Friday, March 20, 2009

Guest Author - Jade Lee & Contest

First of all, I must apologize profusely to Ms. Lee. This post was supposed to go up yesterday, but I got sidelined due to the two jobs I'm working this week. Please, please, please accept my sincerest apologies.

I hope everyone will stop by and comment, she has so graciously offered one lucky commenter a free book, so here she is........
I SCOFF! I SNEER! .... Was I wrong?
By Jade Lee

You know how everyone talks about a book of the heart? Write the book of your heart. Who cares if it’s alien frogs in the regency, it’s your heart! You can make it work!

Up until now, I have scoffed–nay, sneered at such advice. I’m sorry, but my heart is odd. Let me give you an example. I had this great story idea about alien frogs in the regency era. I also wanted to do a book set in the Forbidden City with a concubine and a eunuch. No fooling. You don’t need a male organ to be a great lover, right? It’s edgy, it’s challenging, it’s honest. Let me tell you flat out that market-wise, they were both STUPID IDEAS!!!! Fortunately, I had people in my life who said: DUMB DUMB DUMB!!!

But lately, I have been looking at my track record. My first Jade Lee book was Devil’s Bargain. I wanted to write a dark, sensuous story set in the ugly underbelly of London. A man trains young brides to be sensuous women, then marries them to older, wealthy men for a commission. I even created an early form of a pre-nuptial agreement to make it easier for the old guys. But then the hero falls in love with his last protegee. The book is 95% sexual tension and exploration. It’s dark, it’s steamy, it’s full out seduction from page 1 to the end. It is still one of my best sellers. And oh...up until that point, I had been writing light, funny regencies under the name Kathy Greyle.

My next what-the-hell idea was White Tigress. A Victorian woman caught up in a Chinese cult of Tantrics who use sexual stimulation as a means to attain Heaven. She was actually kidnapped and sold into the cult. (At that time, most Chinese believed the propaganda that whites were actually large monkeys...not human at all). This book–even set in China–started what became a 6 book series.

But in the middle of all those Chinese Tantrics, I got really bored. For a complete change of pace, I wrote a fantasy romance about a woman who incubated a dragon egg and the dragon slayer who must kill the dragon and its owner. The dragonslayer uses our heroine to find the egg, then falls in love with her, and then discovers she’s got the egg. Oops. Now he has to kill her. Kinda a problem for the love story. Dragonborn was fun adventure with some good sex thrown it. It was dragons and maids and lords and ladies! Gawd,I had so much fun writing that book. And wham...it’s been a best seller for me.

So what have I concluded from all this reflection? That maybe I was wrong. GASP! Really? NO! Not about alien frogs in the regency or eunuch heroes. I still think those ideas were clunkers. But maybe that passion is what’s important in our books. Not passion between hero and heroine. Well, yes, that too, but mostly passion from the author for the story. What a concept!!! Passion for what I write. Hmmmm...

So, now the exciting wind up. Oops. I don’t really have one. Over 10 years, I’ve published 28 books. Is it possible that the stories that I adored, that I was most fascinated by, were my best? That the audience can tell when I’m writing to a market and when I’m just writing because the idea is so cool? OMG, have I learned something here?



Well... you tell me. If the above is true, then you’ll love Dragonborn which was published last year, and you’ll adore it’s sequel Dragonbound. I wasn’t going to write a sequel, btw, but Sabina’s story entranced me. Seriously. I couldn’t stop thinking about her path as she hates and adores her dragon-now-turned-man. Her history and her future are interwoven in a complex...in a ...damn, I can’t explain it. It’s just an awesome book and it’s coming out...probably now. (It’s an April book, but Dorchester always releases things early)

Somebody, please comment! Please tell me that you think I’m nuts. That ALL my books are equally fabulous whether I wrote them because the publisher demanded a sequel or because I just couldn’t get the idea out of my head. Or maybe that I’m right, and I should forget marketing all together. That I need to just write what is out and out inspiring to me. In which case...you could be getting those frogs, you know. One lucky commenter will get a free copy of Dragonborn or, if you prefer, a copy of my latest regency era historical The Dragon Earl which is totally unusual in its own way. (A white guy raised in a Chinese fighting monastery shows up in England to marry his betrothed. He’s bald and wearing a saffron robe. Would you marry him?)


Jade Lee
http://www.jadeleeauthor.com/

USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Dragonbound April 09
The Concubine (Blaze historical) Feb 09
Winter Heat (anthology) Jan 09
The Dragon Earl Sept 08
Contest will end Sunday, March 29 at 11:59 p.m. eastern time.

24 comments:

  1. Jade, your books are all wonderful and not just cause you told me to say that either! lol Haven't read Devil's Bargain yet and can't wait to read it. All your covers are really hot with a touch of sophistication! And I am just putting this out there right now, the hero in the book The Dragon Earl as well as the hot guy on the cover are MINE! lol

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  2. Thanks! Always nice to hear from someone who loves me! *grin* The big news, of coruse, is that my book DRAGONBOUND is out now...or any minute. Has anyone seen it?

