I will put up the second part of the Steampunk Q&A later this afternoon. I haven’t forgotten them!

The limericks, on the other hand…

Gah.

Also, a few reviews of DEMON MARKED have been popping up around the web. I’ve had my head down and so I haven’t had a chance to read a lot of blogs, but I have seen Rosario’s review, Catherine’s at Fiction Vixen, and Twimom227′s at That’s What I’m Talking About.

Lovin’ Me Some Romance is also hosting a fantastic release giveaway, including a $50 GC to Amazon or B&N.

If you have a review that you want me to link to, please feel free to enter it in the comments! I always try to compile them for my press-kit page, too, so if you have a pull-quote that you think sums up the review, please feel free to add that, too!

Oh, I said “more” in the subject line, didn’t I? I don’t know how you can have any time for more … have you seen the number of awesome books that released yesterday? Look at those names: fellow Odd Shot and the super-awesome Nalini Singh just released ARCHANGEL’S BLADE. There’s also Ellen Connor, Lauren Dane — and last week Gena Showalter, Tessa Dare, Jo Goodman… so many! What are you reading today?

Me, I’m not reading any of them. Instead I am doing the research for my next steampunk. Virgin cults, ice, and giant machines — and two characters I’m already in love with. Whee!

Second — You might have noticed that Odd Shots is gone. We put up a short announcement, but then the site disappeared so quickly I think that many missed it, but the thing was: with deadlines and projects coming in quickly, we felt that we simply weren’t giving the site and readers our best, and that was really sucky. So we decided to scale back, so that we could focus on what really needed to be focused on: our writing. Ilona, Jill, Nalini, Patrice and I are still at our individual sites, and around the web. We’re just not at Odd Shots.

I will be importing in a few of my favorite posts over the next couple of weeks (fake covers, book pr0n, etc.) For now, the links to the covers on my “Extras” page are broken, but I’ll fix those after I import the images and posts.

Third — There is no third. I just seemed like a better number than two. Ah, but don’t forget to enter the Wild & Steamy guessing game at Jill’s site!

ETA! Oh! There’s is a Fourth — A Mina/Rhys novella will be included in the mass market reprint of The Iron Duke, coming this January. The novella will be available later as a standalone ebook.

Iron Seas Romance Trading Cards, Set of 4 - Art by Kitsune Steele

(There is a warning about adult content, but there’s no nekkid stuff at that link.)

Later this summer I’ll put up instructions for receiving your own set of cards, but if you want a larger version of the portraits, Kitsune has prints available for purchase (along with the original artwork).

If you e-mail me, I probably won’t be able to answer it until next week, because checking my webmail through my phone is kind of a joke.

(Also a joke? The weather in Los Angeles. When I arrive, it’ll be in the 60s with a forecast of showers. Guess what kind of weather I’m leaving? The same dang thing. GRRR.)

I will have romance trading cards with me. Specifically, these:

click to embiggen

<--I think I will probably have a pin or a sticker or something that looks like this on me, but that depends on whether I see Jeannie Lin. If not, you will know me by my short red hair, and my left big toenail which I ripped halfway off by accident today, and it really freaking hurts (far too much for me to wear my planned close-toed shoes, so I can't even hide it.)

So, just remember: Meljean = short red hair and a freaking hurty, ugly, ripped up big toenail. Uh, at least it doesn't look this bad, though:

If you aren’t at the RT convention…

You still have a chance to win a set of the romance trading cards. I’ll be giving away fifteen sets of these, so you’ve got a good chance of getting one. All you have to do to enter is comment and say what you’d be doing in Los Angeles tomorrow. Going to the RT convention (and who would you want to meet?) Or would you be doing something else in the city?

The small print: Comment before 4/15/2011 at Midnight PST to be entered to win a set of three (3) Guardian trading cards. Fifteen entrants will be selected to win using random.org, and the winners’ names will be posted on this blog by 04/30/2011. Meljean will also contact the winners by e-mail; the winners need to reply with their mailing addresses so that Meljean can send the cards to them. Only one entry per ISP address. International entries are welcome. No purchase necessary to enter. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. Void where prohibited.

You can enter your picks here. If you haven’t signed up as a player yet, click on the “New” button in the upper right hand corner of the tournament sheet. Then you can begin selecting your picks for each match-up.

Both The Iron Duke and “Here There Be Monsters” are up on the tournament slate, which means that I’ll be trash-talking and bribing a little more than usual.

