I just returned home from Washington, D.C. where I attended the Romance Writers of America (RWA) National Conference. It was a surreal experience. I hardly got any sleep the entire five days or so that I was there (though I can blame Jax Cassidy for that).
Even on the first official day (Wednesday) I was overwhelmed. Put 2,000-3,000 women in one hotel all obsessed with the same things and craziness is bound to happen.
I figured I'd give out a couple of conference highlights:
1. Spending every day with about 30 or 40 Romance Divas. These are some awesome ladies and it was great to match names and faces. I even got to pitch Romance Divas to several authors, including Susan Krinard, who was very nice! (Btw, she was writing vampires and werewolves long before they came back into fashion).
2. My friend, Jeannie Lin, won the Golden Heart for Historical Romance!!!!!!! We cheered very loudly for her. She made us all cry with her acceptance speech. I cannot think of anyone who deserved it more. PLUS, she got her first sale to Harlequin Mills & Boon during the middle of our impromptu pilates class two days before the win. Jeannie is all kinds of awesome. And, you can get free excerpts on her blog.
3. Meeting Kresley Cole. She's my favorite paranormal romance author and cute as can be. She's very warm and friendly and I just loved her. One of the divas is as obsessed as I am and went to all of the Kresley signings and generally just found her around the hotel. She said, "I'm stalking Kresley Cole." We were talking about this as we both waited to have Kresley sign books for us and Kresley said, "She's not stalking me. I'm stalking her."
4. Kresley told me that my favorite character in the Immortals After Dark series is getting her own book!!!!!!!! I'd spill the beans, but I don't know if the information is out yet.
5. Seeing Gena Showalter and Kresley Cole together!! I'd stalked--I mean talked--to both of them at the signings, but Jax and I happened to catch them together in the hallway. She knows both of them--lucky Jax. I got so excited and said, "I wish I had a camera to take a picture!" I hope they weren't scared of me. LOL. Though, honestly, I can't see much phazing Kresley.
6. I feel I must say that Gena Showalter is beautiful. I mean gorgeous. Really.
7. Attending the Rogue Digital Conference with Angela James, from Samhain Publishing, Jane from Dear Author, and Sarah from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. I am not entirely sure of the spellings as there are many Ja(y)nes at Dear Author.
8. Anne Stuart's workshop on Writing Dark Love Stories. It was really good. Detailed, informative, funny, and useful.
9. Diva Karaoke, swimming with Divas, Diva pajama party after the Ritas
10. Riding the Elevator with the famous Nora Roberts twice.
11. The Harlequin Party. I now understand why it is the place to be. Even Nora got down. Fun, fun, fun! My friend Amanda Brice even got up and sang Summer Lovin' with the DJ. Much better than when I sang it at karaoke.
12. Rooming with Jax Cassidy & Eden Bradley. Though we missed our good friend Lilli Feisty who had to stay home due to illness. I already miss them and I've only been home for 14 hours.
I made so many good friends and deepened other friendships. It was awesome.
RWA National has been a wonderful surprise. There were a few bumps here and there, but overall it was an incredible experience. I'll never forget meeting the wonderful friends at Divas. I have officially adopted Christina, Sandy, MG (Michelle), Emily R-D, Jax, and I'm already joined at the hip with Eden Bradley. And, of course, I'll never forget my little odd moments with Kresley and meeting Gena.
This post has already gone on long enough, so I'll end it by saying I had a very good time!
Showing posts with label Jeannie Lin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeannie Lin. Show all posts
Monday, July 20, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Interview with Jeannie Lin, Golden Heart Finalist
Today is a special day. I'm interviewing Jeannie Lin, a fellow Romance Diva and Golden Heart Finalist! Since we both write historical romance, I thought it would be fun to explore that theme and talk about what makes Jeannie's stories so unique.
One thing I can tell you that sets Jeannie Lin's romances apart is her use of setting. Her current manuscript, Butterfly Swords, is set in ancient China. Click on the title to get a sneak peek at the book.
Now, on to the juicy bits...
What inspired you to write historical romance?
JL: I like to be swept away and lose myself when I read and I found myself loving historical romances for their larger than life characters. I love how historical is almost fantasy. There's a genre of historical romantic fantasy in Asian literature called "wuxia" that I grew up on and that's really the main source of inspiration for my historicals.
What time periods are your favorite to read about or write about?
JL: I have a particular love for medieval time periods, regardless of the setting. I like to imagine a time of both honor and chivalry as well as ruthlessness all mixed in together. It makes for a good sense of drama. I have a particular liking for Asian settings but I love to read stories set in Europe and fantasy medieval settings as well.
How did you get the idea for Butterfly Swords?
