In Which Kati Interrogates Meljean Brook about Steampunk

1.In 200 words or less, what is steampunk?

Steampunk is historical science fiction, where the primary technology available hasn’t progressed much farther than what was available in the Victorian era. So although you might have some internal combustion engines, electricity, or other advanced tech, the majority of it is based on steam or clockworks.

2. Are steampunk and romance a natural fit? And if so, why?

I think they are. I know that steampunk looks very gritty and dystopian on the surface, and I can understand how that wouldn’t fit with many readers’ ideas of romance. But – aside from the fantastic conflicts that the steampunk setting provides – the genre also lends itself to a sense of hope and ingenuity. Steampunk is all about wondrous human accomplishments and daring adventure, and I think that fits beautifully with romance. I want romances that feature incredible, strong characters whose experiences are unique and amazing ... and yet whose emotional journey is one that every reader can relate to. Steampunk offers that in spades.

3. In the steampunk books I’ve read, technology is integral to the story; it offers the juxtaposition between an industrial Victorian-era setting and the modernity of the technology. How do you make the technology your characters use relatable to the reader?

The great thing about steampunk is that even though some of the technology is oversized and a little weird, it’s not *that* far outside the technology we’re used to seeing in other forms of fiction, or from what we know of history. And so if I describe steelcoats – metal, steam-powered suits that English marines wear in the Iron Seas series – it’s easy for a reader to imagine one. There’s no real-world example of the suits found in my books, but from medieval knights to Iron Man, the *idea* of the armor is something that most readers are familiar with.

4. The character of the Iron Duke is certainly a compelling one, as is the world he inhabits. Which came first? The Iron Duke? Or the world?

The world (and the heroine) came first. Rhys’s character was always there as a shadowy figure for the heroine to encounter—and he was always a pirate captain—but he took on several different forms as I developed the world. As the setting changed and became more layered, so did the characters’ backgrounds, and the way they have interacted with the world.

5. In the world of the Iron Seas series, there are several castes of people. Will you explain about the castes and each of their places/roles in society?

For simplicity’s sake, I’ll focus on the English castes, which is primarily what we see in The Iron Duke and Here There Be Monsters.

Firstly, there are the laborers and the lower classes of England (and Wales.) These are the people who were truly enslaved by the Horde – their families were ripped apart, children raised in government nurseries, and marriages forbidden. They were also subject to body modifications (tools grafted to their arms or legs) to assist them in their labor. Now that they are free, most laborers still don’t live in traditional family units.

Second, there are the aristocracy and gentry who lived in England during Horde rule. Unlike the commoners, their families weren’t ripped apart – but most of them have had all of their property stripped from them, due to the Horde’s high taxes. It isn’t uncommon for an earl or viscount to work in a profession, simply because they don’t have the property to bring in an income.

Then there are the bounders, most of whom are well-off, financially. Unlike everyone in who lived in England under the Horde (buggers), the bounders are the descendents of the Englishmen who fled to the New World before the occupation began. Now that England is free, many are returning to claim their ancestral property. The bounders consider themselves English (and their culture is the closest to what we would consider ‘Victorian’) but the buggers don’t see them the same way – most buggers resent them.

6. One of the things that I loved most about the Iron Seas series is the pirate aspect. Many of the good guys are more or less pirates, and big chunks of the stories are told from a ship, whether it’s an actual ship or a dirigible/airship. Are you a fan of pirate romances? And if so, which ones?

I’m not a huge fan, actually – I won’t go out of my way to pick up a pirate romance, anyway. I’ve read quite a few (starting with Johanna Lindsey, and going on) and I enjoy variations on the pirate theme (such as space pirates).

That said, I did quite a bit of research on pirates while writing the stories – in part for the real-life cultural aspect, and in part for the legendary aspect. I like that I can use pirates as both heroes and villains, depending upon the characters’ point-of-view. To the Royal Navy, for example, the Iron Duke is a murderous, thieving criminal ... and they aren’t wrong. But from Rhys’s point of view, he fought back against a corrupt and useless government ... and he’s not wrong, either. There are villains like Dame Sawtooth, who does awful things in her crusade against Rhys but is something of a pitiful figure, and who is motivated by a need to right what she saw as a terrible wrong; then there are men like Hunt, who are villainous by *any* measure.
And it all ends up being a reflection, I think, of the role of law in the Iron Seas, and what kinds of transgressions are unforgivable at a state level and a human level – and very often, the lines drawn aren’t the same. This is a world where many of the communities have to create their own laws, or where the laws of a particular nation hold little sway over the people outside of it – and so the laws and the rules that people create and live by say a lot about them as characters.

