I loved reading about the alternative history behind Meljean Brook’s Iron Seas series on her website where she describes the real history of the Mongolian khagans or khans and their contact with the West via Marco Polo and then ties that in to the alternative history she created about the Golden Horde. So I thought it would be good to write up the alternative history of BUTTERFLY SWORDS and THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL.
My world isn’t as imagineered as a full on fantasy novel. In fact I was adamant in the fact that they are set in Tang Dynasty China. Not a fantasy world based on the Oriental trappings of China. I strive to try to be as authentic as possible in terms of culture, social climate, and political structure. I didn’t want to make up place names and customs and hide behind the fact that I made things up if something reads inauthentic. If it didn’t work, it’s because I didn’t sell it–not because it was meant to be fabricated anyway.
Of course wuxia, and really all similar chivalric tales, take place within a bit of a fantasy world. For the western equivalents, consider the Tales of Robin Hood or King Arthur. They’re a bit of historical fantasy. Historical romances are also really historical fantasies in the way authors have freedom to make up Dukes and Princes and Princesses. One of the reasons I feel so strongly that I’m truly in the right genre.
But one of the big leaps that I made that is not done too often in traditional historical romance is I altered the macro-history of my setting. Often authors will create imaginary kingdoms to satisfy the need to create wars and political conflict, but I had already decided this would not be a made up kingdom. So here’s the real history and my alternate history juxtaposed.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE REAL TANG DYNASTY AND JEANNIE LIN’S TANG DYNASTY?
In the real Tang Dynasty:
The rule of Emperor Xuanzong, named Li Longji, (712-756 A.D.) is often considered the pinnacle of the Tang Dynasty. Near the end of his reign however, the empire began to decline through many different factors including famine and several devastating military losses, costing Xuanzong several of the empire’s tributary nations. Throughout the dynasty, military warlords called jiedushi who were tasked with leading campaigns against neighboring kingdoms and maintaining order at the frontier had gained in power and influence. The jiedushi took over the military rule of their provinces, forming armies that were independent from the central imperial army. It was the combination of this military decentralization and the financial weakening of the central government that allowed the first strike in the beginning of the fall of the Golden Age.
The most popular telling has Emperor Xuanzong declining into decadence and extravagance in his elder years. He became smitten by one of his concubines, Lady Yang Yuhuan, who is more commonly known as Yang Guifei (Precious Consort Yang). Under her thrall, he ignored matters of state, appointed her relatives and other corrupt men to important governmental positions, and spent his days throwing lavish banquets for his consort. One of the men who gained the favor of the corrupt court was a warlord by the name of An Lushan, who was of Sogdian (ancient Persian empire) descent rather than pure “Chinese”. (During the Tang Dynasty, the population of the empire was a mix of ethnicities, much like the Roman Empire during its height.) An Lushan had gained prominence defending the northeastern border against the Khitans and between he and his sons, controlled several military districts and a sizeable army. One of the downfalls of the military system was that too many men were elevated to governorships from lowly field positions. As a result, the imperial government had to contend with and try to balance the demands of many powerful factions within its own borders.
In 755, An Lushan led the Anshi Rebellion against Xuanzong, forcing the Emperor to flee from the capital. During the tragic flight, the Emperor’s army refused to continue unless he executed his beloved Yang Guifei, blaming her and her inept cousin, Chancellor Yang Guozhong, for the downfall of the imperial government. The Emperor had Yang Guifei strangled and her body was buried by the roadside while the escort continued on to Chengdu in the South.
An Lushan took over control of the dual capitals of Chang’an and Luoyang and declared himself Emperor. Meanwhile, Xuanzong set up a separate court in the south, but he was a broken man. He recognized his son, Li Heng’s, ascension to the throne and took on the title of retired Emperor. The son mounted a campaign against An Lushan to try to recapture the capital and destroy the warlord’s forces, though it would take the reign of three Tang Emperors before the rebellion was crushed in 763 A.D.
The Tang Dynasty continues for over another century, finally ending in 907 A.D. though it never reaches the height of Xuanzong’s rule again.
In Jeannie Lin’s Tang Dynasty:
BUTTERFLY SWORDS and THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL take place during the period of the Anshi rebellion, though the alternative history changes the circumstances of the temporary fall of the Tang Emperors. Emperor Xuanzong is replaced by a fictional Emperor Li Ming, known as the August Emperor, who has died without leaving behind any direct male descendants.
