THE WORLD OF TOMORROW IS SADLY OUTDATED gets a new revision and audio book!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that earlier this year, my Steampunk / Dystopian / Hopepunk parallel narrative novella, THE WORLD OF TOMORROW IS SADLY OUTDATED is now available in a new, expanded, revised edition digitally with an audiobook companion, narrated by yours truly, exclusively via Scribd.com!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. 

A HAUNTED HISTORY OF INVISIBLE WOMEN: TRUE STORIES OF AMERICA'S GHOSTS is available for Pre-Order wherever books are sold!

Dear Ghost and History Enthusiasts!

A HAUNTED HISTORY OF INVISIBLE WOMEN: TRUE STORIES OF AMERICA'S GHOSTS is available for Pre-Order wherever books are sold! Written by your truly & Andrea Janes (Founder of Boroughs of the Dead), with a powerful Afterword by Linda D. Addison, this book explores haunted house and ghost stories where women's narratives are centered. The book breaks down stereotypes, tropes, power dynamics and more as we examine how we talk about women and their stories, alive or dead. 

Click here for a Linktree list of pre-order links from every available bookseller / retailer! The book releases this fall and we really hope it does well as we'd love to follow up with a second edition full of more stories. 

Thanks for your support! Happy Haunting! 

A SANCTUARY OF SPIRITS releases today! Available wherever books are sold!

It's release day, darlings!

Gather 'round your favorite bookseller and indulge in the latest Gothic, Gaslamp Fantasy set in 1899 Manhattan, the next SPECTRAL CITY installment, A SANCTUARY OF SPIRITS, out now in digital and trade paperback from Kensington Books! 

Description:

New York, 1899, and the police department's best ally is the secret Ghost Precinct, where spirits and psychics help solve the city's most perplexing crimes . . .

There's more than one way to catch a killer-though the methods employed by the NYPD's Ghost Precinct, an all-female team of psychics and spiritualists led by gifted young medium Eve Whitby, are unconventional to say the least. Eve is concerned by the backlash that threatens the department-and by the discovery of an otherworldly realm, the Ghost Sanctuary, where the dead can provide answers. But is there a price to be paid for Eve and her colleagues venturing beyond the land of the living?

Searching for clues about a mortician's disappearance, Eve encounters a charismatic magician and mesmerist whose abilities are unlike any she's seen. Is he a link to mysterious deaths around the city, or to the Ghost Sanctuary? Torn between the bonds of her team and her growing relationship with the dashing Detective Horowitz, Eve must discern truth from illusion and friend from foe, before another soul vanishes into the ether . . . 

Praise for A SANCTUARY OF SPIRITS:

"The New York City police department's secret Ghost Precinct investigates crimes committed against spirits in this engaging sequel to 2018's Spectral City... The diverse, lived-in world will draw readers in to this paranormal mystery." - Publisher's Weekly

Please support your local independent or brick and mortar bookstore today! 

IndieBound (Just type in your zipcode to find a local treasure near you! Stores always willing to ship!)

Powell's 

Barnes & Noble

WORD Brooklyn (For signed, personalized copies!) Limited number of 5x7 art prints by Kelley Hensing illustrating a scene from the novel will be included as a thank-you gift with purchase! 

NYC Launch Party TONIGHT at WORD Brooklyn Featuring Zoraida Córdova!

Amazon

Cheers and Happy Haunting! This is a critical release to ensure the survival of the series, thanks so much for your support! 

THE SPECTRAL CITY Cover & Good News!

Hello dear readers!

Recently the fantastic BOOK SMUGGLERS hosted the COVER REVEAL for my next novel, THE SPECTRAL CITY, launching 11/27 from Kensington!

Please hop over and visit the Book Smugglers to read about my inspirations, hopes and dreams for this series.

Isn't the cover GORGEOUS?!

If you enjoyed Natalie Stewart, Lord Denbury and Evelyn Northe-Stewart from my Magic Most Foul and Eterna Files books, you'll LOVE the Spectral City as it picks up years in the future when Lord and Lady Denbury's daughter Eve begins a new adventure; leading The Ghost Precinct of mediums and ghosts helping the NYPD solve weird cases in 1899 NYC!

