First, I must apologize for being so late posting the winners. I didn’t realize my ability to multi-task would be seriously impacted this year and between my online workshop, my workshop in San Diego, and my BFF’s wedding, I fell behind on blog duties.
Round 1 Launch Celebration Winners
Thank you for spreading the word about The Dragon and the Pearl on Facebook, blogs and Twitter! The winners were randomly chosen by random.org.
THE LADY’S SCANDALOUS NIGHT: digital download goes to:
Desere
The international version of RED CLIFF goes to:
PRationality
The hardcover copy of FURY OF THE PHOENIX goes to:
hafelina
AND the newsletter winner for an autographed copy of THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL is:
Michelle Wilson
Congratulations and thank you everyone! I have moved the deadline for Round 2 of the Launch Celebration to Oct. 15 as I haven’t had any time to promote the celebration. So for an opportunity for the GRAND PRIZES (Two book set of Stephanie Dray’s LILY OF THE NILE and SONG OF THE NILE or a wooden customized dragon chop or an annotated copy of THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL) , spread the word about THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL which is in bookstores for the month of October.
THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL releases on September 20, 2011 and I’m still a fresh-faced newbie author where every new launch is exciting. *bounces*
And of course there will be party favors and prizes like last time. I’m even contemplating how difficult it would be to make Dragon sugar cookies for my local booksigning. Butterfly cookies weren’t so hard, but Dragon cookies seem like an intricate affair. I might have to rethink that. Now Pearl cookies would be much easier LOL.
So join in for my launch celebration for THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL and its linked Undone story, THE LADY’S SCANDALOUS NIGHT (release date September 1, 2011), and be entered to win some lovely goodies. All you have to do is spread the word by blogging, tweeting, facebooking about the books. I’ve provided the HTML for the celebration badge the end of the post that you can feel free to link or copy. Remember to come back and comment here about where you posted so I can count you in. On Twitter, use the tag #dragonandpearl so I can find you. The celebration is open to US and international readers.
The Goodies
The celebration is really a way to give back to all the readers who have been so supportive of me from the beginning. Plus I love to throw parties and with a virtual launch celebration, I don’t have to clean up my living room. I hope you enjoy the goodies this time around. A lot of thought is put into creating just the right mood.
The first round!
On September 15st, we’ll have a drawing for the first set of prizes. Three random names will be drawn to receive one of three prizes.
First up, a digital download of THE LADY’S SCANDALOUS NIGHT for your reading pleasure. This linked story takes place concurrently with THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL and will hopefully whet your appetite for the longer novel.
Second, a DVD set with the international release of Red Cliff. Warlords, intrigue, Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro. The battle of Red Cliff featured in Romance of the Three Kingdoms takes place in the Han Dynasty rather than the Tang, but it’ll put you in the right frame of mind for the power struggle in THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL. (Alas, Tony and Takeshi didn’t answer my casting call for my book trailer.)
Third, a hardcopy of Cindy Pon‘s THE FURY AND THE PHOENIX, sequel to her debut book, SILVER PHOENIX. You’ll also receive autographed postcards with character art that Cindy commissioned herself. This Asian fantasy adventure takes place in the imaginary kingdom of Xia and features a love affair between a courtesan and a eunuch. What, a eunuch you say?!? Actually, those palace eunuchs were the only men allowed in the Emperor’s harem. Historically they had all sorts of affairs with concubines. They also wielded an inordinate amount of power. Scandalous, no?
Second Round – The Grand Prizes!!
On October 20 (this was updated from original date–I didn’t realize I’d be running around and have no time to promote this myself!) , I’ll have a drawing for the Grand Prizes. Three individual names will be drawn.
First, I’m so excited to be giving away a copy of Stephanie Dray‘s LILY OF THE NILE and the sequel, SONG OF THE NILE. I’ve read the first book and am eagerly awaiting the second which releases in October. Stephanie has the same love for ancient history as well as for “bad girls” of the ancient world that I do and her writing is gorgeous. Reading this story of Cleopatra’s daughter Selene made me reminisce about the big Marion Zimmer Bradley epics (Mists of Avalon, Firebrand) I used to love sinking my teeth into.
