Author Mingmei Yip On Tour With Nine Fold Heaven

It’s my pleasure to be a part of author Mingmei Yip’s Promo 101 Promotional Services Virtual Book Tour for her release, NINE FOLD HEAVEN.

Come along with an ex-spy as she returns to Shanghai where she’s a wanted woman – but she has to search for her baby and her lost lover. Is her baby really alive? Will she be able to find her lover? Can she elude the police long enough to find them? Learn much more about NINE FOLD HEAVEN and Mingmei Yip at http://www.mingmeiyip.com and get your copy of this exciting and exotic novel on Amazon. 

NINE FOLD HEAVEN is part of a series about Camilla the songbird and female spy – you can also read Skeleton Women, the first book about Camilla here.

Here’s a bit more about NINE FOLD HEAVEN:
    An ex spy and nightclub singer who undertakes an emotional and dangerous journey to reunite with her lost lover and the baby she was told was stillborn, and to discover the secret of her parents’ murder.  

Mingmei joins us now to talk about Chinese female spies.

When I decided to write about a spy in 1930’s Shanghai, I read as many books as I could on the subject. Shanghai had a lot of gangsters so there is plenty of material. What I discovered during my research is that spies usually end unhappily. Most spies, no matter how cautious smart, scheming, or ruthless, in the end could not beat fate. Because the world they lived in had too much uncertainty and evil.

All a spy is allowed to possess is the “four nothings,” no friends, no identity, no emotion, no scruples. In China, there were many woman spies who would use their beauty, talent, and scheme to eliminate their target. This is called the beauty strategy, or honey trap.  

Simple in principle and timeless in effectiveness, it involved sending beautiful women to eliminate anyone from lord to emperor. Twenty-five hundred years ago, during the China’s chaotic era known as the Warring States, King Goujian of Yue used it to defeat King Fuchai of the State of Wu. 

King Wu won the first battle and so King Yue sent him ten carts of priceless treasures as tribute. But cleverly he also included eight of the most beautiful women in his state as peace offerings. As intended, King Wu and his ministers had become so immersed in dalliance that they neglected state affairs. Tipped off by his spies, King Yue sent his army and easily defeated King Wu. Though Wu offered Yue his country and all its treasures, the victor was merciless.

Yue was ordered to commit suicide in front of the very women who had brought about his ruin. 

Even the most cunning man becomes a fool for a beautiful woman. Friends’ warnings fall on deaf ears. They blind themselves to the schemes behind the pretty face and the poisons in the beloved heart. When clothes come off, thinking stops.

However, there are also spies who failed at their last step to succeed because at the last minute, they could not pull the trigger. We imagine this is especially true for women. They may fall in love with their target and find themselves unable to kill. 

This is what happens in Eileen Chang’s novel, Caution, Lust. When the female protagonist finally lure her victim to the place planned for his assassination, she didn’t have the heart to kill him and told him to run. 

A Chinese saying, “It’s difficult for a hero to resist a beautiful woman’s love.” Thus the ever popular honey trap. But this also applies when a women meets a handsome, caring man.  

Mingmei, thanks for joining us today and giving us a look at Chinese female spies. The ‘four nothings’ is a bit sad.

Now let me tell you a bit about Mingmei. She has been writing and publishing since she was fourteen years old and now she has twelve books to her credit. Her five novels are published by Kensington Books and her two children’s books are published by Tuttle Publishing.

Mingmei is also a renowned qin (ancient string instrument) musician, calligrapher and painter. In Hong Kong, she was a columnist for seven major newspapers. She has appeared on over sixty TV and radio programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and the US.

For more on Mingmei and her many talents, visit her at: www.mingmeiyip.com
 
Here’s a book trailer for NINE FOLD HEAVEN for your enjoyment.



Thanks everyone for stopping by today. Did you know about Chinese female spies before today?