“Hot Mama,“ a paranormal romance by Jennifer Estep, is the second book in a series which reads like

Create an entire world.
 
Craft people, some mortal and some not, and do with them as you wish.

So it goes with “Hot Mama” (Berkley, $14), Jennifer Estep’s second published novel.

Released on Nov. 6, “Hot Mama” follows and builds upon “Karma Girl,” published earlier this year in which Estep established the fictional city of Bigtime, N.Y. complete with superheroes and their evil counterparts.

“My books are sort of spoofs of the comic genre,” said Estep, a features page designer for the Bristol Herald Courier.

“Hot Mama” reads like a comic book with twists in novel form. However, Estep’s books also delve into the romances of her rich characters.

Love mixed with lightning, that’s “Hot Mama.”

“The target audience is women. It’s labeled as paranormal romance,” Estep said. So “Hot Mama” is for women – though not entirely.

“There are hot chicks in it, superheroes in it,” Estep said. “It’s kind of surprised me that so many men have read my books.”

Others sure seem to read her books, too. November’s Southern Living magazine included information about “Hot Mama.” Entertainment Weekly reviewed the book favorably. And look for an excerpt in the December issue of Cosmopolitan.

Meanwhile, Estep writes. Her third exploration into superheroes-inhabited Bigtime, N.Y., “Jinx,” is scheduled for release in September 2008. She has also finished another novel, albeit from another realm of her imagination.

“It’s called ‘Live and Let Spy,’ and it’s a spy spoof,” Estep said. “I’m also working on a book about an assassin. It’s also a fantasy and set in the South.”

Look at Estep as a Lois Lane. By day, she works for a newspaper. By night, weekends and whenever time permits, she steps into her imagination from her home in Sullivan County and uncovers the lid upon a world all her own.

Today it’s “Hot Mama.” Tomorrow, well, that depends on whatever worlds she plans next.

“I cram the writing in whenever I can,” Estep said.

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .

YOU SHOULD KNOW

Title: “Hot Mama”
Author: Jennifer Estep
Publisher: Berkley Books, New York
Available at: Local bookstores and online retailers such as www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com

Web: www.jenniferestep.com

BOOK SIGNINGS

Nov. 17: 1-3 p.m. at B Dalton Bookseller, Bristol Mall, Bristol, (276) 466-8931
Nov. 17: 4-6 p.m. at Books-A-Million, Johnson City, (423) 915-0112
Dec. 1: 1-3 p.m. at Waldenbooks, Fort Henry Mall, Kingsport, (423) 246-1818
Dec. 1: 4-6 p.m. at Books-A-Million, Kingsport