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. 

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!

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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! 

Announcing DREADFULESQUE, a new site celebrating women and femmes in horror!

I'm so thrilled that a new site celebrating women and femmes in horror launched today! DREADFULESQUE features reviews, commentary, essays, discussion on spooky, folkloric topics and more! AND they've a neat, affordable holiday gift guide for spooky-fun small and women-owned businesses! Two of my TORCH AND ARROW pieces are featured! Check them out at Dreadfulesque.com and follow them on Twitter and Instagram! Happy Haunting!

Live Your Favorite Things! Advice and Insights Designed for Any Artistic Individual!

 Check out this really fun interview with Actor, Teacher & all around gifted lady Kate Glasheen! In this interview I talk about a life in the arts and everything that has made me tick as a writer, performer & creative individual. Tips & insights for any and every artistic person! 

THE SPECTRAL CITY is 1.99 across all digital platforms, today only!

Right in time for A SANCTUARY OF SPIRITS, releasing in just 2 weeks, THE SPECTRAL CITY is on sale for only 1.99 across all digital platforms thanks to Kensington Books!

About THE SPECTRAL CITY:

“A spooky thrill—lovely and bold, with terrific characters and a glorious gaslamp setting that’s filled to the brim with beauty and peril” (Che

rie Priest, Locus Award–winning author of Boneshaker).
 
In turn-of-the century New York City, the police have an off-the-books spiritual go-to when it comes to solving puzzling corporeal crimes . . .
 
Her name is Eve Whitby, gifted medium and spearhead of the Ghost Precinct. When most women are traveling in a gilded society that promises only well-appointed marriage, the confident nineteen-year-old Eve navigates a social circle that carries a different kind of chill. Working with the diligent but skeptical Detective Horowitz, as well as a group of fellow psychics and wayward ghosts, Eve holds her own against detractors and threats to solve New York’s most disturbing crimes as only a medium of her ability can.
 
But as accustomed as Eve is to ghastly crimes and all matters of the uncanny, even she is unsettled by her department’s latest mystery. Her ghostly conduits are starting to disappear one by one as though snatched away by some evil force determined to upset the balance between two realms, and most important—destroy the Ghost Precinct forever. Now Eve must brave the darkness to find the vanished souls. She has no choice. It’s her job to make sure no one is ever left for dead.
 
“The Spectral City is The Alienist with Ghost Detectives . . . There is texture on every page and it’s a delight to read.” —Jason Henderson, author of the Alex Van Helsing series
 
“[A] personable cast, snappy prose, and intriguing premise.” —Publishers Weekly 

After picking up or continuing to enjoy THE SPECTRAL CITY, please hop over to our fantastic and unique PREORDER CAMPAIGN for A SANCTUARY OF SPIRITS , (Spectral City 2) with this amazing free Gothic art by Kelley Hensing included with purchase! If you're in NYC, be sure to join us at WORD, BROOKLYN Nov. 12 at 7pm for our launch party in conversation with Zoraida Córdova! Please RSVP so we know how much wine and snacks to have for you all!

For paperback pre-orders, signed and personalized via WORD: Click here! Or, after pre-ordering from any other retailer, digital or paperback, put in your order confirmation and mailing info here (mailing addresses will be discarded after the campaign) and you'll get this exclusive 5x7 art, signed bookmarks and more! 

Happy Haunting!

Take advantage of THE SPECTRAL CITY sale, today only, thanks to Kensington Books!

Happy New Year! Via Criminal Element, My Thoughts on Penny Dreadful, Crimson Peak and the Importance of Dreadpunk and The New Gothic

Happy 2016 everyone! May your year be beautifully spooky!

I've been in the throes of deadlines, having three - count them three - releases this year, the paperback edition of THE ETERNA FILES coming 2/2/16 (currently on a sweet discount via Amazon and Barnes & Noble), then the reissue of STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL books 1 and 2 in a new volume with new scenes and content, then the ETERNA sequel, ETERNA & OMEGA, coming this August! Whee! I'm involved in just as many other jobs in the arts as ever, so I'll try to keep you all posted as best I can. I've lots of convention appearances already scheduled on my Appearance page, so have a look.

