October, 2010
Giveaway Winner!
Oct
26, 2010 |Filed in:
Uncategorized
Carol Wong! Carol, I will contact you via the email you provided and get your address.
Interview with Jeannie Lin
Oct
26, 2010 |Filed in:
Uncategorized
Today, we’re talking with Jeannie Lin, author of “Butterfly Swords.” Jeannie, thanks so much for taking the time to answer my ten thousand question interview! (For the REST of this interview, go to the Historical Novel Review site!)
I’ve read in a recent interview (http://sosaloha.blogspot.com/2010/10/super-tuesday-ocotber-5-celebrates.html) that you became a teacher and a writer because of your mom’s influence. I’m assuming she also influenced your interest in Asian settings, but why the Tang Dynasty?
J.L:The very first exposure I got to the Tang Dynasty was through a Hong Kong series about Wu Zetian (Empress Wu) and then a sequel about her daughter, Princess Tai Ping. The series portrayed these women both as human and legend. I became fascinated with what it would take to be a woman of power in these times. The more I studied about the period, the more fascinated I became with the art, accomplishments, and social nuances of the time.
What research resources did you find most helpful? Library, Internet, travel, personal contacts?
J.L:All of the above. Though I’ve only traveled to China once and it was long before I realized I’d be writing a book. My dream is to go and take a Silk Road tour some day. I have books and books and books. (see picture) The internet, of course, has been fabulous. In recent years, more has been published about the Tang Dynasty. I’ve also made numerous connections with sword practitioners, travel writers, and other China history enthusiasts like yourself.
About how long did it take to write “Butterfly Swords” from your initial idea through research, writing, polishing, etc? (And for additional points to help those of us still dreaming, how much time passed between your agent’s representation offer and publication?)
J.L: Butterfly Swords took I’d say about a year to write, including all the polishing and such. It was a finished manuscript after three months, but there were many rounds of revisions after that. Once my agent offered, it was sort of in end game. I had the Golden Heart nomination and editors were reading. My agent offered in April of 2009 and I sold July 2009.
This is something I like to ask just about every writer I talk to because I find the varied responses fascinating: Every author works in a different way – would you share how you approach writing a novel? The way you set out the plot, your workplace, anything that contributes to the process.
J.L: I start out by plot-dreaming. (Hey, that’s the first time I’ve used that word.) Like right now, I’m
spinning ideas about two characters in my head. It’s a Romeo and Juliet type story where they
actually had to get married. But their families are still at war with each other. So since they do start
the care for each other, it actually keeps them apart because they know their respective families will
try to exploit that. So I’m stirring ideas around. I see how they meet, I see some conflicted moments
they have. I see vague shadows of the other characters.
J.L: I start out by plot-dreaming. (Hey, that’s the first time I’ve used that word.) Like right now, I’m
spinning ideas about two characters in my head. It’s a Romeo and Juliet type story where they
actually had to get married. But their families are still at war with each other. So since they do start
the care for each other, it actually keeps them apart because they know their respective families will
try to exploit that. So I’m stirring ideas around. I see how they meet, I see some conflicted moments
they have. I see vague shadows of the other characters.
There’s no plot there yet, but eventually I’ll sit down and do a general outline. Twenty-four chapters, three scenes each. Ha! Writers never say anything that concrete, do they? I’ll write the first three to five chapters without pressure. Then I’ll set aside two weeks and Fast Draft through most of the rest of the book. Then I slow down a bit at the end again. With this process, it takes me about two to three months to complete a manuscript. But then I revise like crazy. Writing is revising for me.
Obviously you have “Butterfly Swords,” and “The Taming of Mei Lin.” I read in one of your other interviews that you do have other stories in this mileu. Are you working on them now? (Pleasepleaseplease.)
J.L: The two other manuscripts are actually contracted and finished, except for editorial revisions.
There are also two more short stories coming. One is complete and one is in progress.
J.L: The two other manuscripts are actually contracted and finished, except for editorial revisions.
There are also two more short stories coming. One is complete and one is in progress.
If not, what are you planning for your next book?
J.L: Well, there’s that Romeo and Juliet story. There’s also a paranormal series in the works. Fingers crossed.
In addition to your writing, you are an author of several blogs and participate in several writing groups. How do you balance your writing with other pursuits?
REALLY fast. After all that, I ask myself, “How much do you want this?” J
You’ve been all over the place marketing Butterfly Swords , do you have any fun marketing suggestions that have worked well?
