Q&A: Amy Zed and Jennifer Estep

Hi Smart Bitches readers! I’m Amy Zed, author of A Symphony of Starlight, a sci-fi romantasy debuting January first. As a new author, I’ve had many star-eye-emoji-worthy moments in the last few months, from getting my first edit letter to holding the first printed copy of my novel in my hands.

But even when I was cradling my first author copy, I never imagined I’d get the chance to interview one of my all-time favorite authors, Jennifer Estep, for my favorite book blog, Smart Bitches!

Smart Bitches has been the lifeline that’s pulled me out of many a reading slump. And as for Jennifer, I’ve never hit a slump with her books. She’s the NY Times, USA Today and International bestselling author responsible for fantasy romance series like Elemental Assassins and Crown of Shards as well as her most recent sci-fi romance series Galactic Bonds.

My star-eye emojis are gonna get out of hand when I post about this. But I know you’re not here to listen to me gush. You want to hear from Jennifer. So let’s jump into the interview.

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Amy: Thanks so much for chatting with me, Jennifer! Your Galactic Bonds series is one of my absolute favorites. I tell my friends it’s “Star Wars meets Bridgerton,” and that description always gets them excited. Sci-fi and regency romance make such a fun and unexpected mix. Where did you get the idea to combine two seemingly opposite genres, and what do you think is the key to bringing them together so successfully?

Jennifer: Thanks so much for featuring me! I appreciate all the nice words about my books.

I knew that I wanted to write a space opera/science fiction book with a lot of action, adventure, danger, and romance, along with some magical elements. But I felt like the concept was still missing an element, something that would help me bring everything together.

I was taking a break from work, sitting on the couch, and thinking about Only Bad Options, the first book in my Galactic Bonds series. I was thinking what other elements I could add to the mix of sci-fi and fantasy/magic in the book, and a thought came to me: “What if I added a historical romance element where people are concerned about bloodlines, alliances, and money/resources, like in a historical romance book?”

And that was the light-bulb moment when the idea for the Galactic Bonds series really fell into place for me. I thought “Star Wars meets Bridgerton” would be a great elevator pitch for the book/series, and so far, it’s been working well.

One of the things that I love about writing fantasy/sci-fi books is that you can add other genre elements to them. For example, in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, I’ve done a serial-killer storyline, had the characters visit a western-themed amusement park, go on vacation, etc.

As for blending sci-fi and historical romance, I think it’s all about balance. On the sci-fi side, you have a lot of advanced technology like spaceships and blasters. But you also have people and a society with rules, quirks, and more, which is where the historical romance element comes in. Blending those two elements together has been really fun for me to write, and I hope readers enjoy my twists on the genres.

Amy: And Only Cold Depths is the latest installment. It just released on October 29th. Without any spoilers, can you give fans a sneak peek at what’s inside?

Jennifer: In Only Cold Depths, Vesper Quill and Kyrion Caldaren are the most wanted fugitives in the Archipelago Galaxy. When the book opens, they run into some bounty hunters who want to drag them back to the villain who wants to take their magic for his own.

Eventually, Vesper and Kyrion travel to a distant planet searching for a safe haven, as well as more information about their truebond, a psionic/magical connection that lets them share thoughts, feelings, abilities, and more. But Vesper and Kyrion quickly realize there is a much more dangerous enemy waiting in the wings and that it’s going to take all their respective abilities just to survive.

Amy: Only Cold Depths is book number four in an ongoing series, and I get a sense that it isn’t going to be the last. Do you have plans yet for the next installment?

Jennifer: Absolutely! Up next will be Only Rogue Actions, which is a short book (about 52,000 words) featuring Vesper and Kyrion.

Only Rogue Actions will be released in late summer/early fall next year, and the pre-order links are online at Amazon and all the usual places.

After that, I’m planning to write at least one more book about Vesper/Kyrion. I also want to write a book about Zane Zimmer, a very snarky, sarcastic secondary character, and give him an action-packed adventure … with a little romance, of course!

In the meantime, folks can also check out A Sense of Danger, which is book #1 in my Section 47 urban fantasy, spies-with-magic series.

A Sense of Danger focuses on an analyst and an assassin who team up in order to find a mole in their agency, so it’s got a lot of Alias and James Bond vibes.

Amy: While I have you on hand, I wanted to make sure to compliment you on your audiobooks for this series. The narrators do such an excellent job bringing your characters to life. And the narrator for Zane’s POV in Only Hard Problems (Galactic Bonds #3) captured his personality to a tee. It’s one of my favourite audiobooks released in the past few years!

JE: Aw, thanks so much! I’ve gotten so lucky with the amazing narrators for the series. Lauren Fortgang is the voice of Vesper, while James Fouhey is Kyrion, and Max Roll is Zane.

What was your process for getting those audiobooks produced? Did you get to choose your narrators? And most importantly for eager listeners, are there plans in place for an audio release of Only Cold Depths?

Jennifer: Sometimes, I get to choose the narrators, and sometimes I don’t. It just depends on the book and audiobook publisher.

I did get to choose the narrators for my Galactic Bonds series, so I listened to several narrator clips/samples, and I also asked folks like my agent for their opinions.

With Only Bad Options, the first book in the series, I really wanted Lauren Fortgang to be the female narrator. Lauren has narrated several of my other audiobooks, and people love as her Gin Blanco in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. I thought she would be great fit for the Galactic Bonds series – and she is!

The audiobook for Only Cold Depths will be released Dec. 10. Woot! Lauren Fortgang and James Fouhey are back as the narrators, and the digital audiobook is available at Amazon and Audible, among other retailers.

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me about Only Cold Depths and the Galactic Bonds series. For readers who are excited to get started, where can they get their hands on your books?

JE: Thanks so much for featuring me. I really appreciate it!

My books are available in ebook, print, and audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all the other usual retailers. You can also ask your local indie bookstore to order print copies.

Folks can also follow me online at Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, and BookBub, among other places. My website is JenniferEstep.com, and folks can sign up for my newsletter to get all my latest book news, book recommendations, and cute cat pictures

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Here’s the first chapter of the audiobook, which will be available tomorrow, December 10!