Check back in tomorrow for an introduction to Wing Chun and the butterfly sword form. On Wednesday, I’ll be posting an interview with kung fu instructor Mandy Sayah. Hope to see you back here!

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New Release Monday is a spinoff of Excerpt Monday, started by Bria Quinlan and Alexia Reed. If you’d like to join up for next month, take a look at the main site: The Excerpt Monday blog.

Welcome to New Release Monday! This is a happy day for me since The Taming of Mei Lin was first unveiled while still a work-in-progress during Excerpt Monday. “Mei Lin” is the prequel to Butterfly Swords which debuts in print on October 1.

The Taming of Mei Lin is available now. Enjoy the excerpt and if you’d like to read more, it’s available from eHarlequin, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the Sony eStore.
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Faced with a proposal from a man she despises, impetuous Mei Lin makes a daring declaration: she will only marry the man who can defeat her in a sword fight. She has bested everyone who has so far tried to teach her a lesson…until a handsome stranger comes to her village. In captivating swordsman Shen Leung , Mei Lin finally sees a man she wants to marry. A man she’s willing to surrender to in every way….

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Chapter 1

Tang Dynasty China, 710 A.D.

Mei Lin could feel the strands of hair slipping from her knot, tickling against her neck. Uncle made her stand outside during the hottest part of the afternoon, even when there were no customers. She wiped her brow and looked over at Chang’s tofu stand at the end of the street with envy. He at least had the shade of a tree to duck under.

If she planted a seed today, she reckoned she’d still be here selling noodles by the time the tree grew tall enough to provide shelter. And Uncle would still be growing fat, napping in the shade.

A tingle of awareness pricked against her neck. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see someone had stopped just beyond the line of the wooden benches. The stranger wore a gray robe, but that was the only thing plain about him. He had the high cheekbones of the people of the north and stood with his shoulders back, lean and tall. Unfortunately the town riffraff stood just behind him, grinning and poking at each other over some boyish joke only they found humorous. Mei Lin ignored them as she always did.

“Little Cho.”

The boy came eagerly running at her call. Her little cousin was not yet corrupted by his father’s laziness.

“Fetch the tea,” she said and he went running to the stove.

She turned back to the intriguing man. He remained at the perimeter watching her. He had a pleasant expression and seemed particularly still, as if supremely comfortable in this heat and in this world. She stood there with sweat pouring down her back wishing her hair wouldn’t keep falling over her face like it did. It was so rare that strangers came to their village.

He bowed. “Wu Mei Lin,” he greeted formally.

Even rarer that strangers came who knew her name. The smile she was about to give him faded into a frown.

“Little Cho.”

He had just returned with the teapot.

She blew a strand of hair away from her face impatiently. “Fetch my swords.”

The boy scrambled away, nearly tripping over his feet in his excitement. She turned back to the stranger.

“This is why you came, isn’t it?”

“When I learned of Lady Wu’s skill, I couldn’t help but come to pay my respects.”

He insisted on using her family name in an overly polite fashion. The onlookers chortled. The hated Chen Wang was at the head of the pack. Wang tended to stay away from her after she’d given him a black eye that lasted for a week, but he couldn’t resist the show.

“Well, then. Let’s get started,” she said.

Little Cho returned and handed over her short swords. She fixed her gaze onto the man before her. He had his weapons strapped to his side. She’d missed it in her initial fascination.

“I don’t mean to presume,” he began. “If the lady would like time to prepare—”

“There’s no better time. Besides, the rabble will be expecting a performance.”

She scowled at Wang and his lot as she brushed past. It kept her from having to look at him. Why did he have to be so tall and his manners so impeccable? And why was she so taken with this swordsman when it was obvious he was here to humiliate her, just like all the others?

“Little Cho, watch the shop,” she called over her shoulder.

“But, Mei Lin!”

She ignored the boy’s protest and kept walking. He shouldn’t be watching street fights at his age, impressionable as he was. Uncle and Auntie Yin had enough to complain about without her being a bad influence on her little cousin.

The swordsman caught up with her easily, keeping an arm’s length between them while they walked together down the dusty street. There was none of the posturing and swagger she’d come to expect from Zhou’s lackeys. From outward appearances, they could have been joining one another for an afternoon stroll.

“Those are exquisite.”

