This week's Inside the Author's Studio features Jeannie Lin!

Jeannie Lin started writing in 2005 while she was teaching high school. After a long journey through rejections and contests and revisions, her manuscript, Butterfly Swords, won the 2009 Golden Heart® award for historical romance. Harlequin® Mills & Boon has bought the manuscript and she is thrilled that a major publisher is willing to take a chance on such an unusual setting! She has completed three full-length manuscripts and several shorter works set in the dramatic Tang Dynasty.


She serves as vice-president of her local RWA chapter in St. Louis, MORWA. Her principle online writing community is Romance Divas and she recommends that any writer looking for like-minded individuals come and take a look.

As of May 2009, Jeannie is represented by Gail Fortune of the Talbot Fortune Agency Inc.

Her stories are inspired by her love of adventure, history, and fantasy in both western and Asian traditions. From an early age she was fascinated by legends of King Arthur and the fantasy of Lord of the Rings as well as the Chinese wuxia (martial arts) fiction. As a result, she writes heroic characters in epic situations while interweaving a strong romance to make larger than life characters human. For more on wuxia and the historical background to her books, see the extras section.

Describe yourself in one sentence?

Small, but fierce!

What are the one record, book, and food, you'd take to a desert island?
ABBA Gold, Gone with the Wind, and macaroni & cheese (the box stuff)

I went with all the comfort items. I can listen to ABBA Gold over and over, I've already read Gone with the Wind several times and it holds up, and mac and cheese from the box with that weird cheese product pouch is still pretty darn good! All you have to do is boil water.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I wanted to be a Disney Imagineer at one point. I love detail work and I always loved how in all the rides they paid attention to so many little details. I also wanted to be a teacher and a writer. Hey, two out of three! Disney, here I come...

Which book do you wish you'd written?
This changes every time someone asks. I've said Kite Runner in the past, but right now I'd have to say The Time Traveler's Wife. I keep on thinking of that book and the fractured, yet all-encompassing nature of Henry and Claire's love story. It's written in a way that will stay with me forever.

What makes you happy?
I love the little things. I really do. Like when you order a latte somewhere and they put a little cookie on your plate that you didn't expect. And pictures of kittens. I'm really too easy that way.

What makes you angry?
The television news. It just all feels one-sided, nit-picky and inflammatory on purpose nowadays. Blowing up small issues to fill a 24 hour news cycle.

Name five people who you'd like to invite to a dinner party?
Totally off the top of my head here: The Dalai Lama, Harrison Ford, Lisa See, Ang Lee, and Joss Whedon. I'll make mac and cheese!

What's the scariest thing you've ever done?
I started a charter school in Los Angeles with eight of my teacher buddies--all of them absolute badasses. Imagine starting something like that from square one. Every decision is yours to make, every mistake is still waiting to happen. There were so many times when I looked at the students and parents who trusted us and thought, oh my gosh, they gave us a whole school. And now we have to make it work.

What inspired you to start writing?
My mom planted the seed in my head very early on. She'd wanted to be a writer in Vietnam. Her dream was to teach school and write during the summers. That all changed when she fled the country. At one point when I was in getting a master's degree in education and my sister was getting an MFA in creative writing, I looked at Sis and said, "Hey, between the two of us, we're living out mum's dream."

Where would you most like to live?
I wouldn't mind finding a quiet place in Southern California. It's 80 degrees there right now! (Shhh....don't tell my husband)

What is your favorite curse word?
Son-of-a-bitch (used as one word)

Who is your favorite man candy?
Hubby...who I think looks a bit like Daniel Craig. :D

And of course Han...I mean Harrison is always high on the list.


Sum up your latest release in no more than twelve words!
Butterfly Swords: Sword fights, love scenes, more sword fights. Happy ending!


Everyone stop on by to leave a comment for Jeannie. Jeannie is offering up a copy of Butterfly Swords to a lucky commentor! Contest runs until midnight Sunday, EST. Good Luck!