Leanna and a TARDIS or, Epic Win

So what could be better than a steampunk event in a bar with a TARDIS? Well, not really much of anything. Huge thanks to Ay-Leen the Peacemaker of Beyond Victoriana and Lucretia of The Wandering Legion of the Thomas Tew for organizing Steampunk Stylin' at the uber-awesome The Way Station in Brooklyn this weekend, where their signature drink, The Way Station, is an absinthe-esque journey to exquisite. I was thrilled to read the Ripper chase scene from The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. I was truly honoured to share the stage with the awesome talent of: Samara of Dancing Frozen, Psyche Corporation, Painless Parker, Eli August and all with Dorothy Winterman's gorgeous hats standing guard and a beautifully dressed crowd that never disappoints. One of my partners in crime from way back in the day, Kelley of the entrancing Wickie Arts, even made it out to the festivities. The TARDIS and me here pretty much sums up my mood about the whole thing. This might go beside the dictionary definition of SQUEE. (Thanks to the multi-talented J. M. Coen for said lovely and squee photos and to Michael Angelus Salerno and his ridiculously awesome steampunk-fitted camera for the photo of me and fellow fantasy author Mary Rodgers in her awesome captain's coat below.) Oh, yeah, and did I mention the BBC was there filming? *faint*

Next time you're up for an adventure, hit up The Way Station. It's bigger on the inside.

What's Leanna's next event? Why, she's the Literary Guest of Honour at the Steampunk Industrial Revolution!! Check it out!

Mexico and the Steampunk Indie Mart!

