Local author Meljean Brook has won critical praise and fierce reader loyalty for her urban fantasy romance books in The Guardian Series. The most recent book in that series, Demon Blood, was released in July and two more books are slated for 2011.
In October 2010, Brook fans will be treated to something a little bit different. The Iron Duke, the first in Brook's steampunk romance Iron Seas Series will be released. The book is already highly anticipated, in part because the rising appetite for steampunk romance, but also because a teaser novella, Here There Be Monsters, which introduces the series, has been released in a new anthology called Burning Up.
Even a quick read of the excerpts from the novella and forthcoming novel that Brook has posted on her website cannot fail to leave a reader wanting more. The brief description of the series on the site deftly appeals to readers of both paranormal and historical romance:
THE IRON SEAS series combines nanotech and pirates with a gritty, gaslit Victorian atmosphere to create swashbuckling steampunk romance…with an emphasis on the steam.
Recently, Meljean Brook responded to questions regarding her new series and the genre of steampunk romance in general:
Why steampunk now? Why do you think the genre is having its moment now?
I think there are several reasons for it. One is simply that a small segment of readers (like myself) have been wanting steampunk romances for a while. And some of those readers (like myself) end up writing what they want to read when they can’t find it on the shelves.
Of course, that doesn’t explain its popularity in the first place, or why my publisher would take a risk on it. As that, I suspect that several factors play a part. One is vampire/werewolf and Regency fatigue. Though historical and paranormal romance is still going strong, there are many readers (along with agents and editors) who are looking for something a little different – and even those who still love the vampires and werewolves want more variety. Steampunk offers that, but it’s not too far of a jump – you still have the alternate world, the unique worldbuilding, and everything that makes paranormal and historical romance so popular, but the setting is so different that it feels very fresh.
Then there is our current fascination with gadgets – our computers, our phones, our mp3 players. Although steampunk doesn’t feature anything as slick as a mobile phone, I think that some of that fascination spills over. These things are fun to play with, whether they’re downloading YouTube videos onto a tiny screen or a little jumping automaton frog. It’s fun, and in a strange way mirrors some of the technological wonder and advancement that we’re seeing now; it’s something that we can relate to. Steampunk just has its gadgets in a rougher form.
And finally, there is the visual component. The steampunk aesthetic is both raw and elegant, and the combination is fascinating. The corsets, the goggles, the brass and the gears – they all come together beautifully.
What does the genre offer you as a writer?
Steampunk is a huge challenge – the research can be exhausting – but it also allows me a huge amount of freedom. There are rules I must follow, of course, but I find that because I’ve created an alternate history – essentially creating a new world – I can move around within it and explore portions of its history and geography. That, in turn, allows me to flavor each story a little differently. I’ve got my adventure and conspiracy in THE IRON DUKE. The next book will have an Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider feel. The third will have a Wild West flavor.
And also, it’s a lot of fun. I’ve thrown together giant squid, huge robots, automatons, nanotech, airships, and pirates...and that is just in the first stories. It’s a lot of work fitting all of those elements together, but it’s work that I love to do.
What does the genre offer to romance readers?
The same thing every other romance genre offers to romance readers: a fantastic story that centers on a developing relationship and that leads to a happy-ever-after.
Romance should be the core of steampunk romance. Steampunk itself is well-suited to the genre, I think, because even though the worlds created can seem dirty and dystopian, a spirit of invention and adventure infuses the genre. It’s all about human ingenuity and growth, about celebrating the human spirit and the human mind, and discovering how wondrous the world can be. And so when you have characters – a hero and a heroine – who embody those ideals, who possess that spirit of adventure, who are mentally and emotionally bold ... it’s very easy to fall in love with them, and to cheer for them as they fall in love with each other.
Are there any authors who have inspired you as you venture into steampunk?
Neal Stephenson and China Miéville are two contemporary authors who’ve inspired me. Then of course there are authors like Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Shelley, H. Rider Haggard, and H.G. Wells. I love the combination of adventure, inventiveness, and risk-taking in these authors, and that’s something I want for my own work.
How did you become a writer?
I’ve always been a voracious reader, and I’ve always had stories running around in my head. I like words, I like the way that stories progress and studying the methods in which they are told. The combination led – inevitably, perhaps – to writing.
Can you talk about your journey to publication?
Mine is a Cinderella story, actually. While at college, I’d been writing superhero fanfic, and some of the stories turned out to be category length romances. After a while, I didn’t want to play with characters that weren’t mine anymore, and so I began writing an original story. I’d written about one-third of that when I received an e-mail from an editor at Penguin, Cindy Hwang, who’d said that she’d enjoyed my fanfic ... and did I have anything original for her to read? After recovering from my shock (Cindy was at the top of my dream editors list) I sent her the original story I’d been working on, and she bought a novella set in the same world, “Falling for Anthony.” That was published in the HOT SPELL anthology the following year, and was the start of my Guardian series – and I just had the tenth installment, DEMON BLOOD, published this July.
I know that your steampunk novella is out now in the Burning Up anthology and The Iron Duke is due out in October. How many books will there be in the Iron Seas series? What is coming next in the series?
Right now, I have a contract for one more novel after THE IRON DUKE. That one, tentatively titled HEART OF STEEL, will be published next year. After that, it depends on reader and publisher interest. If the steampunk romances do well, then I’ll write books set in that world until either I lose interest or my readers do.
For more information about Meljean Brook, her books, or to read excerpts of her novels and get in on giveaways, visit her website.
Also, in September, Brook will be participating in a multi-author book signing event at Powell's Cedar Hills location in Beaverton.
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