GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSEDPlease help me to welcome one of my favorite Urban Fantasy writers to the blog-Jennifer Estep. She has a new book, Tangled Threads, book 4 of the Elemental Assassin Series coming out on April 26, 2011. We are giving away one copy of this new release ~for more details, please see the end of the interview. :)
Jennifer, Welcome to A Buckeye Girl Reads!! Can you tell us a bit about the elemental series so far?
I love writing such a strong heroine, and I love writing action-packed fight scenes. Luckily with Gin, I get to do both of those things.
Jennifer, Welcome to A Buckeye Girl Reads!! Can you tell us a bit about the elemental series so far?
Hi, Colette! Thanks for having me on the blog today. I appreciate it. ;-)
Sure. The Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series focuses 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 – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone
Books in the series are Spider’s Bite, Web of Lies, and Venom. Tangled Threads, the fourth book, will be published on April 26.In Tangled Threads, Gin learns that her nemesis, Mab Monroe, has hired an assassin named Elektra LaFleur to come to Ashland to find and kill the Spider, aka Gin. Also, Gin tries to rescue a kidnapped girl and debates whether or not to tell her younger sister, Detective Bria Coolidge, who and what she really is. So the book is basically assassin vs. assassin with a lot of juicy family drama thrown in. I hope folks have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.
The rune Gin has plays such an important part of the series, how did you decide on a Spider rune for Gin?
I used to work for a newspaper, and several years ago, I did a couple of stories on psanky, the Ukranian art of Easter egg dyeing. There are lots of cool symbols used in psanky, one of which is a spider. I thought the symbol and the name the Spider would be great to use in an assassin story someday. So I did.
Do you have a favorite Gin Kick Ass moment?
I have to say that Tangled Threads has been one of my favorite books to write in the series so far because of Gin’s big showdown at the end with Elektra LaFleur. There’s a line near the end where Gin says something to LaFleur like “I don’t have to live to win. I just have to make sure you die.” I think that sums up Gin’s philosophy on life pretty well. LOL.
Are Team Owen or Team Caine or both?
A: I’m definitely Team Owen. I think he’s just the more interesting character, and he really gets Gin in a way that Donovan Caine never did. Owen has had to do a lot of the same things that Gin has over the years just to survive, and he understands and accepts her for who and what she is – something that Donovan was never going to be able to do.
Finn is always drinking coffee~do you have a favorite recipe?
Actually, it’s kind of ironic that you ask that since I don’t drink coffee – at all. I love the way that it smells, but I just don’t like the taste. I never have, no matter how much milk and sugar I add to it. I don’t like coffee-flavored anything, not even ice cream. LOL.
So I don’t have any coffee recipes to share. Really, my favorite recipes are the simplest ones – mix and stir recipes, I call them. You just put a few ingredients together, throw the dish into the oven or refrigerator, and it’s done. I’ve posted a few recipes on the Elemental Assassin page of my website that I’ve gotten from friends and more and tweaked over the years to suit my own personal tastes: http://www.jenniferestep.com/books-series/elemental-assassin-series/
What do you like most about the series?
Do you have anything new that you are working on that you'd like to tell us about?
I’m always working on something. LOL. Here’s what I have on tap for the rest of the year:
Spider’s Revenge, the fifth book in the Elemental Assassin series, will be released in October.
I also have a new series coming out this year – the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series for Kensington. 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.The first book, Touch of Frost, will be out in August, while the second book, Kiss of Frost, will hit shelves in December. First Frost, a prequel e-short story to the series, will be out in July. Visit http://www.jenniferestep.com/ for excerpts and more.
Tangled Threads Giveaway
This giveaway is open to those living in US/Canada only, sorry. You don't have to be a blog follower, but it would be nice if you came one. :) The giveaway is open until 11:59pm Monday April 25th. If I don't hear from the winner in 2 days after announcing who the winner is, I will have to unfortunately have to pick a new one. Please state if you are entering the giveaway, and if your email isn't apart of your blogger profile, please leave it so I have a way to contact you. :) Good luck. :)