J.L: Fun suggestion…keep it fun for you! Remember that you are writing a book that most likely people similar to you will want to read. So I just dug inside myself – if I was my own super fan, what sort of things would make me excited about this book? For me it was the nostalgia of wuxia, the promise of romance and adventure. And the swords. If you see the launch celebration prizes, they’re all based on the ultimate geekery that went into Butterfly Swords.
You mentioned in other reviews and a recent newsletter that Butterfly Swords will only be available in stores through the end of this month. After that, we’ll be ordering copies through Amazon. Why is that?
J.L: The reason the book only has one month in bookstores is that it’s part of a category line: Harlequin Historical. These books have multiple releases a month and are only in the bookstores for one month before they’re moved off to make room for the new month.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve been pushing so hard for this month. Afterward, the book can only be ordered online.
So, if you want a free copy of Jeannie Lin’s book, please leave a comment either here or on the Historical Novel Review site. If you want to enter into Jeannie’s competitions, please got to her site for the launch celebration rules.
Addendum: If you haven’t read Jeannie’s prequel novelette to “Butterfly Swords,” you can buy “The Taming of Mei Lin” wherever e-books are sold: Amazon, Kobo, Harlequin. Stay tuned! The winner of our giveaway will be announced this evening.
Addendum: If you haven’t read Jeannie’s prequel novelette to “Butterfly Swords,” you can buy “The Taming of Mei Lin” wherever e-books are sold: Amazon, Kobo, Harlequin. Stay tuned! The winner of our giveaway will be announced this evening.
Butterfly Swords Giveaway
Oct
25, 2010 |Filed in:
Uncategorized
All I’m asking is:
1. You follow this blog and Jeannie Lin’s blog.
2. Let me know why you’re interested in Butterfly Swords.
Good luck, everyone!
(I’m going to ask for U.S. competitors only this time, due to the cost of shipping.)
Butterfly Swords Review
Oct
24, 2010 |Filed in:
Uncategorized
Butterfly Swords is not the sort of book I think of when I look at Harlequin Romances. I expect lots of hot and heavy breathing, but no whistling blades arcing into flesh. I certainly don’t expect Tang dynasty China. Yet Butterfly Swords carries itself with all the confidence of its warrior class heroine through scenes both sensual and blood-stirring, and all of it set within a tumultuous period of China’s history: the later Tang Dynasty (760s). The story does tweak history a bit in that the rebellion described is loosely based on the An Lushan rebellion, but the book’s events are fictional. In that sense, Butterfly Swords is an historical romantic fantasy. I read most of the book in one sitting, enjoying the flow and power of the author’s language. Then I decided I had read it too quickly to do it justice in a review, so I sat down a few days later and picked it up again. Darned if I didn’t get halfway through before remembering why I had decided to re-read it! It grabs and pulls in ways I can’t begin to describe. I can only appreciate the skill used.
Consider the following scene where the heroine Ailey has agreed to a friendly duel with Ryam, the hero. If he wins, he will receive one kiss. If she wins, he has to take her to her family home in Changan.
Ryam couldn’t resist the promise of a kiss to keep him company on the cold journey back to the frontier. It might even be worth the risk of facing Imperial soldiers again – not that he intended to lose.
Ailey stood across from him, poised and still. She shook the hair from her eyes with a slight toss of her head and her braid whipped over her shoulder. When she focused again on him, the young woman disappeared and a warrior stood in her place.
The fight started here, at the moment of decision, long before his sword ever reached striking distance. Ailey radiated more determination than many a seasoned fighter. She bowed formally, bending slightly at the waist with her eyes trained on him. He considered, for a brief moment, whether Ailey had been bluffing all along.
‘Ready?’ he murmured.
She flew at him.
In a flash of silver, the butterfly swords cut tight lines through the air. He deflected in two sharp clashes of steel, surprised by the strength of the attack.
‘I thought this was a friendly match – ‘
The next swipe of her blade whistled by his throat.
Ailey pushed inside his defense without fear, without caution. For a second she darted within arm’s reach. He considered simply grabbing her and wrestling her to the ground. Pin her beneath him. The image lingered dangerously. Definitely not honourable.
He had to jump back to avoid her knee as she drove it upwards.
‘I can’t take you to Changan if you kill me.’
He twisted her next attack aside only to have her spring back, eyes dark with intent, a hint of green sparking within them. She left no room, no time to recover. His heart pumped hard as instinct took hold of him. According to her rules, he could only defend and not attack. He side-stepped and angled the strikes away. Ailey knew what she was doing, keeping him close so he couldn’t use his reach against her. She danced around him with deadly elegance, matching him toe to toe. The rhythm of it almost sexual.
Better than sexual.