And other good news! 

One of the most frequent questions I get is: Do you have audio books? Well, yes, I shall!
The audio rights for THE SPECTRAL CITY series have sold to Tantor and will be available simultaneously in several formats. (No, I will not be doing the narration. Not for lack of wanting to, but because the company uses in-house talent. I hope to be doing a few of my shorter works in the future, stay tuned!)

You can pre-order the eBook, print paperback and the Audio CD from any of your favorite retailers! Amazon, Barnes and Noble.

Check out Kensington's exciting pre-order campaign where if you show a proof of purchase, you can get cool swag! 

http://kensingtonbooks.com/hieber

Cheers and Happy Haunting!

PERILOUS PROPHECY: A Strangely Beautiful series prequel is up for Pre-Order via Barnes & Noble!

DARLINGS! Behold! The gorgeous, spectacular cover of PERILOUS PROPHECY, A Strangely Beautiful Novel, the prequel previously known as The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess has now arrived. Newly revised and refreshed, Barnes & Noble did an exclusive cover reveal and it is NOW AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER! Releasing 6/20/17 from Tor Books! Isn't it beautiful! Be sure to preorder a copy in trade paperback or digital!

Strangely Beautiful Pre-Order Contest for a $75 Barnes and Noble Gift Card and a Beautiful Postcard!

Dear Readers,

If you've followed this blog and my work, you know what a difficult journey my beloved Miss Percy Parker has had from her successful first two books, beginning with my acclaimed Gothic novel debut, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, to the subsequent bankruptcy of the first publisher and the series going out of print and unavailable. It has been devastating. But now, the time has thankfully come, courtesy of the incredible Tor Books, for darling Miss Percy, dashing Alexi and their colorful company to rise from the ashes, just like the Phoenix, and return!

Is STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL for you? Do you like ghostly, gaslit, Gothic tales full of action, adventure, quirky characters, sweet romance, mystery, atmospheric Victorian settings and eerie suspense? Then my STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL saga is indeed just for you. Imagine a bit of Penny Dreadful, Crimson Peak, Jane Eyre and Harry Potter all rolled into one- family friendly, my books are all PG-13 in content.

Pre-ordering a book really helps an author. It tells the publisher and stores that there is interest, and if those pre-order numbers are good, can help ensure the author gets to continue either in the series or a new contract. In the case of this being a reprint, where budgets are limited and the book itself is a large volume (this is two books in one, with new scenes and new content!) pre-orders are all the more vital. So, I'm hoping to incentivize the experience a bit for you! This book returning to the world means more to me than I can possibly say, and I'd love for my ardent readership to again set sail with my beloved characters in this beautiful new volume! This edition is freshly edited, contains deleted scenes and entirely new moments. The rest of the 4-book series will be releasing in the next two years, so start (or return to these familiar friends) now! For fans of my ETERNA FILES books, The Guard makes cameo appearances in those novels too; so many familiar friends across atmospheric Victorian pages!

Anyone who provides a proof of purchase (please redact any sensitive information) of pre-ordering, via any vendor, (digital or print, either one) and sends that proof of purchase in screen-shot or selected text form to contests@leannareneehieber.com will be automatically entered to win a $75 Barnes and Noble gift card! Winner will be drawn the day after Release Day, April 27th, via the randomizer Random.org from entrant names and will be contacted via the email of their submission.

As a thank you for everyone participating, anyone who provides a mailing address with their entry will also receive a signed bookplate, cards and this BEAUTIFUL postcard to keep as a souvenir or to send to a pen pal! (Mailing addresses will not be kept/recorded, used only for this postcard mailing, then discarded.)

