Publishers Weekly, Darker Still sale, Public Radio Interview!

Leanna at Bankstreet Bookstore, photo by Jax Medina

The Interwebs are alive with the sound of Gothic literature. Well, at least it's a banner week for mine.

Thanks to Publishers Weekly for including me in this week's roundup of events, My Twisted Victorian Holiday Party at Bankstreet Books made the news! If you'd like a signed copy of The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart, just call Bankstreet to order one, signed books are such a great gift for the holiday season, only $8.99! (Call the store as the item isn't yet added to the online catalog).

And speaking of amazing prices, DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul is now on sale for Kindle and Nook for only $1.99 through the holiday season! A very important Gothic Victorian fix to prepare you for The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart!

And the fine folks of WVXU Cincinnati, the beautiful public radio station there, kindly did an interview with me about TWISTED TRAGEDY, have a listen! I talk the latest novel, about being a cross-genre writer and what it's like to thread my theatrical training into my books.

Cheers and happy holidays!

Midwestern fun, Top Ten honours, and Audio Books!

Greetings from the great Midwest! I'm enjoying my trip to Milwaukee WI to visit my dearest's family.

I had an awesome time speaking to the Wisconsin RWA (Milwaukee Branch) - where the kind and talented Edie Ramer has been such a gracious contact, peer and friend of the Strangely Beautiful series - I gave my workshop about merging theatre techniques into writing novels, a subject I'm very passionate about. I believe it resonated with this wonderful group, I had an incredible time.

Here are a few respective rundowns! Edie wrote a gorgeous post about it at one of my favourite blogs, Magical Musings. The fabulous Liz Kreger (one of my new inspirations) wrote about the meeting (I was so grateful to have found her- as you read in her post, I was wandering), as did Elle J Rossi, and Casey Clifford, ladies I was very pleased to meet. The group was full of great ideas, energy, and talent from every corner of the room, it was lovely to be counted in their number for a morning. I'm thrilled that my workshop seems to have made an impact!

And then I was off to a booksigning with Casey Clifford at the Greendale Waldenbooks. I do dearly love booksignings and the chance to connect with other authors and readers. I was so thrilled to be there with Casey and have the company during the lulls. Lots of books were sold and we both had wonderful support from family, new writer friends and shoppers who thought our books looked interesting. And, well... they are. I can't wait to dive into Casey's Black Ribbon Affair!

Today I had the honour of speaking to the Creative Writing department of the Milwaukee High School of the Arts, my sweetheart's alma mater. What a wonderful group of talented teens. I think arts education is vitally important, and I love the opportunity to tell talented writers to never give up on their dreams, no matter what.

News!
Recent news has me quite thrilled. The inimitable Barbara Vey of Publishers Weekly held a Readers Poll at her popular Beyond Her Book blog of the Best Books of 2009. And The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker made the Top Ten list! Thanks friends and fans who have truly loved this book and have gone the extra mile to spread the word and to so vocally support it! I owe you such gratitude for such an awesome honour to be listed here among some really talented authors. Very exciting!

No More Grumpy Bookseller has listed Miss Percy Parker as a favourite of 2009! Thanks Becky!

AND...
THE STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL TALE OF MISS PERCY PARKER has gone AUDIO!!! I'm so excited, I can't wait to hear it! I'm surprised at the average industry price of audio books, but it's available in two formats (Audio CD / MP3 CD) with two different price structures, so I hope you'll check it out!

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I hope everyone has a beautiful Thanksgiving! I'll be rocking the Tofurkey! :) I'm feeling very thankful for all the blessings in my life, and I hope the season brings everyone a warm and thourough joy and a ceaceless multitude of blessings- the least of which being some freaking awesome pumpkin pie...

Blessings from Brew City, Milwaukee, and I hope you'll share with me some of your blessings!

A Strangely Beautiful Week - Thanks Publishers Weekly and RNTV!

Indeed! What a week! It's flown by with stock signings all over this great city, outer boroughs included. I've been delighted to find my books on towers and other visible places. The week also saw me rolling on with the Haunted London Blog Tour, radio interviews and more!

Guess What?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY HAS LOVELY WORDS FOR MISS PERCY!!

"Six young men and women are called to protect the living world from the dead in Hieber’s Gothic romance debut. Mysterious powers give Alexi and his peers the mission of keeping the restless dead in line and seeking a prophesied seventh guardian. Miss Percy Parker, an albino orphan with a talent for languages, fills none of their expectations, but Alexi is drawn to her all the same. Hieber draws Victorian London as beautiful and grim, with depictions of Jack the Ripper as a nightmarish many-headed hound alongside charming descriptions of the Athens Academy, Percy’s boarding school, and Greek mythology that smartly draws together various elements of the story. The supporting characters are nuanced and appealing but given short shrift by the narrow focus on Percy and Alexi, though future sequels may give them more room to play. Hieber’s debut shows great potential, and readers will want to revisit her intriguing world." - Thanks PW! (See the web exclusive grouping upon which it appeared)
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Come see why Stacey at RomanceNovel.tv named Miss Percy Parker as one of her favourite heroines during heroines week!
Thank you, Stacey!

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New developments: RNTV / Lady Jane's Salon Book Club!
I'm so honoured that The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker has been selected as the launch book for RomanceNovel.TV's Lady Jane's Salon Book Club! You can be a part of it too! The Details.
RNTV has been releasing their lovely video interviews with me! Here's my take on Strangely Beautiful research!

(The rest of my videos with RNTV can be found here)

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In other news/reviews:

ParaNormalRomance kindly reflects upon Miss Percy!

Silver says:

"... I enjoyed the story, especially Alexi's and Percy's romance, which is rather poignant and sweet. Gripping and with an on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense, I found myself scrolling down (I read the ebook) as fast as I could to see what's going to happen next, especially toward the end of the book. This book is perfect for fans of the paranormal who enjoy a Gothic setting."

Thanks Silver! (The full review)

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The Tome Traveller has lovely words for Miss Percy too! (I was immediately enchanted by the look of this blog!)
Carey says:
"This story weaves together the threads and echos of many beloved aspects of English Literature. It is steeped in Shakespeare and Greek Mythology, there are flashes of Poe, Dickens, Stevenson, shades of Gothic ghost stories and Victorian romance. Alexi himself reminded me of Edward Rochester from Jane Eyre, dark and brooding. Very well done, indeed, and filled with eloquent writing, too. This was a very enjoyable novel for me. ... Like ghost stories? Paranormal? Historical Fiction? Fantasy? English Literature? Then you will enjoy The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, I certainly did!"
(Read the full review)
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Out and about:

Kwana of Kwana Writes took me all about her lovely, truly lovely, neck of the woods to help me sign stock out beyond the city limits - thanks Kwana! It was so good to see her, and Stacey and her awesome Dad even came out to support me as they don't hail from far away - it's so good to have people with you in these sweet moments like this who know how long and hard this journey has been to this all-the-sweeter-for-the-struggle point.

Here's a photo of me and Biz of Biz Urban Photography on release day at the Barnes & Noble Lincoln Center signing, please note that poster behind us - Garrison Keillor will also be reading at said Barnes & Noble... Biz and I LOVE Prairie Home Companion and this made me feel like an utter rock star. You can bet I'll be there at his signing!

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There are other reviews that have come down river as well and I'm a bit behind - I'm trying to keep up with the full list as it grows, ongoing and compiled at the book page of my website.

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Don't forget, if you have a copy of Strangely Beautiful on hand- you can answer the Pop Quiz questions and enter my Contest for cool prizes!

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Back to the whirlwind! See you on the Haunted London Blog Tour!