I feel like I’m introducing a star and am just a wee bit giddy. By now you’re all familiar with “The Taming of Mei Lin.” I’m delighted that the author, Jeannie Lin, has agreed to do a guest blog today!
Of course there are individuals within each culture. People who go against the grain know they are going against the grain, and it should show in their character. When I got married, my mother specifically told guests to observe “American time”. Mom is a business woman and hates it when people don’t respect schedules, but she also understands this cultural aspect, as shown by how she admonished my wedding guests!
Last post I promised to share one of the many points in this story that had me chuckling, so without further ado, I’ve chosen a scene that follows closely on the last one. Mei Lin comes to see Shen Leung, but she doesn’t have a strong plan in mind:
The scent of her hair assailed him. Orange blossoms mixed with something mysterious and feminine.
“You smell nice,” he said dully.
She said nothing. All he did was turn his face the slightest bit and his cheek brushed inadvertently against hers. Smooth, cool skin.
He inhaled. “You wore perfume to come and kill me?”
A ribbon of tension rippled through her, but nothing for him to be alarmed at. Yet. She took a long, shuddering breath before she spoke.
“I wasn’t coming here to kill you at first.”
“No?” He couldn’t help himself. He burrowed into the space above her shoulder. His lips brushed her neck. Just enough to still be accidental. He hoped.
“I first thought I would…I came her to…” She let out a sigh, defeated. “I thought I would seduce you.”
Fierce, hot lust slammed into him. He stiffened and hoped that the quilt was strategically wedged between them.
“But when I saw you, I realized I had no idea how to seduce a man. So I thought it would just be easier to kill you.”
Laughter erupted out of him.
Me, too.
A local corrupt magistrate has proposed marriage to Wu Mei Lin and it’s not an honorable proposal, but an offer to make her his second concubine. Though it will buy her family a certain amount of freedom, Mei Lin can’t do it. She promises she will marry the man who can best her in a sword fight, never foreseeing the number of brutes her estranged suitor will send against her and her family. Then one day a handsome stranger comes to town….
I really enjoyed this story, but not just because of the quality of writing or plotting or anything “writerly,” and not because the author is a friend. My enjoyment was for personal reasons.
“You’re good” he said.
She parried and twisted his blade aside. “I don’t need you to tell me.”
He grinned and pushed her further until she had to fight for balance. She wasn’t done yet. Boldly she ventured closer to where his longer blade would be less effective. Most practitioners weren’t comfortable there, but Shen Leung found her rhythm and flowed with her. The edge of his weapon broke through her guard.She stepped back, knowing it was too late.
But he missed.
The blade whistled past her ear. She stared at him in shock while he regained his stance and prepared for another advance.
She had him. It had nothing to do with skill. They were closely matched in training, but there was so much more that went into a fight. The honorable Shen Leung was unwilling to hurt her. He didn’t realize it yet, but the battle was hers if she wanted it.
With her new confidence, she could see all the openings. A warrior had to be ruthless and strategic. That was what she had been taught. He became a series of targets in her eyes. All she needed to do was catch another moment of hesitation and she would break through.
And once she won… what then?
Someone else would come. Another one of Zhou’s henchmen now that he was bent on revenge. Or maybe no one would ever defeat her or care to approach her with a serious marriage proposal. She’d have nothing but this speck of a town and the noodle stand. Shen Leung’s arrival had broken through the clouds. She might never feel this way again about anyone.
They said he was a good man, a just and courageous one.
She decided then. She met his attack edge on edge, loosening her grip slightly with the impact of their blades and the strength of his next attempt wrenched the hilt from her grasp. A collective murmur went through the crowd when her sword fell to the dirt. For a second, it almost seemed they had been cheering for her. Supporting the local madwoman.
Shen Leung’s sword darted forward to stop just shy of her throat. She grew still beneath his gaze. He regarded her with admiration and something else, a fire she’d never seen before.
He rested the tip of the blade gently against her collarbone, almost like a caress. “Do I need to draw blood, my lady?” he asked softly.
He had already pierced her, deeper than he knew.
It was Wang who broke the standoff. “Claim your prize, Master Shen!”
“Prize?”
The blade fell back. The exertion of the battle began to sink into her along with the oppressive heat of the afternoon. She wanted to wipe the perspiration from her face, but she didn’t dare move. She didn’t dare breathe as she watched Shen Leung’s reaction.
