IRENE ESTEP

Beverly A. Rearick: What genre do you write?

Irene Estep: Contemporary romantic suspense and Historical Regency romance.

Beverly A. Rearick: What genres would you like to write?

Irene Estep: I love romantic mystery/suspense and therefore find more enjoyment in writing within that genre than any other. Even CALAMITY CLARESTA, my Regency, has a mystery/suspense subplot. But, someday when I have plenty of time to do research I would like to try a western. It's one of my favorite genres for reading.

Beverly A. Rearick: Where do you get your ideas?

Irene Estep: I have no idea! I've never really analyzed it before. I have a vivid imagination, as most writers do, and I dream up difficult situations along with a character profile at the oddest moments. Sometimes someone will be talking to me and I won't know a thing they're saying because I'll wander off into, what I call, a plotting trance. Perhaps the person said something to set off a particular chain of thought, I'm not sure. However, my lack of attentiveness becomes a little embarrassing at times, especially when someone is awaiting a response from me about something, and I haven't a clue.

Beverly A. Rearick: Do you pattern your characters after any real people?

Irene Estep: In some instances, yes. My main characters are all too often burdened with my values and personal beliefs. For my own visionary uses while writing, I may select physical characteristics of a prominent individual such as a movie star, a television announcer, or a sports figure -- for heros,, football players exude the alpha male persona. For the most part, you won't find a lot of description in my stories. That is, unless it's important to he plot, such as the heroine needing to fit the MO for the serial killer's victims in OVERPROTECTED. I think most readers have their own mental pictures of what a perfect hero should look like and if you keep reminding them your hero isn't like theirs, then they may lose interest in your story. As for the villians, they are embellishments of the darker side of our society, and often a combination of real bad guy characteristics, such as the psychopathic killer in OVERPROTECTED. He is a mixture of Ted Bundy --charismatic and a transient jack-of-all-trades, and David Berchowitz (Son of Sam)-- delusional toward the end. There is probably a touch of Boston Strangler and Jack the Ripper in him, too, since he, at first, strangles, then later slits his victims' throats.

Beverly A. Rearick: What authors do you admire?

Irene Estep: Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Janet Evanovich, Jayne Ann Krentz, Maggie Osborne -- I could go on and on, but those are the ones that pop into my mind at the moment. These ladies don't mince words, and I usually find myself so engrossed in their stories that I do a straight read through.

Beverly A. Rearick: What authors do you read?

Irene Estep: All of the above, plus a list that would take up the entire interview space if I started naming them. I'm always reading something, sometimes three or four books at one time. That's the nice thing about my Rocket Reader, I can load it with nine or ten ebooks and switch back and forth without trying to remember where I laid the book down last or losing my spot in case the bookmark falls out. I'm acquiring e-author favorites, too. Marion Marshall, Janet Mills, Janet Lanes Walters, Barri Bryan, just to name a few.

Beverly A. Rearick: What genres do you read?

Irene Estep: Mainly mystery/suspense and romance. However, I'm a fairly diversified reader. As long as it's a well told story, I'll read just about anything. I'm addicted to Carl Hiaasen books, and 've read books by John Grisham, Iris Johnson, and few by Stephen King. Also, as I mentioned, I like old western romances, so I'm a big fan of Maggie Osborne, Marion Marshall (ebooks), Barri Bryan (ebooks), and Shannah Biondine (ebooks).

Beverly A. Rearick: What other genres do you see yourself writing?

Irene Estep: As I said, I would like to do a western romance. But, CALAMITY CLARESTA taught me just how much work goes into historical research, so I probably won't be writing a western any time soon. Although, I'm been sort of playing around with a sequel idea to Calamity. So far, the fans love the story and the reviews have been good. I spent all that time researching the regency period, so why waste it?

Beverly A. Rearick: What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?

Irene Estep: Taking it easy and collecting royalties. No? Well I've never been able to look that far ahead. And since I'm already having a few too many senior moments, I'd just as soon not dwell too much on the future. I hope I'll be doing much the same as I am now: Writing, reading, and enjoying time spent with my very large family.

Beverly A. Rearick: Do you see yourself ever not writing?

