Widow’s Web discussion post …

• Posted in About Books, Elemental Assassin series, On Writing

Widow's Web e-book coverSPOILER ALERT: This post (and the comments section) has major, major spoilers for Widow’s Web, the seventh book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. So if you haven’t read that far in the series and don’t want to be spoiled, you will want to skip this post. You have been warned.

So Widow’s Web has been out for about six weeks now. I said that I would try to do a discussion post talking about the book after it had been out for several weeks, and this is that post. So let’s get to it, shall we?

SPOILER ALERT REDUX: Seriously, this is your last chance not to be spoiled. Look away now.

Many of you have seen this already, but here’s the back cover copy for Widow’s Web:

I used to murder people for money, but lately it’s become more of a survival technique.

Once an assassin, always an assassin. So much for being plain old Gin Blanco. With every lowlife in Ashland gunning for me, I don’t need another problem, but a new one has come to town anyway. Salina might seem like a sweet Southern belle, but she’s really a dangerous enemy whose water elemental magic can go head-to-head with my own Ice and Stone power. Salina also has an intimate history with my lover, Owen Grayson, and now that she’s back, she thinks he’s hers for the taking. Salina’s playing a mysterious game that involves a shady local casino owner with a surprising connection to Owen. But they call me the Spider for a reason. I’m going to untangle her deadly scheme, even if it leaves my love affair hanging by a thread.

In the book, Owen’s ex, Salina, comes back to town, and Gin learns all about Owen’s relationship with Salina, his time living on the streets as a kid, and how Owen and his younger sister, Eva, were friends with Phillip Kincaid. This book is all about Owen and how his past — especially Salina — affects his relationship with Gin. Basically, Gin and Owen break up because Gin kills Salina, who tries to kill Gin and most of the folks in the Ashland underworld, among her other crimes.

By a ThreadSo why did I decide to break up my happy couple? Well, there were several reasons. When the book starts out, Gin is in a pretty good place professionally (so to speak) — Mab is dead, and Gin has gotten her revenge, even if she’s on everybody’s hit list now. So I wanted to do more of a personal story with Widow’s Web.

In By a Thread, the previous book, Gin dealt with her lingering issues with her ex, Detective Donovan Caine. That sort of led me to the idea of flipping the story around and having Owen having to deal with one of his exes in Widow’s Web.

But I wanted to do more than just have Owen’s ex come to town. I also wanted to really delve into how finding out that Owen once loved someone else would bring up all of Gin’s old insecurities and how she would respond to that. 

Also, up until Widow’s Web, Owen has been a really good guy and really supportive of Gin. I wanted to peel back his layers and show his backstory and how his relationship with Salina and her sudden departure from town mirrored Gin’s experience with Donovan in some ways. I think that learning more about Owen’s past and his mistakes (both past and present) makes him a more interesting character. That’s my hope, anyway.

I also wanted to focus in on Gin and Owen’s relationship and some of the questions and issues that they have to deal with because of Salina and just Gin being an assassin in general. What do you do when someone you love does something you don’t approve of? How do you get past it? Can you get past it? Or do you go your separate ways?

I thought those sorts of questions would make for a good story arc, especially set against the backdrop of the Ashland underworld being in so much turmoil and Gin being everyone’s target now. Plus, one of the things I like about writing urban fantasy is that you can do a story arc like this and have your characters struggle to get together, stay together, etc.

Plus, I had been wanting to write a villain with water magic for a while, and Salina’s character seemed like a good fit for that.

So I thought writing Widow’s Web would be a way to accomplish several things at once — delve into Owen’s past, write an interesting villain, and tackle some Gin/Owen relationship questions.

I thought a lot about breaking up Gin and Owen at the end of this book, and I talked to a lot of folks about it — Wheezley, my book group, my editor. My editor made the comment that Gin and Owen were just two people caught up in an impossible situation, and I think that sums up the book nicely.