7. Talk to me about kraken. In both Here There Be Monsters (from the anthology Burning Up) and The Iron Duke, a kraken plays a major role. Is the kraken part of steampunk lore? And if so, how do you picture it? I kept picturing a giant squid, but wasn’t sure that I was imagining it correctly.

A giant (armored) squid is just right. In my work, it doesn’t come from steampunk lore (although the image of the squid from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea definitely influenced me), but simply from sailor lore – and the story of A.B. Stormalong in particular.

I had a book of legends and tall tales as a kid, and I must have read it cover-to-cover dozens of times – and one of the illustrations was of Old Stormalong fighting a giant octopus (my fascination was probably helped along by his being naked in the illustration.) So it was probably inevitable that I put a version of that into my series.

8. What books or movies are “required reading/viewing” for those new to steampunk?

I don’t think there are any required texts. I got into steampunk (as a genre that I could name) through Neal Stephenson’s THE DIAMOND AGE, which has a neo-Victorian element to it, but can’t really be considered straight steampunk. I think Girl Genius is a super-fun graphic novel series, and Steamboy a fun movie. An anthology like STEAMPUNK (edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer) will give any reader an idea of the range of possibilities within steampunk. I haven’t read a lot of recent steampunk, though I’m dying to – but I didn’t want to influence my world by adding or taking away from it after reading something similar in another book.

9. You write two series, The Guardian series and The Iron Seas, both have relatively complex mythologies. How do you keep each series’ mythology straight?

The Guardian series mythology is simply in my head, and is easy to keep straight, because the world only works according to certain rules, all of which are inter-related. I know those rules backward and forward, and so I never have to ask myself: Can a Guardian do X? Can a demon do Y? – And that doesn’t mean that I can’t add layers to the mythology or expand the world, but everything new *must* be based on the rules I’ve already created.

The Iron Seas is a little different, however, because it’s not a system of magic and myth, but an alternate history. It’s more organic, and there are many, many, MANY more facets to it – just as there is to real history. And so I do have a timeline that starts with the break from our history, I have maps that show the progression of the Horde across Asia, major battles, shifts in trade routes, areas of occupation, the new nations in the Americas, their skirmishes and wars, and so on. And yet, even all of that is just background information – it tells me what influenced the current state of a particular setting, but it doesn’t necessarily make a difference on an immediate level. (For example, I live in Oregon, and so Lewis and Clark’s expedition to the Pacific Northwest directly influences how and why I live here ... yet at the same time, that information really doesn’t make a difference to me in my daily life. It’s the same for the people of the Iron Seas – their history has everything to do with the way they live, and yet, at the same time, doesn’t really matter to them or influence their actions directly. And so all of that history will only show up in the books unless it really matters, or is needed to understand how the characters are affected.)

Now for the fun stuff:

a. What’s the latest romance you’ve read that you really loved?

Two, actually, and for similar reasons: Katrakis’s Last Mistress by Caitlin Crews, because she had some fresh characterization in what could have been a run-of-the-mill Harlequin Presents, and Zoe Archer’s Warrior and Scoundrel – again, for being so fresh.

b. Who is your favorite romance author?

What is today, Tuesday? So it must be Meredith Duran day. Beautiful writing and characterization.

c. What’s the most recent movie you’ve seen in the theaters?

Resident Evil 4. I still love Alice and she kicks some major zombie ass, but man ... the plotline sucked.

d. What’s playing on your iPod right now?

I don’t really play music when I’m writing or doing anything else. I have found, however, that when I’m in the last five minutes of a workout, that Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” gets me through it.

e. What’s your favorite kind of dessert?

Mango and sweet sticky rice. Oh, god – I could eat that until I popped.

Thank you so much, Meljean! I enjoyed every moment of experiencing the Iron Seas series, and can't wait to revisit the world!

YOUR TURN: Have you read The Iron Duke or Here There Be Monsters? Do you have any questions for Meljean? She'll be popping by throughout the day today.

**GIVEAWAY ALERT! - I'LL SEND A COPY OF THE IRON DUKE TO ONE LUCKY COMMENTER TODAY!**