On Writing

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    Kill the Queen epic fantasy series …

    2 Comments

    I’m thrilled to announce that I will be writing an epic fantasy series. Woot! Woot!

    The first book in the series is called Kill the Queen, and I believe that the series name will also be Kill the Queen.

    As of right now, there will be three books in the series, which will be published by HarperVoyager. Kill the Queen is tentatively scheduled to be published in September 2018, but that is subject to change.

    Here’s my pitch for Kill the Queen — Gladiator meets Game of Thrones with a kick-ass heroine.

    Kill the Queen will be similar in some ways to my Elemental Assassin and other series. The books will be written in first-person from the heroine’s point of view. There will also be lots of action, magic, and fight scenes. The first book will also have some flashback scenes. But everything will be on a bit of a grander scale, since, you know, it’s epic fantasy.

    I’m really excited about the new series. I’ve always loved reading epic fantasy, and the very first book that I ever wrote was an epic fantasy. So writing an epic fantasy series myself is a dream come true for me. 🙂

    I’ve set up a Kill the Queen page for the series on my website, and I’ll share more information — cover art, blurbs, excerpts, etc. — as it becomes available.

    So this means that I am currently juggling three series — Kill the Queen, Elemental Assassin, and Mythos Academy spinoff. Three series is a lot to keep track of and work on, so you guys might have to wait a little longer in between books, depending on which series you like/follow. I will not be writing any more Bigtime books in the foreseeable future. I just have too many other books/series to work on. I’ll be sharing release dates, cover art, and more for these three series as well, as they become available.

    So be patient. I am writing/working on all three series as fast as I can. Thanks!

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    Snared pre-order links online …

    Book #16 Snared, book #16 in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, will be released on April 25, 2017. Woot!

    All of the pre-order links for Snared are online now, including the ones for the audiobook. You can pre-order Snared at all the usual book retailers:

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

    Audible / Amazon audiobook

    The audiobook will be available through Audible and Amazon, and the awesome Lauren Fortgang will once again be the narrator.

    Here is the description for Snared. Note: This contains some spoilers from previous books in the series, starting with Bitter Bite, book #14. So if you haven’t read that far in the series yet, you may want to avoid reading the description below:

    The sixteenth book in the New York Times bestselling Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series that RT Book Reviews calls, “An extraordinary series…[containing] one of the most intriguing heroines in the genre.”

    If you don’t know Gin “the Spider” Blanco, you don’t know dangerous female heroines.

    Irony 101—The Spider herself snared in someone else’s web …

    Another week, another few clues trickling in about the Circle, the mysterious group that supposedly runs the city’s underworld. Gathering intel on my hidden enemies is a painstaking process, but a more immediate mystery has popped up on my radar: a missing girl.

    My search for the girl begins on the mean streets of Ashland, but with all the killers and crooks in this city, I’m not holding out much hope that she’s still alive.

    A series of clues leads me down an increasingly dark, dangerous path, and I realize that the missing girl is really just the first thread in this web of evil. As an assassin, I’m used to facing down the worst of the worst, but nothing prepares me for this new, terrifying enemy—one who strikes from the shadows and is determined to make me the next victim.

    You can read the first chapter of Snared by going here. Scroll down, and click on the Read Excerpt tab.

    I hope that everyone enjoys Snared when it is released.

    Note: Some folks have been asking about future books in the series. As of right now, I’m planning to write three more books after Snared. I’m hoping to publish book #17 in the series in the fall of 2017. So stay tuned for more information.

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    Snared, Elemental Assassin #16, April 25, up for pre-order …

    Book #16 Snared, book #16 in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, will be released on April 25, 2017. Woot!

    As always, the cover was created by Tony Mauro, and the cover model is Alexa Martino. I love all the little details on this one, like the bloody spider runes on Gin’s hands and the spider rune in the title.

    You can pre-order Snared at all the usual book retailers:

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

    The audiobook will be available through Audible and Amazon, and the awesome Lauren Fortgang will once again be the narrator. The pre-order links for the audiobooks should be online sometime in March. I’ll share those links here on my blog and on my social media sites when they go online.

    Here is the description for Snared. Note: This contains some spoilers from previous books in the series, starting with Bitter Bite, book #14. So if you haven’t read that far in the series yet, you may want to avoid reading the description below:

    The sixteenth book in the New York Times bestselling Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series that RT Book Reviews calls, “An extraordinary series…[containing] one of the most intriguing heroines in the genre.”

    If you don’t know Gin “the Spider” Blanco, you don’t know dangerous female heroines.

