Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Strangely Beautiful 30th Birthday of Miss Leanna Renee

Well the big 3-0 birthday party was smashing.
The celebration began with a lovely romp around
one of my favourite places on earth, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.













Where I took it upon myself, in my tiara, to become one with the art.






















































Miss Percy Parker even showed up to wish me happy birthday!
Thanks, Percy! :)














And I even let Destructo be princess for one second.














Before my sweetheart reclaimed me into a Bond babe...














Phase two, my peeps came and went in shifts, keeping with the Art theme by going to Art Bar.






















































And then on my actual birthday,
I went in to Dorchester to pick up these, my Advanced Reader Copies. See? It looks like a real book!! It isn't just a dream! Best birthday present ever!














A landmark day in a landmark year!
For those who wish to in some way be a part of the celebration, well, you could always preorder The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker... :)

Blessings!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Demons! 30 whole days of them!

Join me over at the fabulous Cynthia Eden's blog to help celebrate her 30 Days of Demons!
Today it's my turn as I talk about what appeals and what creeps me out about demons and why I use sinister, demon-informed characters in The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. (Plus you'll get to meet them in a little snippet!)

PLUS I'll be doing my first ever PERCY PARKER GIVEAWAY! My Advanced Reader Copies are coming in and so I'll be giving away a signed one. Be sure to comment to enter your name!


Thursday, June 11, 2009

Cross my Genre! Blogging today at Popculturedivas...

Pop on over to Popculturedivas and talk to me about what you do to stay in (or out) of your Genre. And since I can't stop talking about how much I love Star Trek (seen it 3 times) and particularly Mr. Quinto's Spock, I can't help but mention it as an example... Come and tell me your strategies.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

BEA and Lady Jane's Salon!

WOW what a past few days.

I got an inside look at the publishing industry at Book Expo America, got thoroughly overwhelmed and walked away with some fabulous books. I saw dear friends, made new friends, one of them a total and immediate kindred spirit, and learned a lot. And, yeah, schmoozed.

Here's the kindred spirit/BFF/Diana to my Anne and vice versa, NYT Bestseller Alethea Kontis. I just hijacked this picture from her blog. (I never remember to take a camera anywhere). Let's just say we were finishing each other's sentences by dessert and jinxing. We knew every reference the other one made. She even noticed that the red matter from Star Trek was the big red ball of mass destruction from Alias. She too is Spock over Kirk and a mutual devotee of The Rickman. That, my friends, is love.

When one is so busy in one's own rat race, it's so nice when the cosmos steps in and says: "You need to know this person." Happily noted.

In the sphere of journalism greater than mine, there's BEA and LJS-tastic coverage at Barbara Vey's fabulous Beyond Her Book blog, also I got some quality time with the fabulous ladies of RomanceNovel.tv who also have great stuff to say about BEA and Lady Jane's Salon. We appreciate their support so very much.

Thanks to blogger extraordinaire Kwana for this great photo of another blogger extraordinaire Katiebabs and I at the larger-than-life Harlequin booth.

Because of the fabulous talent in town, we had a fabulous Lady Jane's Salon on Monday night replete with the above bloggers all in attendance and giving their own wonderful renditions.


(Thank you as always RT Webmaster Rob for being my photo hookup, check out his rundown of the event) From Left to Right: NYT Bestselling Author Wendy Corsi Staub, NYT Bestelling Author Marjorie M. Liu, Award-winning authors Diane Gaston and Amanda McCabe / Laurel McKee.

Each of these talented authors read from four very different books and each of them brought something compelling and delightful to the table.


It's what I love about Lady Jane's Salon; we get to showcase the huge range of fiction that falls under our wide and welcoming umbrella. Founders Maya Rodale, Hope Tarr, Ron Hogan and I just sit back and go... "Wow"

What I love just as much are the fabulous supporters we draw constantly, readers, authors, the RWA NYC posse, and my dear friend from college Biz Urban who is an awesome photographer. Authors? Actors? Publishers? You need her to shoot your photos.

Brenda Novak's online auction to benefit Diabetes Research closed this week, my Strangely Beautiful gift basket including a signed copy of Dark Nest had many bids and raised $57! The total raised from all the wonderful donations was $270,611! Way to go Brenda and all the industry professionals who donated their time and talent!

