Exclusive Author-Editor Chat featuring author Meljean Brook and editor Cindy Hwang discussion

Welcome to our first ever Author-Editor Chat. Thanks in advance to both Meljean and Cindy for taking part. Please take a moment to introduce yourselves. Meljean and Cindy will be back to begin the chat on September 19.

Hello,

I have been a fan of Ms. Brook's work since her debut novel Demon Angel.

I look forward to this talk and seeing how their editor/writer relationship has influenced Ms. Brooks writing.

Hi there! The Iron Duke was my introduction to Meljean Brooks, and to steampunk. Excited to be here!

Hi there! I first found Ms. Brook in Under Her Skin I loved her short and then around the same time Iron Duke came out so I devoured that one. Can't wait for the latest book! Really looking forward to the chat.

*waves* Hi everyone!
I first came upon Meljean with her short 'Here There Be Monsters' which totally blew me away! I freaking adored it, (and I now force everyone & their mother to read it!) So of course I also devoured Iron Duke and am now anxiously awaiting Heart of Steal! :)

Hello! I just joined. I read and loved The Iron Duke and am going to start the Guardian series soon. Can't wait for this chat to start!

Hey! I was introduced to the Guardian series last year by another Goodreads reader (to whom I am eternally grateful!) Got completely hooked on DemonAngel and went through the rest of the series like it was a pack of Cadbury chocolate fingers! Definitely a favourite of mine

Good evening, everyone! I was excited to get the email because I am a total Cindy Hwang fan! I know, I know, that's not what you expected me to say, but honestly, I don't know if I'd have read as many Meljean Brook's books as I have, if it wasn't for Cindy.

I read a crapload of books a year and, in many of my favorites, I kept seeing Cindy's name pop up in the dedications. I was fortunate enough to get to go to RomCon '10 where Cindy was giving a panel and I like to think I'm the first person to ask her for her autograph. She was all that was gracious.

I don't remember precisely when it came up, but I told Cindy I'd tried reading Demon Angel a couple of times and always crapped out about a quarter of the way through. She said to start at Book 3, Demon Night, I did, and that's how it all started.

I loved The Iron Duke and Heart of Steel is just as good. I'm very much looking forward to this discussion and thanks to both fabulous ladies for generously making themselves available. And I promise to keep my dorky fangirling to a minimum!

Hello! I became a fan of Meljean Brook's writing after reading The Iron Duke. I am looking forward to reading Hear Of Steel :)

Greetings and Salutations!

I must admit that, of Ms. Brook's writings, I've only read The Iron Duke. I enjoyed it immensely and will certainly be reading Heart of Steel. I've added more of Meljean's works to my TBR list, but that list is slowly becoming downright unmanageable!

I appreciate the invitation to this group, as I've always been curious about how an author and editor work together to get to the final product. I've read some self published books that seemed to be very good examples of the value of an editor, but it's pure speculation on my part. I'm curious and excited to learn more!

Hi!!

Portuguese fan here! I read "the iron duke" and totally fell in love with Meljean Brook's style and writing! (*.*)

When I got the email I squealed of hapiness and at the chance to talk to and about MEljean's work! Thanks!

Can't wait for it to begin!

Cheers

Hello! When I read Smittens's review about The Iron Duke I got really curious and it became my favourite book in 2010. I'm looking foward to read Heart of Steel.

Hi, I love MelJean's The iron Duke and have her demon books in my tbr stack. I seriously need to get on those.

im a newcomer to her books but i absolutely loved her iron duke.. need to get onto the demon books!

Hi Meljean & Cindy, Loved Iron Duke and look forward to reading Heart of Steel. If you need anyone to review an ARC I heartily (pardon the pun) volunteer. :)

Hi everyone! I'm looking forward to learning more about Meljean's books. They are new to me but from the sounds of it not for long.

The covers of Meljean's books called out to me and I had to buy my first Guardian novel Demon Night. From there I was hooked! I've since been enjoying all the Guardian books. And I love Iron Duke. Great start of an awesome new series. Heart of Steel cannot hit bookshelves fast enough for me.

Hi everyone! It's early Monday morning, and I'm getting the kid ready for school and running out for coffee (oh, the exciting life of a writer *grin*) and then I'll be back to answer as many questions as possible.

This turn-out is fabulous! Thank you so much to everyone for joining -- and to Patrick for inviting us to Goodreads for this chat! We'll be here for a few days so that we can make certain to answer everyone's questions.

