Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Leanna's Award Eligibility for 2023!

Leanna's Award Season Eligibility Category!

Hello friends! Every year, different genre organizations like Science Fiction / Fantasy Writers Association and the Horror Writers Association put out "eligibility calls" for work published during the year that may qualify, so if you're a voting member of an organization that might find my work of note, I'd be honored by your consideration! A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts by myself and Andrea Janes being a finalist for Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction for the Bram Stoker Awards was such an honor and while I've never done one of these posts before, I figured I might as well shoot my shot!

The following 3 things that have been published this year available for consideration on Horror Fiction and Non-Fiction and Speculative Fiction and Non-Fiction ballots are as follows:

1. "The Hatchet Man of Wehr Road" published in LONELY HOLLOWS: FIFTEEN TALES OF FOLK HORROR by Pavane Press, March 2023 - Anthology available here, please contact Leanna for a review copy of the story, thank you! 

Category: Short Story 

Genre: Horror Fiction / Speculative Fiction

2. "Between the Dreaming and the Dead" published in APEX MAGAZINE, Issue 141, November 2023, now available for purchase, available free on their blog December 14th, 2023

Category: Non-Fiction Essay

Genre / Topic: Non-Fiction Speculative / Horror / Paranormal

3. "On Paranormal Chaplaincy" published in THE DEADLANDS Magazine, Issue 32, forthcoming, December 2023, via THE DEADLANDS

Category: Non-Fiction Essay

Genre / Topic: Non-Fiction Horror / Paranormal / Speculative 


THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION!


And LASTLY, I'd be remiss in not mentioning another release of mine this year, THE WORLD OF TOMORROW IS SADLY OUTDATED, Available in digital eBook and in Audiobook (with me narrating!!) via Scribd/Everand! While this unique novella is technically a reprint (and thus not able to be considered in award categories) it is a brand new, fully revised edition with lots of changes and expansions from its original conception! I'd love for folks to check it out! It's a dual-narrative Steampunk / Hopepunk / Dystopian tale where a group of 19th Century inventors look into the future to create solutions and survival for an apocalyptic New York City! 

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Leanna's 2023 DragonCon Schedule!

Hello darlings! I'll be as usual, crazed at DragonCon!
When not on panels I'm assisting Kelley Hensing at her art booth in the Hyatt Art Show so come find us! Cheers!


Leanna's DragonCon 2023 Schedule!

THURSDAY:

Title: Sherrilyn Kenyon's Reader (and Fan) Appreciation Party

Time: Thu 07:00 pm Location: Savannah Ballroom B/C Westin (Length:4 Hours)

Leanna will have copies of A HAUNTED HISTORY OF INVISIBLE WOMEN and other Gaslamp Fantasy titles available for sale and signing along with some of her one-of-a-kind jewelry!


FRIDAY:

Title: From Beyond the Grave: Summoning Compelling Ghost Stories

Time: Fri 11:30 am Location: Peachtree 1-2 Westin (Length:1 Hour)


Title: Behind the Curtain: Unmasking the Secrets of Acting Success

Time: Fri 01:00 pm  Location: Hanover AB Hyatt (Length:1 Hour)


Title: The Shadows of Folklore: Crafting Folk Horror Stories

Time: Fri 02:30 pm  Location: Peachtree 1-2 Westin (Length:1 Hour)


Title: Paranormal YA Fiction

Time: Fri 05:30 pm  Location: A707 Marriott (Length:1 Hour)


Title: Historical Romance Novels: A Deep Dive Into Our Craving For Love

Time: Fri 07:00 pm     Location: Augusta Courtland Grand (Length:1 Hour)


Title: The Fantasy Gather: Welcome Home! 

Time: Fri - Leanna will be there 9:45- 11:15pm only! Location: International South Hyatt


Title: Spies & the History They Impacted

Time: Fri 08:30 pm      Location: Macon Courtland Grand (Length:1 Hour)


Title: Spooky Tales and Haunting Music

Time: Fri 11:30 pm  Location: Chastain 1-2 Westin (Length:1 Hour)


SATURDAY

Title: Discussion & Workshop: Memento Mori, Victorian Mourning Jewelry

Time: Sat 05:30 pm     Location: Augusta Courtland Grand (Length:2.5 Hours)


SUNDAY

Title: Powers of Mind: Psychics in UF

Time: Sun 01:00 pm Location: Chastain 1-2 Westin (Length:1 Hour)


Title: Victorian Spiritualism

Time: Sun 05:30 pm Location: Macon Courtland Grand (Length:1 Hour)


Title: Herstorically Speaking: Women in Song of Rock and Riot

Time: Sun 07:00 pm Location: Macon Courtland Grand (Length:1 Hour)


MONDAY:

Find Leanna at dark fantasy artist Kelley Hensing's booth in the Hyatt Art Show, Lower Level!