    Irony 101—The Spider herself snared in someone else’s web …

    Another week, another few clues trickling in about the Circle, the mysterious group that supposedly runs the city’s underworld. Gathering intel on my hidden enemies is a painstaking process, but a more immediate mystery has popped up on my radar: a missing girl.

    My search for the girl begins on the mean streets of Ashland, but with all the killers and crooks in this city, I’m not holding out much hope that she’s still alive.

    A series of clues leads me down an increasingly dark, dangerous path, and I realize that the missing girl is really just the first thread in this web of evil. As an assassin, I’m used to facing down the worst of the worst, but nothing prepares me for this new, terrifying enemy—one who strikes from the shadows and is determined to make me the next victim.

    You can read the first chapter of Snared by going here. Scroll down, and click on the Read Excerpt tab.

    I hope that everyone enjoys Snared when it is released.

    Note: Some folks have been asking about future books in the series. As of right now, I’m planning to write three more books after Snared. I’m hoping to publish book #17 in the series in the fall of 2017. So stay tuned for more information.

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    Frequently asked questions page …

    Back in December, I started a new feature called Monday Morning Mailbag that I post on my Facebook page every Monday morning. The feature is just a way for me to answer frequently asked questions that I get from readers.

    I have compiled some of the questions/answers here on my website on the Frequently Asked Questions page. So if you’ve missed some of the questions on my Facebook page, or just want to see what questions I’ve answered so far, you can check out the page here on my website. Here are a couple of sample questions:

    Question: How do you pronounce your last name?

    Answer: It is pronounced Eee-step — not Essstep.

    Question: Why do you use the word “toboggan” in your books to refer to a winter hat? Isn’t a “toboggan” supposed to be a sled?

    Answer: I get this question a lot — probably more than any other question, which I think is a bit strange. Who knew folks were so interested in regional word choices? ?

    In the South, where I am from and where many of my books are set, a “toboggan” refers to a winter hat — not a sled. A sled is just a sled in the South. We do not call those “toboggans”.

    Many folks have also asked why I don’t use the word “toque” when talking about a winter hat. That’s a Northern/Canadian word. The Southern characters in my books would never use that word, so it’s just a difference in regional word choices. Here’s a blog post that I did about the subject several years ago: https://www.jenniferestep.com/you-say-tomato/#.V-h9AySpn2A

    To see more, visit the Frequently Asked Questions page. I’ll try to update it with new questions/answers every few months or so.

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    Nice Guys Bite audiobook to be released on Dec. 20 …

    E-Novella #15.5I have an update on the audiobook for Nice Guys Bite, Elemental Assassin #15.5. The audiobook will be released on Tuesday, Dec. 20. You can pre-order the audiobook here:

    Audible / Amazon

    Note that the narrator will be David Marantz — NOT Lauren Fortgang. Since this is from Silvio’s point of view, Audible decided to use a male narrator, since Lauren is the voice of Gin.

    Also, I have been told that if you are an Audible member, then you can potentially listen to the audiobook for free through the Audible Channels service. But I’m not 100% sure how that works, so you might want to check your membership about that.

    Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoys the audiobook. Happy listening!

    And of course you can still get the e-book through all the usual retailers:

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

    Nice Guys Bite is an e-novella that takes place after the events of Unraveled, book #15. It is told from the point of view of Silvio Sanchez, Gin’s personal assistant. It is about 20,000 words — around 70 pages — and is available as an e-novella. There will not be a print version at this time. The e-novella is priced at $1.99.

    Here is the description. As always, if you do not want to be spoiled, you might want to skip reading the description:

    New York Times bestseller Jennifer Estep (Mythos Academy) continues her Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series with an e-novella starring Silvio Sanchez, the vampire assistant of Gin Blanco, as he goes on a holiday date that turns out to be more deadly than romantic.

    Working for Gin Blanco (aka the Spider, the assassin who runs the Ashland underworld) doesn’t leave much time for romance, especially with Gin’s holiday party planning in full swing. But when he catches the eye of a charming gentleman, Silvio finds himself going out for coffee.

    All’s fair in love and war, though. Just as Silvio is starting to enjoy himself, he realizes he’s being watched. His nice-guy date doesn’t sense the danger, and Silvio wants to keep it that way (and, well, keep the guy alive) so Silvio ends the date early—only to be abducted by some villainous giants.

    Will Silvio survive the night and make it back to the Pork Pit in time for Gin’s holiday party? Only if he decks the hall with bodies …

    You can read a brief excerpt of the e-novella by going to this page. Scroll down, and click on the Read Excerpt tab. I had a lot of fun writing Silvio’s e-novella, and I hope that everyone enjoys Nice Guys Bite. Happy reading! 🙂