He was talking about the swords. Twin blades; short, light and quick. Many called them butterfly swords, but there was nothing delicate about them. They were ideal weapons for a woman fighting a larger opponent. Heaven forbid he’d look at her with the same interest.

She sniffed, but a thread of doubt worked loose inside her. He was the first to be interested in her skill rather than the novelty of this odd girl who dared to challenge men.

“You don’t seem like one of Zhou’s thugs,” she said.

“Who is Zhou?”

He sounded earnest; she wanted to believe that he wasn’t just another bragging oaf, here to put this stubborn woman in her place. She stole another glance at him. His black hair was pulled back and tied, highlighting his distinct features.

And he was handsome. She might as well admit it. Looking at him left her with the disturbing sense that she had lost something; something she desperately needed to find.

“You are not what I expected from what they told me.”

He was looking at her face now. A rush of heat flooded her cheeks.

“What did they say?”

“That you were the meanest shrew in the empire.”

He smiled as he said it. His brown eyes were a shade lighter than what was common in this region. It reminded her of the golden wash of the sun over the mountains.

She knew then what she couldn’t find: her usual confidence that the fight was already won.

They reached the center of town where the main roads met at the market square. If Zhou didn’t send this swordsman, then he must have come on his own to challenge her. It had been two months since Zhou made his outrageous proposal, which she had countered with an even more outrageous declaration.

Zhou was a lesser magistrate of the district. He had proposed marriage after catching a glimpse of her at the noodle stand while he was passing through. Uncle and Auntie Yin had been thrilled that someone wanted to take her off their hands, but Zhou already had a wife. Two wives, in fact! She would be little more than a bed warmer and glorified kitchen maid.

She had announced publicly she would marry no man unless he defeated her in a fight. Her uncle and aunt were mortified, but she wouldn’t back down. Her parents had been poor, but proud people. It would offend their spirits to see their only daughter become some lecherous goat’s mistress.

Zhou dismissed her challenge as the ramblings of a madwoman. She doubted he could lift a sword, but his henchmen continued to bully her whenever they came by. Over the last few weeks, several strangers had wandered into town to goad her into a fight. She suspected they had all been sent by the disgruntled official.

She’d defeated all the country thugs and village boys who’d tried to teach her a lesson. But this swordsman was different. If Zhou hadn’t sent him, then he must have come on his own. Could news of her declaration have traveled beyond the dusty edge of town?

She turned to him. “Do you still want to do this, considering what a shrew I am?”

That half smile again. “I am not afraid.”

More townsfolk had gathered to see crazy Mei Lin and another one of her displays of rebelliousness. There was a moment of sadness when she squared off across from him. She’d become a spectacle. The only marriage proposals she ever received were these stupid challenges from scoundrels trying to show her up. One of these days, some brute would defeat her. Someone a hundred times worse than Zhou. She’d done this to herself.

“What shall the terms be?” he asked as he paced to the other side of the square.

Still so composed, his every movement measured and graceful. She should have been paying attention to how he moved, not how captivating his eyes were.

“We’re simple folk here. First blood should be good enough.”

She raised her swords while her opponent drew his weapon. The blade gleamed in the afternoon sun, the craftsmanship obvious to even an untrained eye. Even if she discounted the quality of the blade, she knew immediately this man was serious. There was a way a sword fits into the hands of a true practitioner, as if it were an extension of his body.

“You’re not even going to ask my name,” he said.

“Why bother? You’ll run from here in shame very soon.”

“Wu Mei Lin, the honor would be all mine.”

The way he spoke her name sent a shudder down her spine, despite the heat of the afternoon. Certainly he had come to see her out of curiosity, but could it be he was actually interested? He watched her so intently and his pleasant manners gave the impression he was actually enjoying the exchange. She wished they didn’t have this duel between them to confuse her.

He bowed, blade pointed downward, very formal. Like this was a sacred ritual instead of a street brawl. She looked down at her swords and for a moment they felt strange in her hands, as if she didn’t practice every morning and night with them.

Master always said she wouldn’t know her limit until someone pushed her to it.

“Now?” the swordsman asked from afar.

She tossed her hair out of her face. “Now.”

Copyright © 2010 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited

Copyright © 2010 by Jeannie Lin

Permissions to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and/or its affiliated companies, used under license.

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New Release Links TBD

***

Advance reviews are always coming out and, I confess, I hungrily search for them. I’m weak…

I never know whether to respond or not, but I liked Stacia Kane’s take on it. Good or bad, acknowledge the review and thank them for their time. It does take a lot of time and effort to read through the book and then to put your thoughts together coherently.