I’ve gotten a few e-mails that have been less than flattering to Owen, and I’ve been told that there is some Owen backlash going on online. But I realized when I was writing the book that what happens might upset people, but this was part of Gin’s story that I wanted to tell, and I thought that it was necessary for certain events to happen like they did.

I can’t really say too much about future books without giving out spoilers, but I do have a plan for Gin and Owen too. How well I execute that plan and how folks respond to it, well, we’ll just have to wait and see. But I hope that the payoff in the end will be worth the journey for readers. That’s my goal, anyway. I hope that folks will continue reading the series, but I understand if people don’t.

So there you have it. Some of what went into writing Widow’s Web and the direction that the story and characters went in.

If there are questions, I’ll try to answer them in the comments section, although please keep in mind that I can’t give out any spoilers for the next book, Deadly Sting.

Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed the post.

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22 Responses to “Widow’s Web discussion post …”

  1. Laurel Keller says:

    Jennifer,

    I always love getting some insight into what a writer was thinking during the planning/writing process. I can understand some of the backlash against Owen because of this book, but I do see him as a more rounded person now. I like the idea that this guy who has been pretty great up until this point has this one person that he can’t see around or through no matter what the other people in his life tell him. And I loved seeing Gin react to this blind spot being the woman he had wanted to marry when he was younger.

    The other part of the book that I found very interesting was how Gin viewed Salina’s experiences as so similar to her own past. Gin’s compassion and “there but for the grace of God/Fletcher” identification with Salina did not keep her from acting on what she knew needed to be done, but it did give her (and us, the readers) insight into herself and Salina. I felt like this book reveals new layers of Gin’s humanity and maturity because she was so emotionally vulnerable.

    I’m not worried for Gin and Owen’s relationship. If they manage to work through their problems and find their way back to each other, then they will be stronger for it. If they don’t, then they will be wiser for it. I know as readers we’d rather have happily ever after, but then it would be over. I’m not ready for Gin’s story to end so I say let her struggle as long as it means we get more books! (Of course if she can be happy with Owen while having other drama, I’d be happy to read that too!)

    Thanks again for your books and this great blog!
    Laurel

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Thanks. Glad you liked the post. I wanted to really explore Owen’s character and delve into his backstory and how that would impact his relationship with Gin. And I also wanted to present a sort of contrast to Gin in Salina and how Gin might have turned out differently.

      Right now, I’m under contract for 10 books, so there will be at least a few more Gin stories. Thanks. I appreciate that.

  2. Melissa (Books and Things) says:

    No! No backlash! He wasn’t like that former lover… who shall not be named… 😉 I think I needed more background on Owen and I think this could actually make them a stronger couple. I can’t wait to see what else you have planned. I mean if they don’t work out… I’m here Owen!! 😀

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Thanks. I appreciate that. I thought this was a way to delve into Owen’s character and shake up GIn’s world at the same time. Glad you are looking forward to the next book.

  3. Audrey says:

    If everything always ended well, it wouldn’t be much of a book. I may not like the things Owen said given how decisively Gin dealt with Donovan, but it is realistic. I have every confidence that Owen will come for Gin again. Probably not before he hurts her some more, but if it was easy, we wouldn’t love to read about it!

    You keep writing, and I will keep reading everything you write!

  4. Linda says:

    I loved Widow’s web, lots of interesting things happened and I found the ending very fitting to the story line. I would have been a bit dissapointed if they had gone back to how they were but you ended it splendid.

