A SANCTUARY OF SPIRITS on NPR, CRIMINAL ELEMENT and more! High Praise for the latest Spectral City novel!

Darlings! It's been a whirlwind release month full of high-praise for A SANCTUARY OF SPIRITS! Come join in the celebration!

It's been featured on NPR! Check out what the wonderful and talented

Maya Rodale has to say: 

"For a spookier romance, look no further than A Sanctuary of Spirits by Leanna Renee Hieber. It's 1899 in New York City and Eve Whitby, fearless leader of the NYPD Ghost Precinct — think lady ghostbusters — is confronted with a gruesome case involving the ghosts of children, a missing mortician and an especially creepy mesmerist. Fortunately she has the help of an assortment of spirits, mediums and the dashing Detective Jacob Horowitz who not a ghost and very much a man. He and Eve are courting — is it for the sake of appearances, or are real feelings developing? Eve fears losing her independence and ability to work if she marries, but her feelings for Jacob are becoming too real to ignore.

Readers may want to start with the first book in the series (this is the second), though starting here doesn't get in the way of enjoying this otherworldly mystery, gorgeous writing and slow burn of a romance with a man who truly understands a woman, ghosts and all." - Maya Rodale, Bestselling author, latest release: Some Like it Scandalous, for NPR - Read the full NPR article here!

-A SANCTUARY OF SPIRITS has been featured on Criminal Element! I LOVE this personal and heartfelt review from Megan Schuler that celebrates the atmosphere and immersive nature of the book, read her feature here! 

-See what THE GOTHIC LIBRARY has to say, Julia does an amazing job of examining my work and lifting up meaningful aspects that are so important to me. Hear her thoughts on The Good Death and more here!

-Avalinah's Books has SPECTACULAR feature on the Spectral City series, highlighting the diverse representation, especially in regards to disability and various physical aspects the characters deal with as they fight to be taken seriously. Check out the adorable illustrations created to go with this post, my heart melts!

If you haven't gotten your copy of A SANCTUARY OF SPIRITS yet, what are you waiting for?! 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 and Noble

WORD Brooklyn (For signed, personalized copies!) For personalization requests, please note who you would like the book signed to in the 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!

Amazon  

Cheers and Happy Haunting!

Leanna

http://leannareneehieber.com

THE SPECTRAL CITY has arrived!

Solving crime isn’t only for the living.  
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 Lieutenant 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.

From Leanna:

Dear readers, I'm so excited to share this brand new venture with Kensington's brand new Sci-Fi/Fantasy Imprint Rebel Base Books. This series has been in my head for years, thinking about what would happen to the Denbury clan in the next generation.

I'm thrilled to introduce you to Eve Whitby, daughter of Natalie Stewart-Whitby and Jonathon Whitby, Lord Denbury, stars of Darker Still and my Magic Most Foul saga, to return "Gran" Evelyn Northe-Stewart to the center of the story, and to introduce you to a diverse set of talented young mediums and the dashing Detective Horowitz. 

I'm eager to bring you eerie action and adventure at the end of the 19th Century, in gritty, grand, mystifying and electrifying New York City, where I have been a proud licensed tour guide for nearly thirteen years, sharing the thrills from the obvious to the obscure in this incredible place. 
Most of all, I'm thankful for your support of me and my work. 

This is a very critical book for me at a critical juncture in my career. If you'd like me to continue writing books, supporting this book will ensure I can. I'll be very honest that the last few years haven't been easy, I've continued to publish but the journey has been hard. If this book does well, it can ensure I can keep my head above water and write the next book. You can purchase this book in any format and know that you're not only directly supporting an author whose whole heart and soul and mission are in her books, but you're supporting a brand new imprint run by New York's last independently run publishing house, Kensington. Please support THE SPECTRAL CITY today and share this with other like-minded readers in your life! Cheers, blessings and Happy Haunting! 

Order Now via your favorite retailer! Indiebound will pair you up with a local independent bookstore near you!

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Indiebound
Powell's
Apple
KOBO
Signed, Personalized Trade Paperback copies via Etsy (Please place "to" requests in notes form of the order! Thanks! Note: Etsy orders will come with thank you prize pack from Kensington, no need to put in the order form with confirmation # for Etsy orders.)

Today, 11/27/18 by midnight is the last day to receive a thank you gift for your order via Kensington! 

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!

The Eterna Files (Book 1) in paperback is here! With praise!

Happy Paperback Release, THE ETERNA FILES!

Hello Darling Readers! The mass-market paperback edition of THE ETERNA FILES is now available wherever books are sold!