Irene Estep: I can't see myself ever quitting -- cutting back, maybe. I'm enjoying myself too much, so I can't see myself ever giving it up completely. Writing is very therapeutic, too. It's an escape, an adventure, a great way to get your mind off your troubles -- like taking a vacation without the physical travel or expense.

Beverly A. Rearick: What books do you have planned in the near future?

Irene Estep: I have two writing projects going at present. One is a mainstream mystery about a woman who's lost two months of her memory after being shot. She's been told her Alzheimer's victim mother is the shooter, but she's having trouble accepting that, as she and the reader will discover later in the story. It does have a romance, but it isn't the focal point of the story. I'm also doing rewrites of a romantic suspense, tentatively titles Duplicity. I wrote this story several years ago and the characters have been nagging me to return to their story. The main characters are down-to-earth working class people, similar to the hero and heroine in SILENCE KNIGHT. The setting is a construction compound and, of course, there's a mystery to solve and a villian to contend with. I also have a sequel to SILENCE KNIGHT that I recently finished rewriters on, but it still needs polishing. I've put it away until I can go back to it with a fresh perspective. Probably, I'll start working on it again in a couple of months.

Beverly A. Rearick: How did you get started writing?

Irene Estep: My husband bought me a computer. Honestly! Up until that point the thought of whiting out and correcting my mistakes on a regular typewriter were enough to keep me in terror of trying. Isn't cutting and pasting, spellchecking and thesaurus wonderful tools to have?

Beverly A. Rearick: What age were you when you started to write?

Irene Estep: Uh-hum. Should I admit this? Unlike all the others authors you've probably interviewed, I must confess. I didn't begin writing as soon as I could hold a pencil in my stubby little hand. I started writing shortly after the big five-o, and I'm not talking about the TV series.

Beverly A. Rearick: When is your next book due?

Irene Estep: I don't have anything schedules right now. Four books released in 2000 and OVERPROTECTED released this past month by New Concepts Publishing, has me just trying to catch my breath at the moment.

Beverly A. Rearick: Was there any author or authors that helped you get your start in writing, or helped you break into the field?

Irene Estep: I wrote that first book without knowing anyone in th business. After I finished it, I went to the library, copied down the names and addresses of three or four romance houses and sent off my queries. After I discovered all the things I'd been doing wrong, I was amazed by how many publishers asked to see my work -- a work, I might add, that needed a lot of work. Thankfully, by the time the rejection letters arrived, I had discovered RWA. Back then I was super-sensitive, and those first publisher rejections would have ended my writing career right them and there if not for the encouragement I received from my local chapter. That's one reason I'm sticking with RWA in spite of their reluctance to accept ebooks on the same level as print. That, too, I think will change in time.

Beverly A. Rearick: What do you feel makes your books unique or stand out from others in your genre?

Irene Estep: The same thing that makes any writer stand out: voice. No one has ever been able to explain that one clearly, but I know when I read books by authors I know personally, I can almost hear their voice inside my head. Perhaps it's the mannerisms they apply to the characters,the pacing of the story, or a particular sequence of sentence structure. I've been told that I writer snappy dialogue, and my books are fast paced, maybe that is my voice talking to the reader. I don't know. I try to establish reader sympathy for the main characters at the beginning then move the story along with as much unclutter dialogue as possible. I endeavor to maintain an element of mystery until the very end. Perhaps these things are my voice. Thankfully, as there are many voices, there are just as many readers who like different voices and that is what counts. I can't please everyone by the way I write, but I can please some, and that's okay by me.

Beverly A. Rearick: What made you choose the genres you write?

Irene Estep: I suppose it's because I've always been captivated by stories of murder and intrigue. Although I love a good mystery, I hate books that don't have a happy ending. I suppose that's why I usually stick with reading and writing romance. I don't mind crying through the book, but don't leave me crying and disappointed at the end.

Beverly A. Rearick: Do you have a special subgenre?

Irene Estep: Mystery/suspense

Beverly A. Rearick: Do you have a favorite place you like to write?

Irene Estep: My office. After my youngest son left home, I turned his bedroom into my very own workspace. It's nice because now I have plenty of room to spread out research materials and other writing paraphernalia. It's a mess, but who cares? No one dares go in there but me.

Beverly A. Rearick: In what order do you write? For example starting beginning to end, combining parts, in random order or in development cycle?

