Cover Stories: Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

Cover Stories: Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber
Barnes & Noble features the complicated and intriguing journey towards a stellar book cover!

Strangely Beautiful The Musical! Sites and Sounds

Hello friends! Happy to report that The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, The Musical, now has three very important things: A Website: http://strangelybeautifulthemusical.com

A Twitter: http://twitter.com/misspercyparker

A Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/strangelybeautifulthemusical
Please have a listen, follow and "like"!

What's the latest news on the show, you ask? We're doing a private staged reading in New York City next month, and from there we'll continue to smooth out all the details and figure out where it will be put up on its feet in the regional theatre market before bringing it back to NYC when it's ready. If you visit the website you can hear our draft of the beginning of the show!

Strangely Beautiful blessings!

Oh, and ONLY 23 MORE DAYS UNTIL DARKER STILL: A NOVEL OF MAGIC MOST FOUL! Be sure to get in on the action! Signed Pre-orders via WORD NYC! http://tinyurl.com/darkerpre

Cheers!

Halloween Awareness Month: Giveaway Part Deux

WE'RE A MONTH AWAY FROM THE RELEASE OF DARKER STILL: A NOVEL OF MAGIC MOST FOUL!! - Sorry. Got a little excited there. But that also means there's no better time than now to get your signed, personalized pre-order copy via WORD Bookstore to go out to you on release day!


Now. GIVEAWAY #2:


I am running each of my Halloween Awareness Month giveaways via all my different social media presences, so today's giveaway (running until tomorrow, winner picked via Random.org) is up via my Twitter feed. I'm raffling off a copy of CANDLE IN THE ATTIC WINDOW: An Anthology of Gothic Horror published by Innsmouth Press and featuring my short story "At the Doorstep" set in the Magic Most Foul world. (Please note: Booksellers and Librarians, you can order the book for your stores / libraries at 40% off by following that book title link and ordering from Innsmouth Press)


RT my latest tweet about the contest to enter to win.


To get ready for Halloween Awareness Month giveaway #3, be sure to like my Facebook page and stay tuned there.

KEEP IT SPOOKY!

OCTOBER IS HALLOWEEN AWARENESS MONTH, And I've got prizes.

Ladies & Gents, it's October. My favourite month of the year. You know what October means: NATIONAL HALLOWEEN AWARENESS MONTH!

Fabulous New York things to do this month include:

1. The Great Pumpkin Blaze
2. Boo at the Zoo
3. Embrace your inner Slytherin. (Shouldn't we all?)

To share in the joy of this month, I'm giving you, dear readers, prezzies.
Each week of October I'm hosting a different giveaway, either here on the blog, on Twitter or on Facebook; I'm rotating, so be sure you're following each site.

First off? My partner in crime, the Diana to my Anne of Green Gables, the wondrously talented author, artist, Jill of all trades and princess, Alethea Kontis is featured in a just-released anthology that is very appropriate fare for Halloween Awareness Month:

DEMONS: Encounters with the Devil and his Minions, Fallen angels and the possessed - featuring Neil Gaiman, Kim Harrison, Maggie Stiefvater, William Peter Blatty and the aforementioned Ms. Kontis and many more!

And I'm giving away a copy! Signed, no less! Keep reading for details:

Also, it's only appropriate that I mention Alethea is also the author of the popular AlphaOops H IS FOR HALLOWEEN - which is something everyone should have for their little ones this season. And she is ALSO the author of forthcoming YA Fairy Tale magic twisted and made new as only she can, ENCHANTED. (Yes, you can pre-order it!) No, this is not the last time you'll see us talking about one another's books. She's the "Once Upon a Time" and I'm the "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night". Together, we're all your favourite kinds of stories in one.

And so, to kick off HALLOWEEN AWARENESS MONTH I've a copy of the DEMONS anthology, SIGNED BY THE AUTHORESS herself, to give away right here right now.

Extra entries if you Follow Alethea on Twitter and/or on Facebook.

HOW TO ENTER:

All you have to do to enter is tell me your favourite thing about Autumn! (Include follows so I can include extra entries. Winner by Random.org on Friday, October 7th!)

NEXT WEEK?

We'll be running a Twitter contest for a copy of CANDLE IN THE ATTIC WINDOW: An Anthology of Gothic Horror published by Innsmouth Free Press and featuring my short story "AT THE DOORSTEP" which is set in the world of DARKER STILL: A NOVEL OF MAGIC MOST FOUL.

DON'T FORGET!

Pre-orders are up for DARKER STILL at WORD Bookstore; get a signed, personalized (if you like) copy! Also WORD is hosting my 11/10/11 Launch Party at 7pm.

Cheers!! And remember, only YOU can hold Halloween in your heart, and keep it all the year!

Pre-Order a Signed copy of DARKER STILL at WORD BOOKSTORE!

Exciting news!

Sourcebooks Fire and I have parnered with the fabulous WORD Bookstore in Brooklyn, New York City, a fabulous independent bookstore, to enable exclusive, personalized (if you want), signed pre-order copies of DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul! If you're interested in supporting my work, this is a great way to do so and also to get an exclusive copy, especially if you can't make it to one of my New York City or Ohio events during release week. At only $8.99 for a Trade Paperback book, it's an affordable holiday gift for anyone and everyone in your life who might be up for a spooky, Gothic, romantic adventure! Please note: put any personalization requests into the comment field of the order.

We're really hoping this book hits big. And with your help, it can. Thanks in advance for your interest and support.