    Jade

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  3. Hi! Nice guest post. I've posted this on Win A Book. Don't enter me in the contest.

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  4. Hi, Jade! I met you at RT last year and your posts are always as much fun to read as you are to be around in person.

    I'd read frogs from you. 'cause you'd be the only person I can think of to pull it off, frankly.

    But eunuchs? Maybe not so fast...

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  5. Great post. I havent had the chance to read any of your books yet but I am sure they are all wonderful! Going to keep a lookout for one to pick up to prove I am right.

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  6. I think that having a passion for what you write does make for a better book. No matter what book you read, you can almost always tell if the author was writing it out of obligation, or out of true passion for the story. This holds true for every genre, in my experience.

    tiffanyak1986(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  7. Wonderful post. I haven't read any of your books, yet, but I'll definitely have to pick one up.

    carolsnotebook at yahoo dot com

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  8. I read and enjoyed Dragonborn. Would love to get the other read!

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  9. I'd love to win 1 of your books!

    mj.coward[at]gmail.com

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  10. Hi Jade. Your books are wonderful. Love the cover to The Dragon Earl.

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  11. Oh my gosh, Jade Lee! I'm a 22 girl who has just graduated college and one of the awesomest friends I met while there was because of you! We randomly talked about books we enjoyed...then which authors we liked...and then...Your name came up! We live 40 minutes away now but still visit..Because of you! :)

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  12. I've never read one of your books, but I would love to, because you sound like a great person and I bet they're amazing. Your comments above made me laugh. So please enter me in the contest!

    gypsyrover21@yahoo.ca

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  13. Wow! Just came back from a Broadway play to this! What a wonderful group of comments! (BTW, I saw Angela Lansbury in Blythe Spirit. LOVELY!)

    Anyway I'm so glad I could make all of you laugh! And hopefully my books will be equally wonderful. And RachiG--a friendship! How cool is that? But I don't think it was just because of me, though thank you!

    I'm going to bask in your adoration for a little longer! LOL! Then tomorrow I'll post a winner. Thank you all for being so wonderful!

    Jade

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  14. Hi Jade! New to your books, would love to try one. Can't wait to take a peek. They all sound great! I'll be looking for them on my next trip for the book fix!

    Dottie

    gymmom_027@yahoo.com

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  15. I think you should write what you feel is important because that's where the real passion is.

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  16. Great guest post, I haven't read any of these books but they sound like great fun. Please enter me!

    Carey

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  17. Hi Jade - thanks for the good post! I love to hear history of author's stories. Your books sound different and interesting! I could see a story about a concubine and a eunich! And I think I've read about a few frogs! LOL Although I think more often there are alien lizards. Thanks for offering a book to win!

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  18. I haven't read any of the books either, but they sound good!

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  19. Hello, my first time here, GREAT blog name BTW.

    Ref: frogs - trying to figure out whether it was the 'alien' part that sunk that MS or whether it could have worked with domestic frogs... *g*

    I am fascinated with the eunuch as hero concept, though.

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  20. You are definitely one of my favorite authors Jade. I have the entire Tigress series and although I'm a little behind I'm really looking forward to getting into the dragon stories.

    Btw, I still think the alien frogs would have worked *shrugs* but maybe I'm just a little weird lol.

    Thanks so much for the generous giveaway (=

    mishtakes AT gmail DOT com

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  21. Wonderful post, I really enjoyed it. I have only had the opportunity to read one of your books so far but I really enjoyed it and I look forward to reading more. And what could possibly be wrong with alien frogs :-)

    vmlay@artsci.wustl.edu

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  22. Okay...so I didn't forget. I just got lost in NYC. But I'm home now. Poorer, exhasted, but very glad I went!

    And now for the winner...Jade Lee! Oh wait... (I just wanted to win one of these once!) Okay, the real winner is...Rachie G! (I threw 21 into a randomizer and came up with 11, and she's the 11th comment!)

    ANYWAY...RachieG! Email me your address at jade@jadeleeauthor.com Pick a book and if I have it...you'll get it!

    OI'll still check back here, so feel free to comment more!

    Jade

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  23. Hi Jade! Im late for the contest but I just feel like commenting. I think having a passion for what you write makes a better book. When you are inspired with ideas, it makes the story flow so much better. On the other hand, when obligated to write I feel that the story is forced and I cannot get into the book that much.

    Anyways, no matter what you write I will still a fan. Yes, even alien frogs. Actually, I like the idea of alien frogs. hehe :D

    Sue
    okibi_insanity[at]yahoo[dot]com

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  24. Jade,

    I have not had a chance to read Dragonborn or the Devil's Bargain. Though they are my list to get - they sound awesome!

    I think probably balance is the key. I am a designer so from a marketing angle and an inspiration angle I get it. When you are into something you just want to be creative and can get caught up in it. However, sometimes you have to put a bit of a reign on the creativity and look at what sells too.

    With that being said, you are a writer and a good one. The proof is in the publications and sells you've made. I am betting you didn't start writing from a marketing prospective, but from a heart prospective. Your instincts are good and because you love what you do that's a big selling factor.

    Best Wishes!

    Pam S
    pams00@aol.com

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