Short stories

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    Pre-order The Beauty of Being a Beast short story, Feb. 9 . . .

    I have written a Beauty and the Beast-themed short story for a German-language book anthology. My story is The Beauty of Being a Beast, and I will be self-publishing it on Feb. 9.

    Here is a look at the gorgeous cover art, which was done by Jenny Zemanek at Seedlings Design Studio. I’m a big believer that fantasy books should have cool, fun, whimsical fonts/typography, and I absolutely adore how Jenny hand-lettered the title and all the fun little touches, like the claw marks and blood dripping off BEAST.

    GET THE EBOOK:

    Some curses aren’t meant to be broken . . . 

    Lady Griselle Mottern is cursed. On her sixteenth birthday, an evil wizard transformed Griselle into a wolflike beast because of a past misdeed by one of her ancestors. Now, with her twenty-first birthday approaching, Griselle has only a few days left to make a boy fall in love with her, or the curse will become permanent, and she will forever be a beast.

    But breaking the curse isn’t Griselle’s only problem. An evil is lurking in the forest, one that is creeping closer and closer to her castle. Griselle will have to summon all her beastly strength to defeat this evil, even if it means dooming herself forever . . . 

    Note: This 7,000-word short story originally appeared in the Von Flusshexen und Meerjungfrauen German-language anthology in 2020.

    SOME MORE INFORMATION:

    I have written a Beauty and the Beast-themed short story for a German-language book anthology.

    My story, The Beauty of Being a Beast, was originally published in Von Flusshexen und Meerjungfrauen (aka “River Witches and Mermaids”) in December 2020 (left).

    So if you prefer to read in German, then you can get the Von Flusshexen und Meerjungfrauen anthology. But for those of you who read in English, you can buy the standalone story The Beauty of Being a Beast.

    I hope everyone enjoys reading my take on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. Happy reading! 😎 

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    Some of Jennifer’s upcoming projects …

    Here are a few of my upcoming book projects:

    The Beauty of Being a Beast short story — October 2020

    My story will first appear in Von Flusshexen und Meerjungfrauen (aka “River Witches and Mermaids”). This is a fairy-tale-themed short story anthology that will be released in German in October 2020. I will self-publish the story in English later on, probably in spring 2021.

    Here is a look at the anthology cover art. Isn’t it gorgeous? I love the colors.

    My 7,000-word story (about 25 pages) is a feminist take on Beauty and the Beast. That is one of my favorite fairy tales, and I enjoyed putting my own twist on the story.

    Elemental Assassin #19 — Spring 2021

    I’m hoping to release the next Elemental Assassin book in spring 2021. The book is (mostly) written, and I’ve started the self-publishing process, but things are taking a lot longer than usual, due to the pandemic.

    Capture the Crown — Gemma Ripley/Crown of Shards World #1 — Summer 2021

    This is the first book in a new trilogy set in my Crown of Shards world. The new trilogy will take place 15 years after the events of Crush the King, Crown of Shards #3, and will focus on Gemma Ripley, the crown princess of Andvari, and her gargoyle Grimley (from Protect the Prince).

    As of right now, the first book is called Capture the Crown, although that could change. The series name has not been finalized yet either. 

    Note: I have a few other publishing projects in the works. I’ll share info on them as soon as I can. Also, please note that these dates are TENTATIVE and could change at any time, due to my writing schedule and various publishing whims (including the pandemic).

    Thanks for reading! 😎 

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    Haints and Hobwebs — Elemental Assassin #4.5 ghost story — now available …

    Haints and Hobwebs, Elemental Assassin #4.5, is now available as a stand-alone ebook. Woot!

    Haints and Hobwebs is my take on a ghost story. The 11,000-word story first appeared in The Mammoth Book of Ghost Romance anthology in 2012.

    Note: There will NOT be an audiobook or a print book of this story.

    Over the years, several folks have asked if/when I was going to release Haints and Hobwebs as a stand-alone ebook, and I’m happy that it’s going to be available for folks who want to add it to their Elemental Assassin collections.

    If the demand is great enough, I might also consider releasing some of the free short stories on my website as stand-alone ebooks or perhaps as an ebook bundle. We’ll see what happens.

    Fun fact: The awesome Tony Mauro designed the cover art for Haints and Hobwebs. He is the cover artist for the Elemental Assassin series, as well as for Kill the Queen. I love the spider rune on the tombstone, and I think it’s a great look for a ghost story.

    HAINTS AND HOBWEBS DESCRIPTION:

    Even the Spider can’t escape a ghost’s web . . .

    I’m being haunted.

    As Gin Blanco, aka the assassin the Spider, I’m used to being haunted by all the bad things I’ve done over the years. I suppose it was only a matter of time before an actual ghost came back to haunt me. But for once, I’m not the bad guy, and I wasn’t the person who sent this ghost—this haint—into the afterlife.

    But this haint definitely wants something from me, and I can’t help but think that it’s revenge on the person responsible for her untimely demise.

    Good thing revenge is my specialty, whether it’s among the living or the dead . . .

    Note: Haints and Hobwebs is an 11,000-word story that takes place after the events of Tangled Threads, book 4 in the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. Haints and Hobwebs first appeared in The Mammoth Book of Ghost Romance in 2012.

    I hope that everyone enjoys revisiting the ghost story. Happy reading! 🙂

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    Novellas and short stories — Do you read them?

