Woke up. Googled self.

Oh

my

God!

Woke up. Googled self. Found new review of latest release, but the reader spelled my name wrong – the J is not supposed to be capitalized! E-mailed publicist. Asked her to e-mail reader, force a retraction, and demand public apology.

Refreshed review for an hour, waiting for correction and contrition. Finally went to Starbucks and made anonymous comment pointing out the spelling error. Sent irritated e-mail to publicist. Why do I have to do all of the freaking work around here?

Woke up. Googled self. No new mentions or reviews.

I hate everyone.

Checked Twitter. Saw an author mention they are not enjoying a recently released book. Didn’t mention the title, but I just know she is talking about my book, because I haven’t seen her mention it on her Twitter stream before this. WHY DON’T YOU GROW A PAIR AND JUST SAY IT, YOU JEALOUS COW? Went to Amazon, gave three star review to her latest book. “Thought this was only okay. Much preferred other recent releases, like M.B.’s. She rocks!”

Blogging day. Scoured internet for blog topics. Used them all before. Watched YouTube video about honey badger for inspiration.

Created new e-mail address. Created new reader blog.

Woke up. Googled self. Found a “new” review on the twentieth search page. Written in 2008. How did I miss before? Copied and sent to publicist, with note that there might be more coming as I search through that blog’s archives.

Remembered that it’s Tweet Day. Pulled up social media guidelines. Must not put readers off by too much promo. Must mention something of shared interest. Must be friendly and open. Looked on Twitter to see frequent topics — pets, food. Spent an hour composing and editing tweet. My fluffy cat looks at me while I eat. LOL! Does yours? Plz RT

Woke up. Googled self. Found a new positive review. Sent quote on to publicist.

Compiled all quotes ever received and sent to publicist. Just in case she lost the last quote. Cc’d to editor, and editor’s assistant. Bcc’d to self, in case they pretend they never received them later. I will know.

Put the best 25 quotes in my e-mail signature, and the signature for all of my Yahoo loops.

Opened Google reader. 1000+ review blogs to read. No mention of me or my work, except one who said “If you like M.B.’s work, you will like this new author’s work, too.” WTF? No one is like me. Made note of blog name. Would delete it from my feedreader but I need to know if she spreads more falsehoods and compares me to another hack.

Reminder to self: Create new e-mail address. Review hack’s book. Make it three stars, so that it’s not too obvious. Say, “I bought this because some reviewer said it was like MY FAVORITE AUTHOR’S books, but it was only okay. Nothing like the awesomeness of M.B.!” Buy the hack’s book later so no need to feel guilty (but not during the first week, when it might help her hit a list before I do.) I support my fellow authors!!!

Checked rankings on Amazon. Called my mother and cried. She said something about my aunt’s tumor getting worse. Thanks for caring about MY problems, MOTHER!

Note to self: Heartless mother in WIP? Art imitates life.

Googled self. New review! …. “uneven pacing” — What? She gave me an A-. MINUS!!! for “uneven pacing”??? She obviously doesn’t even know what pacing is! She probably never even WENT TO SCHOOL! Why can people who obviously grow up on pig farms can REVIEW BOOKS? God!

New e-mail address and new Amazon account. Composed reply to review: I don’t know why you thought the pacing was uneven. I thought it was perfect! Wasn’t happy, thought it was too obvious. Spent a few hours editing it to: I don’t know the author, I’ve only read her books. I wonder: Do you even know how to read? The pacing was perfect! M.B. rocks! Went to Starbucks and used their internet access to mask my IP. Drank tea to soothe my nerves. Posted reply to review, then posted a review for a table so that they don’t think I made my account just to post the reply. I gave the table two stars to show I’m not easily pleased, so M.B. must be REALLY great!

Refreshed review page, waiting for response from reviewer. Nothing. Do they have internet access on pig farms? Hahaha! Beginning to think the MINUS!!! is the work of another author trying to sabotage me. Made list of who the author might be. Saw on J.M.’s blog that she uses the phrase “uneven pacing.” Read all of her blog entries, ever. Found more similar evidence, phrases used in the MINUS!!! review: “likable characters” and “hot!” Created new e-mail address. E-mailed: “I know what you did.” Jealous cow.

Starbucks closed before I had time to write! Damn it. Will have to get the words in tomorrow.

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

I’m not going to be able to do the next Q&A today, or even Friday — I realized that with the trip north and the signing on Saturday, a family thing on Sunday, and then the release next week, there’s going to be a span of about four days where the chance of getting any work done is zero. So I’m going into a hole for two days to get as much done as possible.

So, unless I see you at the signing in Bellevue, I’ll see you Monday!