‘Ten,’ he announced.
‘Show me what you have,’ she retorted.
The book had one surprising moment for me. The heroine’s first goal is to return to her family and reveal the treachery of her fiance, the treacherous General Tao. With the hero’s help, Ailey meets with her father and discovers that he’s aware of the General’s political ambitions. Her father requires her to marry Tao anyway and for some reason, the book’s path from then on took me to unexpected places. Not that I minded; I was simply surprised. The plot does move a little slowly as the hero debates whether he can have the life he wants with Ailey. After he concludes that he can’t, the villain captures Ailey.
After a book’s length of errors, our hero decides to stand up for himself and what he wants. The actions he takes at that point moved me and fulfilled what I want from a book. Since this is a romance, you know you get a happy ever after. I won’t tell you how, but I can tell you a border guard’s love and desire for an imperial princess is satisfied in a realistic, but unsappy fashion.
Make no mistake, this is not your mother’s Harlequin. This is the sort of romance that has crossover appeal (potentially) to both sexes, to readers of straightforward history and to the fantasy crowd who tend to love history.
After a book’s length of errors, our hero decides to stand up for himself and what he wants. The actions he takes at that point moved me and fulfilled what I want from a book. Since this is a romance, you know you get a happy ever after. I won’t tell you how, but I can tell you a border guard’s love and desire for an imperial princess is satisfied in a realistic, but unsappy fashion.
Make no mistake, this is not your mother’s Harlequin. This is the sort of romance that has crossover appeal (potentially) to both sexes, to readers of straightforward history and to the fantasy crowd who tend to love history.
Stay tuned tomorrow as I’ll have a free copy available!
Genghis: Bones of the Hill by Conn Iggulden
The following review was published with the permission of the reviewer, Lisa Yarde. The review was originally published on the Historical Novel Review site.
Any novel that takes on the life of the Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan has to be dramatic and sweeping in its scale, to do justice to the enigmatic life of its subject. Conn Iggulden’s Genghis: Bones of the Hill was my first Kindle purchase and a great introduction into the author’s view of Mongolian steppe life. I’m late to the Khan series and reading the books out of sequence, but Iggulden completely immerses his reader in the storyline, so that I had a good feeling for the character development from the two earlier novels.
Genghis’ sons, brothers, and generals have completed bloody military campaigns against the Khan’s enemies. On the southern steppes, the great general Tsubodai has defeated Russians in battle with the support of Jochi, Genghis’ eldest son. In the kingdom of Koryo, the second son Chagatai and General Jelme await the full submission of the Koryon emperor. On the outskirts of Chin lands, Genghis’ brother Khasar with the Khan’s third son Ogedai plans the final destruction of Kaifeng. All receive the summons to return home at Genghis’ command because he plans to make war on the Islamic dynasty of Khwarezmia.
The relationships in the novel bear a tremendous strain, the most obvious being the conflicts between Genghis and Jochi, and in turn, Jochi and Chagatai. The divisions stem from Jochi’s conception. Early in Genghis’ first marriage, his wife was stolen and given away to another man. He rescued her and within a year, she gave birth to Jochi. Genghis cannot forgive his son for the circumstances of his conception, and Chagatai as his brother’s rival refuses to follow “the rape-born whelp,” his favorite term for Jochi. He even goes so far as goading Jochi into fighting a tiger, and nearly deserting him in a key moment of battle. Jochi’s resentment is painfully laid bare on the pages, and his plight is sympathetic.
When Genghis sends his family and generals against the Khwarezmia Dynasty, Iggulden also provides the viewpoint of the enemy, the Shah Alaudin and his eldest son, Jelaudin. Iggulden shows great skill in portraying equally sympathetic antagonists and protagonists. The Shah and his son begin with the intent of destroying the Mongol invaders, but soon Alaudin dies and Jelaudin must struggle to assume his father’s power.
Everything about life on the steppes is hard for the characters, whether in the daily struggle to survive brutal weather or fierce conflicts, or in the punishments they mete out to various enemies. Each character is fully fleshed out, their emotions deftly sketched. Iggulden makes the reader feel Genghis’ righteous fury against the Shah for the deaths of his men, his general Tsubodai’s sadness when the Khan asks him to commit a murder that goes against his principles, and Jelaudin’s religious fervor, in equal parts. While Amazon reviews are sharply divided over the merits of Iggulden’s writing (one reviewer claimed “the author has raped historical facts…”), I loved Genghis: Bones of the Hill, even for its bittersweet ending. I look forward to reading an advance copy of the next title from Iggulden, Khan: Empire of Silver.