    Note #1: This post will also appear on Tuesday, July 5 at Magical Musings.

    Note #2: I’m giving away 5 copies of Bitter Bite, Elemental Assassin #14, U.S. only. To enter, use the form at the bottom of this post.

    Unwanted finalUnwanted, e-novella #14.5 in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, will be released on July 18. Woot!

    I’ve written several e-novellas for this series — Thread of Death, Kiss of Venom, and now Unwanted — along with short stories like Carniepunk: Parlor Tricks. There are also several free short stories for this series on the Free Reads page of my website.

    I enjoy writing the e-novellas and short stories — especially since many of them are from the secondary characters’ points of view.

    Unwanted is an e-novella that takes place after the events of Bitter Bite, book #14. It is told from the point of view of Finnegan Lane, Gin’s foster brother. If you’ve read Bitter Bite, then you know that Finn definitely needed his own story after everything that happened in that book. And a hug. 🙂

    Finn is one of the most popular characters in my Elemental Assassin series, and I’ve had many requests from readers over the years to write something from his point of view. After everything that happens to him in Bitter Bite, it seemed like the right time to finally give him a story. (And I also had time in my writing schedule to do it as well.)

    Writing the e-novellas and short stories really lets me delve into my secondary characters and show their emotions and feelings about everything that’s going on around them. It also lets me expand my overall world building and show different parts of Ashland, my fictional city, that I might not get to visit in a regular Elemental Assassin book.

    But I know that not everyone will read all the e-novellas and short stories, so I try to make each one of them almost like mini adventures for the secondary characters. That way, if you want to read the e-novellas and short stories, you are getting a complete story. But if you don’t want to read them, then you’re not going to miss out on anything that ties in to a major storyline in the main books.

    To me, the e-novellas and short stories are just fun bonus material for fans of my series, like all those behind-the-scenes features that you see on so many movie and TV show DVDs these days. I hope to write more of e-novellas and short stories and explore some of my other secondary characters. Time and writing schedule permitting, of course.

    What about you guys? Did you read e-novellas and short stories that tie into book series? Why or why not? What are some of your favorite book series?

    UNWANTED INFO

    Unwanted is about 20,000 words — around 75 pages — and will be available as an e-novella only. There will not be any print or audiobook versions at this time.

    Unwanted is priced at $1.99, and it is up for pre-order at the following sites:

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

    And here is the e-novella description. This contains major spoilers for Bitter Bite. So if you absolutely do not want to be spoiled, skip reading the e-novella description.

    The New York Times bestselling Elemental Assassin series continues with a new e-novella—from the point of view of Finnegan Lane, the foster brother of Gin Blanco, and a fan favorite of readers of the series.

    The fallout from his disastrous “family reunion” in Bitter Bite has left Finn feeling hurt, angry, and depressed. He can barely stand to look at himself in the mirror, much less eat any of the delicious barbecue from Gin’s famed Pork Pit restaurant.

    But when the funeral for a slain security guard at his bank turns into a showdown with some nasty underworld giants, Finn knows that he must act in order to protect an innocent family.

    Finnegan Lane might be the most unwanted man in Ashland these days, but he’s determined to try to make amends for his past mistakes…

    You can read an excerpt from the e-novella here. Scroll down, and click on the Read Excerpt tab.

    I hope that everyone enjoys the e-novella when it is released. Happy reading!

    BITTER BITE GIVEAWAY

    To gear up for Unwanted, I’m giving away 5 copies of Bitter Bite, Elemental Assassin #14, U.S. only. To enter, use the form below.
    a Rafflecopter giveaway

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    Updated summer release schedule …

    I’ve got a lot of new stuff coming out this summer, so I thought that I would update everyone on what is coming out and when and share some of the pre-order links. Please note that all of these books/stories are not up for pre-order everywhere yet:

    ELEMENTAL ASSASSIN SERIES

    Kiss of VenomJune 3Carniepunk: Parlor Tricks — An Elemental Assassin short story — available as a free e-download — Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iTunes / Kobo

    July 22Kiss of Venom — Elemental Assassin #8.5 e-novella from Owen’s point of view — e-book only — Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iTunes 

    July 23Carniepunk urban fantasy anthology — Parlor Tricks will be included in the complete anthology — Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iTunes 

    Aug. 27Heart of Venom — Elemental Assassin #9 — Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iTunes 

    Note: Heart of Venom will also be available as an audio book through Audible, although it is not up for pre-order yet.

    MYTHOS ACADEMY SERIES

    June 25Spartan Frost — Mythos Academy #4.5 e-novella from Logan’s point of view — e-book only — Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iTunes / Kobo

    July 30 Midnight Frost — Mythos Academy #5 —
    Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iTunes / Kobo

    Note: Midnight Frost also will be available as an audio book through Brilliance Audio, although it is not up for pre-order yet. You can also order various formats of the audio book through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.

    FINAL THOUGHTS

    The SpiderWhew! It’s shaping up to be the Summer of Estep. LOL. And I will have one more book out in 2013:

    Dec. 24The Spider — Elemental Assassin #10 — Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iTunes 

    Note: The Spider will also be available as an audio book through Audible, although it is not up for pre-order yet.

    Hope that everyone enjoys all of the books and e-stories this summer and then The Spider at the end of the year. Happy reading!