Cliffhangers - Jennifer Estep

Greetings and salutations! First of all, I want to say thanks to Lee for having me back on the blog. Thanks so much, Lee!

On to my topic of the day – cliffhangers.

My latest book, Spider’s Bite, is out this month. It’s the first book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. And, yes, it ends with a cliffhanger.

Don’t worry. It’s not a major cliffhanger. I don’t have my heroine get surrounded by killer ninjas or thrown into shark-infested waters and suddenly end the book. After all, I’m a reader too. There’s only so much suspense that I can take, and I know lots of other readers feel the same way. 

But at the end of Spider’s Bite, the heroine finds out a piece of information that she didn’t know before – something that absolutely stuns her and really rocks her whole world.

So why did I decide to end with a bit of a cliffhanger? Well, mainly because it fit the story. During the course of Spider’s Bite, my heroine goes through a lot of ups and downs. But finally, at the end, she’s in a good place in her life. And just when she thinks that things are finally getting back to normal – BAM! She finds out this information, and it changes everything that she thought she knew.

I also decided to close out the book with a cliffhanger because I love twist endings. Two of my favorite twist endings are in the heist movies The Italian Job (with Mark Wahlberg) and The Thomas Crown Affair (with Pierce Brosnan). You think you know what’s going on in those movies, but suddenly, there’s a clever little twist at the end, and you realize that things aren’t quite what they seem.

I also decided to end Spider’s Bite with a cliffhanger because, well, I want to hook people on my books, my story, my characters. I want readers to want to keep reading to find out what happens next. It’s one of the best compliments you can get as an author when someone e-mails you to say how much she’s looking forward to your next book.

But I’m not being too cruel to readers. The next book in the series, Web of Lies, comes out in June, so folks don’t have too long to wait to see how the cliffhanger plays out. And the third book in the series, Venom, will be out in October.

What about you guys? Do you like cliffhangers? Hate them? What are some of your favorite cliffhangers or surprise endings in books and movies? Share in the comments.


Jennifer
http://www.jenniferestep.com/


**Jennifer is giving away another book from her backlist to one lucky reader! Just leave a comment for a chance to win and we'll pick a winner in a few days. Good luck!**

***Jennifer's winner is Laurie! Please email me, Laurie, at totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your full name and mailing address. :) Thanks to everyone who left a comment!***

Book Resolutions - Jennifer Estep

Greetings and salutations! First of all, I want to say thanks to Lee for having me back on the blog. Thanks so much, Lee!

Well, the holidays have come and gone, and January is halfway over (already!). But my TBR pile remains as big as ever. In fact, it’s grown quite a bit, thanks to all the books that I got for Christmas. It kind of resembles a small version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa now, with only the side of my couch to hold it up and keep it from spilling everywhere. Okay, okay, so maybe it’s not really so small after all.

But I’m going to change that this year. Because 2010 is the year that I’m going to whittle down my TBR pile. I mean it. I really mean it. No more book buying for me until I’ve got less than 10 books in the current stack to read. It’s one of my New Year’s resolutions, right up there with eating better, getting more exercise, and all the other things that we promise ourselves that we’re going to do right at the start of a new year.

Except … deep down, I know that my shiny new book resolution probably won’t make it past the first week of February, when I have my next book group meeting at my local Barnes & Noble. I always go a few minutes early just so I can wander around and look at all the new books out.

All those books! All those covers! So shiny! So pretty! I want to buy them all!

Yeah, this is one resolution that I’m just not going to be able to keep. Hello. My name is Jennifer, and I’m a book addict … Maybe finding a booklovers anonymous group should be my real resolution this year. :)

What about you guys? Do you have any reading resolutions this year? Are there any books that you’re really looking forward to? Any new authors or series that you’re dying to try? Share in the comments.

Jennifer

http://www.jenniferestep.com/


Jennifer's giving away a copy of her new book, Spider's Bite, to one lucky reader. Just comment on this post to qualify for a chance to win!

***Jennifer's winner is Pat Cochran! Congratulations, Pat! Please email me at totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your full mailing address so Jennifer can get your prize in the mail. And thanks to everyone else who left a comment. :) ***

Release Day - Jennifer Estep

So, my second book, Hot Mama, is being released today. It’s the second book in my Bigtime paranormal romance series, and I’m feeling just as much joy and excitement now as I did when my first book, Karma Girl, came out.

There really is nothing like release day. The knowledge that your book has been released from the depths of the publisher’s warehouse. The fact you can walk into your local bookstore and actually see it on the shelf. The fact that if a reader orders it from Amazon in the next eight hours, twelve minutes, and twenty-three seconds, she can have your book in her hands by tomorrow. The knowledge that more reviews will start coming in, and the hope that people will start e-mailing you raving about how much they liked it.

But I’m also a little nervous too, mainly because of one thing – the dreaded sophomore slump.

Dum-dum-dum! (Cue the scary music here).

Entertainment magazines talk about the sophomore slump all the time. About how a hit TV show or movie series suddenly goes from fab to forgettable by the time the second season or sequel rolls around.

It’s happened to lots of movies I’ve enjoyed over the years. Take Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. I absolutely loved this rip-roaring adventure movie. But Pirates 2? Not so much. The same thing goes for TV shows. I loved the first season of Lost. Seasons 2 and 3? Not so much.

So, I can’t help but wonder if some readers will feel the same way about Hot Mama. Will the book meet their expectations? Will they think it’s as good as Karma Girl? Will they like it enough to consider picking up my third book, Jinx? Or will I lose readers because I didn’t deliver the goods the second time around?

I’ve heard so many horror stories from writers about how the second book is always harder to write than the first. About how they struggle to recapture the magic of that first book. I’ve heard how fans have been let down or underwhelmed by an author whose first book they enjoyed immensely – so much so that they don’t read that author anymore. I know I’ve read second books that have disappointed me.

So, I think there’s some truth to the sophomore slump theory. Today is release day. I guess I’ll know soon enough if I’m in it.

What about you? Do you think there’s a sophomore slump when it comes to books? Inquiring minds want to know …

Jennifer

http://www.jenniferestep.com/