As 2009 looms to an end, we are now heading into a new decade. It’s amazing how much can happen in 10 years. Life changing things can take place, heck that can happen in a day. So it’s no surprise when I think about the past decade on how much has changed for me.

I got divorced, started writing as a possible career, moved twice, changed jobs twice, made friends, lost friends to ailments, lost family members, gained weight, lost weight, changed my hair style and color like 12 times at least, tried my hand at screenwriting, met some producers, went to a cool Hollywood conference, went on a couple of dates, realized I don’t want to date, watched my daughter grow up into a spectacular beautiful person with so much life ahead of her, joined RWA, got an agent, got a book deal, got another one, made a best friend for life, fired an agent, got another agent, wrote new stuff, changed directions, and now am going in a new direction…

And through it all there have been two constants, my love of books and my love of movies. I’ve read some of the best books ever in the past 10 years. And I’ve seen the best movies ever as well. I think the last 10 years has been a powerful time for both mediums. There have been new trends and new technologies that have taken us to new dimensions of storytelling.

Some stories (books and movies) that have made a huge difference in my life are:

LOTR - the visually stunning masterpieces that Peter Jackson created I think will be an almost impossible task to outdo. I remember crying through the entire 2nd movie, just from the visuals and the soundtrack, it moved me in so many ways

The Bourne trilogy - I’ve watched all three movies probably 20 times each, I’m not sure what exactly I find so amazing about these films, but I do, I think they are superior thrillers and I’d love to be able to tell a story in this way

Harry Potter - I know the first book was pubbed in 1998, but Pottermania didn’t take over until 2000. Both the books and the movies have captivated an entire world, I don’t think we’ll see a phenom like this for another decade, (I dont’ consider the Twilight phenom even in the same league as HP)

Graphic Novel movie adaptations - cool, that’s what I say about that, not everyone has been successful, but they’ve all be cool

The emergence of Urban Fantasy - some of my favorite books and authors are in this genre, this genre has provided me with hours and hours of awesome entertainment, I’d be lost without Kim Harrison, and Simon Green, and TA Pratt, and Mark del Franco, and LKH, and Charlaine Harris, and Rachel Caine

The emergence and dominance of the YA market - I’ve found the best books I’ve ever read in this market, The Hunger Game and Catching Fire are at the top of my list, there are some brilliant authors writing YA and I’m so happy that it is so prevailant and they are getting their accolades for stepping outside the box and writing something different

What has been the most significant thing for you in the past 10 years? Any books or movies that have stayed with you this decade and will last another one?

Happy Holidays to everyone!!! I wish that the next 10 years will be beautiful, bontiful and brilliant for each and every one of you.

 I’m kicking the Tour off here today with the fabulous Bradford Bunch – who always know how to throw a party - thank you so much for letting me join you!

 To celebrate the August 25^th release of my Gothic Victorian fantasy debut, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, first in the Strangely Beautiful series, my Haunted London Blog Tour will introduce you to some of the real, documented London haunts who “ghost-star” in the book.

 I’ve had a life-long love for the 19^th century, England and ghosts.  When I first set foot in London, I felt history sweep over me like a strong wind.  Secondly, I felt sure the city was alive not only with the pulsing energy of the living but the restless energy of the dead. When the character of Professor Alexi Rychman and his Guard of spectral police make their rounds, it is to any number of familiar London phantasms.  Since these characters are familiar to The Guard, I don’t get the opportunity to tell their full story in the book.  But these tales are too good not to tell in their full, spooky splendor…

 1. Bloody Bones -50 Berkley Square “The Most Haunted House in London!”

 The Georgian façade of 50 Berkley Square is plain.  But inside, it’s been mayhem, perhaps since its foundations were laid in the 1700s.  In the 19^th century this address was considered by Charles Harper, in his 1907 publication Haunted Houses to be “the Most Haunted House in London!”     

50 Berkeley Square

“…it seems that a Something or Other, very terrible indeed, haunts or did haunt a particular room.  This unnamed Raw Head and Bloody Bones, or whatever it is, has been sufficiently awful to have cause d the death, in convulsions, of at least two fool-hardy persons who have dared to sleep in that chamber…”

 There are several theories as to why the very bricks of this Georgian-style building can cause a palpable shock to the psychically adept, the most chilling is that the lunatic brother of a Mr. Du Pré was once locked up and fed through a hole in a door due to his extremely violent tendencies and his ghost remains therein.  Two deaths have been attributed to the premises. A nobleman died of shock to his system soon after seeing something he couldn’t even speak to describe. Due to the reputation of a hideous entity residing within, the building could not keep tenants.  Strange lights were seen in windows, disembodied screams as well as the sound of a heavy body dragged down the staircase could be heard at night.  The second death occurred when two trespassing sailors awoke to heavy footsteps.  The door of the haunted room flew open and a horrific, formless mass began to overtake them.  One sailor escaped and returned with a policeman, only to find his friend’s corpse impaled on the railings outside, terror on his face.