If the "Paranormal Romance" and "Steampunk" threads become too huge and unwieldy, please feel free to begin a new topic -- you don't have to stick to the ones I've created! And if, as the threads become longer, Cindy and I miss your question, please feel free to call our attention to it! We'll try to answer them in order, so if it looks like we've skipped you, we probably simply got lost. Just let us know, and we'll go back to it. :-)

Hi Cindy! Hi Meljean!

So, I heard that Cindy discovered Meljean through reading her fanfic. Is that correct? If so, I'd love to know what fandom Meljean wrote for and whether or not any of your fic is still online? Did you find the transition to original stories hard or were you ready to write your own worlds? Do you have any other advice (creative, literary or legal) for other fanfic writers?

Thanks so much!

Good morning! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us! I'm a steampunk fan, and I came across The Iron Duke and fell in love with the world of the Iron Seas. I've enjoyed the two novellas in the series, and can't wait for Heart of Steel!

Hi, I'm Danielle. I became a fan after reading Demon Angel. I loved it and The Iron Duke. Now I will buy every book you write, Meljean!

Hi Meljean and Cindy! Thank you so much for hosting this chat. It's been interesting and insightful and I appreciate the time and effort you have dedicated to it.

Hello! I've bean following Meljean's books since I first came upon Demon Moon and the cover grabbed my eye. Currently can't wait for Heart of Steel to come out. After that, I'll resume avidly awaiting Michael's book.

Gosh, I guess I should have come by here first and said THANK YOU for taking the time to chat with us. I am a great fan as you know. But I'm sure you both have very busy schedules and it's a very nice thing you do here today..and for the next few...

<-- Also avidly awaiting Michael & Taylor's book.
~elaine

I started reading Meljean through her Iron Seas series, though I'd been hearing about her for years, and I remember when Cindy announced at an RWA conference about how she'd found one of her most recent authors :) I've discovered in the last year that a lot of the Berkley authors I really enjoy are part of Cindy's stable, so to speak, and look forward to see what she has to say :)

HI Meljean,
Just wanted to stop by and say HI!!!

Welcome, Tuesday morning! Hello to everyone who has just arrived, and thank you to everyone for your awesome comments! We'll be dropping in all day to answer questions -- please feel free to ask away!

:-)

Hi Meljean & Cindy!

Slow getting on this train but yesterday was pretty busy.

Not sure if Meljean remembers but I'd been buying her books for ages and finally did a month focusing on her work for my blog last October. Before that the only stories of hers I had read previously were "Thicker Than Blood" from the First Blood anthology and "Here There Be Monsters".

I know there is a love-hate with readers and anthologies but I still argue they're a pretty good way to get a feel for an author's work without commiting to a series. It worked to convince me I was going to love Meljean's novels. :)

Rhianna wrote: "Hi Meljean & Cindy!

Slow getting on this train but yesterday was pretty busy.

Not sure if Meljean remembers but I'd been buying her books for ages and finally did a month focusing on her work fo..."

I remember :-)

Novellas really are tricky. Sometimes I like authors' short works, but not their long works -- and the other way around, too. It did take me a few novellas, I think, to really get the hang of it (and to learn to stop cramming everything into such a short story.)

But I absolutely agree. I love trying out an author and getting a taste of her style. If I enjoy it enough, eventually buying the full-length stuff is a given.

*warm fuzzies*

Ya know who finally helped me figure out why some novellas didn't work for me? Christine Bell. I had recently read her steampunk/timetravel novella The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale and loved it. Then read a guestpost she did somewhere. In it she made a point about how in a short story limiting the number of characters is important so the reader isn't overwhelmed and the storyline requires fewer asides for explaining who each character is.

Ever since reading that I've found that to be such a help in figuring out what isn't working for me in a short story.

I can—and honestly, in my review I did—admit to not really liking "Thicker Than Blood". But it really did sell me on your style. I knew I'd found something special even if the story itself didn't wow me.

Maybe it's like going to a restaurant... you might not love the dish you ordered but you know you want to try something else on the menu the next time.

Rhianna wrote: "I can—and honestly, in my review I did—admit to not really liking "Thicker Than Blood"."

GASP!!!!

*grin*

Nah, I do remember that -- not in a grudge way or anything, but noting what does/doesn't work for some readers -- and I think that's true for many authors. There are some stories that just won't work for you, even if you generally love everything else they've done.