Pre-order a signed copy of DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul - and spread the word!

Praise for DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul --

"Hieber applies some real imagination to the story...A good romp with some effective suspense." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Spooky, tense, and wonderfully romantic." -- Kady Cross, author of The Girl in the Steel Corset

"A spirited Victorian heroine, a hot, haunted painting, and a murderous mystery that brings them together - readers will find Magic Most Foul most fabulous!" -- Mari Mancusi, Award winning author of The Blood Coven series

CHEERS! And, as Natalie would say... "Find your voice..."

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker and the New iPad 2 Commercial

Thanks to some nifty folks at Dorchester Publishing, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker can be glimpsed on the bottom center "shelf" of the iPad "bookshelf" in the new Verizon iPad 2 commercial! Check out the video, (pause at .06 because it flies by very quickly) and there sits this beautiful cover!

Neat!!



So now that Miss Percy is on television, it's only appropriate that she take the stage. :) We'll have some very exciting developments in Strangely Beautiful the musical this November!

DragonCon 2011

DragonCon always defies description. It's one of those 'you just have to be there' sorts of experiences. It's every fandom in SciFi/Fantasy/Paranormal converging upon Atlanta with a costumed vengeance. A swarm of geekery and fabulousness, ridiculous and out of this world, DragonCon is exhausting and over-stimulating, thrilling and then sometimes just scary. Like, you know, oh... OMG WEEPING ANGEL.




As always, DragonCon for me is a mixture of business and pleasure. The pleasure is, I'm an uber-fan of certain franchises as you all know (Harry Potter, Doctor Who, and lots of Tim Burton being at the forefront) and the interests that drive my fandom also drive interests and themes relative to my books. And I love geeking out with friends, while still staying true to my job; writing fantastical fiction.




Want to know how I balance these two? The Daily Dragon interviewed me and my beloved author friend Alethea Kontis! Check us out, and how we manage "pro" and "fan"!

On the business front, I got to do readings and signings and sell a bunch of books (Thanks, Larry Smith Booksellers!), network with convention organizers and editors and all that fabulous stuff. And see beloved friends and readers I only see but once a year. Due to my love for Mr. Burton, I got to speak on a Dark Shadows and Nightmare Before Christmas panel (Nightmare is my favourite movie of all time if I was only allowed to pick one), which was great fun, a Scary Fairy Tale panel discussing all our favourite 'once-upon-a-time' themes and how they've been changed and rearranged as well as how we as authors have made them our own brands of spooky-fabulous. Also our "Things that Go Bump in the Timeline" panel allowed the authors to discuss how we use paranormal in our alternate histories.

My aforementioned and pictured dear and fellow fantasy and YA author, Diana to my Anne of Green Gables, Alethea Kontis, brought back her popular Traveling Side-Show where I got to read "At The Doorstep" featured in Candle in the Attic Window: An Anthology of Gothic Horror - a short story that introduces Mrs. Northe from the Magic Most Foul world. That went over very well. And it's up for Pre-Order! Can't wait until November 8th when DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul releases? Go forth and learn about the forces behind my upcoming world!

And yes, oh yes, there were costumes. Which I take very seriously. (As does much of the convention.) As you know from last DragonCon and my rather passionate "Being Romana" post, I pride myself on a darn good Romana II from Doctor Who. This year, the challenge from editor Stephen Segal was Romana's Destiny of the Daleks outfit. The pink coat. You all know I don't wear pink. But I don't turn down a Romana challenge. So, for the love of the Doctor, I bring you the unprecedented me-in-pink, the DragonCon Parade, where I walked with the Doctor Who contingent. (First photo credit: Sarberry)


By the way, I should mention that the first line of my "Being Romana" post is "You never forget your first love". My only purchase at DragonCon was a T-Shirt with a Tardis that says: "You never forget your first Doctor". A shirt has never been so true. Nor do you ever forget the love of your first robot dog.
K-9!!


Romana eyes The Master warily, as she should.







My Romana II alongside Romana I - isn't she great? Aren't we pretty Romanatastic?






















A Theril from Warrior's Gate! Romana's destiny in E-Space is glimpsed...
























Editor extraordinaire and Peter Davison clone (and he who dared me into the pink coat) Stephen Segal in his Doctor "4.5" outfit:
























And let's not forget the Yule Ball and my Narcissa time. I was alas without my Lucius, Draco and Bellatrix as had been planned, and so my awesome Aeternitas friends and I all got together to make sure they all knew how much they were missed. But at least The Dark Lord was there to give orders:










And Unbreakable Vows were Vowed.
(Vladimir Snape / Platform One frontman Vows the Vow)




And a good time was had by all.

NOW KIDS, BACK TO WORK:
Just before DragonCon I finished up the rough draft of Magic Most Foul book II, title TBA, and now it needs some love and editing. So I'm off to another deadline, in the meantime, check out all my upcoming new work!
-"At the Doorstep" In the world of Magic Most Foul, featured in Innsmouth Press' CANDLE IN THE ATTIC WINDOW : An Anthology of Gothic Horror
- Get ready for my Steampunk novella, "The World of Tomorrow is Sadly Outdated" to begin serializing at Doctor Fantastiques Show of Wonders! Subscribe here so you don't miss it!
-ALSO, "A Christmas Carroll" (Strangely Beautiful #2.5) featured in A MIDWINTER FANTASY will be releasing in print in October! The pre-sale is currently 24% off at B&N!!

Huzzah!