    Looking forward to the next book. 🙂

  5. julia says:

    I have to thank you for this post, it explained so much, although I’m still upset about Owen!! I didn’t expect his character to act like that, then again I find it very interesting for the storyline that Gin and he broke up! It’s not the physical threat that Salina embodies that really challenges Gin but the fact that she has to deal with her emotions. On the one hand Gin is sympathetic to Salina because of what Mab did to her father on the other hand she knows that she has to kill her. Gin had to master so many physically dangerous villains in the past it was refreshing to have her deal with Salina where the emphasis was on the emotions!! And as much as I dislike Owen’s behavior at the moment I think it was also interesting to see them split up! They are not set as a fix couple and that makes it all the more interesting! if they can overcome their problems they will be tighter than ever I think!
    I loved Widow’s web by the way!! Honestly I thought I wouldn’t continue the series after Gin had killed Mab because for me it was some kind of closure, but I’m so glad I did continue it anyway! Now it’s more complex than before when Gin’s only goal was to kill Mab and have her revenge!

  6. Joy says:

    WOW!!! I had just finished the book when I saw this post on your facebook page. I was addicted to reading this book and to finding out what happened throughout the whole thing. I have to say that the end was fitting for the book, although, I was heartbroken about Gin and Owen.

    It was great to get some back story on Owen and Eva. The saying is true: Love is blind and in this case Owen’s love for Salina had some super blinders on. It was also interesting to see Gin with her own emotions and how she dealt with them. I have to say that she did it better than I would have. But I could not see Gin and Owen just staying together after all that had happened. I do hope that Owen sees the “light” and finds his way back to Gin.

    I think that Widow’s Web was the best book yet. Thank you for your insight into the book and can not wait for the next one.

  7. Ron says:

    I’d like some clarification, if at all possible, on just what Owen felt for Salina. I know that he loves Gin and he was just a boy really (19, if I remember correctly) when he knew Salina (and as it turns out he never really knew her at all)…but what was he feeling for her in the present? Gin seems to think that he was still in love with her but I think that was more of Gin’s insecurities bleeding through.

    • julia says:

      Ron, I think he has to have still feelings for Salina, if he is willing to let the woman, who tortured his little sister, who was the cause for him not speaking for yearswith his former best friend, who nearly killed his girlfriend, just leave town and not to be punished! Even if he thinks she did all these things only because of the gruesome murder of her father, to give her simply the option for escape is what I don’t understand here!

  8. emmad says:

    I really enjoyed the book and the gimpse into Owen’s past and how he became who he is. Also very interested to see how whole Eva/Phillip thing pans out as well as Gin/Owen. Looking forward to Deadly Sting

  9. Anna says:

    Thanks for the explanation. I didn’t feel jerked around with Owen’s turnabout in Widow’s Web. Mostly, I was confused. I hadn’t realized how high on a pedestal I had placed Owen until he came crashing down.

    His actions seemed a break from the man I thought he was. I couldn’t understand where he was coming from, especially with how protective he is with Eva. I couldn’t get in his head. (A nice short Owen POV story would be very interesting. *cough*)

    I’m interested in how Gin proceeds and whether Owen can win her back. If he does, great. If not, I’m sure there’s someone just as sexy and interesting who deserves Gin. The next book may help explain his thoughts/actions.! Owen has lots of ‘splaining to do!

    Phillip seemed to have potential as a love interest yet his focus is elsewhere. While he’s giving Eva time maybe he can shake up Owen. Gin is going to need support from Ashland’s underground. Phillip has friend potential, maybe. Who knows, maybe Donovan will come running back to score brownie points! LOL

    I loved the moments with Finn. He was terrific! Love him showing his teeth to Owen. He’s not only a charmer. Loved Bria, too! Very supportive of her sis. I’m looking forward to more Bria and Finn moments.

    Good luck with the next book! I’m anxious to read it. :o)

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Glad you liked the post. I’d like to do a story from Owen’s POV, but my writing schedule is pretty full at the moment. We’ll see what happens.

      Oh, Finn. Sometimes, I think he is more popular than Gin is. Which, of course, Finn would love. LOL.

      Anyway, glad you are looking forward to the next book.

  10. Alex says:

    I really enjoyed reading the friction between Gin and Owen, it made the story more interesting. I do feel that Gin is a little too forgiving in this situation though. I feel that she should be more upset with him than she was. I am still interested in seeing how the story turns out though.

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