 

In celebration of this happy release week, and the fact that the sequel ETERNA & OMEGA is available for pre-order, I thought I'd share some very nice, lovely things reviewers and magazines have said about THE ETERNA FILES, book one in the Eterna Files trilogy with Tor Books:

 

"Hieber blends historical fact and paranormal fiction with ease, creating a world that is lush and fascinatingly strange, and reveals her secrets sparingly, keeping fans on edge for more information about these intriguingly powerful characters and the ties that bind them. Smart, boundlessly creative gaslamp fantasy." - RT Book Reviews

“A very different but unique book that definitely had me turning the pages wondering what would happen next. A very good start to what looks like a promising series.” – Books of Love

The Eterna Files is an intriguing tale of ghosts, spirits, the occult, politics, and espionage with complex and engaging characters.  Leanna Renee Hieber has brought the Victorian world to life in her novel.  The world in which her characters reside in is both romantic and terrifying.  The late nineteenth-century was on the precipice of immense change--a change that was both intoxicating and terrifying, which is reflected within the novel.  Leanna Renee Hieber knows her history and employs her knowledge well in her novel.  The Eterna Files simply crackles with the energy of the era, and is a haunting, lush, and intelligent fantasy.” – Michelle Hamilton, author of “I Would Still Be Drowned in Tears”: Spiritualism in Abraham Lincoln’s White House

“It’s always a pleasure for me to read something that’s not quite like anything I’ve read before. The Eterna Files is just such a book. There are ghosts and murders and kidnappings and dark magic and all kinds of other gothic goings on. Hieber’s prose is well wrought and seductive, and her knowledge of the Victorian era is formidable. The Eterna Files is a darkly gothic concoction, mixing mystery, horror and romance… well worth your time.” – Singular Points

“Addicted. I am officially addicted to Leanna Renee Hieber’s writing. I fell in love with The Eterna Files from the very first page. Hieber has a wonderful way of creating rich historical worlds that draw you in and keep you enthralled. It is difficult to imagine the days when America and Great Britain were enemies, but [the setting] is barely a hundred years after the Revolution and both countries are hunting the same prize. It is easy to see how both would see each other as the enemuy and not the ally they are today. If you love a mystery, gothic fiction, and an all-around good story, you need to read this book.” – RoseReads

"Excellent first installment in a unique new series. Hieber expertly blends intriguing supernatural elements and interesting, quirky characters in an authentic historical setting. Readers who enjoy a skillful mixture of history and paranormal elements will be well pleased." - Carol Malcom for Bitten by Books

 

"An interesting blend of genres with a unique premise." - The BiblioSanctum

"A case study in cliff-hangers. Hieber crafts a wonderful Victorian sandbox to play in, draping it in the fineries of the paranormal and mystical. The Eterna Files is a terrific ride set in a world that you'll want to return to. Fans of all things mystical, Victorian and goth need apply posthaste." - Pop Kernal

"A wonderful premise. Hieber is a great writer! I love her prose; it's romantic, detail oriented, atmospheric and very intelligent." - Talk Supe

"Rich in conceits as anything from Alan Moore, Hieber’s novel mixes action and the emotional lives of its characters into a fascinating stew." - Paul Di Filippo for Asimov's Magazine

“Extremely descriptive; the supernatural plot is intriguing. The author has offered up a rainbow of characters, from the guilt-ridden to the intellectual to the satirical, which will have readers champing at the bit for more.” – Suspense magazine

“Hieber carves out a chillingly reimagined Gilded Age in careful detail.”  - Kirkus Reviews

“The alternating plotlines seem equally urgent, riddled by murders and bearing the taint of madness. Both settings take the time to introduce a fascinating array of offbeat characters.” Faren Miller, Locus

“An incredibly gripping Holmesian gothic story with supernatural undertones that will send a cold shiver down your spine on the hottest of days. I felt instantly close to the main characters on both sides of the battle as the darkening plot twists whisked me toward the thrilling and emotional end. An engaging, fast-paced, mystery-laden story.” – The Found Girl

---

I'm very grateful for the lovely praise. I know the cliff-hanger ending of this novel has made some folks very nervous, don't worry, it will all be revealed soon as the series continues in just a few months!

If you aren't already aware, characters from my Magic Most Foul saga as well as my Strangely Beautiful saga appear prominently throughout the Eterna Files trilogy so be prepared to welcome back old friends to new terrors! (The poor dears!)  

I truly hope you'll all go out and support the book in paperback, digital or hardcover edition this week if you haven't already. (Thank you from the bottom of my spooky heart to all of you who have supported the book so far!) The first week's sales of any release are the most important and examined sales numbers we receive, so your support is extra appreciated these release weeks, though it is appreciated and vital at any time. If you like my work, please tell friends, family and like-minded readers as word of mouth is the backbone of any author's career! I have the best readers in the world and I want everyone to know it!

My convention season starts at the end of this month with the fabulous ANACHROCON in Atlanta, hope to see some of you there!

Thank you, bless you, and as always, happy haunting! - Leanna Renee

 

 

Eterna Character Insights and Signed Book Giveaways!

Hello Dear Readers!

We’ve a month to go until the mass-market edition of THE ETERNA FILES, book 1 in my current Gaslamp Fantasy trilogy with Tor Books, releases into the wild, seen here, replete with new parasol and spiffy review quote:

I am an extremely character-driven storyteller and none so much as in THE ETERNA FILES, a large cast novel that posits two “X-Files-ish” departments in London and New York in 1882 on a perilous crash-course while each office seeks immortality on behalf of their respective governments. What these departments get instead is a ghostly, ghastly window into hell while demons stalk their cities.

