOOK RELEASE SCHEDULE

    Book #14Bitter Bite — Elemental Assassin #14 — Feb. 23

    Bright Blaze of Magic — Black Blade #3 — April 26. Note: As of right now, this will be the final book in the trilogy/series.

    Unwanted — Elemental Assassin #14.5 — July 18. Note: This is an e-novella from Finn’s point of view that takes place after the events of Bitter Bite. It’s about 20,000 words and will be priced at $1.99. It will be available as an e-novella only.

    Unraveled — Elemental Assassin #15 — Aug. 30

    So this is my book release schedule as of right now. The release dates for Bitter Bite and Bright Blaze of Magic are definite — my work on those books is done, and they are up for pre-order at all the usual book retailers.

    The release dates for Unwanted and Unraveled are also pretty firm, although they could always change due to various publishing whims.

    As for other potential projects, I will be writing Elemental Assassin #16 this year — that one will probably be released in early 2017. I’m also hoping to do another Elemental Assassin e-novella — not sure who’s point of view that one might be from yet.

    I’m also working on some ideas for a new young adult series. I always have more ideas than I will ever have time to write, so we’ll see what I come up with.

    Unfortunately, I probably won’t have time to write and self-publish another Bigtime story this year. I love writing the series, but self-publishing takes a lot of time, and my writing schedule is already full going into 2017(!) now.

    Anyway, I will be updating this schedule and sharing book covers, descriptions, pre-order links, etc. as they become available here on my blog and on my Facebook and Twitter pages.

    Here’s to happy reading in 2016!

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    Happy holidays and happy reading time …

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    Note #1: This post will also appear tomorrow at Magical Musings.

    Note #2: I’m taking a blogging break for the holidays. See you back here on Monday, Jan. 4.

    First of all, I want to wish everyone a happy holiday season. May your gatherings be warm, merry, and bright, and may your travels be safe.

    I have a confession to make. One of my favorite things about the holiday season isn’t any family or friend gatherings. It’s not even all the yummy holiday food (although that’s a close second).

    It’s the extra reading time. 🙂

    With Christmas Eve and Christmas Day falling on a Thursday and Friday this year, many folks will have a long holiday weekend, including yours truly. And I plan to spend part of that time digging into some of the books that Santa will hopefully bring me for Christmas. Here are a few books that are on my holiday wishlist. Note that the descriptions are from Amazon:

    Black Widow The Tightly Tangled WebBlack Widow Volume 2: The Tightly Tangled Web by Nathan Edmondson, Phil Noto, and Mitch Gerads

    On a snowy night in Prague, Natasha must fight her way out of disaster alongside the Winter Soldier! Meanwhile, Isaiah has business in London, but a simple plan soon gets very complicated. Then, the Black Widow finds herself fighting against – or alongside? – the Punisher for access to a deadly criminal network. But trapped on an exploding oil rig with Crossbones and his Skull Squad, will Frank and Natasha complete their missions…or take each other out? And because you demanded it: Hawkeye! But how could his fight with the Widow cost Isaiah his life? Finally, in the wake of Wolverine’s death, Black Widow bonds with the despondent X-23 over punching and espionage. Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto continue their run on one of the most acclaimed books of the year!

    COLLECTING: Black Widow 7-12, Punisher 9

    Six of CrowsSix of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

    Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price–and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…

    A convict with a thirst for revenge.

    A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.

    A runaway with a privileged past.

    A spy known as the Wraith.

    A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

    A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

    Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction?if they don’t kill each other first.

    The Zig Zag GirlThe Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths

    In the first installment of a compelling new series by Elly Griffiths featuring Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens and the magnificent Max Mephisto, a band of magicians who served together in World War II track a killer who’s performing their deadly tricks.

    Brighton, 1950. The body of a girl is found cut into three pieces. Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens is convinced the killer is mimicking a famous magic trick—the Zig Zag Girl. The inventor of the trick, Max Mephisto, is an old war friend of Edgar’s. They served together in a shadowy unit called the Magic Men, a special ops troop that used stage tricks to confound the enemy. 

    Max is on the traveling show circuit, touring seaside towns with ventriloquists, sword-swallowers and dancing girls. He’s reluctant to leave this world to help Edgar investigate, but advises him to identify the victim quickly — it takes a special sidekick to do the Zig Zag Girl. Those words come back to haunt Max when the dead girl turns out to be Ethel, one of his best assistants to date. He’s soon at Edgar’s side, hunting for Ethel’s killer. 

    Another death, another magic trick: Edgar and Max are sure the answer to the murders lies in their army days. And when Edgar receives a letter warning of another “trick” on the way — the Wolf Trap — he knows they’re all in the killer’s sights.

    What about you guys? What books are you hoping to give, receive, and read this holiday season?

    Happy holidays! 🙂

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    More Gin books on the way …

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    So Christmas has come a little early for me this year. I’m happy to announce that there will be two more Elemental Assassin books after Bitter Bite, book #14, Feb. 23.

    Woot! Woot! Woot! 🙂

    So these will be books #15 and #16 in the series. And the title for book #15 is … Unraveled, which is tentatively set to be published on Aug. 30, 2016.

    I might also be doing some more Elemental Assassin e-novellas (like Thread of Death and Kiss of Venom) — time and schedule permitting. We’ll see what happens.

    In the meantime, I’m thrilled to continue Gin’s adventures, and I hope that everyone has as much fun reading the new books when they come out as I do writing them.

    Happy reading, everyone!