Our own Susan Helene Gottfried had a chance to interview Jennifer Estep, author of Karma Girl:

Were you into comics heavily -- as in, did/do you visit the comic store each week/month, and pick up your favorites? Or was this more of a general, you saw the movies, watched Smallville, and things took off from there?
About half and half. I’ve always loved superheroes. When I was a kid, I used to pretend that I was Wonder Woman, fighting bad guys. LOL. I always used to look at and read the “Archie” and other comics while I’d wait for my mom in the grocery store and other places. Any time we went shopping, I’d go to the bookstore. In high school, I really got hooked on fantasy novels, like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I started reading more and more fantasy, more graphic novels, more comics, etc.  

I also loved the old Batman show with Adam West, the old Wonder Woman with Lynda Carter, etc. Over the years, I’ve seen and watched most of the superhero-themed TV shows and movies, like the Spider-Mans, the X-Men, all the Batmans, Heroes, etc.
 
If you read comics, which ones? Do you prefer DC or Marvel heroes?  
I read just about everything I can get my hands on – comics, mysteries, romances, spy thrillers, adventure stories, etc. I’m loving the new Buffy comic by Joss Whedon. In my to-be-read pile, I have Jodi Picoult’s take on Wonder Woman, along with a stack of Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman. Too many books, too little time!  

I enjoy both DC and Marvel heroes, but I guess I’d have to say I prefer DC heroes, if only for Wonder Woman. She’s my favorite superhero.
 
If you could give Karma Girl (and the others in the series) to one person, who would it be and why?  
Hmm, this is a tough one. Can I cheat and pick two people? I guess I would have to say Tim Kring, the creater of the TV show Heroes, and Tim Sale, who does some of the artwork for the show. From the storytelling to the characters to the paintings, I think it’s one of the best superhero shows ever. I’d love to see what they could do with Karma Girl.

If you could give Karma Girl to one superhero with a weekly comic series (Batman, Spidey, Wolverine; etc.), who would it be and why? Or would Carmen's need to unmask them scare them off?
Again, I’d have to say Wonder Woman. I think she’d appreciated having some strong, smart, sassy women to help her battle villains. As for unmasking her, Carmen wouldn’t dare. She’s Wonder Woman after all! LOL.

If someone approached you about turning Karma Girl into a graphic novel, would it be a dream come true?    
It would definitely be a dream come true. I’d love to see Karma Girl turned into a graphic novel, or even a movie or television show.
 
And what about merchandise? Would Todd McFarlane (maker of Spawn action figures, among others) make a Striker doll? Anything fun in the works like that? Some of Fiona's designs becoming real?  
Bigtime merchandise is another one of my dreams. I’d love to see the characters get their own action figures, PEZ dispensers, T-shirts, etc. I think half the fun of being a fan is not only reading a book or watching a movie, but also getting quirky products with your favorite characters on them, like the Wonder Woman magnet on my refrigerator or the action figure that sits on top of my computer desk.    

I’d even like to host my own con or convention one day based on the Bigtime world.
 
What would be your most important word of advice to aspiring writers? To writers who've landed their first contract? 
I guess my most important advice to any writer, aspiring or published would be this: Never give up, never surrender! I love that quote from the movie Galaxy Quest, and I think it’s especially applicable to writers. Writing is a tough business to be in. It’s hard to get that first contract, and it doesn’t get any easier from there. You just have to keep going and believe in yourself, no matter what.


What's your writing process? Do you find that working in journalism slows your creativity or feeds it?  
Start by thinking about the main character – her strengths and weakness, what she wants out of life, what makes her happy, etc. Then, I do a rough outline and start writing my rough draft, which is usually about 50,000 words. I set the story aside for a few weeks before going back to it, seeing what works, what doesn’t, and fleshing out the story, characters, descriptions, etc. I do this a couple of times, editing, revising, polishing, and adding words every time until the book is as good as I can make it.


And where on Earth did you get that fabulous idea for the Rubik's Cubes, which play a major part in Carmen's world?    
I knew Carmen would love puzzles and that that part of personality would help drive her to want to expose the secret identities of superheroes and ubervillains. So, I started thinking about the kind of puzzles I like to do –jigsaws, crosswords, etc. And I thought about Rubik’s Cubes. They’re bright and colorful just like my world. I thought they would be a perfect fit, and they were.
 
And looking ahead...  Hot Mama comes out in November 2007, and Jinx in April 2008. Are you worried about having the books come out so close together when traditionally, publishers like to put out a book a year?    
Actually, I’m glad the books are coming out so close together. I see it as a way to build buzz and increase my fan base. With so many books and movies and TV shows out there, it’s hard to get people to notice you. Unless you’re a big-name author, I think people tend to forget about you if you’re only published once a year.  

Lots of people have e-mailed me about how excited they are about the next books. I’m glad that they only have to wait a few months to read them. Plus, it’s fun for me to promote the books through blogs and my Web site (www.jenniferestep.com). The more books, the merrier, as far as I’m concerned.
 
Were all three written when you got your book deal?  
No. I had the first book, Karma Girl, done, and a rough draft of the second one, Hot Mama. I finished up Hot Mama and started working on the third book, Jinx, Now, I’m working on books four and five, titled Nightingale and Fangirl. I’m also thinking about ideas and characters for more books in the series. I’ll write the Bigtime series as long as my publisher wants me to.
 
Does Carmen return and/or play a major role in either book? She is such a fun, human character, very real, and from where I sit, without having read the other two, it seems that the series ought to revolve around her.  
Carmen returns in Hot Mama and Jinx, as do the other members of the Fearless Five. But Hot Mama is really Fiera’s story and is told from her point of view. I decided to make each book about a different character so I could explore various aspects of superheroes and ubervillains. For example, Fiera is a veteran superhero, so her perspective is a bit different from Carmen’s. The third book, Jinx, is about Bella Bulluci, who hates her superpower, which is luck. Again, she has a different perspective than the other characters.  

Plus, by focusing on a different heroine each time, I can bring in even more heroes and villains to populate Bigtime and explore different parts of the city.  

What about Lulu, who is such a clever character. Will we see more of her, perhaps?
Readers will get to see quite a bit more of Lulu in the second book, Hot Mama. She has her own problems that she has to deal with. Lulu will also appear in subsequent books, although sometimes she’ll only be a minor character.I built my world in such a way that all the characters are connected – whether they know it or not. That’s one of the reasons I love writing the Bigtime series so much – my characters can pop up all over the place, even if they’re not the focus of a story or scene. I also include them and what they’ve gone through in other books as sort of a wink-wink, in-joke to fans.

Right now, do you have any plans to leave behind Bigtime and its environs and write a stand-alone or a new series?
 I am working on a new series. It will be a bit more urban fantasy than paranormal romance, but should appeal to fans of both and my Bigtime novels. The first book, called Live and Let Spy, is about Abby Tome, a Druid who’s forced to become a spy after she witnesses a murder.

Abby isn’t a very powerful Druid and is a somewhat clumsy spy, but she manages to save the day in the end. Subsequent books would chronicle Abby’s misadventures in the paranormal spy world. Unlike the Bigtime books, all of the Spy books would be from Abby’s point of view.  

In addition to superheroes, I also love spy books and movies, like the James Bond series. This is my take on that kind of story and world.