Guest Author Jeannie Lin

Today I have Award Winning Historical Author Jeannie Lin ! Please give her a warm welcome as she is here to celebrate two releases this fall, First Her short story, The Taming of Mei Lin  and the Oct release of Butterfly Swords!

Jeannie Lin writes historical romantic adventures set in Tang Dynasty China. Her short story, The Taming of Mei Lin from Harlequin Historical Undone is available September 1. Her award-winning debut novel, Butterfly Swords, will be released October 1, also from Harlequin Historical. Join the launch celebration at http://www.butterfly-swords.com/ for giveaways and special features. Visit Jeannie online at: http://www.jeannielin.com/

Thanks for having me here! Even though The Taming of Mei Lin is a short story, it’s my first publication and I’m very excited.

How did you come up with the idea for your story?
I’ve always loved duels between a hero and heroine when the gal can hold her own. It’s such a nice setup for romantic tension. The fight scene between Brigitte Nielson and Arnold Schwarznegger in Red Sonja has a great zing to it. In Willow, when Madmartigan and Sorsha battle it out and then fall in love is also one of my favorites.

I wanted to have a love story that started with a duel. In this case, the story was a counterpart to a larger love story in my upcoming novel Butterfly Swords. I wrote the novel first, but I already has this other tale in mind.

http://www.butterfly-swords.com/

What’s your writing process? Do you plot first or just let the characters have their way?
I’m definitely a plotter. Or at least an outliner. But before I even start thinking of story, I think of characters. I actually do something I call “matchmaking” in my head. I’ll form one character, hero or heroine, and they’re not quite fully formed yet. Then I’ll try to match them up with potential mates. Trying to see if there’s chemistry between them, if there’s weaknesses and strengths that will clash and complement. When the characters seem almost solid, I’ll start daydreaming plot.

Before I start writing, I’ll put down a basic outline and then the rest comes out in writing. I write the first draft pretty quickly, but I’m an avid reviser. I’ll go over a manuscript a good five or six times in revisions passes easily.

What’s the key to having characters fall in love in such a short amount of time?
I took a workshop by author Sela Carsen once about writing short. She reasoned that if we put together all the dates we go on before we think we “know” someone, it’s probably about 72 hours. So put your characters together for those 72 hours straight. Your characters can fall in love over a long weekend. 

The key for me is to show the characters interacting as much as possible and put them in a situation where they get to show the best and worst of themselves. With that sort of conflict and drama, people learn a lot about themselves and about each other very quickly. After that, you just have to be willing to believe that love is mysterious and whimsical and can happen when you least expect it.

Blurb:

Faced with a proposal from a man she despises, impetuous Mei Lin makes a daring declaration: she will only marry the man who can defeat her in a sword fight. She has bested everyone who has so far tried to teach her a lesson…until a handsome stranger comes to her village. In captivating swordsman Shen Leung , Mei Lin finally sees a man she wants to marry. A man she’s willing to surrender to in every way….

Excerpt:

Tang Dynasty China, 710 A.D.

Mei Lin could feel the strands of hair slipping from her knot, tickling against her neck. Uncle made her stand outside during the hottest part of the afternoon, even when there were no customers. She wiped her brow and looked over at Chang’s tofu stand at the end of the street with envy. He at least had the shade of a tree to duck under.

If she planted a seed today, she reckoned she’d still be here selling noodles by the time the tree grew tall enough to provide shelter. And Uncle would still be growing fat, napping in the shade.

A tingle of awareness pricked against her neck. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see someone had stopped just beyond the line of the wooden benches. The stranger wore a gray robe, but that was the only thing plain about him. He had the high cheekbones of the people of the north and stood with his shoulders back, lean and tall. Unfortunately the town riffraff stood just behind him, grinning and poking at each other over some boyish joke only they found humorous. Mei Lin ignored them as she always did.

“Little Cho.”

The boy came eagerly running at her call. Her little cousin was not yet corrupted by his father’s laziness.

“Fetch the tea,” she said and he went running to the stove.

She turned back to the intriguing man. He remained at the perimeter watching her. He had a pleasant expression and seemed particularly still, as if supremely comfortable in this heat and in this world. She stood there with sweat pouring down her back wishing her hair wouldn’t keep falling over her face like it did. It was so rare that strangers came to their village.

He bowed. “Wu Mei Lin,” he greeted formally.

Even rarer that strangers came who knew her name. The smile she was about to give him faded into a frown.

“Little Cho.”

He had just returned with the teapot.

She blew a strand of hair away from her face impatiently. “Fetch my swords.”

Copyright © 2010 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited
Copyright © 2010 by Jeannie Lin
Permissions to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™ are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and/or its affiliated companies, used under license.

The Taming of Mei Lin
Harlequin Historical Undone
ISBN-13: 9781426852923
Available Now from eHarlequin, Amazon, B&N.com