Out of the Deadline Cave and Into the Taco Church...

Greetings, Dear Reader! Those of you who follow my goings on know that I've been a bit under a rock on  major major book deadline(s). I've come out briefly for things like one day at the Steampunk World's Fair and one day at Book Expo America, but the most important thing of late has been getting THE ETERNA FILES ready for your delectable consumption come this fall with a teaser novella and early 2015 with book one's magical release, as I shift my writerly career into the hands of Tor Books, a transition I am very excited to make.

I've also been working background on the HBO show Boardwalk Empire lately, I'm so proud I've worked every season of the show. ANOTHER TREAT was the thrill of seeing myself featured in the James Gray film The Immigrant, a 1920s period drama that's a really amazing film. I'm sitting next to Marion Cotillard (Ewa) as she watches Jeremy Renner (Orlando the magician) wow the Ellis Island audience with his performance. My hair is in a bun, I'm in glasses, and you see me several times in those shots and I'm really thrilled, as working that particular Ellis Island scene as well as working several days on the whole production, was a really wonderful experience, especially as a historical novelist, their eye to detail and care for us as a group was great.  

I'll ALSO be featured in the upcoming episode of the Urban Fantasy web-series full of kick-ass fights and general genre fabulousness, SKYE OF THE DAMNED, episode 5, in which I play Danae, Queen of the Unseelie FAE. I know, ME? Queen of the dark fae? No. That so doesn't suit me at all. *grin* So stay tuned for that episode launching next week!

If you haven't caught up with my books and want some insight into THE ETERNA FILES, as I'll be taking some of the darkest plot threads of the Magic Most Foul saga and making it all A WHOLE LOT CREEPIER (I know, it's hard to do, because it's damn creepy already, but in my coming works, the creepy expands on a far grander scale), please check out the Magic Most Foul series and in book 3, The Double Life of Incorporate Things, I introduce some of my Eterna Files stars.

ETERNA will launch a teaser novella with Tor this fall and we'll have an early 2015 debut, so STAY TUNED! (And catch up on Magic Most Foul. It certainly isn't a prerequisite, however if you like Gothic Victorian Paranormal Fantasy, well, then, you're in the right place as that's entirely what I do.)

IN THE MEANTIME - THE HOLY TACO CHURCH and PHOENIX COMICON!

The amazing Kevin Hearne, who might be one of the most utterly delightful gentleman on the planet, as fabulous an author as he is a human, has organized an amazing author group that I'm very tickled to be a part of. Follow our religious love of food (particularly Tacos and Margaritas) alongside the goings on of our books. I'm holding down the Vegetarian quotient of the Holy Taco Church as Our Lady Pico de Gallo and will be offering up some of the ways I taco it up without dead carcass. My first post goes up June 12th, but please check out the site and our fabulous authors and sign up for our mailing list.

If any of you are in the Phoenix Comicon area, a great deal of "The Church" will be in attendance so come see us! I'll have all three Magic Most Foul saga books available via the wonderful Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore to sign over in our Author Alley, if you have stock of any Strangely Beautiful editions that are now out of print (But not for long as everything begins it's new and shiny re-issue next year thanks to Tor!) feel free to bring them along and I'll love to sign those too! Cheers!

Here are my favourite BEA pictures taken by the lovely Alexis Daria! The first is of me side by side with my beloved Alethea Kontis, we celebrated 5 years of being Kindred Spirits this BEA, and Alexis got the next picture of me during my signing at the Science Fiction / Fantasy Writers of America booth. Cheers and happy haunting! 

The Phoenix Recap

Wow! What a great trip Out West. While it was the Phoenix Comicon that had me in Arizona, the fact that it was my anniversary with my beloved, we made it a trip to see something we'd always wanted to see; the Grand Canyon. Not kidding about the "Grand" part...

Those of you who read my series know that "Phoenix" is a meaningful word to me. And so was the city. Though it should be noted that should the disturbingly inhuman proposed immigration laws with misleading benign numbers (yes, that would be SB 1070) go into effect, that will decide whether I feel comfortable returning to the state.