I’m making it my policy to not comment on reviews other than a nice thank you and I will not show up on any review sites to comment or reply. If you ever see me doing so, smack me upside the head and send me away. But I can acknowledge the reviewers here on my blog.

For Butterfly Swords:

Romantic Times
★★★★ Review
You need to be a subscriber to view this early. Otherwise it will be available in October.

Monkey Bear Reviews
A- Grade Review by Sarah

Sonoma Lass (x-posted on Dear Author)
A Grade Review by SonomaLass

The Romance Reviews
★★★★★ – Review by Carol

And various reviewers from GoodReads
Range: ★★★ – ★★★★★

For The Taming of Mei Lin:

The Season
9 stars out of 10 – Review by Katrina

Various reviewers from Goodreads
Range: ★★★★ – ★★★★★

Thank you for everyone for reading and reviewing!

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.

Originally I was trying to come up with a way where people who’ve followed the Butterfly Swords and Mei Lin Blog Tour could enter the Launch Celebration drawings. Following and tracking all commenters would have been heinous. And I fully didn’t expect people to really want to read THAT many blogs.

So I came up with the idea of a trivia game. You can answer the trivia questions through a handful of the blog appearances. Now, I considered maybe a Blog Tour drinking game might be in order. One shot for every time Jeannie mentions “wuxia”!

But that would have had people tipsy real quick and wouldn’t be responsible of me since people blog surf at work. So instead I present to you Butterfly Swords BINGO.

Send me the five answers through my Contact form to make BINGO and you’ll receive 5 entries in the giveaway. If anyone is crazy enough to give all the answers for BLACKOUT:  Um, I might be a little scared…but you’ll receive 10 entries into the giveaway. Enter “BINGO” as your subject.

Remember, your name will remain in the bucket from when you enter until the very last Grand Prize drawing. Drawings will be held on September 15, October 1, and October 15 for a variety of prizes. Have fun!

Rules: The gameboard is just for you to keep track. Print it out or bookmark this page if you like. You only need to send me the answers, not the gameboard. If you’re going through the center, use “Free Space” as one answer. And I will accept more than just the first BINGO.

BLOG TOUR LOCATIONS AND DATES

I will be embarking on a whirlwind blog tour through the interwebs September through October to let the world know about the back to back releases of The Taming of Mei Lin and Butterfly Swords.

Stop by these locations on any of the dates to read all about it. There are some additional giveaways with certain blogs. I’ll be filling in the titles and links as the tour progresses.

P.S. For those doing the BINGO game, you won’t need to go to all of them. The answers will be sprinkled throughout and I do repeat myself occasionally. *blushes*

September Dates:

9/1/2010 – Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood: Writing Short and Not So Sweet & Giveaway

9/2/2010 – Unusual Historicals: Excerpt Thursday – The Taming of Mei Lin

9/4/2010 – The Pink Heart Society: The Call and The Taming of Mei Lin Giveaway

9/5/2010 – Unusual Historicals: Author Q & A and The Taming of Mei Lin giveaway

9/7/2010 – Minding Spot: Interview

9/8/2010 - A Journey of Books: Interview

9/9/2010 – Book Junkie: Interview

9/10/2010 – Thoughts in Progress: The Role of Family

9/13/2010 – Novel Thoughts and Book Talk: Where’s My Happy Endings?

9/14/2010 – Vaux Hall Vixens: Kung Fu Heroines

9/14/2010 – Romance Divas: Writers’ High

9/15/2010 – RomCon: Love at First Sight – Asian Edition

9/15/2010 – LASR: Interview and Giveaway

9/16/2010 – Romance Junkies: Multicultural Romance

9/17/2010 – Long Live the Lit: Core stories and characters

9/18/2010 – My Reading Room: Interview

9/21/2010 – The Ron Empress: Deep culture vs. Surface culture

9/22/2010 – Dirty Sexy Books: Interview

9/23/2010 – Of Inke and Quille: How I Came Up with the Idea – The Taming of Mei Lin

9/24/2010 – Of Inke and Quille: How I Came Up with the Idea - Butterfly Swords

9/27/2010 – Word Wenches: Interview and Giveaway – print copy of Butterfly Swords

9/28/2010 – Romance Divas: Butterfly Swords trivia

9/29/2010 – A Journey of Books: Butterfly Swords is a book about…

October Dates

The Taming of Mei Lin

I’m thrilled that people want to read the story enough to take a foray into e-reading. Actually, I’m thrilled that people want to read “Mei Lin” period. I hope you enjoy it and it’s worth the jump into digital reading.  I wanted to give a quick run down of the electronic formats in which the story is available depending on where you purchase it.