I'm thrilled to have returned to writing some posts for Macmillan's CRIMINAL ELEMENT site, where I previously chronicled my love for things like Anne Perry, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and MI-5.

Due to my career in writing Gothic novels, I recently had the opportunity to speak at length about the importance of The New Gothic, explain a bit of what the new term "Dreadpunk" is all about, and why the show Penny Dreadful and the film Crimson Peak are vital pieces in the new mainstream, so hop on over to Criminal Element and check out this dark-and-stormy-night kind of post.

And STAY TUNED, because in the coming weeks I'm going to have multiple posts in which my ETERNA FILES characters will answer readers' questions as we count down until the mass-market paperback edition release. I'll be doing multiple giveaways of signed copies this month, beginning and ending here with a few blog tour stops to chat with some Gothic and Historical enthusiasts! More details soon, in the meantime, as always, cheers and happy haunting!

Leanna
Your Fairy Gothmother...
THE ETERNA FILES
STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL
MAGIC MOST FOUL

The Novelists' rebuttal to "The Novelist"... A humorous answer to Elle Magazine.

When Elle Magazine did a spread of a wardrobe feature of a "Novelist" (with a total price-tag of about $7k)... Some of us novelists reacted, (read: laughed), and author Lynne Kelly gathered our responses. Here is our rebuttal. I promise it shall amuse, enlighten, and entertain.

The Author's Wardrobe For Real

You'll note my offering sticks out like a great, black hole. *snicker* I am infamous for my Victorian Gothitude. But even all my corsetry combined would not add up to a $7K outfit (which would wipe out more than one of my advance checks in one fell swoop). No, the working author is not living Sex and the City style, that's Hollywood. (No way could Sarah Jessica Parker have afforded that beautiful Manhattan apartment on a columnist's salary alone). We're living, working, struggling artists, and while I'd not trade the author's life for anything in the world, let's be real about it.


But, writing aside, all this does make me think I need to start my Gothic Style Guide feature I've been meaning to do for quite some time...

Teaser Tuesday: A new, free short starring Nathaniel Veil and Lavinia Kent! In which our Gothic friends take Black Friday literally...

Greetings!

As you know, Dear Readers, we spent most of the year serializing most of The Double Life of Incorporate Things via this blog, and now the full novel is excitingly available via Kindle and paperback via Amazon, and also, via Barnes & Noble: paperback AND at last, NOOK, huzzah!

Last week ushered in the new Teaser Tuesday feature of fresh new content for your reading pleasure.

Today I'm directing you over to the fabulous Literary Escapism to be sure you don't miss a new little piece I did in honor of their annual Black Friday feature. H.M.A.M.B. style...

Since you know our infamously Gothic duo, Nathaniel Veil and Lavinia Kent from their Double Life adventures here, join them at Lord & Taylor circa 1881 for a literal "Black Friday" the denizens of New York aren't likely to forget....

Leave a comment there at the bottom of the post per the prompted question and you could win a signed copy of The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart!

Read, enjoy, share, and we'll see you next Tuesday for a new feature on the latest in the Hieber Gothic Victorian Fantasy matrix!

Cheers and as always, Happy Haunting!

Black Friday amusement: Lord Denbury in a modern Goth boutique

To celebrate Black Friday in a unique and amusing way, Leanna takes her dashing 19th Century hero, Jonathon Whitby, Lord Denbury, hero of the Magic Most Foul saga, shopping in modern times, bringing him to her favourite Goth store in Manhattan, Gothic Renaissance. Literary Escapism hosts her annual Black Friday author extravaganza, check it out! You really don't want to miss what Lord Denbury thinks about corsets... And if you haven't yet picked up The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart, get to it, you've got to meet Denbury's best friend Nathaniel Veil...

Interview at Nerd Caliber: Twisted Tragedy, Eterna Files, and making children cry...

Ashley of Nerd Caliber caught up with me at Octipodicon to talk my latest release, THE TWISTED TRAGEDY OF MISS NATALIE STEWART, my upcoming THE ETERNA FILES saga and... making children cry... Check it out: http://youtu.be/Yq2yCU7D6h0