Happy Haunting!

 


Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Book Deal Announcement: AMERICA'S MOST GOTHIC: HAUNTED HISTORY STRANGER THAN FICTION, coming 2025 from Kensington Books!














Darlings! I'm SO excited! More Ghosts! This time, with GOTHIC feeling!!!! This goth is happy-dancing through haunted houses!

Publisher's Marketplace Deal Report:

AMERICA'S MOST GOTHIC by Leanna Renee Hieber, Andrea Janes

Imprint: Kensington Books

Bram Stoker award finalists and authors of A HAUNTED HISTORY OF INVISIBLE WOMEN: TRUE STORIES OF AMERICA'S GHOSTS Leanna Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes's AMERICA'S MOST GOTHIC: HAUNTED HISTORY STRANGER THAN FICTION, an examination of America's most Gothic places and hauntings, featuring the weird and wild trappings of Gothic tradition such as hidden passages, wailing women, family curses and more, with an emphasis on female spirits and the cultural narratives surrounding their stories, to Elizabeth May at Kensington Books, in an exclusive submission, for publication in 2025, by Chelsea Hensley at KT Literary (world). Non-fiction: History. 

Friday, July 28, 2023

THE GIRL IN THE WOODS - A Ghost Story by Leanna Renee Hieber

Hello friends!

So when I was around 9 years old I invented a ghost story that terrified my girl scout troop. Little did I know then how it would influence the path of my life. 

So I wrote about this entirely true and utterly ridiculous scene from my youth over at Kensington's Between the Chapters Book Club. Check out "The Girl in the Woods"...


And if you haven't picked up a copy of A HAUNTED HISTORY OF INVISIBLE WOMEN: TRUE STORIES OF AMERICA'S GHOSTS, what are you waiting for? 

Happy Haunting!

Leanna


THE WORLD OF TOMORROW IS SADLY OUTDATED gets a new revision and audio book!

 Dear Readers!

Thrilled to share with you that earlier this year, my Steampunk / Dystopian / Hopepunk parallel narrative novella, THE WORLD OF TOMORROW IS SADLY OUTDATED is now available in a new, expanded, revised edition digitally with an audiobook companion, narrated by yours truly, exclusively via Scribd.com! If you're not already a Scribd.com subscriber, you can sign up for a free trial! Go forth and check out this very cool story where the past saves the future!

About the book:

New York City: The Year is 1889.
New York City: The Year is 2089.

In 1889 a group of bold pseudo-scientists discover the "temporal current" and begin to view the distant futures that await the Empire City. In the future, all life as we know it has crumbled, leaving New York City a ghost town with a populous scrabbling to survive underground.
In the past it's up to an unlikely group of Victorians to preserve something of their world to save their future generations. In the future it's up to an unlikely group of survivors to take a leap of faith; discovering what their ancestors left for them with no more guarantees than love and hope.

Now available exclusively via Scribd.com in digital and audio!

And just in case you missed it, A HAUNTED HISTORY OF INVISIBLE WOMEN: TRUE STORIES OF AMERICA'S GHOSTS, that I co-authored with Boroughs of the Dead founder Andrea Janes, was a Bram Stoker Finalist for "Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction! Check out the amazing final ballot here. Thanks so much to the Horror Writers Association for this extreme honor. 

Friday, December 23, 2022

Christmas Ghost Story: A Gothic Duet with Edgar Allan Poe and Leanna Renee Hieber! "Not More Lovely than Full of Glee" a sequel to Poe's "The Oval Portrait"

Darlings... I had JUST posted on Instagram about my Edgar Allan Poe shrine... And not an hour later, what launches? 

"Not More Lovely than Full of Glee", set on a cold December 24th in a distant past, my sequel to Poe's "The Oval Portrait", has launched as a back-to-back audio drama with its inspiration, thanks to the amazing folks at PseudoPod

I mean, look at the log line: "AUTHORS: EDGAR ALLAN POE and LEANNA RENEE HIEBER!" I nearly fainted. 