In my whirlwind few days I now find myself in Ohio and relaxing at my childhood dinner table. I'm getting ready to attend the Lori Foster Reader and Author Get Together, a great event that also serves local charities back in my hometown of Cincinnati (Really I live north of Cinci in the middle of nowhere but people don't know where that is)

Because my parents are awesome, when I got in the car they asked if I wanted anything. I thought a moment, then replied; "Ooh! Soy Jerky!" I've been a strict vegetarian for years now but I do miss beef jerky and so Tofurkey Jerky is the super-best. When we walked into the big Health Food store, we saw this Golden Arches irony:












Welcome home, Ohio.


See you after the Get Together!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Dark Nest is a finalist for the Prism!

I'm thrilled to have just gotten the news that DARK NEST, my futuristic fantasy with a psychic punch, is a finalist for FF & P's Prism Awards in the novella category! I'm really honored and excited and I'm in terrifyingly talented company. I'm very proud of the friends and colleagues on this list.

Here's the official list!

(Permission to Forward):

Jennette Heikes & Theresa Kovian are pleased to announce and congratulateour finalists in the Prism Contest in alphabetic order:

Dark Paranormal
Immortals: The Redeeming by Jennifer Ashley
Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden
Mona Lisa Craving by Sunny

Erotica
A Mermaid's Kiss by Joey W. Hill
Carnal Desires by Crystal Jordan
Siren Singing by Isabo Kelly

Fantasy
The Dragon Master by Jennifer Ashley w/a Allyson James
Dragonborn by Jade Lee
King of Sword & Sky by C.L. Wilson

Futuristic
Fallen by Claire Delacroix
Moonstruck by Susan Grant
Shades of Dark by Linnea Sinclair

Light Paranormal
La Vida Vampire by Nancy Haddock
The Trouble with Moonlight by Donna MacMeans
Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready

Novella
"The Spacetime Pool" by Catherine Asaro
"Dark Nest" by Leanna Renee Hieber
"Kung Fu Shoes!" in These Boots were Made for Stomping by Jade Lee

Time Travel
Twist by Colby Hodge
Madman's Dance by Jana G. Oliver
A Sexy Time of It by Cara Summers

Young Adult
Cave of Terror by Amber Dawn Bell
CHOSEN: A House of Night Novel by P.C. Cast
Sleepless by Terri Clark

Category winners and rankings, as well as the coveted Prism Statue Award,will be announced on July 16, 2009 in Washington D.C. at RWA National and Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter at The Gathering.

Jennette Heikes, Co-coordinator for Dark Paranormal, Erotica, Novella & TimeTravel
Theresa Kovian, Co-coordinator for Fantasy, Futuristic, Light Paranormal &Young Adult
__________________

If you're an author and you write and/or appreciate Futuristic, Fantasy and Paranormal Romance, then you definately need to join FF & P, it's a diverse, knowledgeable and wonderful chapter.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Lady Jane's May Edition!


Oh, Lady Jane, how fun you are!

So our May Lady Jane's Salon featured the incredible ladies of Operation L.O.V.E whose Highland Press anthology is launching a whole new line of Military romance. A portion of the proceeds of Operation L.O.V.E will go the Special Operations Warrior Foundation which helps soliders and families of fallen soldiers with support and education. Let's hear it for more charity! Lady Jane happened to donate some of her proceeds to the cause as well.

Left to right here's Tara Nina, Anne Elizabeth and C.H. Admirand, (thanks to our resident media angel RT Rob for the photo!)

AND THEN... as if we couldn't get enough... the aforementioned media angel RT Webmaster Rob (that's my DJ name for him) SANG for us! Such great fun! Check out the video at the RT Blog.

AND THEN....
Since our other scheduled author couldn't make it. I jumped in since I have a novella in print, Dark Nest, and read from the beginning. Gosh, I thought while reading, I really like this book. I should write the sequel. Add that to my ever-growing TBW (To Be Written) pile!! Eek!

Here's the reading: (Thanks again Rob!)



See you June 1st! With an INCREDIBLE lineup! We've got NYT Bestsellers Wendy Corsi Staub, Amanda McCabe and Marjorie M. Liu! You don't want to miss it!

Cheers!