More about STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL via Tor Books:

Originally published as two books, Strangely Beautiful unites Leanna Renee Hieber's critically acclaimed novels in a single revised volume, restoring the author's original vision for the work.Miss Persephone Parker is different, with her lustrous, snow-white hair, pearlescent pale skin, and uncanny ability to see and communicate with ghosts. Seeking to continue her education, Percy has come to Queen Victoria's London, to the Athens Academy. What she will learn there will change her life forever.

Athens Academy is the citadel of The Guard, an ancient order that battles the forces of evil. The Victorian Guard, led by professor Alexi Rychman, is incomplete. They cannot defeat Jack the Ripper— who is more than the serial killer he appears to be—or the greater monster his appearance heralds.

Percy's lifelong habit of concealment combined with Alexi's fevered search for the Guard's missing seventh member nearly prove disastrous as ancient Greek myths begin playing out in gaslit, Victorian London. Percy and her new friends and allies must overcome their preconceptions about each other and their own histories before they can set the world to rights.

"Hieber’s debut shows great potential, and readers will want to revisit her intriguing world." - Publishers Weekly on The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker

 

"I cannot recommend this book, this series or this author enough." True-Blood.Net on The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker

 

"Tender, poignant, exquisitely written." - New York Times Bestselling Author C.L. Wilson on The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker

 

“[The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker] is indeed, strange in its happenings and mood and beautiful in its romance and language.  Hieber has created a secretive, gothic, paranormal world as well as a character who will resonate with anyone who has found the beauty in being different.”

—Booklist

More Strangely Beautiful press can be found at http://leannareneehieber.com

Pre-Order via Barnes and Noble - Amazon - Powell's - IndieBound - From Tor / Macmillan directly - Mail proof of pre-order purchase to contests@leannareneehieber.com by April 25th, winner drawn April 26th!

Good luck, thank you for your support, and as always, Happy Haunting!

Updates, Asimov's Magazine Review, Appearances, Dreadpunk and more!

Darlings!

The whirlwind paces continue! DragonCon and Space Coast Comic Con were really wonderful across the board, amazing panels and audiences! I signed tons of books and sold a great deal of art! The rest of the month has seen me busy restocking and working on a few short stories, with Eterna Files book 2 edits up ahead.

This month, as you all should know, it is Halloween Awareness Month! And I'm all over New York City and the surrounding environs in really amazing capacities, whether giving ghost talks at local libraries (Hoboken, East Meadow) or signing books and selling art at amazing festivals in incredible historic, haunted locations (Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Morris Jumel Mansion) check out the upcoming APPEARANCES here on the website and come get a signed book and some one of a kind jewelry and art!

In spectacular Industry review news: I'm honoured that in the September issue of Asimov's Magazine I was given this truly incredible review for Eterna Files, I'm so humbled and in awe of the beautiful things said:

Eterna Moonshine of the Spotted Mind

The alert book-shopper will find an advance-publication quote from me adorning the front cover of Leanna Renee Hieber’s novel The Eterna Files (Tor, hardcover, $24.99, 320 pages, ISBN 978-
0-7653-5674-5). Without much real acquaintance with the author, I was motivated to provide a quote based sheerly on the high quality of the book. So I thought I would use a small amount of this column to explicate my admiration further.

The novel falls squarely into the steampunk genre, but exhibits a richer helping of metaphysics than is common in that game, and a bit more gravitas. Hieber’s MacGuffin is the quest for immortality,
surely a subject that can bear the symbolic weight. In the wake of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, a small group of eccentric talents are given the assignment of learning how to defeat death. Chief among these is our heroine, Clara Templeton, a psychic. We pick up her tale when the project is at a crisis point after many years. Several of the researchers have been brutally murdered, including Clara’s lover. Is the project doomed, or so close to success that it has aroused great powers?

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the British government has learned of the Eterna project and decided to steal or preempt it. They have assigned London detective Harold Spire to the case, and given him the assistance of the redoubtable Rose Everhart. Needless to say, presented with such a formidable array of allies and antagonists, many sparks, supernatural and otherwise, are going to fly. Hieber’s approach to the “science” of anti-death protocols is fascinating. (She even gets in a nod to Clarke’s Third Law: “All sciences, at their zenith, create what is tantamount to sorcery.”) Blending a kind of alchemy with unique “patriotic magic,” the pursuit assumes epistemological magnitude.