All of those bribes will be offered here, on my blog, at the time that the voting booths go up at http://dabwaha.com. I’ll mention them on Facebook and Twitter, too, so if you happen to be online, you probably won’t miss them. If you would like an e-mail reminder about when to vote (and what bribes are being offered), please sign up here:

(If the form below doesn’t show up for you, you can also sign up here.)

Wheeee! It’s ass-kicking time!

Spooky Legends

Also, you can win a copy of The Iron Duke.

I’m also at Book Lovers, INC, talking all about THE IRON DUKE (and giving away two copies).

Kati interrogates me (and I’ll be dropping by all day to answer questions) at Katidom — and there’s a giveaway! Plus, you can find out why this picture was so important to me:

A.B. Stormalong battles a giant octopus.

Scoundrel

And I’m an idiot who forgot to post this link in the last entry, but I had a post on the real Victorian-era (and slightly earlier) technology that helped inspire some of the tech in the Iron Seas at That’s What I’m Talking About, as part of Jen’s Iron Duke Week.

On a personal note, I’ve been simply overwhelmed by the response to THE IRON DUKE. I’ve said this before, but it still holds, and grows every day. I joked a little bit about obsessive stat checking at various online stores and review sites — but it’s kind of true, and something that I know a lot of writers do. So I do check, and although it’s impossible to judge a book’s performance just by these stats, I do know that I’ve never had a book do so well during its release week … and it’s all thanks to the word of mouth of readers, and the interest that everyone has shown in the genre. So, thank you. And I hope that the book lives up to your expectations.

And, more reviews! (I usually scour Twitter to find these links, and others come through Google Alerts, — if I miss yours, I’m so sorry! Please feel free to e-mail me a link or post it in the comments.)

SonomaLass tries to lower your expectations.

Nalini Singh says some wonderful things about it during her Friday Book Club post.

Jennifer at Romance Novel News Blog shares her thoughts.

Kati from Katidom posted her ‘review-ish’ comments. (Sad fact: Her ‘review-ish’ post is better than any review I’ve ever written.)

Jen from That’s What I’m Talking About posted her review as part of her awesome Iron Duke week.

And more keep showing up at Goodreads and Amazon, too. Like, a million of them … and it’s just been a completely-freaking awesome week. Thank you!

The Iron Duke comes out tomorrow. I’ve gone through a bottle of TUMS in about a week. Coincidence? I’m not sure.

Twimom227 has an interview up at her blog as part of The Iron Duke Week. Yesterday’s post included a snippet of Mina and Rhys in a lift.

On Saturday, I was up in the Seattle area for the Emerald City Writer’s Conference book signing. I met up with so many fantastic authors, it’s ridiculous. To my surprise, they had copies of The Iron Duke available. To my extra-surprise, they almost sold out. My sister was with me, and took pictures — hopefully I’ll have some of those soon, and more on the authors there. If you were there and took any pics, please feel free to post the link in the comments.

Proof that there is life after Demon Angel* — this review from Carole came up on Amazon yesterday (not that I check Amazon every hour day or anything):

She has a talent for keeping you on your toes and on the edge of your seat, where you couldn’t help but keep on turning the pages. Not only that, but she drew her characters with a bold pen, making them stand out, especially Irena. Her writing style has also improved a lot since Demon Angel and Demon Moon. I was one of those who couldn’t follow the jumps in her thoughts and I hated reading a story that didn’t flow, that required me to reread passages just so I could understand what the hell was going on. I was tempted to give all of her other books a miss, but at several bloggers’ and friends’ urging, I decided to give her another chance. I’m glad I picked this up.

See! These promo posts aren’t all about The Iron Duke! I can pimp my other stuff, too — and thank you to all of the bloggers and readers who keep on urging others to try the series. And now maybe my sister won’t narrow her eyes at me whenever I tell a reader to skip to Demon Night if they can’t get into Demon Angel.

Okay, back to pimping The Iron Duke:

Janine from Dear Author posted her review. (This is especially awesome, because she DNF’d Demon Angel — and her comments regarding that ended up being some of the most helpful feedback I’ve gotten.)

Kate from Babbling About Books, and More posted her review (and unrelated, but more importantly, check out Kate’s anti-bullying pledge and donation page … all you have to do is comment.)

Shiloh Walker writes the same type of book reviews that I do. But she says,

Folks… if you like science fiction type romance? You’ll probably dig this. If you like paranormal romance? You’ll probably dig this. If you like historical romance? You’ll probably dig this.

Listen to her, please. And Carolyn Jewel made me tear up a little with this:

It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. Actually, I haven’t read a book this good in a really long time. The very best authors sweep you away into the story. It’s a rare talent. There are a lot of good authors out there but only a few great ones. I can’t think of any reason Meljean Brook shouldn’t be called one of the great ones.