I'm so grateful to the PseudoPod staff for championing my work and creating this beautiful double bill!

 "Not More Lovely than Full of Glee" is a Christmas 'ghost' story about what happens after the events of Poe's "The Oval Portrait"... 

It's now live, for free, via PseudoPod, in digital + audio! Donations to PseudoPod encouraged! 

Darlings, can I just say what a thrill it is, what an honor it is, what a joy it is to see a lifelong dream come true? To be situated next to THE legend, the man who remains my foremost inspiration, it is just the most *incredible* thing. It's impossible to put to words what it feels like to see my name next to his name. He is my everything. I would not be a writer if it were not for him. 

I wrote "Not More Lovely than Full of Glee" for A WINTER'S TALE: HORROR STORIES FOR THE YULETIDE in 2020 and I had a dream that someday I'd see my sequel placed side-by-side with what inspired it. "The Oval Portrait" remains one of my favorite Poe stories, short and terribly chilling, and I felt I had something to say about the woman whose life was painted away... 

Listen / Read via PseuodPod in the Escape Artists Podcast Network! Happy Holidays! Happy Haunting! 

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

GHOSTS OF THE FORBIDDEN, A Contemporary Gothic Romance in an homage to Dark Shadows, is here!

 


Friends! I am so excited to share this category-length Gothic Romance with you! Today GHOSTS OF THE FORBIDDEN is officially out in the world! Tonight at 6pm at Goldspot Brewery in Denver we'll be hosting a launch party and sharing a spooky-themed beer brewed just for the occasion! We will be joined by Castle Bridge Media, the publisher of Ghosts of the Forbidden, as we discuss this new book as well as A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts! 

I'm so sorry to say that if you pre-ordered the book, Amazon lost your pre-orders so you'll need to order again, the publisher is just heartsick about this but it was out of our control. Thank you for your support! I love this book and hope to be able to continue this as a series, but we can only do so if the book is supported. So glad you're here and I remain so thankful to my amazing readers for keeping me going!

--
More about this book and it's glorious step-back, the book-within-a-book:

"If you love all things both goth and Gothic and want to see the mid-century-style Gothic romances brought into the modern day, you absolutely do not want to miss this." -- The Gothic Library

"FIVE STARS. I want to move to Glazier's Gap." -- Torie L, Netgalley Reviewer

"This book was right up my alley, Ghosts, creepy mansions, books and writing…sign me up!!!!" -- Beth J, Netgalley Reviewer

"Great gothic fun. Long lost ghostly romance in a spooky town with a tongue-in-cheek wink at the pulpy gothic novels of the 1960-70s." -- Madeleine D, Netgalley Reviewer

The only way I can describe it was rapturous." -- Lauren M, Netgalley Reviewer

She should run. But can she?

When newly unemployed writer Lillian Anders tries to escape her personal demons by running off to Glazier's Gap for a writer's conference hosted by a reviving Gothic romance publisher, she lands right in the middle of her own Gothic novel. Her life begins eerily reflecting one of the early-'70s "women running from houses" books in the publisher’s archive. Striking 19th Century ghosts haunt darkened halls and carriage-house mirrors, startling Lillian with dangerous secrets. As a hungry, violent force lurks in the mountains and the abandoned silver mine, Lillian’s presence rekindles old flames and reopens aching wounds. When charming journalist Nathaniel Lynd arrives in town, he and Lillian forge an immediate bond when intimate memories surface from another century. Evil forces that killed star-crossed lovers in the past seek to destroy Lillian and Nathaniel in the present. It will take fortitude, ingenuity and unexpected help from the strange town itself to make sure the demons of the past don’t destroy a passionate future; destined to set old wrongs right.

ABOUT GLAZIER'S GAP

Welcome to Glazier's Gap, Colorado-- a small, gossip-filled hamlet started by the mysterious owners of a now-abandoned silver mine whose unwitting rivalries set the town on a cursed trajectory. From an enormous luxury resort hotel destroyed years ago in a landslide- whose wreckage remains half-buried today- to unexplained fires in grand mansions, the town isn't known for good luck. It’s a place with a bright side, though: tourists visit its rickety old ski resort, hike shadowed mountain paths and locals attend its small college. There’s even a defunct book publisher starting up again. But underneath it all: Glazier's Gap is full of secrets and ghosts.

Order now via Amazon or in paperback from your favorite local bookstore!

Cheers and Happy Haunting!