Please join us in welcoming the lovely Jennifer Estep today to help her celebrate her upcoming release Touch of Frost. Jennifer is the genius behind the Elemental Assassin  urban fantasy series, the Bigtime paranormal romance series and her newest series the YA urban fantasy based Mythos Academy series of which Touch of Frost is the first book. Today she is answering some of our questions about her books and her writing and she is being kind enough to give you and opportunity to win a copy of Touch of Frost for yourself at the end of this post!

Has: Jennifer can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Jennifer: My name is Jennifer Estep, and I’m a USA Today bestselling author. I write the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series for Kensington, and the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series for Pocket Books. I’m also the author of the Bigtime paranormal romance series. Folks can visit my website at www.jenniferestep.com for excerpts, free short stories, and more information about my books.

Has: Describe a typical day of writing? Are you a planner or pantser?

Jennifer: I’m a total panster. I don’t do detailed outlines, storyboards, or anything like that. I just think about my heroine, her magic, and how she can use it to defeat the bad guys. I also think about the overall plot and what the major turning points of the story need to be. After a few weeks when I have these things set in my mind, I sit down and start writing. I try to write about 2,000 or 3,000 words a day until I have a rough draft of about 50,000 or 60,000 words or so.

Then, I let that sit for a few weeks before going back to it and seeing if the characters and the story hold together and what changes I need to make. I usually do about four drafts, adding in more description, dialogue, and details every time until the book is about 95,000 words and the best that I can make it.

As for a typical day of writing, I’m usually at the computer and at work by 9 a.m. After checking emails, I start writing. I’ll usually work until lunch, take a break, write a few more hours, and then take another break in mid-afternoon. After that, depending on how much I’ve gotten done, I might write some more or work on some other things, like blogging, emails, advertising, etc. – just whatever needs to get done that day.

Has: What do you think is the difference between a reader and a real Book Lover?

Jennifer: I think a reader is just someone who’s reading something because they have to – office reports, school assignments, things like that. We’re all readers from time to time. Book lovers are folks who love books and all the amazing stories that they contain and want to share their favorite reads with others.

Has: Your new series, Mythos Academy is described as Xena in high school. How would you
describe the world it is set in?

Jennifer: The books focus on Gwen Frost, a 17-year-old Gypsy girl who has the gift of psychometry, or the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it. After a serious freak-out with her magic, Gwen is shipped off to Mythos Academy, a school for the descendants of ancient warriors like Spartans, Valkyries, Amazons, and more.

Mythos Academy is basically a private boarding school for all these warrior whiz kids, as Gwen calls them. Everyone at Mythos is rich, beautiful, powerful, and deadly – except for Gwen. She doesn’t think that she fits in at Mythos, but Gwen quickly finds out that she’s more of a warrior than she ever thought she could be.

Has: What would you say to those readers who are fans of your Gin Blanco, Elemental Assassin
series, how is the Mythos Academy series different between being a YA series?

Jennifer: Well, the Elemental Assassin books are very dark, gritty, and violent, and the sex, language, and violence is toned down quite a bit in my Mythos Academy books since those are YA books. Also, Gwen is just figuring out her magic and her place in the world, so she’s less confident in herself and her abilities than the assassin heroine of my Elemental Assassin books is.

But I think folks who like my Elemental Assassin series will find a lot to like in the Mythos Academy series too. Both series feature a lot of the same elements – a strong, sassy heroine, magic, action, lots of fight scenes, and even a little romance.

Has: The Touch of Frost universe concentrates on different types mythology, what is your all-time
favorite myth and creature?

Jennifer: There are tons of interesting myths out there, but I really like the myth of Psyche and Eros (Cupid), who overcome so many obstacles to finally be together. The myth almost has a fairy tale quality to it, since the outcome is true love. I just think it’s a cool story.

Gryphons, dragons, chimeras, centaurs, minotaurs – there are so many different types of creatures in mythology that I couldn’t pick just one. I’ve had a lot of fun writing about mythological monsters in my books. It always seems like there’s a monster lurking around the Mythos Academy campus that wants to eat Gwen. LOL.

Has: Did you always like myths and legends or was this something that developed gradually? Do you remember one of the very first myths that stayed with you?

