Science, Magic, Violence, and the challenge of launching a book about too many things

Science, magic and violence aren’t strangers to each other. Conceptually, they may seem to be. For no three words can be more different. But the irony of this trichotomy is that they hardly never walk alone. Not in stories, neither in history.

They come as a trio in tales of power. In journeys of enlightenment. In the pursuit of immortality. One continuing where the other one ends, like the story of the man who, during his dream of being a butterfly, wasn’t sure if he was really dreaming or he wasn’t awake and his human life was in fact the dream.

Through the balance of this tripod, we evaluate and understand our nature, our mortality, our limits. And this is what this story is about.

Yinyin, the protagonist of the novel, is the impersonation of that eternal conflict. She comes the mysticism of the sacred mountains of China, where she was prophesied to become the first immortal in their clan.

For that reason, she joins the underground fight scene of Oakland, California, to try to be for women, the icon and inspiration Bruce Lee was for Asian men.

What she didn’t expect, was that she would be recruited by Silicon Valley brain scientists who lured her with possibilities she has never imagined to be possible.

Now she has to chose.

Between her traditions and their innovations. Between her dreams, and the opportunities ahead. Between unlocking powers she never imagined and betraying the secrets her masters assigned to her and her alone.

From a classic marketing perspective, that combination of subjects may seem like a challenge. How to promote a book with such a disparate core? Though once past the illusory conflict, we realized independent of which topic worked as an entry point, the other two never seemed out of place.

Literature professors are calling “a meditation on life, consciousness and letting go, in the form of a book you can’t stop reading.”

Neuro scientists are saying is “packed with futuristic brain science tech, martial arts action, and Asian culture.”

Martial artists are celebrating as “finally a story portraying the mind of a female fighter.”

Daoist monks are praising as “An incredible journey of balance.”

So, no matter where their entry point, the result seems to remain positive. Which is very reassuring.

The Girl from Wudang

Fall, 2023. See you in our pages.