Says Louis, Clara’s lover (who continues to play a role as a ghost), “The key of Eterna, ma cherie, is to determine the boundaries of meaning. Nothing that may have meaning in terms of life can be overlooked.” This is a wide remit, and eventually Clara comes to wonder if they have bitten off more than they can chew. “Eterna was full of the restless living and the restless dead. It needed to die once and for all.”

Rich in conceits as anything from Alan Moore, Hieber’s novel mixes action and the emotional lives of its characters into a fascinating stew. Anyone who enjoyed Paul Cornell’s London Falling and The
Severed Streets will certainly cozy up to Hieber’s parallel depiction of questioning savants and heroes versus the forces of anarchy and despair." Asimov’s Magazine - September 2015 - Paul Di Filippo

(More about The Eterna Files here)

--
In GENRE news: I was also really psyched to be a part of the first ever DREADPUNK panel at DragonCon, "Dreadpunk" being a new word to talk about some of the great things happening in the Gothic Genre today, and to talk about those trends in new ways. Considering I exist under similar parasols as Steampunk and other retro-futurist genres, "Dreadpunk" helps me express the Gothic Horror underpinnings of a lot of my work and inspiration, without being beholden to the traditional feminine issues represented it traditional Gothics. The Daily Dot did an incredible article about the Dreadpunk panel and I was fortunate enough to be very featured. Check it out here.

Book Stuffs: THE DARK NEST CHRONICLES are now out across the boards; digitally, each as separate novellas 1-3, Dark Nest, Dark Nest: Reckoning and Dark Nest: Song of Saire or in the compilation The Dark Nest Chronicles, AND they have all been collected in a paperback edition available via Amazon and Barnes & Noble, so if you haven't taken a turn to this lesser-known Space Opera series of mine, go forth! These are action-packed quick reads with inspiring psychic characters you'll fall in love with and root for as they try to save their people from genocide.

O Ye Lovecraftian Devotees! I'm also quite pleased to have been asked to contribute a chilling and very strange (even for me, so that's saying something) piece for THE BOOK OF STARRY WISDOM, an amazing new high-end and very artistic Lovecraft volume currently funding HERE. The book features newly edited editions of the main cult of Cthulhu stories as well as original fiction from a slew of talents. I'm really thrilled to be in amazing company of artists and authors here, it's going to be a must-have volume for any Lovecraft fan. If you get a copy, everyone wins as the stretch goals will also be amazing!

Lots of new things up on the Etsy store! Tons of new Poe pieces honouring my favourite author and foremost inspiration (my best selling items!). Everything is one of a kind and original, never are two pieces alike so if you see something you like, pick it up before it's gone and never made again! (Commissions are welcome). BLOG10 is a coupon code for you fine folks, so don't forget to use it!

October will see the re-issue of my short story "Sea-Found" in Fantasy Scroll magazine, there will be an audio edition starring yours truly that will accompany the reissue as well!

As always, there's a lot going on in the Hieberverse so I shall try to keep you all updated here as best I can, thanks for being a part of these worlds! Happy Haunting!

Leanna's "Like" Contest for an Amazon Gift Card and Books!

My Dear Readers!

I am so excited to be gearing up to bring you The Eterna Files this fall, and so thrilled to be published by Tor/Forge. My new series continues my exploits in the Gaslamp Gothic; another Victorian Fantasy saga that builds upon a great deal of the themes I've been exploring in all my novels, with a large and colorful cast of characters (with cameos of Strangely Beautiful and Magic Most Foul characters) sweeping across 1880s New York and London. Quirky men and women battle, spy, worry, invent, plot, scheme, exasperate and adventure as a race for the "cure for death" brings far more troubles than either city could have imagined. Eterna Files book 1 will launch in February of 2015, but a teaser novella will release digitally this fall to sweep you all into the world! The Strangely Beautiful saga will re-issue in new, revised and improved editions soon thereafter!