But the Phoenix Comicon, however, was a fantabulous place where I made new friends, talked on some great panels, sold a lot of books, met some famous people, and of course... donned the regalia. (Yes, Marcos did too. )

I also discovered that out west, not only can I wear Victoriana, but my shadow becomes a bear. (See photo and shadow).

My author spotlight went very well, considering that I was up against Wil Weaton's Awesome Hour and next door to the Zombie Brain Eating contest. I held my own. But only thanks to my clothing, to this fabulous little white hat, and to Yoda and The Force.

I adored geeking out and going all fangirl on the Doctor Who panel, and meeting these fabulous folks... I mean, seriously, how great is a Dalek and a Tardis dress? So full of WIN.

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I loved meeting the lovely, talented, fun and wise (and fellow Tennant lover) NYT bestseller Aprilynne Pike author of the fabulous WINGS series, authors Kris Neri, the incredible blow-my-mind talented James Owen (OMG Imaginarium Geographica, OMG).

And then there was... THE John Scalzi. Yes, the one and only. You can see what Sam has to say about him too... Speaking of THE Scalzi and his bacon scarf that someone at the con knitted for him, (THAT is commitment, folks)... What on earth is THIS, you might ask? Good question. Well, its Wil Wheaton, Scalzi as an Orc and the Unipegkit... I dunno, there's a contest for charity involved. Explained here.

And... What can I say? I like a man in black.

Another fave moment? When Rianna from Imagifreakination at the table across from my signing table walks over and gives me this picture she made of me. HOW AWESOME IS THIS?! Now everyone go and get stuff from her. She's amazing. Seriously. Go now.

And BECAUSE we have established that my sweetheart is a great sport and that I dress him up as Alexi, and BECAUSE the Ghostbuster car was here... THIS HAPPENED:

The only thing missing is CGI blue phoenix fire. I'll work on that.

*string quartet begins a very famous theme song* "There is something odd in the old East End... Who shall you call upon? The Guard!"

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Thanks to Linda who was the reason I came, to Lee for so kindly scheduling me, to Mysterious Galaxy for selling my books and thank you everyone at Phoenix Comicon who made it an amazing week. And thank you, Grand Canyon, for being Grand.

Leanna's Phoenix ComicCon Schedule

Hey friends!

I'm about ready to begin my adventures at Phoenix Comicon!
Attendees: Be sure to come to my Author Spotlight where there will be chance to win free books courtesy of Dorchester Publishing!

Here's my schedule:

Friday 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM 153

Urban Fantasy, Steampunk, Mashups, and more! A look at the hottest subgenres in fantastic fiction and how they are different from classic science fiction and fantasy. What's worth reading and why have they gotten so popular?

Friday 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM 152

Spotlight on Leanna Renee Hieber: Join writer Leanna Renee Hieber for a talk on her Strangely Beautiful saga including her new book The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker. The actress and award winning author will read brief scenes from her books and participate in a Q and A. (Plus book giveaway!)

Saturday 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM 152

Writing for the Young Adult Market: What makes a story Young Adult? Our panelists discuss writing for the young adult market, how they got started, and their work in that field.

Saturday 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM 152

Beyond The Vampire and Werewolf: Tired of nothing but vampires or werewolves in your fantasy fiction? Our panelists discuss how they make use of other supernatural beings and mythological creatures in their work.

Saturday 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM 151

Doctor Who & Torchwood: We've got a new Doctor, the return of Torchwood in the works (including a possible FOX series) and Who knows what else. Our panelists discuss the current state of the Whoniverse and speculate on what's to come.

Sunday 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM 152

Sci-Fi Social Media: Is your favorite author a Facebook friend? We look at how Sci-Fi notables are using social media tools - Twitter, podcasting, blogging, Facebook, Myspace, etc. - to build fan connections and communities around themselves and their works. "

Sunday 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM 155

You've sold your first novel, now what?

Be sure to check out the convention online and follow them on Twitter!

Blessings!