Jennifer: I’ve always loved mythology, fairy tales, superhero stories, things like that – just any story where people have powers, go on these amazing quests, and fight the good fight.

One of the first mythology-related things that I remember seeing was the old Clash of the Titans movie with Harry Hamlin. We watched that one quite a bit when we had movies days at my school. I thought it was interesting how all these gods, goddesses, heroes, monsters, and more were battling against each other. Over the years, I read things like The Iliad and The Odyssey, and I watched more mythology movies and TV shows, like Xena: Warrior Princess and 300.

One day, I just thought it would be cool to write my own mythology-based story with my own characters and put my own spin on things. That was the beginning of Touch of Frost and the rest of the Mythos Academy series.

Has: How did you research the mythology of your novel and how did you decide which Gods or other
paranormal beings would live in your world?

Jennifer: I knew that I wanted to make the Norse god Loki my bad guy and that the good guy would be Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. I liked the idea of this trickster god being pitting against a victory goddess, and I thought that would make for an interesting story. So I did a little research on them and various other gods, goddesses, myths, and monsters. Then, I just let my imagination take off, and I put my own spin on things, merging the mythology with what I wanted Gwen’s magic to be and the idea of this school for warriors. I hope folks have as much fun reading the books as I do writing them.


Has: What can we expect of Touch of Frost?

Jennifer: In Touch of Frost, Gwen is getting used to going to a new school and trying to figure out how she fits in with the other warrior whiz kids. Gwen doesn’t think that she belongs at Mythos Academy, but when a girl is murdered in the Library of Antiquities, Gwen decides to use her psychometry magic to figure out who killed the girl and why. Of course, Gwen gets into a lot of trouble along the way.

Has: Which myth you would like to retell or change?

Jennifer: Hmm. That’s a tough one, but I’m going to say Psyche and Eros again. I think you could retell that story in a variety of ways – in modern times, as an urban fantasy, as an epic fantasy, as an action-packed tale. It would be fun to play around with it and see what I could come up with.

Has: Will there be more books in this series, do you have a set amount of books planned? What is
next on your schedule?

Jennifer: Right now, I’m under contract for three books in the Mythos Academy series. Touch of Frost, the first book in the series, will be out on July 26. Kiss of Frost, the second book, will be published on Nov. 29, while Dark Frost, the third book, will hit shelves in 2012. Also, First Frost, a prequel e-story to the series, is available now.

I’m hoping to write maybe five or even six books in the series, as that will let me finish out the main story arc with Gwen fighting Loki and his Reapers of Chaos.

I also have a fifth book coming out in my Elemental Assassin series this year. Spider’s Revenge will be out on Sept. 27.

Has: What is it about frost and ice? 🙂 Gin Blanco is an ice elemental and the heroine of your new YA series is called Gwen Frost. Is winter your favourite season or why this fascination with
snow, ice and frost?

Jennifer: I do like winter a lot, and I love snowy landscapes. I also like snowflakes – I just think it’s a cool symbol.

Sometimes, the title of a book comes to me before the story does, and sometimes, it’s the other way around. One day, the title Touch of Frost just popped into my head, and I started thinking about the kind of story that I could build around that. I thought what if my heroine had psychometry magic and she got flashes of other people’s feelings whenever she touched an object? What if her psychometry was considered to be touch magic? After I got that nailed down, it only seemed natural to make Gwen’s last name be Frost to fit in with the title that I had in mind – Touch of Frost.

Has: You have written about Valkyries, Spartan warriors and Gypsies and more. Who would be
you’re ultimate battle with other warrior types and creatures and who do you think will become
the victor?

Jennifer: That’s a tough question! Out of all my characters, I would say Gin Blanco, the heroine of my Elemental Assassin series, would probably be the last person standing since she is an assassin and can be ruthless any time she needs to be. But I also think that Logan Quinn, a Spartan warrior in the Mythos Academy series, could give Gin a run for her money. Logan has the ability to pick up any object and automatically know how to kill with it, so he’s as cute as he is deadly.

Has: If you could have any superpower from any of your characters in either the Elemental Assassin series or Mythos Academy series, which power would you like to have and why? And if you could choose of any possible super power and not just the ones present in your novels, which
one would you choose?

