Butterfly Swords Release Day

Blog tour: Celebrate release day over at the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood as fellow sister Shea Berkley hits me with the tough questions.

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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:

What are Butterfly Swords?

Warrior Women Month:

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.