Tangled Threads: Giveaway & Chat with Jennifer Estep

This giveaway is closed. The winners are mbreakfield, Allison, Kristen, Lexie & Heather.

 If you've never read the Elemental Assassin series, you are definitely missing out. This is a fun, fast moving Urban Fantasy series, featuring a female assassin, who can command both ice and stone magic.  The latest installment of Gin Blanco's adventures, Tangled Threads, is just days away from release.  (If you want to want to read my review, click here.)  To celebrate, the mastermind behind Gin's story, Jennifer Estep, is here to answer some of my burning questions about the series:

Jen: One of the things I really love about these books is that they are Urban Fantasy but not the same old vampire and werewolf fare. Explain the world of the elementals and where you got the idea for it.

Jennifer: Basically, in the Elemental Assassin series, there are humans, vampires, giants, dwarves, and elementals – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone. Some folks can also use related areas to the four main elements, like electricity is an offshoot of Air and metal is an offshoot of Stone. Anyone can be an elemental – humans, vampires, giants, and dwarves. My heroine, Gin Blanco, aka the assassin the Spider, has a very rare talent in that she can use not one but two elements – Ice and Stone in her case.

I just thought it would be cool to use elemental magic. I thought that using that sort of magic system would let me come with some interesting powers for Gin and the bad guys that she faces. For example, Gin can use her Ice magic to make knives, lockpicks, and more, while her Stone power lets her make her own skin as hard as marble. And the bad guys have everything from Fire magic to electrical powers.  

Jen: Donovan Caine was Gin's initial love interest in the early books. Did you ever intend for him to get over his issues with Gin or was their relationship doomed from the start?

Jennifer: At first, I intended for Donovan to be Gin’s love interest throughout the series. But after writing Spider’s Bite, the first book in the series, I realized that they were going to have the same argument in every book about her being an assassin. Donovan is such a straight arrow that I really couldn’t let him come around to Gin’s way of thinking without really weakening his character. So I decided to have Donovan leave Gin at the end of Web of Lies, the second book in the series.

I’m glad I made the change. Having Donovan walk out on Gin made for some great drama – and so did bringing in Owen Grayson, the sexy businessman who is Gin’s new love interest. So far, most folks seem to be on Team Owen, which is really satisfying to me. ;-) 

Jen: Will we ever see Donovan again? Does he feel the pins I stick into his voo-doo doll?

Jennifer: Heh. That’s funny. A lot of folks seem to not like Donovan after what he did to Gin. I’m thinking about bringing Donovan back at some point, if only so Gin can get some closure about their relationship. Donovan walked away from Gin, and she didn’t like that very much. Plus, I think I could write some interesting scenes with Gin, Donovan, and Owen. We’ll see what happens.

Jen: Do you intend to ever tell Sophia's backstory?

Jennifer:  Readers will learn more about Sophia in Spider’s Revenge, the fifth book in the series, including why her voice is so broken and raspy. If the series goes long enough, I’d like to do a book that really delves into Sophia’s background – including the bad guys who hurt her.

Also, there’s a free short story on the Excerpts page of my website called "Tangled Dreams" that has some scenes from Sophia’s point of view. Here’s the link to read it and the other stories I’ve written for the series: http://www.jenniferestep.com/excerpts-short-stories/ 

Jen: Will Spider's Revenge be Gin's last book?

Jennifer: Actually, I’m working on book six right now, which I’m jokingly referring to as “Gin on vacation.” Gin decides to get out of Ashland for a while, but trouble manages to find her no matter where she goes … Such is the life of an assassin. LOL.

A big thanks to Jennifer Estep for stopping by and for joining me (and some of my other blogging friends) for chat earlier this week.  You can hear her join us about 10 minutes into the chat. If you're interested, check it out:

 

So, are you sold on the series yet?  If not, I've got something to sweeten the deal! I'm giving away 5 copies of Tangled Threads!  The contest is open to all followers of Red Hot Books in the US and Canada.  To enter, just make sure you're following with Google Friend Connect, then leave me a comment, telling me what your favorite Urban Fantasy series is!  The contest will run through the weekend and I'll announce the winners Sunday night.