Interview with Jade Lee

I’d like to welcome our guest today, Jade Lee. It’s a pleasure having you come visit us at Much Cheaper Than Therapy, where chocolate is plentiful and advice is free. So grab some chocolate and a lounge chair. Your therapy session has begun.

I understand you have a release out called Dragonborn. Can you tell us a little bit about your fabulous book?

Dragonborn is a fantasy romance with dragons, adventure, sex, and of course love! Natiya secretly incubates the last dragon egg in the land. That means she shares communication mind to mind with the last golden queen. She has to do this in secret because the Emperor’s dragonhunter Kiril is looking for her to kill the last dragon. He thinks they’re evil, terrible creatures who corrupt people’s minds. It’s a big WHOOPS when he falls in love with the one woman he needs to kill. Worse, he believes he MUST kill her for the good of everyone in the land.

Here’s the back cover copy:
Dragonborn

ONE PROTECTOR.
When dragon power flows through your veins, when dragon thoughts burn in your mind, you can accomplish anything. Natiya knows, for she carries one of the last eggs in the land disguised as a jewel in her navel. Day by day the Unhatched grows, and when at last it births they will be joined in a sacred and eternal bond. Gone will be the barmaid forced to dance for pennies; born will be Dag Natiya, revered Queen. Take her body or her soul, nothing will stop them.

ONE SLAYER
When dragon power flows through your veins, when dragon emotions trample your soul, you become a monster. So knows Kiril, for one destroyed his cousin. No matter how kind or joyful, all beings must succumb to the power of the wyrm. That is why Kiril vowed to destroy dragonkind—and he has almost succeeded. Only one egg remains. But there is an obstacle he did not foresee: love.

Dragonborn is a very interesting title. How did you arrive at that name?

Whenever a person like Natiya incubates a dragon, they are bound mind to mind with the creature—before and after the birth. One the dragon hatches, the human is said to be dragonborn.

Did you have to do a lot of research for the book?

Only in my own head. I have read fantasy since I was a child and have spent a lot of time worldbuilding. It is fun to create one tiny concept—like the constant mind-to-mind intimacy of a dragon—and watch the repercussions spin out over an entire world.

What character did you like writing about the most, and why?

I just liked the concept of another voice in the head—a dragon voice—that is very alien from the human voice. And wouldn’t that be cool to have a name and a mystery attached to that voice? Add in a sexy hunk charged with the task of killing the very woman (and dragon) he falls in love with? How cool is that? The mystery, the romance, and the adventure just built one on top of the other into what I think is one of my best books ever!

If your book was made into a movie, what actor would you like to fill your hero’s shoes?

Hugh Jackman is just so intense as Wolverine. I would love for him to play my poor tortured hero Kiril.

Do you have any authors that inspired you?

Constantly. I’m right now reading Mary Balogh. She’s phenomenal. There are all the usual suspects—Nora, Amanda Quick, Mary Jo Putney. But I’ve also studied—as in read the scripts, the books, and watched the shows/movies—of Joss Whedon quite extensively. His ability with pacing, dialogue, lighting, music…everything, makes him an incredible writer. I have watched Buffy, Firefly, and Serenity more times than I can count!

What else do we have to look forward to?

This month, my new regency era historical will come out. Title: The Dragon Earl. I secretly dubbed it “Jet Li in the regency”. The opening scene has a woman at the alter marrying her betrothed when a white man in saffron monk’s robes strides up the aisle saying, “I’m so sorry I’m late. So sorry! But I’m here now. We can get married.” He’s the long lost earl and the man she is supposed to marry. But, of course, he has to prove it, and win the heart of his lady-love!
I have the first chapter up on my website! Just visit: http://www.jadeleeauthor.com/

The Dragon Earl September 2008

ONE MAN
A Chinese monk striding down the aisle was the first shock at countess-to-be Evelyn Stanton’s wedding. To watch him dispatch three groomsmen, unarmed, and to learn that he was white and the long-lost heir to the Earldom of Warhaven, was the second. He would be her husband?

ONE MISSION
After the slaughter of his family in far-off China, Jacob Cato found sanctuary. In a Xi Lin temple he learned to be strong, but now he had a grander goal: to reclaim his English heritage and the woman he’d left behind.

ONE DESTINY
Revenge. It poisoned everything he’d learned, everything he’d done, and yet every fiber of Jacob burned for it—just as he burned for the beautiful but very English Evelyn. Long ago, the conspiracy to kill his family had stranded him, lost Jacob in the exotic East and made him unrecognizable to his countrymen…and women. He had not forgotten that past. It was to make peace that he had returned. The manner was yet to be decided.

And the sequel to Dragonborn is Dragonbound, an April 2009 release.

Thanks, Jade!

To celebrate her book release, Jade is offering a free book of Dragonborn to one lucky commenter on today's blog. She will checking in periodically today. I'm sure some of you have questions or comments for her, so please ask away...

Bio.
JADE LEE

USA TODAY BESTSELLER

Jade Lee has broken new ground in multi-cultural romance. Her China-set historical romances are a first in genre history. Her six-book Tigress series stirred reader passions for foreign settings, and her fantasy romances continue to be ground-breaking. Where did she get such innovative ideas? From a mixed cultural heritage that brings unique vision to her fiction.
As the daughter of a Shanghai native and a staunch Indiana Hoosier, Jade Lee struggled to find her own identity somewhere between America and China. Her search has taken her throughout Asian and the United States. In the end, the answer was found not only at home, but in her own head. Her imagination allows her to explore China in her Tigress series, dragon power in her fantasy romance Dragonborn, and of course, the amazing power of love in all of them.
A USA Today bestseller, Jade “Lee has made her mark with sizzling romances whose unique settings, intriguing backdrops and exotic characters lure you into worlds where heaven is reached through the highest meeting of mind and body. It’s a world at once mysterious and erotic, secret and mind-expanding.” (Romantic Times BOOKreviews on Cornered Tigress)
Jade’s also a popular speaker appearing all over the country throughout the year. Her other joys include playing racquetball, rollerblading with a very large golden retriever, and watching her two daughters play volleyball. She loves getting mail from readers, so please e-mail her at jade@jadeleeauthor.com. Or visit her on the web at www.jadeleeauthor.com.

Books by JADE LEE

THE DRAGON EARL – Leisure books – release date: 9-08
THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR STOMPING – Love Spell – release date: 4-08
DRAGONBORN – Love Spell – release date: 3-08
THE TAO OF SEX – Harlequin Blaze – release date: 1-08
TEMPTED TIGRESS – Leisure Books – Release Date: 6-07
RITA FINALIST
CORNERED TIGRESS – Leisure Books – Release Date: 01-07
BURNING TIGRESS – Leisure Books – Release date: 06-06
SEDUCED BY CRIMSON – Love Spell – Release date: 03-06
USA TODAY BESTSELLER #128, March 5, 2006http://www.dorchesterpub.com
DESPERATE TIGRESS – Leisure Books – Release date: 11-05
HUNGRY TIGRESS – Leisure Books – Release date: 6-05P
WHITE TIGRESS – Leisure Books – Release date: 1-05
DEVIL’S BARGAIN– Leisure Books – Release date: 07-04
Check out author’s website at http://www.jadeleeauthor.com/. Buy Dragonborn at http://dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/productdetail.cfm?Product_ID=2071&L1=2&L2=0