“Take your bride,” Wang said. “From your battle, we can see your wedding night will be quite an adventure.”
His cronies hooted with laughter. She considered blackening both of Wang’s eyes and perhaps breaking his nose as well.
“Don’t be ridiculous, brother Wang,” Shen Leung looked embarrassed when he glanced back at her. “There will be no wedding.”
Her chest squeezed tight. Heat rushed up her neck and flooded her face while he bowed once more. The noble swordsman didn’t want her.
“Thank you for the match. Lady Wu is a formidable opponent.” He turned to leave. The cronies chanted their congratulations and ushered him toward the taverns to celebrate.
Mei Lin was left alone, her sword fallen in the dust. The curious eyes of the townspeople bore into her while the cruel sun beat down upon her back.
It’s one thing to be sought after without wanting the attention. It’s quite another to make your choice as to where you will go and with whom, only to find out you’re unwanted. I’ve been in that situation and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. At the end of this scene which is also the end of Chapter One, I had wet cheeks. In short, I had a strong character identification within a few paragraphs. And isn’t that one definition of quality writing?
Finally, make sure you head over to Jeannie Lin’s blog for other book and story coverage and to her contest page (select the linked picture to the right) for upcoming opportunities to win all sorts of prizes including twin butterfly swords!
Coming later this week, a guest blog from Jeannie Lin, author of “The Taming of Mei Lin” and “Butterfly Swords.”
Springfield Writers’ Guild contest
DEADLINE OCTOBER 1, 2010
Jim Stone Grand Prize Memorial Awards
#1 Poetry any subject, any form Limit: 1 page, single spaced
#2 Fiction any subject Limit: 1,500 words
#3 Non-Fiction any subject Limit: 1,500 words
Awards for categories #1 – #3: 1st place – $100 and certificate. Two Honorable Mentions and certificate
($3 per entry for categories 1-3)
For more information:
Please email Dr. Jerry Wible at jwible@sbcglobal.net or Mandy Barke at mandybarke@yahoo.com.
The Kansas Author’s Club Convention
It’s not too late to register for the Kansas Author’s Club convention the first weekend in October. Christine Taylor-Butler will be speaking Saturday morning on Cultural diversity in children’s literature. If you’ve never heard her, Christine is a dynamic speaker and she knows her market. There will also be other speakers and a roundtable discussion on critique groups. You can register here.
Everyone Has a Moment. What’s yours?
Through brief essays, letters sent and received, Twitter feeds and status updates, illustrations and short comic treatments, The Moment will capture the major turning points in the varied and unpredictable story arcs in our lives. Everyone has a moment—what’s yours? Submit here to be considered for The Moment book, coming from Harper Perennial in Fall 2011.
Words of Women
Invites You to Join Writers from around the World in an International Essay Contest. Write a 500 Word, or Less, Essay.
If mailed, each essay must be typed, double spaced, and one sided On each page of your essay, place your name, address, phone number, email address
Select and Include an Age Category: Youth, Maiden, Mother, WiseWoman
Email your essay to wordsofwomen @aol.com
Send $5 Registration* to P O Box 180777 Dallas, Texas 75218 Or Mail Your Essay and a $5 Registration to Words of Women Box 180777 Dallas, Texas 75218 We may create a pay pal account for on line registration. They will notify you when that has been done.
* Registration covers the cost of mailing materials including Essay Certificates. Registration Can Be Waived.
Mystery Writers Conference.
And last but not least, for all ye mystery writers out there, check out www.killernashville.com. It sounds like a great place for mystery writers to learn wonderful things about the trade.
Here’s the story at http://www.hungermtn.org/color-me-perplexed/, but if you don’t want to read the whole thing, here’s the gist:
Author goes to a speaking event and is approached by a librarian who says: “I love your work! I only wish I had more African American students so that I could use your books.”
God help me if I have to wait for Asian readers before my books take off, but then, I didn’t wait to TURN Asian before I read “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” (I’d still be waiting!) Half a million gamers didn’t wait to check their ethnicity before they turned on their phones, t.v.s and other such gadgets and role-played to their hearts’ content, either.
I KNOW I am not the only person out there bashing her head on her desk because of statements like this. I can’t imagine what Nikki Grimes felt like at the time, but I’m glad I wasn’t that librarian. Responses like hers frustrate the heck out of me. I think I will go look up something by Nikki. It sounds like her books are good reads and that’s really what it should be about.