Release Day, Launch Celebration, Blog Tour & Art!

If I could describe what’s inside my head right now, it’s like the first trip to Disneyland when you’re walking down Main Street and, oh my gosh, everything looks amazing and smells so good and the moment you turn your head there’s something new.

And you don’t want to miss any of it in case Mom and Dad never take you here again.

I’m a published author, finally…

It’s my release day for The Taming of Mei Lin! It’s also my digital release day for Butterfly Swords. Yes, indeed. You can buy the digital version of Butterfly Swords and The Taming of Mei Lin from eHarlequin. “Mei Lin” is also available via Amazon or Barnes and Noble. If you want a hard copy of Butterfly Swords, you’ll have to wait for October 1st. One more month…I’m bouncing with excitement.

Official Launch Celebration kicks off

The official launch celebration kicks off today. Spread the word and be entered in the celebration drawings to be held September 15, October 1, and October 15. Fans and friends have already started spreading the word. Check out the official Butterfly Swords promotion page at http://www.butterfly-swords.com

The blog tour also kicks off today. I’ll be giving away download codes for The Taming of Mei Lin from eHarlequin at a couple guest blogs. The first one is today The Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood where I blog about “Writing Short and Not So Sweet“.  Check out the rest of the Blog Tour for the rest of the month and October.

Warrior Women Month

To celebrate my feisty heroines and honor the strong women who inspired them, I’m dedicating September to Warrior Women on my blog. I’ll be featuring interviews from three kick-butt warrior women throughout the month: Wing Chun  instructor Mandy Sayah, stuntwoman and Ninja Warrior Luci Romberg, and swords expert Linda Heenan.  We’ll also be chatting about our favorite heroines – real and fictional throughout the month.

Get the RSS Feed and don’t miss out.

Artwork for Butterfly Swords

I saved the best for last. I was so thrilled to sell my first book, that I splurged a little and commissioned artwork from one of my favorite DeviantArtists, Wendy (Cha Cha) aka schumy330.I’ll be adding an autographed, color print of this to the Grand Prize drawing.

Her depiction of Ryam and Ai Li nearly brought tears to my eyes. I even love the little palanquin in the background and the armored soldiers. *sniffs*

P.S. Yes, I know that’s a jian she’s holding and not a butterfly sword (dao). It’s PERFECT and GORGEOUS.

You’ll never work in this town again!

Despite the ominous title, this is actually sort of an optimistic post. I was working on my newest project and wrote this sentence into a synopsis:

“Due to the unnatural deaths, the victims are transformed into jiangshi, the hopping undead zombies of Chinese myth.”

At which point, I stared at the words “hopping undead zombies” and said to myself, “Jeannie, now you’ve really joined the funny farm.” That other stuff, that Tang Dynasty multi-cultural romance stuff, was a hard sell, but what the heck are you thinking now?

But a year ago, I didn’t know a thing about what would sell. All I had was a belief in my story. It’s foolish to think that now, a year later, that I have any better of an idea. I still don’t know. I think that’s a possible albatross of having sold a book, you start to think that maybe you have some idea of the market and then put undue pressure on yourself.

On the other hand, I may pull the phrase “hopping undead” from the synopsis. The jiangshi are still in the book, but my sister will be extremely upset. She’s insisted to me that Asian zombies hop. She’s warned me that she’ll be very put out if I make them bite. (Some accounts do have them biting.)

They’re actually quite creepy. There’s something very unnatural about the rigid limbs and lurching hop of the jiangshi. But you know, maybe it’s a cultural thing.

When I stop doubting the craziness of it, this story is actually quite fun to write. I haven’t encountered any jiangshi yet. They’re waiting for me, arms outstretched, about two chapters away.