Guest Blogger: Leanna Renee Hieber, Author of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker

I'd like to welcome Leanna Renee Hieber, author of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, which will be released August 25th 2009. The book is a Victorian Gothic Paranormal tale filled with romance, ghosts and sure to be enjoyed by both teen and adult audiences!

I am thrilled to be here today talking about my new book, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. It’s the first in my Strangely Beautiful series, a ghostly, Gothic Fantasy novel set in London, 1888. It’s very special to me, having traveled a 9 year journey to get to this point. I’m very excited about release day, next Tuesday! And I’m very excited to share some background about the book.

Allow me to set the scene:

(From the back cover):

What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Considering how few of Queen Victoria’s Londoners knew of it, the great Romanesque fortress was dreadfully imposing, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met the powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadow, the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She knew simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow-white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gifts. But this arched stone doorway offered a portal to a new life, an education far from the convent—and an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death…

I was asked about the following themes and some of the research and inspiration that went into creating them, so here goes…

1. Greek Mythology

I loved Greek Mythology since I first heard of it in grade school. I memorized all the major Gods and Goddesses, but instead of being drawn to the most popular and powerful characters, I loved the smaller stories tinged with darkness like Pandora, or the quietly beautiful stories like Iris and the rainbow and Cupid and Psyche. I loved the Muses, the concept of a Phoenix, and most of all, I loved Persephone. I was so intensely curious about her. She haunted me like a ghost. I use only some parts of Greek Mythology in my work and invent a lot of non-traditional things. Like making the Phoenix a character more like an angel. I’ve invented new ideas on ancient themes. Inventing things is fun.

My idea of the Underworld was clear to me the moment I heard of it and it hasn’t changed since I read The Odyssey and the Iliad. It’s all wet stone, grey shadows and deep, deep darkness that while frightening, has a whispering allure. My Whisper-World, as I call it, will continue to be a setting in the rest of the series.

2. Victorian London

I have loved this era, the 19th century, forever. It was an odd thing to fall in love with as a kid, but I’ve been haunted by it for about as long as I can remember. It was a difficult era, a grandiose time, a civilized and uncivilized time (it sort of depended on where you fell in class lines and who had the power) and a time when some of my favourite books were written (Except for my very favourite books, the Harry Potter series).

Charles Dickens’ London was an early draw for me (I performed in Oliver Twist in school and loved it), as was Jane Austen’s England, and Bram Stoker’s London, and then particularly all the 19th century Gothic novels, from Wuthering Heights to The Phantom of the Opera, I was filled with inspirations from literature and that formed how I used the language in my own work. I studied the era in college, went on scholarship to London, and started adapting Victorian literature for the stage. The text of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker is an adapted language too, because I’m writing for a modern audience. The publishers I targeted wanted the book to have a flavour of the time period and the language, not an exact representation.

I surrounded myself with research books for some of the societal details, but as my characters lead exceedingly unconventional lives, the constraints of society meets a load of supernatural conflict. And that was the most fun part for me to write, where real history and supernatural invention met!

3. Ghosts!

There are a ton of ghosts in this book. Most of them are real. As in real, documented London haunts. These ghosts are the spirits my Guard (basically, they’re Ghostbusters) patrol in London. The settings in which I use the Jack the Ripper murders are also documented, many of the details about the horrific crimes are factual (while my “Ripper” remains supernatural).

For these details I turned to a few resources. I went on the fabulous London Walks during my travels to England, led by talented tour guides who told incredible ghost stories and led the way to the sites and set the stage of the murders on the Jack the Ripper tour. I rely heavily on Richard Jones’ Haunted London. And one of the most helpful and comprehensive resources I found for Jack the Ripper research is http://www.casebook.org/.

If you want a front row seat to some great ghost stories, follow along my Strangely Beautiful Haunted London Blog tour starting tomorrow, 8/22 and find out all the real stories behind the ghosts I feature in the book. Each day a different ghost story and a chance to win a signed copy of the book! The schedule and links can be found at my website www.leannareneehieber.com, click on the Haunted London Blog Tour page! While you’re there, check out my Contest page for details on how to win one of two cool prizes starting release day, 8/25!

Thanks, Kim for the opportunity to be here at your lovely blog! I hope your readers will pick up the book next Tuesday! Strangely Beautiful blessings!

Leanna Renee

Award-Winning author Leanna Renee Hieber grew up in rural Ohio where childhood memories were full of inventing elaborate ghost stories. Graduating with a BFA in Theatre from Miami University, a focus in the Victorian Era and a scholarship to study in London helped set the course for her books. While performing in the regional theatre circuit, her short plays such as Favorite Lady, were published, produced, won awards and continue to be produced in colleges and festivals around the country. She has adapted works of Victorian literature for the professional stage.

She hit the fantasy fiction scene with her novella Dark Nest, winning the 2009 Prism Award for excellence in Futuristic, Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. THE STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL TALE OF MISS PERCY PARKER is the first in her Strangely Beautiful series of Gothic Victorian Fantasy novels published by Leisure Books/Dorchester Publishing.
Visit Leanna at her Official Website HERE.

Author photos by http://www.taraleigh.com/

Leanna has been so gracious as to offer one lucky winner the opportunity to win

a SIGNED copy of

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker.

Please leave a COMMENT or QUESTION for Leanna about anything topic related to this post or her novel and you will be entered in the drawing!

The contest will run through September 10th 2009 and is open to US entrants only.

Thank You Leanna for taking the time to stop by and we wish you great success!