First, eHarlequin. Many people have gone to eHarlequin to search for “Mei Lin”, but the story won’t be listed there until September 1 which is the release date. Trust me, I will be updating all my links and telling the world next week!!

eHarlequin can be quite intimidating! There are so many links. It can be found under the “Ebook Store” section under “Exclusively in Ebook” and then “Harlequin Historical Undone”.

The four formats available are Adobe EPUB, Adobe PDF, Microsoft eBook, and Microsoft MOBI.

The Adobe formats can be read on any laptop or computer. You need to download Adobe Digital Editions — which is no biggie for me since you have to have a plug-in to read regular Adobe PDFs as well. This is how I read my downloads from eHarlequin. I like the format and how the chapters and the text look.  (The text has been blurred on purpose so I don’t get nabbed for unauthorized use of Stephanie Draven’s Wild, Tethered, Bound.)

Adobe Digital Editions - Read on your Laptop or PC

The Microsoft eBook format can be used on any Windows platform once you download the Microsoft eBook software. Activation is required — which I’m assuming means you give your information to Microsoft when you get the download and they send you a key. Microsoft MOBI is for use with the Mobi device.

Next up: Amazon. The Taming of Mei Lin is for sale through Amazon for the Kindle. This is most suitable for reading if you have the device. There is also software you can download to read Kindle files on your computer.

Finally: Barnes & Noble. Similar to Amazon, you can purchase “Mei Lin” here for the Nook. This is best used if you have a Nook device. There may also be software that allows you to read it on your computer.

It seems like a lot to take in, but once you pick a format and use it, I’ve found that reading on my computer is quite convenient and the text quality is really good. But I’m shackled to my computer for most of the day, as you know. That alone might be worth getting a reader in the future. I need to unhook from this thing before it starts to assimilate me….

All in all, I’m very pleased that people want to read The Taming of Mei Lin! I hope you enjoy it and that the digital format doesn’t chase anyone away.

*The free download of The Taming of Mei Lin for the September 15 Launch Celebration drawing will be from eHarlequin so it will be available in one of the four formats listed above.

*Edited to add — it appears an iPad is able to download and read Kindle formats as well as Nook  and Borders eBook. It shouldn’t have any issues with Adobe EPUB or PDF either. More brownie points for the iPad!

September 1st is the start of my Butterfly Swords Launch Celebration complete with giveaways and special interviews. I’m dedicating this site in the month of September to “Warrior Women” with guest blogs from some spectacular “action gals”. I can’t wait to introduce them in one week.

I’ll also be starting a blog tour in September. I’ll be hopping all over the interwebs to chat about what inspired my stories, interesting trivia about martial arts, reflection on Chinese culture and history, pretty much about anything and everything wuxia, romance, and historical that went into the stories.

In the meantime, sit tight. And I want to send a special thanks to a few partners in crime who have already started spreading the word about Butterfly Swords on their blogs and websites. I’m very touched by the enthusiasm out there for my very first book.

Big thanks to:

Mom – Yes. Mom. I think she’s more excited about promotion than the book. She’s hitting bookstores around my hometown to distribute bookmarks and also talking it up to local newspapers. She’s also reading Butterfly Swords right now.  *gulp* I have a feeling she might be my toughest reviewer. Little Sis gets her critiquing skills from somewhere…

Stephanie Draven – Fabulous speculative fiction and romance author who is featuring Butterfly Swords in her own Launch Party for her October debut novel from Harlequin Nocturne, Poisoned Kisses. (You’ll see I’m giving away a copy of Poisoned Kisses as part of my launch. Karma, reciprocity, more positive energy to go around)

Susan – The director of the Silk Road track at DragonCon who’s giving away free copies as well as doing readings from Butterfly Swords at the Con this year. I can’t wait to go next year!

Victoria Dixon – Her site “The Ron Empress” is dedicated to the promotion, education, and networking of authors of Asian novels.

