Q&A With Jennifer Estep

Jennefer Estep is the New York Times, USA Today & International Bestselling author of fantasy who I’m doing a Q&A with this week. Jennifer has written several series Galactic Bonds, Section 47, Elemental Assassin, Crown of Shards, Gargoyle Queen, Mythos Academy, Mythos Academy Spinoff, Black Blade & The Bigtime. 

Q: Jennifer what drew you into writing fantasy? 

A: I’ve always loved stories with a little bit of everything in them – magic, action, danger, adventure, and romance. For me, fantasy is the perfect genre because it lets me tell a story that has all the elements that I love as a reader.

Plus, there are so many different kinds of fantasy – urban, epic, etc. – and so many different kinds of fantasy characters – assassins, superheroes, etc. Fantasy is a genre that appeals to me because you can do whatever you want to with it and tell any kind of story that you dream up.  

Q: When did you know that being an author was your calling? Who were your biggest supporters of your writing goals and talent?

A: My mom has definitely been one of my biggest supporters. When I was a kid, she used to take me to our local library every Saturday so I could get a stack of books to read for the week. That’s how I fell in love with books and reading in the first place, and I definitely wouldn’t be an author today without all those childhood library visits. 

I’ve always loved books, reading, and stories, and one summer during college, I decided to try writing a book myself just to see if I could do it. I wrote a very long, very bad epic fantasy book that will never see the light of day, but I had been bitten by the writing bug, and I just kept writing one book after another until I eventually got published. 

Q: What advice would you give to anyone wanting to write great fantasy and to keep a series going without it going stale? 

A: I always tell people to have fun with their writing. For example, don’t write a zombie book (or whatever) just because zombie books happen to be the popular genre right now. If you don’t like reading about zombies, then you’re probably not going to like writing about them and that will show in your book. Instead, tell the story you want to tell with characters, magic, and more that you would be interested in reading. 

Another tip I have is to keep your worldbuilding a little open-ended. For example, if you say that only vampires exist in your world/book, then that’s the only kind of paranormal creature/magic you can write about. I always like to have a variety of characters, creatures, and magic in my books so that my heroine faces new challenges along the way. I think that sort of variety in your worldbuilding can help keep a series from going stale, both for authors and readers.

Q: If you were to write in another genre that wasn’t fantasy which genres would you explore writing in and why?

A: I’ve always loved westerns so I think it would be really fun to write in that genre, although I don’t know that I could write a book without using some fantasy elements. LOL.

I also love mysteries, thrillers, and all kinds of romance books so those are all genres that I’m interested in exploring. Writing a comic book/graphic novel and a screenplay are also on my author bucket list of things I want to do.

Q: Does Hollywood have any interest and rights to your work? The entertainment industry could use more originality instead of constant remakes, reboots, sequels, prequels and spin offs. 

A: It hasn’t happened yet, but I would love to see one of my books turned into a movie or TV show. Maybe it will happen someday. Fingers crossed, anyway.  

I agree about the entertainment industry needing new content. There are so many great fantasy/sci-fi books out there. I would love to see movies/TV shows based on new/different books instead of more reboots of stories/characters we’ve seen a dozen times before. 

Q: Do you have a favorite spot or spots where you sit down and plot and write your books?

A: I’m pretty boring in that I write at my desk in my office. I like absolutely quiet so writing in my office is what works best for me. However, I do think about my books, characters, and plots quite a bit so I will sometimes scribble down notes if an idea pops into my head while I’m out doing errands, talking to a friend, or something like that. 

Q: If you’re working on new projects now, are they standalone novels, one of your existing series or the start of a new series?

A: My next book is Only Good Enemies, book #2 in my Galactic Bonds science-fiction fantasy series that will be out on July 18. Next up, I will be working on Only Hard Problems, a novella in my Galactic Bonds world that will come out in early 2024. 

I’m also planning to write a third book in my Section 47 urban fantasy, spies-with-magic series. And I have an idea for a new sci-fi fantasy book that I would like to write. I always have more ideas than I ever have time to write.

Thanks so much for hosting me on your site. Happy reading, everyone!

JENNIFER ESTEP BIO AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Jennifer Estep is a New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea. 

Only Good Enemies, book #2 in her Galactic Bonds science-fiction fantasy romance series, will be released July 18.  

Jennifer is also the author of the Section 47, Elemental Assassin, Crown of Shards, Gargoyle Queen, and other fantasy series. She has written more than 45 books, along with numerous novellas and stories.

In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys hanging out with friends and family, doing yoga, and reading fantasy and romance books. She also watches way too much TV and loves all things related to superheroes.

For more information on Jennifer and her books, visit www.jenniferestep.com or follow Jennifer on Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, BookBub, and Twitter. You can also sign up for her newsletter.

JENNIFER’S SOCIAL MEDIA SITES:

Website: http://www.jenniferestep.com/ 

Blog: http://www.jenniferestep.com/blog/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferEstepAuthor?fref=ts 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Jennifer_Estep  (@Jennifer_Estep)

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_estep_author/ 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/580315.Jennifer_Estep

Newsletter signup: http://www.jenniferestep.com/contact-jennifer/newsletter/ 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Estep/e/B001IQXFDO/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1 

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jennifer-estep