But even when you're not loving something, there is usually something there -- a writing style, the voice, something -- that will bring you back again. J.D. Robb, for example. I love those books, but not every one has been a winner for me (and considering the number of books in that series, it would have been a miracle if they had all been). But I'll keep coming back, because when the stories work, they REALLY work for me -- and when they don't, they are still solid reads and worth the time.

So I totally agree. Not every story has to be an absolute winner to get me interested in the author's work. It just has to have that something that will bring me back.

Hi Meljean and Cindy, thank you for taking the time to chat with us. I absolutely adore The Iron Duke and look forward to reading more of your work. I was interested to find that you started as a fanfic writer. I've read some amazing fanfic and some that isn't so great. Like Suz, I'm also interested in how an editor works with an author. I find that I edit in my head quite a bit with the not-so-good fanfic and wonder how involved an editor usually gets.

Just realized that I hadn't been by to say Hi to everyone here--sorry about that! Thanks so much to everyone for participating--it's really been fun and interesting reading all the posts!

Meljean,
Big fan...always an autobuy on your books. I follow you on your blogs, (I am including the now defunct Odd Shots) and I love your sense of humor. What is interesting to me is I don't see that voice of humor in your books as I do in your blogs. In fact, you make me cry at times when reading your books. Is that deliberate in your writing or does it just happen?

Ruth wrote: "Meljean,
Big fan...always an autobuy on your books. I follow you on your blogs, (I am including the now defunct Odd Shots) and I love your sense of humor. What is interesting to me is I don't se..."

I think it's just that I am totally different from my books. Not that a part of me isn't going into the books, because of course it does -- but that the person I am and the books I write are NOT the same at all.

I don't know how to explain it, though. As I said in another thread, I'm seriously just a dork who is sitting here writing the books that I want to read.

So I guess it comes from me, but it's not me, if that makes sense.

Meljean, I'm a fan via Nalini Singh's recommendation on her blog for The Iron Duke. For me it was an outta the ballpark story, needless to say looking forward to Heart of Steel

My question: Do you ever get lost while writing your stories or are you one of those perfect planners with the meticulous outlines? And if you do get lost, how do you find your way back?

Meljean wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Meljean,
Big fan...always an autobuy on your books. I follow you on your blogs, (I am including the now defunct Odd Shots) and I love your sense of humor. What is interesting to me i..."

Yes it does. The unique voice you have carries through the books and it is just different from daily life. Makes sense to me.

Vivian wrote: "Meljean, I'm a fan via Nalini Singh's recommendation on her blog for The Iron Duke. For me it was an outta the ballpark story, needless to say looking forward to Heart of Steel

My question: Do you..."

I don't really get lost, but I'm not a meticulous planner, either. I usually have a good idea about where I'd like to go with the story and where I want to end up, but if something changes along the way (and it often does) I'll take the route that a) seems more challenging and b) is more interesting to me.

That isn't to say that I don't struggle now and again, but I usually find that if I'm struggling or having a difficult time starting a new scene or continuing with the story, it means that something has gone wrong. I won't always know what it is, and I might spend several days (or when it's really bad, weeks) writing and rewriting and fighting the story until I realize: Ah-ha! Then I dig out whatever has pushed the story in the wrong direction and keep going.

I just did that with my most recent proposal, actually. I've been fighting and fighting it, and I couldn't get anywhere, and I hated everything I was doing -- then I realized last night that I started in the wrong spot/in the wrong way. So I scrapped everything that I had (ouch) and started over this morning. Already I can feel the difference, and when I turn it in to Cindy in a week or so, I won't be telling her: Trust me! I'll make it work! -- instead I'll feel a lot better about where I'm at.

Meljean wrote: "So I scrapped everything that I had (ouch) and started over this morning. "

I'll second that ouch. I understand the finding yourself in an unrecoverable position and going with Option B. Looking forward to another good read (*wink...wink), and thanks for the thoughtful answer.

Vivian wrote: "Meljean wrote: "So I scrapped everything that I had (ouch) and started over this morning. "

I'll second that ouch. I understand the finding yourself in an unrecoverable position and going with Opt..."

Well, luckily it was only about two chapters, so it wasn't like rewriting an entire book. And I'll keep bits and pieces of it.

But it was crap as it was, so it's far, far better that it goes away now :-D