Because my work is so character-driven, I wanted to further invest in my characters in this series by allowing you, dear readers, to have some questions answered. I’ve collected a few questions via my online platforms and my ETERNA characters will be answering them all month, here and on various guest posts as my characters haunt the net. AND you see I’ll be hosting several giveaways for signed copies of this new- and very affordable I might add-mass-market edition. I hope that those who are already fans of THE ETERNA FILES will re-engage with my characters and those who are new to my series will find themselves intrigued and we’ll all be eagerly on board for book two, ETERNA AND OMEGA, when it releases this August!

We’re starting off these character insights with a question from one of my most thoughtful and considered readers, Gemma L, who asks this stunning question of my character Louis:

“In death, or at least the ghost state you are in, do you find there is the same propulsion toward purpose and growth that one feels in life?”

Louis Dupris is a young man who came to The Eterna Commission in 1880, up from New Orleans, with a vision of mixing scientific discovery with what he finds sacred in his Vodoun belief system. THE ETERNA FILES opens its first chapters with a great tragedy, and Louis finds himself addressing his work from the other side of the veil… He answers the question thusly:

Louis:

“I appreciate the gravity and weight of this important query. I was always driven in life, I find myself no different in death, however much like laws of physics, I find myself unable to gain as much traction. I mean this both literally and figuratively, as my ghostly feet do not touch the earth anymore, I float along like a feather in swirling wind. I do not have the same ability to keep a razor-sharp focus as I once did. But I yearn for the truth, to find out what happened to me, why our work brought out demonic presences who seemed threatened by what our commission created in that dim, isolated lab.

The thirst for answers is as vital to me as my love my darling Clara Templeton, muse of my work, the mind behind The Eterna Commision, fraught as it may have been. I love her perhaps more keenly in death. Ghosts who remain tethered to their work, to earth, to life, to love, I suppose by nature are pining beings. I am certainly hungry. Empty. Starving for details, action and resolution. And yet because of this quest I am not a husk, I am not without life, it’s just that life has changed so much.

I am growing accustomed to a thought taking longer to complete, death causing a prolonged state of pensive meditation. I have to force myself to appear to my brother, to Clara, to any colleague I might have spiritual access to, with the full awareness that their clock is in minutes and hours while my presence here in this grey between could be eternal. Time here is different. Temperature, weight and all physical properties are different. But my heart is unchanged and if there is one thing to celebrate about this change of state and status, is that I have access to a new knowledge, there are things I can discern in this space between life and death I could not see, nor hear nor grasp in corporeal life. This is what will keep my feet as close to the ground as possible as I run towards my destiny.”

Thank you, my dear Louis, thank you Gemma for the question, and thank you, dear readers, for coming to play with us. Have more questions for my characters, Louis or any of my 19^th century characters? All my worlds are parallel worlds, so characters from my Strangely Beautiful as well as Magic Most Foul novels appear in THE ETERNA FILES series!  If you’ve a question, please leave a comment below and my characters will get back to you!

Want to keep posted on my books right from the source? Tor Books has created an email list for my readers, it just takes one second to sign up so please do, you'll get first look at new content, first access to announcements, first chance at sales on my books and more!

This month I'll also be answering questions for:

Scandalous Women
The Gothic Library
Historical Non-Fiction Author Michelle L. Hamilton
So stay tuned for those links!

And now... Giveaways! Via Rafflecopter below, win one of three signed copies of the mass-market edition of THE ETERNA FILES and a signed book plate for the upcoming sequel ETERNA & OMEGA! US only please, thanks!


 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Announcing A New Book Deal: New Gaslamp Fantasy Saga with TOR!

Ladies and Gents it is that exciting time when I am now officially allowed to announce a whole new series!

I am beside-myself-thrilled to announce a new 3 book deal with a publisher I have always wanted to work with, Tor Books, Fantasy imprint of Macmillan.

Introducing the ETERNA FILES (working series title): A quirky, character-driven Gaslamp Fantasy saga set in 1882 New York and London, following two eccentric, unclassified governmental agencies during a paranormal arms race for immortality between the US and England.

Yes, I am blessed to remain in my very favourite time period and in my very favourite setting: a Victorian paranormal adventure driven by a madcap cast of characters. My three series are parallel worlds, so stay tuned for ways in which my other worlds may pass subtly through the Eterna Files, and prepare yourself for a big new cast of zany, gifted, odd and indomitable agents from New York and across the pond, positing two secret bureaus in the early days of America and England's national security service agencies. I'm having such fun with them already.

I'm not sure about release date for Eterna's Book 1, but you can experience an upcoming character in Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: A Collection of Gaslamp Fantasy (March 2013 from Tor) with Eterna likely launching sometime fall 2013.

Huge thanks to my readers and supporters, without you I wouldn't be able to make such an announcement! I do hope you'll stay tuned for future updates, also, within the next month or so I hope to have the first Strangely Beautiful book up for re-release. So a lot of exciting things are coming down the pike as I prepare for the release of The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart in November!

Cheers and blessings!