Irene Estep: More often than not, I know exactly how my story is going to begin and how it is going to end. So I write the beginning and the ending, and then fill in the middle. Sometimes I'll write random scenes, and put them aside until I have a place to insert them. When a good idea for a scene comes to me, I don't want to waste time trying to figure out where it'll fit into the story. I'm not very good at doing outlines ahead of time, because I can never visualize how i"m going to get from beginning to end until I start writing it.

Beverly A. Rearick: Do you feel that the e-books offer authors a bit more freedom of expression in their books?

Irene Estep: Definitely. One doesn't have to worry about fitting their work into a certain niche, or have to follow a lot of dos and don'ts for marketing purposes.

Beverly A. Rearick: What do you feel is, or isn't being done to promote authors?

Irene Estep: Not much except what is being done by the authors. Ebook publishers aren't making a lot of money yet, so they have a better excuse for not doing it than the big print publishers. It's my understanding that print authors, at least in romance, receive little to no promotion, either.

Beverly A. Rearick: Do you feel that the marketing departments have their finger on the pulse of readers?

Irene Estep: PI think they're always a day late and a dollar short. They wear a theme into the ground and don't change their idea of what the readers want until someone takes a chance on something new, and then everyone jumps on the bandwagon -- and the cycle continues.

Beverly A. Rearick: How do you feel about the review rating systems?

Irene Estep: When I get a good rating, I like it! Actually, there is often inconsistency in the comments that accompany the ratings. For instance, ever notice how in the same magazine or ezine you'll a three star review of one book with negative, or often disparaging comments in the summary, and a three star review of another book--many times by the same reviewer--praises the work with no negatives given.

Beverly A. Rearick: Through what venues do you feel most of your books are being sold?

Irene Estep: Most of my books are sold from my publishers website. But, they are available from Barnes and Nobel, Amazon, and Pwells, and as ebooks become more popular -- and their popularity is increasing daily -- I expect the large on-line bookstores will become the best venue for sales.

Beverly A. Rearick: What do you feel is the best part of the publishing industry?

Irene Estep: Epublishing. Really good writers, many who print publishers either didn't have the time to read and discover, or didn't have a market niche they would fit into, are now getting recognition in the epublishing industry. And there is such a vast number of good ebooks available that I'm finding myself reading more and more ebooks and less and less print books these days.

Beverly A. Rearick: What do you feel needs to be changed about the industry?

Irene Estep: I think the print publishers need to take more chances on books that don't fit into a particular notch they've outlined for their readers. The marketing people are basing their research on data that is obsolete by the time they get it. The only reason the readers keep buying books with the same old themes is because that's all that is reaching the bookstores. I think they're going to have a rude awakening whenever someone comes along with an economically priced electronic reader. Once people are financially able to read ebooks at their leisure and find out what the independent epublishers have to offer, they'll become more selective about their reading material.

Beverly A. Rearick: Do you think small press and e-books will be the wave of the future?

Irene Estep: Yes. With the increasing environmental problem, I cannot see any way around us gradually turning to ebooks for our reading pleasure in the future. I love print books, too, but some on, folks, things change, and you might as well get used to it. Once you do, you'll find out it's not as bad as some people make out.

Beverly A. Rearick: What of your published books is your favorite? Why?

Irene Estep: Overprotected. The heroine is a survivor who had heavy responsibilities dumped on her from an early age, but she doesn't whine about it. Too much pride is her biggest flaw. The hero is your typical alpha male, arrogant and overbearing, but you love him anyway because he's kind to children, respects women, has strong family ties, and will lay his life on the line to protect the innocent. The heroine brings him down a notch or two in the story, too, and that always makes 'em more loveable, doesn't it?

Beverly A. Rearick: What do you feel is the worst piece of advice anyone ever gave you about writing?

Irene Estep: The only time I remember receiving any really bad advice was from contest judges. I won't tell you what their comments were, because someone might recognize themselves and I don't want to offend anyone. Thankfully, I knew the advice was wrong, and if I didn't know for sure, I asked someone who did. But, hey, they took the time to read my entry -- judges are hard to come by at times -- and I imagine they thought their advice was good, so I can't fault them for that.

Beverly A. Rearick: What is the best?

Irene Estep: Never give up!