Jennifer: I think Gin’s Ice elemental power would be fun to have from the Elemental Assassin series, especially since we’re in the middle of summer. That would be one way to keep cool. LOL. I’d also love to have superstrength, like the Valkyries do in my Mythos Academy books.

As far as choosing any superpower goes, I think teleportation would be an awesome ability to have. It would be so great to go anywhere you wanted to on a moment’s notice.

Has: If there was a literary crossover, which heroine (or hero) do you think could be Gin’s fictional
BFF? And Gwen’s?

Jennifer: Hmm. Interesting question. I think Gin would get along with Elektra, the Marvel Comics superheroine, since they’ve both worked as assassins.

As for Gwen, I think she would be friends with someone like Beauty from the book Beauty by Robin McKinley. Both Gwen and Beauty are put into these strange places and situations that they don’t really understand, and they both have to make the best of things.

Has: What is you’re all time favorite book that has given you the most inspiration and influence in
your writing?

Jennifer: There are so many great books and authors out there that I couldn’t pick just one. But since I’ve already mentioned it, I have to say that one of my favorite books is Beauty by Robin McKinley. It’s a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, and it’s just a lovely, elegant story.

Has: You have just announced that there will be a 6th and 7th book in the Elemental Assassin series, congratulations! 🙂 How many books are you planning in this series?

Jennifer: Thanks! I appreciate that. 😉 Right now, I’m contracted for seven books. Book six will be called By a Thread, and it will be out in February 2012. The seventh book (untitled as of right now) is tentatively scheduled to be out in the fall of 2012. I’m hoping to write more books beyond that. I think there are a lot of Gin stories left to tell.

Has: Do you already know how you want to conclude, end the Elemental Assassin series or is it something that evolves depending on the events of the latest novels?

Jennifer: The big story arc with Gin and her nemesis, Mab Monroe, will wrap up in the fifth book, Spider’s Revenge. As for the ultimate finale of the series, I have a few ideas, but really, it will just depend on how many books there are and where the story and Gin lead me.

Has: I fear we won’t get an answer, but I have to ask: Donovan or Owen? And were you surprised so many people supported Owen? Or were you expecting it?

Jennifer: Oh, I’m definitely on Team Owen. It was a nice surprise to see how much folks liked Owen, especially since I thought he was a much better match for Gin. I thought folks might like Owen better, given how badly Donovan treated Gin at the end of Web of Lies, but the response has been far more enthusiastic than I could have ever hoped for. And there’s more Owen to come in Spider’s Revenge.

Has: We promise we won’t tell the others, but do you have a favorite character of yours who you just
love to write?

Jennifer: I love writing Finnegan Lane in the Elemental Assassin series. Finn is a shameless, greedy womanizer who says whatever he wants to. He’s just a really fun character for me to write.

I also really like writing Vic in the Mythos Academy series. I can’t say too much about Vic since the first book isn’t out yet, but he’s a really bloodthirsty character who wants to kill Reapers of Chaos (my bad guys) more than anything else.

Has: Is there a character who was created after a personal friend, acquaintance of yours? Did that
person recognize him/herself?

Jennifer: Not really. I don’t really base characters on people that I know. However, every once in a while, I’ll take a quirk from someone and use that in a book. For example, my grandmother hates to wear socks, and she’ll even walk across the yard barefoot in the dead of winter. So Jo-Jo Deveraux in my Elemental Assassin books doesn’t like to wear socks either.


Has: Now can you tell us 3 reasons why people should read your books?

Jennifer:
Okay, here goes:

1. Because they have a little bit of everything in them – action, magic, danger, romance, andmore.
2. Because they have strong heroines – I love writing strong heroines.
3. Because they’re just fun reads – I like to tell an action-packed story.

Has: Can you summarize Touch of Frost for us twitterstyle (140 characters or less)?

Jennifer: Myths. Magic. Monsters. Mean girls.

You can find Jennifer on her website and on twitter.

About Amanda

Amanda-Lee is a proudly addicted reader and writer from Sydney. She lives with her wonderful husband and their more like a baby than a kitten Hamish. Amanda-Lee has been blogging for 4 years now and is a lover of all genres, though she does have a tendancy to stray towards the weird and wonderful concotions in the paranormal and fantasy genres. In addition to being the Winged Lover on BLI she also runs the book blog StoryWings.

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