Behind The Pen: with Jennifer Estep (+giveaway)

I love interviews. But I find the artists behind the stories equally intriguing, and I think they deserve as much limelight as their characters.  So here, instead of a list of questions about the story, the plot, or the characters, I ask authors the same 11 questions about themselves and hopefully get a glimpse behind the pen...

Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassins series was one of the very first Urban Fantasy series I found when I really started getting into UF, way back in Feb 2010.  The series is so much fun with it's bad-ass heroine Gin Blanco, and her evil arch nemesis, Mab Monroe. If you haven't checked out this series yet, you really must. The fourth book in the series, Tangled Threads, will be out next Tuesday, April 26th. Make sure you pick up a copy.


Q1: What is the last book you read?
Right now, I’m reading The False Princess by Eilis O’Neal. It’s about a princess who finds out that she’s not really a princess after all.


Q2: If you were stuck on a desert island, what book would you like to have with you?
I’d love to have all the books by Donald Westlake. As Westlake, he wrote the Dortmunder books, which are really funny comic crime capers. As Richard Stark, he wrote the Parker books, which are about a thief who always gets the job done. That way, I could laugh or read a dark, gritty thriller, depending on my mood.


Q3: What is your favorite swear word?
Black-hearted sons of bitches. I know it’s more of a phrase, but I like it ;-)


Q4: What is your biggest pet-peeve?
People who don’t keep their promises or are late for an appointment. If you say you’re going to do something or be somewhere, you should do your best to meet those obligations.


Q5: What quality do you most like in a man?
A sense of humor.


Q6: What quality do you most like in a woman?
A sense of humor.


Q7: What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt?
I’d love to try something really quirky and cool, like being an ice cream taste-tester or a screenwriter.


Q8: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I’ve always wanted to visit Alaska, so I would say there, although I imagine that I’d get tired of the snow and cold very quickly. LOL.


Q9: What inspires you?
Everything. Books, movies, TV shows, new stories, the people around me, a beautiful photograph. Anything I read, see, or hear about can spark a story idea.


Q10: If you could be one person (dead or alive) for a day who would you be?
Hmm. I’ll say someone really rich like Bill Gates so I could transfer a few million dollars over to the real me. LOL.


Q11: Mac or PC?
PC, since that’s what I use every day. Maybe someday, I’ll branch out and try a MAC. LOL

Thank you Jennifer for answering my laundry lists of questions.  And because Jennifer is so generous, she'll be giving away a copy of her upcoming release, Tangled Threads, to one lucky winner.  Here's how that'll work:

• Your comment is your entry
• If you follow this blog you receive an extra entry
• US & CAN only
• Contest ends next Thursday, April 28th at midnight (pst)
• Winner will be announced here shortly after that