Goodness me. I've been traveling so much that keeping up with myself has been hard. :) I went back to Ohio, trekked down to Mexico and over to Brooklyn for a Steampunk Festival. Somewhere in there I did some film work and finished a novella. All in a month's work. :)
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Mexico City. WOW. How do I describe it? Here are a few tangled phrases and brief highlights to give you some idea of my rapturous sentiments; the thousands of years of culture and the sheer VAST mass of Mexico City had me in awe from the start. The exceedingly generous people warmed my soul, the many kinds of music was enchanting, the drinks were delectable, the never waiting more than a minute for a subway train on a platform that was very clean was unheard of for us New Yorkers, the incredible museums like the Anthropology museum where the huge and famous Aztec Sun Stone now lives- look how enormous it is compared to the onlookers- was daunting and overwhelming. The shopping was incredible and made me wish I had a hedge fund to sponsor all the things I wanted to take home, the architecture was diverse and spoke of so much complex history, Diego Rivera's murals in the governmental palace truly had us speechless. The Casa Azul- Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's aptly named blue-house-turned museum was full of art and the palpaple life of two geniuses. The pre-Columbian excavation site at Templo Mayor- a thrilling work in progress led by Annabella's inspiring cousin Carlos is a must-see. We witnessed an amaing Aztec dance next to the colonial Metropolitan Cathedral- (also the first picture above) that is hundreds of years old and was built atop the Aztec holy structures which had stood in that plaza in the 16th century - you can see the dancing beside the church came out like an amazing ghost dance on our camera, the faint traces of the white shifts and some of the elaborate plumed head-dressing.
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Our souls were transported by the invitation, due to a fateful and meaningful connection across a dinner table, to Guernavaca south of the City, to attend church with and visit with the generous Catherine and her inspiring family (she is pictured with us at the incredible pre-Columbian pyramid sites at Xochimilco - our stellar guide Rey told us about the mix of different indigenous cultures that the stone carvings behind us indicate were present at this sacred site). The beauty of these Pre-Columbian pyramids and temples high above the valleys took my breath away amidst my trying to spot local birds.
The language continues to enchant me (es bueno practicar mi Espanol!), the food... well, the food was: *swoon*. I was in Mexico City thanks to and on behalf of the Annabella Gonzales Dance Theatre, helping out with the sound board in exchange for the trip - we were put up in an amazing historic hotel in la Zona Rosa and treated to some of the most incredible meals I have ever eaten, including divine fare at the San Angel Inn, thanks to Annabella and her extremely generous friends and family. What an incredible week, and bonus, I was with my sweetheart/parnter/real-life-hero. I cannot pick one favourite experience. I've tried. Every museum, meal, conversation and sight was its own distinct pleasure. One of my favourite things of all? The incredible Goth clothing shop I found; The Horror Boutique. I found it because of the dress high in the window; a gorgeous gown many stories up in a shop window with all the trappings of fine Gothic couture. I elbowed Marcos saying: "Mi gente!" - "My people!" The Horror Boutique is a heavenly little shop just off the central plaza near the enormous Metropolitan Cathedral pictured above. I got a great deal of clothing at a great deal, direct from the designers. Ariel was so cool, as were all the designers and staff, and the talented designers were there making clothing as we shopped! The whir of sewing machines on corsets while I drank in all the finery was dreamy. I happy-danced right in the store. Just look at this incredible Dia de los Muertos gown hanging in the window high over The Zocolo (square) below! Squee!
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I was beside myself with all of the amazing Dia de Los Muertos (day of the dead) crafts. My suitcase returned full of cut paper banners, ceramic skulls (calaveras) and joyful skeleton dioramas in boxes called Nichos, a tin skeleton with a winged heart bearing an image of Frida Kahlo from the Casa Azul, and a Jack Skellington necklace. Jack, from The Nightmare Before Christmas, is all over Mexico this time of year. Tim Burton had to be aware of the incredible rich cultural history of calavera art throughout the country, and Mexicans embrace Burton’s imagining as their own. Speaking of which, my favourite Halloween movie is The Nightmare Before Christmas. I listen to the soundtrack throughout October. Well… all year, really. Jack Skellington is one of my many gothic-esque literary love-affairs. Hail to the Pumpkin King!
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But I do love my town, New York, and its always good to come back to the city, and to Persebunny the bunny who I miss madly whenever I'm away.
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Coming back to a Steampunk event is always nice too. Thanks to the fine folks at Tor Books and Tor dot com for sponsoring the Steampunk Literary Corner at the Brooklyn Indie Mart, the Lit Corner organized and presided over gloriously by editor extraordinaire Liz Gorinsky (who was dressed in a gorgeous corset and emerald green doubled skirts and had managed to bake over 200 DELICIOUS scones and prepare delicious tea- as if she wasn't a rockstar already, this took the cake). I was invited to read from The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker to a fabulous (and fabulously dressed) crowd which included readers, Steampunkers, fellow authors and bloggers like Ay-Leen from Beyond Victoriana who, while at the fest, managed to win The Last Drink Bird Head Award on her awesome blog's first birthday. Huh-to-the-zzah! A good time was had by all. Thanks to dear friend (and NYT Bestselling author) Sarah MacLean for coming and for taking this photo! And note: I'm wearing clothing I got at The Horror Boutique in Mexico City!
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In other news, I turned the sequel to my 2009 Prism Award winning novealla "Dark Nest" (futuristic fantasy), titled "Dark Nest: Reckoning" in to my editor so more news on that will be forthcoming, in the meantime if you're curious about "Dark Nest" - head on over to my Facebook page where I'm holding a contest and giving away one print copy.

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Stay tuned for more book news and events. Next up? A report from the RALLY FOR SANITY / MARCH TO KEEP FEAR ALIVE... Considering I get a healthy dose of my news from Mr. Stewart and Colbert... It's nothing short of my very duty as a citizen to attend. :)

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Blessings!

The Steampunk World's Fair

There was no single 'best moment' of the Steampunk World's Fair, where I was in attendance as a Guest Author, but rather a host of fabulous moments woven together that made one blast of a whole. (Now to be clear to the purists in the house, my books are not technically Steampunk as I employ no gadgetry but paranormal fantasy. But since I'm in the Gaslight Gothic / Victorian camp and rather taken with the year 1888, I'm kindly adopted in.) But what is Leanna's favourite part of all Fairs and Cons? Dressing up, of course!





















