Look Who’s Going to RT: Jennifer Estep

Can you introduce yourself to my readers a little?
Of course. My name is Jennifer Estep, and I write the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. The first book in the series, Spider’s Bite, was released in Feb­ru­ary. Web of Lies, the sec­ond book, will be released May 25, and Venom, the third book, will hit shelves on Sept. 28.

I’m also the author of the Big­time para­nor­mal romance series. The Big­time books fea­ture sexy super­heroes, evil ubervil­lains, and smart, sassy gals look­ing for love. Titles in the series are Karma Girl, Hot Mama, and Jinx.

Can you introduce us to the world that you have created?
My Elemental Assassin urban fantasy books focus on Gin Blanco, an assas­sin code­named the Spi­der who can con­trol the ele­ments of Ice and Stone. When she’s not busy killing peo­ple and right­ing wrongs, Gin runs a bar­be­cue restau­rant called the Pork Pit in the fic­tional south­ern metrop­o­lis of Ash­land. The city is also home to giants, dwarves, vam­pires, and ele­men­tals, or folks who can control one of the four elements – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone.

Basically, the books are just dark, fun, sexy urban fantasies with a Southern vibe. Folks can check out the first chapter of each book on the Excerpts page of my Web site – www.jenniferestep.com – as well as some free short stories that I’ve written to go along with the series.

Will this be your first RT or are you a veteran? Any advice for those who are going for the first time?
This will be my second time at RT, so I wouldn’t say that I’m a veteran just yet. I’m working on it, though. ;-)

My biggest advice would be to just pace yourself. There’s so much going on that it can really be overwhelming. Pick a few things that you really want to go to, but don’t sweat the rest of your schedule. Half the fun is bumping into people and chatting with them.

Also, make some time to get out of the hotel and explore the city. I had a blast in Pittsburgh two years ago, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Columbus has to offer.

Are you speaking on any panels during RT? Are there any you are looking forward to?
I’m speaking on a panel about media and marketing from 10-11 a.m. Thursday, April 29. For my day job, I work at a newspaper, and the panel focuses on how authors can get media coverage for their books and more.

There are so many great panels set up that it would be hard to pick just one. I’ve just written a young adult book, so I’m interested in going to some of those panels and listening what other writers have to say about the genre. I also want to check out some panels about e-books and promotion/marketing. And, of course, there are tons of authors that I’d love to meet.

Okay, it looks like I totally won’t be taking my own advice about pacing myself! ;-)

If someone were wanting to meet up with you at RT, who should they look for?
The woman with the sensible shoes and the enormous shoulder bag full of bookmarks, flyers, and other assorted items. Also, the bushy brown hair will be another clue that it’s me. The more humidity there is, the bigger it gets. LOL.

I’ll also be at Club RT from 2:30-3:30 p.m. Friday, April 30, if anyone wants to drop by. And, of course, I’ll be at the big book signing on Saturday, although I may cut out a little early since I’ve got a long drive home that day. Come say hi! ;-)