Second, it was hard to find a giveaway item that could be as exciting as the double swords from last year. My personalized dragon chop is always a conversation starter at signings so I thought I’d give away a customized dragon stamp made of wood. I’ll have it ordered in your name for you so you can have an official chop of your own — a must for signing artwork and doing business in China.
Third, the most popular item from last year was the annotated copy. I’ll be going through and jotting author’s notes in a copy of THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL. Think of this as the DVD commentary, but book style. What were the inspirations for specific characters? What sort of decisions did I have to make. What was I thinking when I did that? The annotated copy of BUTTERFLY SWORDS was sold at the Brenda Novak auction for diabetes research last year for a nice donation. I’m really looking forward to reading through the book again and putting down my notes. It’s a labor of love, truly.
Party favors – Romance Trading Cards
All newsletter subscribers can use the contact link in the newsletter to request THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL trading cards. I must thank www.chineseclothingonline.com for the use of the lovely costume pictures!
I’ll be giving away copies of THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL and THE LADY’S SCANDALOUS NIGHT on various blog tour stops. In the meantime, the Goodreads giveaway is open until Friday, September 2nd. Get an advance copy before the release date.
First, the twin “butterfly” swords showcased at RWA 2010 as part of my costume:
And the winner is: Stephanie Hyacinth
Second, the color poster of schumy330′s original Butterfly Swords artwork:
And the winner is: Anne Wijaya
Third, the one-of-a-kind annotated version of Butterfly Swords:
And the winner is: Desere of South Africa
Thank you everyone for joining. I meant it when I said that this experience has been beyond my wildest expectations. I will continue to give you updates via the newsletter. Next month’s edition will have the first sneak preview of the sequel, THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL, so don’t miss out!
BUTTERFLY SWORDS will continue to sell on bookshelves for the next two weeks only so grab a copy quickly. And if you liked Butterfly Swords, take a look at THE TAMING OF MEI LIN, a linked short story from Harlequin Historical Undone full of sword fights and romance.
Congratulations and thank you everyone for your support!!
To the winners: Winners can contact me here. I also have your e-mails and I will be in touch by the end of the weekend. If any of the winners would rather have a nice print copy of Butterfly Swords for your reading pleasure, let me know and I’ll happily exchange. If any of the winners opt out, the items will be donated to the next Brenda Novak online auction for diabetes research or a similar charity.
Thank you to all the friends, family members & fans who have encouraged and supported me.
Thank you to all the people on the interwebs who have put up banners and covers and started talking about Butterfly Swords long before it was available
To all the book bloggers who interviewed and blogged
To all the Tweeters who helped get the word out
To crazy friends who’ve talked up the book in bookstores to absolute strangers
To the bookmark and postcard posse who have taken postcards as far as Hawaii and Australia!
To reviewers who read the book and took the time to write up a review
To all the readers who recommended Butterfly Swords for book clubs and book chats.
Basically to everyone online and on the ground who’s taken the time to tell someone, just one other someone about Butterfly Swords, I wholeheartedly thank you. This Launch Celebration has exceeded all my wildest expectations. I feel like Butterfly Swords and The Taming of Mei Lin are surrounded by goodwill and generosity.
All that’s left to do is pass out gifts, right? I’ll draw the three grand prize winners tonight and post the names tomorrow morning. I’m almost done annotating the book, the twin swords are resting in my office, and the color poster looks fabulous.
Blog Tour: Blogging at The Burton Review about my Tang Dynasty muses. I’m the guest author this week at Unusual Historicals and you can comment up until next Sunday to be entered to win a copy of Butterfly Swords. Also blogging about Mashups and Crossovers with pics of my inspirational Fast Draft collages.
Review Round-Up: A C+ Review for Butterfly Swords from Vagabond. One shining spot is the reviewer is interested in Adrian and Miya’s story. Also a pair of reviews from Poisoned Rationality. One for The Taming of Mei Lin and one for Butterfly Swords. The Romance Reviews is launching their new book portal site and featuring a giveaway for Butterfly Swords on the site.