In the meantime, I'm continuing to build my audience and reach, as my new partnership with Tor/Forge blooms. As you may know, this is a hard business. And I've certainly suffered some hard knocks with the closing of my first publisher. I fight tooth and nail to stay solvent, stay noticed, stay out in the marketplace and continue to stay true to all of my visions. But I truly can't do that alone. I can't do that without an audience, or a connected fan base. You, dear reader, have always been so vitally important. Here's a chance for some mutual reciprocity.

If you like my work, there are very quick, easy, free ways in which you can help support me. Little ways with big impact! A strong presence online garners stronger support from publishers and vendors, so the more reviews I have, likes on my Amazon Author Page, GoodReads traffic, for example; all this really adds up in helping an author navigate the vast sea of readership. In the end, it is all about the numbers, people. But I don't expect you all to do a lot of clicking and liking without entering you to win a prize! It's only fair; help me, help you.

Here's how it works. Below you'll find the RAFFLECOPTER form to enter. I'm focusing on raising the "like" level of my Amazon Author Page and Goodreads Profile, as well as garnering some more reviews for my most recent works.

Enter the Rafflecopter below to be registered to win! Three winners will be chosen in April. Prizes are a $15 Amazon Gift Card, and a chance to win one of my books of your choice! (Out of print Strangely Beautiful titles not available)  

Cheers and thanks and happy haunting! Please tweet this post and tell your friends!

Again, these stories could not happen without you, dear readers, thank you for your time and support!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BIG NEWS: The Magic Most Foul finale serializes HERE next month!

Magic Most Foul fans! You don't have to wait until November to get your fix on the next Gothic, Victorian, fantastical and paranormal adventures of Lord Denbury and Natalie Stewart! You can start NEXT MONTH! March 5th I am embarking on a new venture that is a very old venture indeed: serialization. Most Victorian era novelists serialized their fiction at some point into small pieces released in a number of weeks and months in various 19th century magazines. Charles Dickens' "Household Words" was home to many a famous story and novel serializing from one issue to the next. So what better to honour my Victorian tales but to serialize one?

Beginning next month, THE DOUBLE LIFE OF INCORPORATE THINGS, A Finale of Magic Most Foul will begin its first segment right here! For free! The goal is to have segments released consistently from March through November when the novel will then be available for sale in print and across digital platforms. If you think this is nifty, please consider donating to the cause. Donations will directly support this project; me, my editorial staff and the production staff that will be designing and formatting the electronic and print novels for sale. It takes a village to make a book. Any contributions at or above $20 will automatically receive a signed print copy of the novel in November, contributions of $50 or more will receive a signed novel and a limited edition 5 x 7 Magic Most Foul themed print by award-winning, multi-published fantasy illustrator Kelley Hensing. Just use the "Donate" button on the upper right sidebar and you'll automatically be added to the sponsor list at whatever level you choose, donations of any amount are appreciated to help the series reach as far as it can.

Think this is a nifty idea worth sharing? Tell your friends! We need as big of an audience as possible for the finale of Magic Most Foul! But don't let the word "finale" make you sad, this book is a launch cannon onto the next series! You'll see familiar faces and meet new ones who will be served up directly into my new saga THE ETERNA FILES releasing in 2014 from Tor / Macmillan! All my Victorian-set series are parallel worlds and they've only just begun entwining! More news about the second life of my STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL saga coming soon as well!

Happy haunting and we'll see you very soon to tell a harrowing tale!

Another Prism Award And USA Today Interview!

What an incredible week! My new 3 book deal for a Gaslamp Fantasy series with Tor / Macmillan was announced, I found out that The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess won the 2012 Prism Award for Best Fantasy Romance (my fourth Prism) and a video interview I did in April at the RT Convention with USA Today is now posted on USA Today's Happily Ever After! I talk DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul, what you can expect in THE TWISTED TRAGEDY OF MISS NATALIE STEWART and why I write Gothic Victoriana!