Iron Heart by MC D’Alton & Melanie Page – Author Post

Today we welcome MC D’Alton, to discuss her journey (along with fellow Australian author Melanie Page and writing partner) as they release their new steampunk romance novel Iron Heart. This is the first title in their planned Iron Universe series.

Plus, thanks to their publisher Vulpine Press we have 2 ebook copies for giveaway – entries open worldwide.

I blame my Nan for my love of dark romance – and by dark I mean midnight in an eclipse.

I love Frankenstein (God bless Mary Shelley) and always saw the romance in it, Dracula and Anna Karenina. But then, I see romance even in Carey’s The Girl With All The Gifts. So when I began to seriously write with intent to commit fiction, I quickly found that all my heroes and heroines had a hint of darkness in them.

I was drawn to the TV series Penny Dreadful and felt compelled to write a story about a monster that my readers could fall in love with. So I mentioned it to my writers’ group and Melanie (who doesn’t do scary stuff) said that it would be impossible to love a monster. Discussion led to argument and debate and conceptualising and – before we knew it – we had boarded a steampunk unicarriage and embarked on a grand adventure.

Iron Heart was born out of my love of Steampunk, Gaslamp, and all the things that twitch in the darkness.

Mel was up for the challenge of a different genre and the creation of an exciting steampunk world. Because she is a history fiend, a lot of historical elements made it in too, enriching the world we built.

Romance is about the hero and the heroine. They need to complete one another, complement one another, each have something to offer the other. Beauden Somerton, our protagonist, was a man who could not be accepted in his society. In a world that believed, as Aristotle had, that the soul resided within the heart, the man whose heart was a lump of iron would be a monster.

Our heroine was named for Galen, the father of medicine, and she, like the real female medical pioneers who were studying in Edinburgh at the time our story was set, had to contend with disbelief and suspicion.

It wasn’t hard to find inspiration.

When the sun comes up and I hang up my superhero cape, I don my scrubs instead. I am a nurse and my medical training, plus some research into the work of Dr Christiaan Barnard who performed the first successful heart transplant more than fifty years ago, gave me much of what I needed.

Of course, an idea is easy. The first ten thousand words just flowed, but then we had to work out what challenges our characters would have to face together and just how they could attempt to overcome them. What followed was months of throwing around ideas, plotting (by Mel not me, I just write), ‘creative differences’, synthesising two visions into one, and inordinate amounts of wine. We were determined that our heroine would be more than a love interest. She played a vital part in resolving the conflicts. We also wanted our monster-hero, though physically weak, to be a man of character, gentle and noble.

We are proud of this creation, and the three more adventures in the Iron Universe that are currently gestating. From a ‘what if?’, it has grown to be something magical and special.

– MC D’Alton

Iron Heart Synopsis:

THEIR LOVE MUST CONQUER MORE THAN HIS FAILING HEART…

Edinburgh, 1859

Beauden Somerton is dying. Despite the efforts of his father and renowned medical expert, Dr Augustus Somerton, time is running out for Beauden. So, when the research of an enterprising young medical student catches their attention, they realise she may be their last hope.

Galena Tindale fears her unorthodox research has jeopardised her chances of graduating from Edinburgh Medical College. Still, she cannot turn down an opportunity to assist the infamous Dr Somerton in a ground-breaking attempt to save his son’s life. And, as she strives to mend Beauden’s failing heart, he succeeds in capturing hers.

But not everyone wants Beauden to survive, and it’s clear they’ll go to violent and destructive lengths to prevent his revolutionary treatment from going ahead. But how far will they go? Will Galena manage to perform life-saving surgery before it’s too late? Or will she be forced to live in a world that doesn’t include Beauden Somerton?

(24 January 2020, Vulpine Press)

Get your copy of Iron Heart (Iron Universe #1) from:

About the Authors, MC D’Alton & Melanie Page

MC D’Alton and Melanie Page are both Aussie gals who were born overseas but now live their lives in quiet, leafy suburbs to the north of Brisbane. Their days are full of husbands, kids (and grandies), work and general craziness. They have medical and educational backgrounds respectively and both love wine and chocolate.

Worldwide eBook Giveaway

Thanks to Vulpine Press we have 2 ebooks to giveaway. Open worldwide, entries close midnight 9 February 2020. See entry form below.

You can improve your chance of winning by:

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• sharing this Facebook post (incl. entry link) with your Facebook followers

The lucky winner will be randomly selected and announced on our Facebook Page.

SORRY, ENTRIES CLOSED – See winners announcement