My dear friend and fellow author Mary Rogers and I set off on the wilds of NJ Transit for Piscataway. You know its time to get the party started when about half an hour after we sat down in the cafe to await our room, steampunk Bobofet arrives. Mary took over the Pendragon suite by looking fabulous in an aviator jacket - none of us were letting her walk away without the entire outfit.











Huge thanks to the inimitable Stephen Segal who contacted me to be a part of the Library of Lost Literature sponsored by Quirk Books and Weird Tales, and held, beautifully enough, in a little library. I read from The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker, second in the Strangely Beautiful series, prime-time on Friday night, attended by a most fabulously dressed contigency. (Thank you to my dear Lady Cordelia for this photo!) Stephen brought in amazing talent and Mary and I had the pleasure of attending many readings, throughout the weekend, all of which fascinated me. And after Ben Winters' read, I truly cannot wait for Android Karenina. Clever, fun and intriguing. Digression: Stephen also impressively guessed my favourite Doctor Who episode. (I am a legacy fan, the Baker years as shown on PBS were formative, thus Doctor Who counts as my longest running obsession.) But then again... I'm never as mysterious as I'd like to think I am. Is it obvious my favourite Doctor Who epsiode would be the one with vampires where Romana gets mesmerized, kidnapped, bitten by a bat while laid on a bier dressed in a long white Gothic-novel-esque robe as food for the big bad vampire? Okay, so maybe that's obvious. Still, I was very impressed that without missing a beat Stephen declared "State of Decay!" (File that one away for Obscure Leanna Trivia). And I went Squee. Come see me as Romana along with Stephen in mid-regeneration, The Princess Alethea as a yet-unnamed-companion-of-her-choice, and even The Master himself at DragonCon this year. I just found a little straw hat today at Target. So Romana's schoolgirl costume with the red tie it is. End of Digression: Back to the fair.

There was a Queen of Steam drag show, and there was what was purported to be and what I believe started out as a Penny-Dreadful poker game to raise money for the out-flooded Outlanders but devolved into eating raw potatoes and other such amusements. I somehow returned home with a potato amidst my belongings.













There was even homemade absinthe in a transformed hotel suite (Oh-mi-goodness amazing) prepared by the fabulous Von Hedwigs of The Steampunk Family, who are without a doubt the most consummate and charming hosts ever in the history of host-dom. See here the Von Hedwigs and the stunning acoutrements of their lovingly crafted absinthe.
























Emilie P. Bush kindly asked me to be on a panel dealing with women and women's roles in our respective work. Her Chenda and the Airship Brofman is a finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award! Huzzah!

And one of my favourite aspects of the Fair? The panels on multiculturalism and "Beyond Victoriana" run by bloggers Ay-Leen of Beyond Victoriana and Jha of Silver Goggles. These panels, while only allowed time to scratch the surface of issues one really needs a lifetime degree of digesting, were laid out with beautiful ground-work, simple rules of respect and profound intellectual fodder. It made me so very excited to be a part of the "Retro-Futurist" community - a word I've taken from the wonderful TempleCon I attended earlier this year, a community that not only values cosplay and fantastic invention, but in making the world a place where everyone has a voice and can be valued, provided there is respect, sharing and understanding. If historical fiction, fabulous costuming, art, culture and the past and present crossroads of the world interests you, be sure to follow Beyond Victoriana and Silver Goggles. Amazing resources, fabulous women, who, like Steampunk, are happening now. The weekend afforded me the opportunity to show my enthusiasm for clothing, issues, literature, irrepressible ideas, new and diverse voices, the aesthetic of Steampunk and the chance to reaffirm why I write historical novels with my own paranormal twist; my Gaslight Gothic Fantasies. I was reminded by those I met this weekend that these are my people. People who are not afraid to wear fabulous hats and reinvent the world.