Dara Sorensen – “In the Write Mind” is a wonderful blog about her writing journey including fascinating research about Japanese history and mythology

David Bridger – Romance and Urban Fantasy Author of Beauty and the Bastard put out a great mention on his LiveJournal. His own debut  has been receiving some great reviews!

Redd – Whose blog “The Forgotten Hollow” features reviews and gorgeous cover art.

Hafelina – A Southern California tweep who has generously volunteered to spread the word on the west coast with bookmarks and other goodies.

Jennifer Leeland – Fellow Romance Diva who writes edgy romantic stories and some of the best action/suspense I’ve read put out an amazing Thursday Thirteen about Butterfly Swords. I’m so humbled!

Lexie – Who runs the review site “Poisoned Rationality” has not only posted on her blog about Butterfly Swords, but has come up with her own contest to promote it. Wow! Check out the “Butterfly Swords – OMG I Want Now” Contest.

The Diva Bookcase – Is another wonderful romance review site who’s reviewing the book and has been kind enough to jump in by linking, tweeting, and passing out bookmarks to spread the word.

Carol Rose – An author and newly minted Romance Diva has given a great mention on her blog Moonlight and Roses.

FredTownWard – Fellow tweep and Amazon reviewer has also hit the bookstores with bookmarks

…and many, many more supporters who’ve tweeted and blogged independent of the launch celebration. Your enthusiasm is making this all the more special.

I know I couldn’t mention everyone and I won’t be able to do this going forward, but I just wanted to give a special shout out to the early birds. I hope you’re as excited as I am for October!

I’ve heard a lot of opinions from writers (but not purely readers, per se) about book trailers. Most have said that they’re cheap, cheesy-looking and ineffective. A book trailer would never make them want to buy a book. They rely on things like the blurb and cover, and  reviews or word of mouth.

Years ago, when I first started seeing book trailers appear on YouTube, I was intrigued. Admittedly, there were a lot of rough ones out there with random images and text set to music. They had the production quality of a high school Powerpoint presentation. But when looking at a medium, it’s important to see not only what people are doing, but what people could do. There was potential there. A lot of potential. My mind started spinning.

So I’m going to come out and speak about what trailers CAN do.

We are now marketing to an increasingly visual generation. A generation used to watching videos, not only on TV, but on laptops and ipods and phones. This means that visual media will soon be at consumers’ fingertips all the time. The synchronization of images and music evokes an emotional response in us.

It’s not learned behavior. Music and sound naturally causes your heart to beat faster. We physiological respond to it. That’s why muzak is used to calm people down in elevators. That’s why drums are used in battle to gear people up.

Let’s look at the evolution of ads and music videos. At the beginning, advertisements were trying to be informative. If you look at old commercials for soap or Hershey’s chocolate or cars, they contained a lot of text explaining what the product did and why you’d want to buy it. Eventually, advertisers realized that the power of a magazine ad wasn’t to replace the verbal spiel of a door to door salesman, but to present an exaggerated image of the product and create an aura and specific emotional message. If you want to sell a  guy a car, you don’t show the car and regurgitate the owner’s manual. You take a glossy photo of it in dramatic lighting with a gorgeous woman sitting on the hood. The ads aren’t selling a vehicle with four tires and a steering wheel. They’re selling image and sex appeal. Extreme example, but you get my meaning.

Music videos. Early music videos showed the bands usually in a concert setting, playing their instruments and singing. Again, video producers quickly realized that the power of music video wasn’t to recreate the concert setting on the television screen. You get none of the energy and fandom of a concert that way. Instead, music videos have become mini movie productions. They often tell a story or present some wonderful eye candy meant to evoke an emotional response.

Many authors are trying book trailers out, but most admit they don’t know if it really helps increase sales. Some companies can charge $50 on the low end for a trailer, hundreds of dollars on the high end. Big bestsellers have book trailers that use actors with costumes and stage sets. Some feature digital animation and effects. I’ve heard the bill can be as high as a thousand dollars or more. EEK! There goes most of our advances!

But is all of this useful?

I think it can be. I think there are still only a few trailers that are hitting the mark. Even the ones that look really good are sometimes too much buck and not enough bang.

The biggest way trailers miss the mark is by using the video merely to present a text heavy blurb and cover along with some pictures of the hero, heroine, and setting. It’s not that this can’t have some use — but like magazine ads and music videos, authors were trying to transfer the old tools of advertising – the cover and book summary – directly to video without using the true power of the medium.

