Q&A with Author Leanna Renee Hieber (& GIVEAWAY) - CLOSED

Today, we have the lovely Leanna Renee Hieber, author of the wonderful book The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker on the blog. Her newest release and the sequel to Strangely Beautiful called The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker (how awesome and poetic are these titles?!) comes outs next week Tuesday, April 27. Please join us in welcoming her.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? What inspired you to write your first book/story?

I was twelve years old and had issues with the way The Phantom of the Opera ended and so I decided it was up to me to write a sequel (Set in 1888 - a year that clearly haunts me). Thank goodness that endless, sprawling, miserable drama of 1,000 pages and 20 different endings never saw the light of day. And thankfully never will. I set it ablaze in a ritualistic and overdramatic ceremony in our fireplace.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I began writing that book, at 12, I was a secret writer. It wasn't until years later that I confessed to having writing tendencies. I was far too nervous to share my work until I wrote, directed and produced a play during high-school and that sort of broke the ice.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Tie between Jane Austen, J.K. Rowling and Charles Dickens

Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)? A place you've always wanted to visit?
London is my soul's home and going there is heaven.

Your favorite musician/type of music you listen to while writing?
Classical music.



Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
I cannot wait until my friend Elizabeth Kerri Mahon's Scandalous Women comes out, a thrilling non-fiction book about notorious women of history, taken from her award-winning blog http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com. I'm also entranced with Julie Rose's new translation of Les Miserables (one of my favourite books of all time).

What was the hardest part of writing your just released book? Easiest?
Hardest: I can't tell you the hardest part or I'll give something away. But I wept. A lot. Easiest? Expanding Percy and Alexi's relationship and indulging Lord Elijah Withersby's unending sass.

What is next after Darkly Luminous? Do you have any current projects?
More "Strangely Beautiful"! I'm on to books 3 and 4 in the series. Book 3 is a prequel (likely will release March 2011) and Book 4 will continue with the Rychman familial legacy up into World War 1.

Now, let's talk about your new book The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker...

Hero: Professor Alexi Rychman

Heroine: Miss Percy Parker
Romance Subgenre: Gothic Victorian Fantasy / Paranormal
Setting: London, England, 1888

Your favorite secondary character and will you ever write this character's own book?
Headmistress Rebecca Thompson. And yes! She gets her own novella! Stay tuned for "A Christmas Carroll" (Strangely Beautiful #2.5) included in Dorchester's A MIDWINTER FANTASY anthology, October 2010)

Your favorite scene:
Oh, goodness. A tie between the tender moments of Percy and Alexi's home life and the EPIC final battle within Athens Academy.

Celebrity who'd might play your hero/heroine:
Well, when I began the series ten years ago, I'd envisioned Alan Rickman, and so he'll always hold that honour in my head. However if it were played today, I'd choose Richard Armitage (BBC star of North & South *swoon*, BBC Robin Hood, MI-5, etc.). Alexi must be played by someone who can be intense, enigmatic and brooding, can command a room with an iron grip, and yet be cut to the quick by a sweet girl who becomes a radiant tonic to his loneliness. Alexi needs a range of power, stoicism and gentleness. As for Miss Percy, well, I'm a professional actress so I'd like to at least audition for the eerie and death-pale Miss Percy. *grin* (You can see my run as Miss Percy for halloween at www.leannareneehieber.com/extras--brace yourselves, she's a unique lass.)

Book Blurb:

With radiant, snow white skin and hair, Percy Parker was a beacon for Fate. True love had found her, in the tempestuous form of Professor Alexi Rychman. But her mythic destiny was not complete. Accompanying the ghosts with which she alone could converse, new and terrifying omens loomed. A war was coming, a desperate ploy of a spectral host. Victorian London would be overrun. Yet, Percy kept faith. Within the mighty bastion of Athens Academy, alongside The Guard whose magic shielded mortals from the agents of the Underworld, she counted herself among friends. Wreathed in hallowed fire, they would stand together, no matter what dreams or nightmares—may come.

Doesn't that sound like an amazing read? The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker is the second book in the Strangely Beautiful series and it comes out on April 27th. Go forth and buy it!


GIVEAWAY
Now, if you haven't read the first book of the series The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker (my review here), here's your chance... Leanna is giving away a copy of the book to one lucky reader (US only please) of this blog who comments below. Ends May 1st.


I want to take this time to thank Leanna Renee Hieber for stopping by and sharing with us a little about herself and her books. If you're hankering for more, check out her website, blog and follow her on twitter.