I hope the book is this awesome. I can never tell when I’m writing it or reading it — I can only see the problems I’d like to fix. I do love it, though, and I hope I can keep writing in this world forever.

Terri from Night Owl Reviews gave The Iron Duke 5 Stars, and a Reviewer Top Pick.

…and with that, I’ll stop for today. Oh, wait! I forgot about this:

The bottom entry is a search that brought someone to my site: why is meljean brook’s book iron duke so

… what? So WHAT? Bad? Good? BIG? (Hehe, I’ve got an answer for that.) You realize, of course, that this search string is going to haunt me for days. But if you want to finish that search in the comments, I’ll be happy to answer it for you

Rural + Fantasy + Romance = Pure Awesome

First of all, how awesome is this? The Book Binge is giving away seven copies of BURNING UP and seven of THE IRON DUKE.

I’m over at Odd Shots today, talking about genre combinations and giving away a copy of Ilona Andrews’s awesome BAYOU MOON and a copy of THE IRON DUKE.

The post was inspired by a few questions that Suzanne Johnson asked me as part of a spotlight on October science fiction releases at Tor.com; unsurprisingly, I over-answered and only a few lines made it into the post at Tor, but I think it’s a really fun question: What on earth possessed me to think that it was a good idea to blend two genres that are so different on the surface? The simple answer is over at Odd Shots, but I’ve pasted my long answer after the jump (which is after the links to reviews.)

Starting October 1st, Moira Rogers and Vivian Arend are hosting a Fall Frenzy, including tons of giveaways and book recommendations. They’ve got an amazing site set up — you just start clicking to enter.

Some early reviews for The Iron Duke:

Booklist:

Brook jumps ship from her Guardians urban fantasy novels (Demon Blood, 2010) to a steampunk series mixing the British Regency period with the Industrial Revolution gone mad. During the celebration of the Iron Duke’s defeat of the Horde in England, a body is dropped from an airship onto his London doorstep. Detective Inspector Lady Mina Wentworth is assigned the case to find out who the dead man was and who killed him. Intrigued upon meeting her, Rhys Trahaearn, now Duke of Anglesey known as the Iron Duke, invites himself along on her investigation. So begins an adventure reminiscent of an action-packed video game complete with mechanical oddities, from metal eyes and human limbs to a killer kraken plaguing the seas. Dirigibles, blacksmith shops, contraband bazaars, and clipper ships become the backgrounds for Rhys and Mina’s blossoming love affair. With adept writing and a flair for creating believable worlds, Brook’s first in the Iron Seas series showcases her masterful storytelling. — Pat Henshaw

Throuthehaze Reads:

There is a prequel to The Iron Duke in the anthology Burning Up which is called Here There be Monsters (my review is HERE). It was the first thing I have read by this author and from that story I knew that this series was going to be amazing. The Iron Duke was beyond awesome. It is a steampunk adventure with romance and a ton of action.

Parajunkee:

Hot damn! My jaw is still on the floor after reading this one. Excuse me while I pick it up and get my thoughts in order. I can only compare the world building in the IRON SEAS series to the greats, Tolkien, {yes him} Rowling, {her too} and King. It was phenomenal, smart, heart-stopping and rotund. The novel tracked from one end of this fictional world to another and had me imagining Krakens, Air Ships, giant coal burning ships and a world where even the humans are machines. I’m smitten with Brook’s Iron-Clad world and I can’t wait to go back.

Vampire Book Club:

If we were to merge the alpha overtones of Gone With the Wind, the swagger of Sherlock Holmes, the post-catastrophic world of Downside and a bunch of microscopic machines, we would get The Iron Duke. (And, yes, it really is that awesome.)

Lovin’ Me Some Romance (VampFanGirl):

Lighter than her Guardian Series, Brook’s Iron Seas is a series filled with swashbuckling adventure, rogue pirates, corrupt governments and at its center, a heated core of romance that propels the plot through the seas and the air.

And there are quite a few more reviews on The Iron Duke’s Goodreads page.

Awesome. I probably won’t post excerpts from reviews every time, because I feel like a self-congratulatory a$$shole and it makes me uncomfortable, but as someone who can barely string two words together to write a good review, I just want to express my thanks (as both reader and writer) to everyone who does. I know reviews serve other readers, not authors … but that doesn’t mean authors don’t appreciate the hell out of anyone willing to read their book, let alone talk about it.

And not specific to The Iron Duke, but this was fun: The Literary Sluts spotlight on my work (with the flashing boobies again!)