The second way that many very impressive trailers miss the mark for me is by their length. Think of how long a television commercial is. Think of how long a movie trailer is. Not a lot of people without vested interest in the book are going to sit through a two minute trailer. Even a one minute trailer (which I have) is pushing it.

If you’re trying to judge the effectiveness of book trailers with a direct tie in to book sales, then they may fall short. There is no way to measure that right away. People are not likely to see a book trailer and run and buy right away, much like people don’t see a Coke commercial and immediately run out and grab one. The commercial is there to create an image for Coca-cola, tie the product with an emotional message, and foster brand recognition. That’s the same goals you want to aim for with book trailers.

A truly effective book trailer should align itself with the rest of the book’s marketing message. It should not just “look cool”. It should enhance the current marketing plan. It should bring additional exposure and buy-in to the product.

That being said, book trailers are not necessarily cost effective for all authors, depending on their marketing plan. Superromance author, Liz Talley, had a great point in that she doesn’t see the use for book trailers in marketing her books right now because she writes contemporary romance. Her stories don’t lend themselves to these huge theatrical book trailers and she can get more mileage out of interacting with readers on blogs and forums.

That’s not to say book trailers can’t be very effective for contemporary stories. But the point is, Liz identified her market and her marketing plan and made a decision that was aligned with that. An ineffective trailer is a waste of time and money. Worst case, it may turn readers off.

To end this reflection, I’m posting two book trailers I’ve made so I can point the workshop participants here. One if for Inez Kelley’s Salome at Sunrise and one is for my upcoming release, Butterfly Swords. Both of these books have very strong visual elements, so a book trailer works very well in deepening that experience. The trailer is able to present the book in a way that a static web page couldn’t.

These are both low budget efforts, costing about $50 to produce. However, they were quite time consuming!! That’s why when people have asked me if they could pay me to do a trailer, I’ve always declined. I only do them out of love for the story and geekiness. But there is a method behind my madness and I hope I have something to offer the RWA-PRO workshop participants this week!

So don’t everyone rush out and make a book trailer. Think carefully about what you want to achieve first.

In the wide, open landscape that is the internet, it’s hard to know who you’re broadcasting to. I like to connect with people on a more intimate level if possible. Though an e-mail is hardly the most personal of measures, this newsletter update is the best way for me to stay in touch with readers and I’ll continue to offer promotions that are exclusive to newsletter subscribers. Hopefully, if fortune favors it, I’ll be able to meet some of you in the future.

Of all the people near and far who let me know that they “Can’t Wait” for Butterfly Swords, one won’t have to wait too much longer:

Congratulations Christine Alba! I’ll be putting your autographed copy of Butterfly Swords in the mail today.

Remember that the Launch Celebration begins on September 1, 2010 with the release of “The Taming of Mei Lin” a digital short story from Harlequin Historical Undone. I’ll also be starting a “Warrior Women Month” feature on the blog with interviews and features celebration the strong women that inspire me.

Tell everyone you know. The more the merrier.

For those of you who couldn’t make RWA conference, the Dress For Historical Success workshop was, well, as success. We had a full room despite going up at 8:30am on the last day of conference.

Here’s my best shot:

The judges say:

Nigel Barker: “I love the pose. You evoked the sense of confidence and grace of the Tang Dynasty, but I’m not in love with the face.”

Miss Jay: “Girl, you are closing your eyes again. Get some sleep or something and bring it.”

Jeannie: “But I was up late last night at the Harlequin party. There was a DJ and pink drinks with orchids in them–”

Miss Jay: *rolls eyes* “Excuses, excuses…”

Tyra: “The women of the Tang Dynasty were FIERCE. I see a pretty picture here, but I’m not seeing fierce.”

The guest judge always gets to announce the winner. While the other judges are deliberating, check out the photos and write-up on Gretchen Jones’ blog on the Dress for Historical Success workshop.

Who will be America’s Next Top Historical Model this year? You decide!

The rest of my film:

Group photo:Elisabeth Burke (Native American), Jeannie Lin (Tang Dynasty China), Jade Lee (Qin Dynasty China), Isobel Carr (Georgian England), Pam Nowak (Victorian America), Julia Justiss (Regency England), Peg Herring (Elizabethan England – female), Coralie Hughes Jensen (Elizabethan England – male), Judy Ridgley (Ancient Rome). Linda Joyce (American Prarie) is not shown.