Instead of An Lushan, a warlord named Shen An Liu has taken control during the unrest and Li Ming’s only daughter Miya has abdicated the throne and lives in exile. Emperor Shen and his sons control the largest military force in the empire, allowing them to maintain control of the central part of the kingdom, but his rule is constantly challenged by the other warlords, many who want to restore a Tang ruler to the throne.
The tragic figure of Yang Yuhuan was replaced by Precious Consort Ling Suyin, who survives the fall of Tang regime. Li Tao is a commoner who was given military command as jiedushi by the August Emperor.
In this timeline, Emperor Shen is seen as a usurper of low birth and mixed blood, though he does rule over the central government. A clear opposition government has yet to be established and the jiedushi are left to fight it out about who will control the empire.
It was a difficult decision to alter such pivotal events in the Tang Dynasty history to create this world. The intention was to be able to use pivotal figures such as Emperors and warlords and consorts and set their interactions during the tumultuous time that inspired me. I hope readers will realize that these stories are historical fantasy and not meant to be a historical reference.
For the upcoming tales that do not reference this alternative timeline, I’ve set the time period to the later part of the Tang Dynasty after 800 A.D. to differentiate them from these earlier tales.
As I’ve heard from readers that these stories have been the first taste they got of the Tang Dynasty, I encourage any history geeks to seek out the true events. The following resources were the basis for much for much of my research:
Benn, Charles (2002), China’s Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-517665-0
Hucker, Charles O. (1995), China’s Imperial Past: An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture, Stanford University Press, ISBN 0804723532
Lewis, Mark Edward (2009), China’s Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, ISBN 067403306X
I’ve received questions from several readers asking me about the actual Chinese characters for the names used in Butterfly Swords as well as the other books. I chose not to put in accent marks over the names in the actual text as I felt they would distract Western readers, but it may be of interest to readers who know Mandarin to see the pronunciations as I intended.
I do confess that I don’t know Mandarin (and would really like to learn!) . These are, to my knowledge, the appropriate names for the characters. If there’s a mistake here, please let me know so I can correct it.
Please note that the surname appears first. Also, the given name can be a single character or multiple characters. Thus the heroine of Butterfly Swords has a surname of “Shen” and her given name is “Ai Li”.
*A quick note to add that, Shen Leung is actually written down below as “Shen Liang” as Leung is Cantonese in usage. How does one handle dialect in such cases as these?
Blog tour: Celebrate release day over at the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood as fellow sister Shea Berkley hits me with the tough questions.
***
When I was in ninth grade, my English teacher, Phyllis Molloff, had us write these time capsule letters to ourselves which she returned at the end of our senior year. In it, we wrote what we wanted to accomplish by senior year, but we also wrote about our dreams for the future. To remind ourselves.
I remember writing that I wanted to publish one book in my lifetime. One book on the shelves in bookstores.
I didn’t know anything about publishing or writing careers. I didn’t know that most writers wrote many, many books, one after another. Writing one book seemed like a nearly insurmountable goal to me. But it was a dream so I wrote it down.
And now it’s here.
To everyone who has supported Butterfly Swords: Thank you. Thank you so very much. I never imagined this little book would get so much attention.
I’m hitting the friendly skies today to head to my first book signing at the Emerald City Writer’s Conference. So I invite you into the secret dungeon of my office for this video:
I’m kicking off Warrior Women month with a quick tutorial on butterfly swords. Also tomorrow, I have an interview with Mandy Sayah, Wing Chun instructor.
Blog Tour:
Blogging about how I came to write historical romance at The Minding Spot. The blog is doing their own giveaway of a copy of the Taming of Mei Lin.
***
The Taming of Mei Lin and Butterfly Swords both feature sword fights involving butterfly swords. I’ve received many curious inquiries about both the weapons and the fighting style, so I thought I’d showcase them today.
I chose butterfly swords for my heroine because:
1) I had some experience with them
2) They could be hidden easily and carried around with her various outfits
3) The techniques are fast and exciting to describe
4) The swords were distinctive and feminine, in contrast to the swords used by the hero and the villain
In this video, Grandmaster William Cheung demonstrates the butterfly swords form. The narration is Sifu Eric Oram.
This demonstration shows several techniques for butterfly swords against a broadsword. The key techniques are redirecting and controlling the opponent’s blade with the butterfly swords, and counterattacking immediately after a block.
And finally, the swords featured in the grand prize giveaway aren’t technically butterfly swords as they don’t have the handguard. They’re steel and sharpened and STILL pretty cool.
Join the Launch Celebration by tweeting, blogging, and getting the word out and you’ll be eligible to win. Details here.
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.
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.