Patricia said: This isn’t really about the content.. but the language. I’m from Germany and while I always got straight As in English I had some serious problems when I started reading English novels. (I was 14 back then, though) I often shy away from historicals and wondered if the language is that much different from your Guardian novels’ language. – With some things it’s okay, because I can look them up, but others.. Well. *sigh*

I can’t speak on this about steampunk in general, only my own work. The Iron Seas books are written in a different mode than my Guardian books, which incorporates more contemporary/modern slang, usage, and so on. With the Iron Seas, however, I use a structure that sounds less modern (to my ears, anyway), and am diligent about making certain the words themselves are appropriate to the time period (the etymological dictionary is my best friend while writing them.)

But my voice is similar, I think. On the level of a sentence, you won’t find the complexity of, say, a Jane Austen novel. I deliberately try to make it as accessible as possible without making it *simple,* if that makes sense — and so I would *hope* that you would find it as easy to read as the Guardian books.

That said, it’s hard for me to judge. I use terms that might be familiar to many historical readers, yet that wouldn’t be to a non-native speaker who primarily uses contemporary English, and I wouldn’t realize that I’ve made it difficult in that way. Not that I don’t deliberately select every word and phrase, because I do — but because I wouldn’t know which ones would be familiar to you from your reading.

So I’d love to give you a real answer — Yes! they will be easy!, or No! They are difficult! — but it’s simply impossible for me to guess. I suspect that if you don’t have any trouble with the excerpts on the site (link), you probably wouldn’t have any trouble with the novels. There will likely be some confusion even while reading those excerpts (simply because there is a lot of worldbuilding going on, and many aspects of the world will be unfamiliar to you whether the language is clear or not, and I introduce terms like “nanoagents” that only have meaning in this world), but it will give you a good idea of whether my writing is significantly different.

I also wondered if the people in Steampunk novels are open-minded.. No, I mean.. If it’s a historical setting then you’d expect the people to be like they were back then, but it’s also fantasy and romance.. So.. Well, I guess most of my questions are about those differences. Not the setting, but how this changes the reading experience, the personalities (and I wanted to add something else but nothing comes to my mind so I’ll just say–) etc.

My answer here is Yes and No. I often describe steampunk as history written (or re-written) through 21st century goggles, and I think that modern sensibility often bleeds through so that the behaviors that are acceptable within the story are more explicitly written/viewed through that lens. I also think that the inclusion of those modern sensibilities don’t seem as anachronistic as they can in some historical novels, simply because of the nature of the steampunk genre (that fantasy aspect, if you will.) Those modern sensibilities still have to *fit* the world — just as the advanced technology does — but if written well, it’s not as jarring as it can be in a historical novel.

I don’t want to give the impression, however, that *everyone* in a steampunk novel is more open-minded, or that all people in history were close-minded. They aren’t. It all depends on the individual character. Some men in steampunk novels will think it’s perfectly fine to beat their wives; some real historical men or men in historical novels would be horrified by the idea, and it wouldn’t be anachronistic at all. On a wider scale, however, on a social and cultural scale — yes, I think it is easier to incorporate more modern ideas without seeming anachronistic.

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This Saturday, I’m going to be at the San Diego RWA chapter meeting talking about steampunk romance (this is open to non-RWA members, too – attendance details are here.) I have pages and pages of notes on the things I plan to cover, but now I’m trying to think of (and prepare for) questions that might not have occurred to me.

So: Is there anything about steampunk romance that you are still wondering about? (Not necessarily my series, but in general?) Please feel free to ask here.

I’m going to selfishly use your questions to make certain that I’ve covered my bases for the meeting on Saturday; hopefully I’ve already jotted down notes on everything, but I imagine that I’ve left a few holes. But I will also answer each question here on my blog over the next couple of weeks (depending on how many questions I get) so that you’re not just left hanging there after helping me out.

A stunning and sexy addition to the world of the Guardians about one man’s revenge against the half-demon he once loved…

Nicholas St. Croix is familiar with the evil of demons. After his father’s death, a demon took over his mother’s body and raised him. Six years ago, his “mother” was responsible for the disappearance of the woman he loved, and Nicholas swore he’d find her—even if he had to go to Hell and back. Except she finds him first—and with one tormented kiss, he knows she too is a demon. Now he is determined to take his revenge…

Ash is a half-demon with no memory of her past or how she got to Hell. All she knows is that Nicholas St. Croix holds the key to her identity. And though he’s clearly drawn to her, Nicholas makes no secret of his distrust of her. Yet one kiss at a time, he breaks down her defenses as they battle an array of demons and Guardians. But is Ash’s greatest enemy the man at her side?

“The award-winning Brook adds another multifaceted and intense drama to her already impressive Guardian series.” ½” —RT Book Reviews

$7.99 Berkley Sensation | ISBN 978-0425242698 | September 6th, 2011

Just a quick note: The nook version is finally up. Yay!