I’m feeling the need for a web minion

Filed in: Announcements | blog | giveaway | guest blogs    Tags: blog tour | book chat | dear author

BOOK CHAT: I’ll be logging in at 6pm CST tomorrow for the Dear Author book chat. Dear Author also listed Butterfly Swords as one of their recommended reads for October along with some fabulous titles that I devoured: The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook and Trial by Desire by Courtney Milan.

According to Jane, they’ll be grilling me on a couple of hard questions regarding Butterfly Swords. I think that’s why I have an affinity for Dear Author. Something about tough love always makes me feel nostalgic. Like coming home for the holidays.

Review Round Up: A review for The Taming of Mei Lin on Poisoned Rationality that was able to address many elements from the story without spoilers. Tricky in a short!

Blog Tour: One of my favorite guest blogs I wrote is up today: West meets East. I discuss watching Shogun as a child and its influence on Butterfly Swords. Also a post on historical trivia from Butterfly Swords: “For the History Geeks, with Love” at RomCon and an excerpt at Unusual Historicals. Come back to Unusual Historicals Sunday for my guest blog appearance and giveaway.

I have an interview and giveaway at The Season for Romance where there’s also a poll to select October’s book club. Also my blog about Regency rakes vs. medieval warriors at Book Junkie was scheduled on Thursday, not on Monday.

***

Ever since Warrior Women month rounded up and October hit, the blog has been Review Round Ups and Blog tour info. I’ve become my book. Wholly uninteresting…

Actually, on second thought, I think most people come here for the book. I’d be wholly uninteresting without it.

In any case, I feel like I need a web minion. Even with my fast typing and decent web skills, just getting updates in to keep up with the interwebs has been a challenge. I’d be a holy terror of a boss over a web assistant though.

2 Comments

Dear Author/Kobo Books Promotion

Filed in: Announcements | blog    Tags: book chat | dear author | free ereader | kobo books | promotion

Huge thanks to Jane from Dear Author and to Kobo Books for setting up this special promotion for Butterfly Swords. In an effort to support the book, she contacted Kobo and the organization has offered to give away one free Kobo reader to a random customer who purchases Butterfly Swords any time between October 1 and October 31.

According to Jane:

“I wanted to promote Butterfly Swords, not only because it is a good book, but because it is a book that is set in a non European locale with non European characters. Not that I don’t love a good UK set romance. I do, but there is a plethora of them. And given all the struggles that authors have had trying to bring multiculturalism to fiction (think of the passing by big chains of Cindy Pon’s Phoenix Rising), I think it’s quite brave of Harlequin to buy this book, put some marketing muscle behind it (it was the only Harlequin Historical offered at NetGalley), and place an in-your-face Asian chick on the cover.” Entire blog post here

In addition to the giveaway, Dear Author is also hosting a book chat on Saturday October 9th from 7pm to 9pm EST. I’m very excited to attend. I apologize that the time doesn’t work for many overseas readers, but I believe the transcripts from the chats are usually released afterward.

The Kobo Books Butterfly Swords link will go live October 1. I am tempted to buy a copy myself….but that wouldn’t quite be fair.

I’m going to go and let this all sink in for a moment. Looking forward to meeting some readers at the book chat on October 9th!

3 Comments

I solemnly swear…

Filed in: blog | book reviews | guest blogs | promotion    Tags: dear author | hotdamn designs | kimberly killion | lisa see | lovesick maidens of hangzhou | promotions | reviews for butterfly swords | unusual historials

…that I did not in any way bribe, cajole, court, or exercise voodoo upon a certain someone at Dear Author.

I may, however, need to name my first child after her. Jane if it’s a girl and Jayne if it’s a boy.

I would then have to name my second child after the Harlequin art department. Jane and Harlequin Art Lin. I think they’ll be very popular in school.

You must be wondering what I’m rambling about. Dear Author has set up a page to invite anyone to submit reviews of Butterfly Swords to the Dear Author site. I learned of it from Twitter and was completely blown away.

jane_l: I made up a page where anyone can submit a review of @JeannieLin’s Butterfly Swords http://bit.ly/bjug54 to be posted at Dear Author

Actually, it’s not just DA. Many other reviewers have been so supportive by reading ARCs and getting the word out. Whether the reviews end up being good or bad, I’ll be forever grateful. And then I have to mention the amazing support from Harlequin and my editors, putting Butterfly Swords up on NetGalley and making it available because they were getting so many requests for reviews.

I believe the buzz all started with the Harlequin Art Department who came up with the bold and beautiful cover. The most common thing I heard at conference was, “You’re the author with that gorgeous cover!” Yes, I am my book. My book is me. At least for a little while — and I’m okay with that.

That cover still makes my heart beat faster. The promo page for Butterfly Swords says it all: http://www.butterfly-swords.com. Kimberly Killion, author and owner of HotDamn Designs, created the design. When she showed it to me, I couldn’t stop staring.

“That’s AWESOME!” I gushed. “I’d buy that. Wouldn’t you?”

And finally, in all this hub-bub, I’m blogging today at Unusual Historicals. I work harder for the Unusual Historicals posts than any other site because my fellow contributors are such conscientious researchers and accomplished writers. I always try to make sure my posts are up to the high quality of the rest of the site. That being said, I’m quite proud of this one in which I discuss a little history of women and literary discourse in China and how Lisa See’s Peony in Love brought that to light for me. Unusual Historicals Blog – Tragic Tales: The Lovesick Maidens of Hangzhou (Link live at 6:00 am)

2 Comments