JL: Butterfly Swords was my second finished manuscript. Ryam was the ne'er do well sidekick in the first one. He was the comic relief, the best friend who was always screwing up in a big way. Before I finished the first book, I had decided to write him as a hero and give him his chance for redemption. I became fixated with the idea of a likable vagabond who jumps into a single act of heroism out of impulse and it changes his life. I brainstormed to find the perfect woman for him and had several prototypes try out for the part, but finally I decided she had to be from the warrior class, be completely serious and believe in him more than he believes in himself. In order to make a soft, woman warrior believable I drew from my tiny bit of martial arts training and based her training on Wing Chun Kung Fu, which really is an ideal style for women. In Wing Chun, butterfly swords are used as extensions of your arms and it's quite an exciting visual when you see demonstrations.
What do you think makes a good historical hero? What makes a good historical heroine?
JL: Historical heroes have more freedom. They don't know a thing about being metrosexual so there's that rough edge on them that's so sexy. Throw in honor, the element of danger and that dark, brooding streak and it's a great fantasy. I like historical heroines who have a fiery streak, but also that softer side. I don't believe that women in the past were always meeker or necessarily more repressed, but they had to be smart with their strength and manifest it in different ways than men did. Yin and Yang and balance, you know? I have a whole write up to do about feminism in Tang dynasty China, but that's for another day. :)
How does it feel to get a Golden Heart nomination for your book?
JL: AWESOME!!!!
Do you have any other historical projects in the work? Are they in the same setting or a different one?
JL: I'm revising the follow up novel which is also set in the Tang Dynasty. It features a former concubine and a warlord and explores the shadowy underworld of imperial China. I also have a contemporary paranormal that takes a small time slip into Storyville in the early 1900s, the New Orleans red light district.
Any advice you wish to share with other writers or is there anything else in general you'd like to share with us?
JL: Assume every rejection means your writing isn't good enough yet and keep on working at it.. That's the only thing you can worry about.
You can learn more about Jeannie Lin and her awesome book, Butterfly Swords, by going to: http://www.jeannielin.com/
One thing I can tell you that sets Jeannie Lin's romances apart is her use of setting. Her current manuscript, Butterfly Swords, is set in ancient China. Click on the title to get a sneak peek at the book.
Now, on to the juicy bits...
What inspired you to write historical romance?
JL: I like to be swept away and lose myself when I read and I found myself loving historical romances for their larger than life characters. I love how historical is almost fantasy. There's a genre of historical romantic fantasy in Asian literature called "wuxia" that I grew up on and that's really the main source of inspiration for my historicals.
What time periods are your favorite to read about or write about?
JL: I have a particular love for medieval time periods, regardless of the setting. I like to imagine a time of both honor and chivalry as well as ruthlessness all mixed in together. It makes for a good sense of drama. I have a particular liking for Asian settings but I love to read stories set in Europe and fantasy medieval settings as well.
How did you get the idea for Butterfly Swords?
JL: Butterfly Swords was my second finished manuscript. Ryam was the ne'er do well sidekick in the first one. He was the comic relief, the best friend who was always screwing up in a big way. Before I finished the first book, I had decided to write him as a hero and give him his chance for redemption. I became fixated with the idea of a likable vagabond who jumps into a single act of heroism out of impulse and it changes his life. I brainstormed to find the perfect woman for him and had several prototypes try out for the part, but finally I decided she had to be from the warrior class, be completely serious and believe in him more than he believes in himself. In order to make a soft, woman warrior believable I drew from my tiny bit of martial arts training and based her training on Wing Chun Kung Fu, which really is an ideal style for women. In Wing Chun, butterfly swords are used as extensions of your arms and it's quite an exciting visual when you see demonstrations.
What do you think makes a good historical hero? What makes a good historical heroine?
JL: Historical heroes have more freedom. They don't know a thing about being metrosexual so there's that rough edge on them that's so sexy. Throw in honor, the element of danger and that dark, brooding streak and it's a great fantasy. I like historical heroines who have a fiery streak, but also that softer side. I don't believe that women in the past were always meeker or necessarily more repressed, but they had to be smart with their strength and manifest it in different ways than men did. Yin and Yang and balance, you know? I have a whole write up to do about feminism in Tang dynasty China, but that's for another day. :)
How does it feel to get a Golden Heart nomination for your book?
JL: AWESOME!!!!
Do you have any other historical projects in the work? Are they in the same setting or a different one?
JL: I'm revising the follow up novel which is also set in the Tang Dynasty. It features a former concubine and a warlord and explores the shadowy underworld of imperial China. I also have a contemporary paranormal that takes a small time slip into Storyville in the early 1900s, the New Orleans red light district.
Any advice you wish to share with other writers or is there anything else in general you'd like to share with us?
JL: Assume every rejection means your writing isn't good enough yet and keep on working at it.. That's the only thing you can worry about.
You can learn more about Jeannie Lin and her awesome book, Butterfly Swords, by going to: http://www.jeannielin.com/
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