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We’re reaching the mid-point of October, so I can definitely say the Butterfly Swords Launch is underway. Fly little book, fly…
This is the last week to enter for the Grand Prize giveaways. I’m quite excited about the prizes as they’re very special to me:
The “butterfly swords”
from my costume
Color poster of
Wendy Wang’s artwork
Butterfly Swords
with author commentary
I realized, however, that there are some people who are entered multiple times and fans of Butterfly Swords. There are others signed up who may not have read it yet. So if any winner wants to opt for just a nice clean copy of Butterfly Swords to read, instead of the geeky annotated version, I’ll happily make the switch. I figured I’d then put any traded prizes up in next year’s Brenda Novak auction or some other worthy cause.
There is also another pretty cool Butterfly Swords contest going on, hosted by Bria Quinlan, YA author and one of my trusted readers. The pictures so far gave me a good laugh. I hope there will be a couple more entries. It’s always good to smile.
I’m tempted to enter a picture of my Asian books collection because…I got some game there. Though, of course, I’d be ineligible to win.
Two more signings this month! This Saturday at the Crestwood Barnes & Noble right down the street and then next Saturday in New Jersey at the NJRW Conference. Here’s the road show. Shortly after that, Butterfly Swords will be flitting out of bookstores and only available for order online.
You can still join the celebration and enter the drawings by blogging, tweeting, and getting the word out. I’ll draw the names October 15 and post on October 16 before I head out to the MORWA meeting and my signing.
Warrior Women Month: Check out the interview with Luci Romberg: stuntwoman, freerunner and American Ninja Warrior.
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Come back tonight for the giveaway drawing! Three individual names will be drawn to win one of three lovely prizes.
*Silver Phoenix is the hardcover edition with cover shown, Poisoned Kisses is mass market paperback, The Taming of Mei Lin is an ebook.
You can still enter! Blog, tweet, and/or sign-up for the newsletter to join the celebration! Enter more times for more chances to win and your name stays in all the way until the Grand Prize drawings. Details here.
Additionally there’s a giveaway for print copies of Butterfly on GoodReads. Head on over there if you can’t wait for October.
Warrior Women Month: Come back Tuesday for an interview with Luci Romberg: stuntwoman, freerunner and American Ninja Warrior.
Blog Tour: My Book Addiction has an interview up where I talk about my thoughts regarding negative reviews. Also blogging at Novel Thoughts on Monday about the Not-So-Happy endings in Asian romance.
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The Taming of Mei Lin has been out for two weeks and has received some nice reader and reviewer responses. It makes me very happy to be giving away the first celebration giveaway this Wednesday, September 15. Three individual names will be drawn to win one of three lovely prizes.
Blog, tweet, and/or sign-up for the newsletter to join the celebration! Enter more times for more chances to win and your name stays in all the way until the Grand Prize drawings. Details here.
First name drawn wins:
A GORGEOUS hardcover copy of Cindy Pon’s debut novel, Silver Phoenix. I was so excited about her release earlier this year. I went from store to store searching for it and I LOVE the original cover so much that I bought an extra copy so someone can enjoy it as well.
Her heroine is named Ai Ling while mine is Ai Li. Complete coincidence, but they’re both young women coming into their own and embarking on a grand adventure. Read Silver Phoenix first so you’ll be ready for the sequel, Fury of the Phoenix in April 2011! Cindy also has a wonderful blog filled with Chinese brush painting and lots of good food.
Second name drawn wins:
An autographed advance copy of Stephanie Draven’s debut from Harlequin Nocturne, Poisoned Kisses. I’ve read Draven’s shorter works for Nocturne Bites: Midnight Bound and Wild, Tethered, Bound. I was blown away by her fresh take on Greek mythology in a contemporary paranormal story. First of all, she tackles the best creatures from Greek myth: the monsters! And they’re not villains, they’re her protagonists.
I’m sure her debut will have the mesmerizing prose and creative storytelling I’ve come to expect from her stories. Plus the blurb just sings with tension and conflict. Check out Stephanie’s website and see.
Third name drawn wins:
A free download from eHarlequin for The Taming of Mei Lin. Now the cool thing about this is it’s a download code. If you already have a copy of Mei Lin, you can give this to a friend as a gift.
Get the word out to enter! Winners will be drawn Wednesday night at 8pm Central Time.
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.
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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.
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.
