…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)