I was asked to teach an online workshop for RWA-PRO on how to make book trailers, which made me think about book trailers and what makes them effective or not. I wanted to have a clear line of sight on the subject before I started advocating that authors spend hours of their time or too much money on producing trailers.
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.
Thank you Friends and Fans for all your support! The Grand Prize giveaways have been announced.
Launch Celebration From September 1 – October 15
The official release date for Butterfly Swords is October 1, 2010! I’ve been touched by the enthusiasm people have shown for the book so I wanted to put some fun launch activities together in September and October.
The Goodies
Join in the launch activities and help spread the word. In return, you get positive karma and you’ll be entered in the prize drawing. Winners will be randomly drawn on September 15, October 1, and October 15.
All giveaways are open to both U.S. and international readers!
Grand Prize - A pair of steel butterfly swords*. The very same ones I used with my costume in the Dress For Historical Success workshop!
Grand Prize - A one-of-a-kind annotated version of Butterfly Swords with handwritten comments by moi. Think of it as the DVD commentary, book version. It will include discussion about story elements, reflections, how parts of the story evolved. Thought it might be fun to do.
Grand Prize - A color 8.5 x 11 print of Butterfly Swords by deviantArtist schumy330 (Cha Cha).
The three Grand Prizes will be drawn on October 15.
Book Giveaways
In addition to giveaways for Butterfly Swords and The Taming of Mei Lin, I will also be giving away a couple of other awesome titles with the same spirit of adventure and romance as my stories.
Silver Phoenix
by Cindy Pon
Poisoned Kisses
by Stephanie Draven
Heaven Sword
& Dragon Sabre
by Jin Yong (Louis Cha)
October Book giveaways – Individual names will be drawn for: one of two autographed copies of Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin or a copy of the graphic novel of Heaven Sword & Heaven Sabre, vol. 1 by Jin Yong. Winners will be drawn October 1.
September Book giveaways – Individual names will be drawn for: a free digital download of “The Taming of Mei Lin” from eHarlequin, Cindy Pon’s Silver Phoenix, hardcover edition, or an autographed copy of Stephanie Draven’s debut from Harlequin Nocturne, Poisoned Kisses. Winners will be drawn on September 15.
Party favors – Official Butterfly Swords charms are going out to all newsletter subscribers. Sign up to receive the insider track on Butterfly Swords and receive a custom designed charm. Hint: I will be designing one of these for each of my books and supplies are limited. So collect them all. (NOTE: You must include mailing address to receive the souvenir charm)
Be a Part of the Launch Crew!
One entry for each activity. Your name stays in for the entire celebration.
1. Sign up to receive the monthly newsletter
If you’d like to sign up for the newsletter, use this link.
2. Blog or Tweet about Butterfly Swords – If blogging, comment here with a link to the blog page. The topic is up to you. If tweeting use hashtag #butterflyswords
3. Online badge – Post the Butterfly Swords badge on your webpage or blog which links back to http://www.butterfly-swords.com.
4. Bookmarks & Postcards - I got this idea when a couple of friends from California asked to have some bookmarks to distribute to bookstores. If you’d like a stack to give to your friendly neighborhood bookseller or library or book fair, please comment and I’ll mail them to you ASAP.
5.Blog Tour Trivia Contest – I’ll be blogging all over the interwebs in September and October. Fill out the BINGO form for additional entries.
Banners for Websites and Blogs
Please link back to “http://www.butterfly-swords.com. HTML for links is coming soon!
Actually, it’s pretty darn cool. I didn’t know much about NetGalley before, but apparently it’s the best thing since sliced bread for reviewers. It allows reviewers, librarians, journalists and other professional readers to request digital galleys directly from the publisher.
The cover for THE TAMING OF MEI LIN (excerpt), my September Undone release is here! First of all it’s gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. The colors are beautiful and the backdrop is sweeping.
Let the cover kibitz begin:
I think the hero looks a bit like Daniel Dae Kim from Lost, don’t you? I do love a nice strong jawline.
Time period: the clothing and hair isn’t Tang Dynasty. They had to take some liberties with that. The Undones are digitally published and so they create the covers from the Harlequin art bank, which leads me to the best part of the cover…
The heroine and hero may look very familiar because they also graced the cover of my favorite Harlequin Blaze, THE CONCUBINE by Jade Lee. Perhaps her lovers had met before in a previous life hundreds of years earlier in the Tang Dynasty? They were simply fated to meet again and fall in love eternally…
Cover models get reused all the time. I’m just tickled pink that Jade’s models reappear on my cover. I’ll always associate them with THE CONCUBINE, which is sitting proudly on my keeper shelf.
(NOTE: You must include mailing address to receive the souvenir charm)
