The Book of My Heart

I was reading a lovely inspirational post about “The Book of My Heart” by Beth Revis and I was thinking how my “book of my heart” was thrust upon me circumstantially. Sometimes the book chooses the writer.

No, it doesn’t. *snerk* That’s just the sort of fortune cookie crap that I put in my “book of my heart”.

Our first books are often the book of our hearts and, if you’re like me, you wrote it and rewrote it over the course of several years, stumbling and learning along the way. Continue reading

Weekly Link Roundup & a ZOMG cover

Some thoughtful reviews and mentions this week.

Cheeky Reads: Review and Giveaway

Cheeky Reads wrote a lovely review of My Fair Concubine: “Lin did an outstanding job of letting the feelings between the hero and heroine build internally before letting them show their feelings externally. In fact, the hero Fei Long stays so true to his sense of honor that once he finally reveals his feelings to himself and Yan Ling, the reader will be swept along in the emotion.”

You can read the entire review on the blog and she’s also doing a book giveaway that ends *looks at watch* today…so perhaps a little last minute to enter, but better late than never. Thank you Cheeky Reads!

Bookworm1858: Review

Bookworm says: “Overall: I just adored this book-it was SO good, combining romance, history, amazing descriptions of food, some action, and some suspense all with strong characters and excellent writing. Highly recommended!”

A very nice review to end my week. 🙂

St. Louis Post Dispatch: ‘Fifty Shades’ may be readers’ summer romance

What does My Fair Concubine have to do with ‘Fifty Shades of Grey‘? Absolutely nothing.

I was, however, being interviewed for another short little featurette about MFC when journalist Jane Henderson was tasked with a story on the erotic runaway bestseller. Since I was the romance author on hand, we started discussing 50 Shades (confession: read it, liked it), The Story of O, and the state of romance in general. It was a very good conversation about why this book is so popular and what the insider reaction in romance circles has been to it. When it came to mentioning me in the article, I think she was hoping for a better connection:

(Conversation shamelessly paraphrased)

Journalist: So, the word concubine…that seems to imply subservience and bondage…

Jeannie: Not really. It’s more of a romance between an upper class nobleman and a lower class tea house girl.

Journalist: Are there many love scenes? Is there a sense of power and submission?

Jeannie: Umm…no…It’s a romantic comedy and a Cinderella story.

Journalist: Work with me here, Jeannie.

Jeannie: (laughs) Heck, I wish I could write an imperial Chinese story with BDSM in it.

My Fair Concubine ends up being referred to as “a bondage-free story set in ninth century China” along with a nice quote about the fluidity of the romance genre and how there are many niches.

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Finally, cause it’s not all about me…will you take a look at this cover?!? My heart beats faster every time I look at it.

 

It’s a Japanese mythology-inspired steampunky adventure extravaganza from what I can glean. The more I see, the more I wants it. *precioussss*

Read more about Stormdancer at Jay Kristoff’s site.

(I wish I could call myself a literary giant. Instead I’d be more like a literary midget.)