… Here’s how Berkeley Square makes its “Ghost-appearance” in the The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker:

-

             Entering the dank shadow of a nearby alley, Rebecca sighed. “Fifty Berkeley Square is causing trouble again,” she remarked. As was often the case, she was the first to feel the burning in her veins.

            “The usual? Noises?”

            “Yes, and moving lights. Books ejected from second-story windows, blood dripping from their bindings. It will be rather a mess.”

            Alexi sighed. “Shall we clean it up, then?”

            She shook her head. “Let me handle it.”

            “Rebecca, Bloody Bones is a trial. It’s not a task for you alone.”

            “Alexi, please. You’ve enough to worry about,” she assured him. When he raised an eyebrow, she asked, “You truly think I cannot arraign the subject myself?”

            Alexi was silent.

            “Shall we bet on the matter?”

            Alexi’s lips curved. “Why, Headmistress, you surprise me. I didn’t think you a wagering woman.”

            “You press me to strange deeds, Professor.”

            “Indeed. Well, then: a bottle of my favourite sherry. It shall await me at La Belle et La Bête upon your failure. I do believe Josephine keeps several in stock—perhaps for just such an occasion.”

            Rebecca grimaced. “While I have every faith in my success, I do wish your tastes were less expensive. But, a bottle of sherry it is. And now we’d best get back to Athens.”

            “Should we?” he asked.

            “It is the first day of class, Professor, and you have students to terrify.”

            “Ah yes, so I do.”

—- (End of Excerpt)

My research relies heavily upon Richard Jones, one of the founders of the fabulous London Walks and author of the fantastic compendium “Haunted London” published by Barnes & Noble Books, visit him at www.haunted-london.com.  Come visit me at www.leannareneehieber.com to find out more about The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker and follow along on the rest of the tour!  There’s a Contest too, so stop by and check out the details. And of course, I hope you’ll pick up The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker at a bookstore near you and that you’ll love it as much as I loved writing it.  

Be sure to leave a comment to be entered to win a signed copy!  One entry will be drawn randomly at Midnight 8/22 ! (US mail only, please)

Blessings!

Leanna Renee Hieber

www.leannareneehieber.com

www.twitter.com/leannarenee

I love when a book is set in Europe.  I don’t know what it is about European settings and in essence the people that draws me in.  It has that…Je ne sais quoi type of sensation. The thing I can’t put my finger on.

I’ve been to Germany and Austria and the Netherlands.  I loved it there.  I could wax poetic about the way I felt when roaming the cobblestone streets or touring the spectacular cathedrals and castles.  But no one wants to hear my poetry…trust me.  I long for the day that I can go back to those places, and add more to my touring schedule…places like France.  I really want to travel through France.  My sister lived there in a tiny village for a few months and I envy all the stories she has about her time there and the pictures of all the quaint towns and people she met along the way.

I long to see Paris, and Marseille, and Nice, and Lyon, and Nouveau Monde.  Say what?  Nouveau Monde?  Yes, that’s right.  It’s that picturesque city where the Otherworlder community has congregated.   Vampires and lycans and witches, and even humans live in relative peace and harmony in the beautiful progressive city.   It has much of the same look and feel of Lyon, with a long and wide river winding its way through the bustle of the city.   You should go there.  It’s gorgeous.  Just watch out for the nightlife…they just might bite.

(pictures of France here)

Nouveau Monde is the city in France that I constructed for my new book THE VAMPIRE’S QUEST.  In this book, my hero Kellen Falcon, travels from the secret city of Necropolis in Texas to the much loved and known Nouveau Monde.  He’s searching for a cure for the rare vampiric blood disease Sangcerritus that he’s just happened to contract.   But there in the enthralling city of Nouveau Monde he finds so much more.  Like fiery red-headed Sophie St. Clair, a spit-fire of a woman and a fierce lycan.   He faces the toughest battle of his life there, both for his life and for his heart.

Romantic Times magazine says “This is a fantastic supernatural thriller from start to finish. Anna takes two supernatural beings and makes us believe the romance and attraction between them are real.”  And they gave it a TOP PICK for April.

What kind of settings do you love?  Europe?  Asia?  Good old America?  Canada?  Why aren’t more books set in Canada?

What kind of settings do you long for?

We all just want to be big rock stars
Live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We’ll all stay skinny ’cause we just won’t eat
Hey, Hey I wanna be a Rock Star

Yep, from about the time I turned seventeen until I was about twenty-two this was the life I wanted. I’d always sang mind you, but I think it was Jon Bon Jovi that put me over the edge. I loved him. Wanted to be (with!) him! I fell in love with the beauty of long haired rock gods and I wanted in. I didn’t want to be the groupie, I wanted to be the Rock Star!

And I did it. Told my parents I was not going to University and was going on the road and singing for my supper. Lucky for me they understood and just let me go. So, I spent two years on the road travelling all over Canada, fronting an all girl rock and roll band. We had fun. Like a lot of fun, and in between singing six nights a week, and sometimes seven we wrote some songs and lived the life.

But trying to make it in music is hard. There are thousands of singers and bands doing the same thing and a lot of it is timing.

Turns out I didn’t like starving so much and after two years packed it in. What I did discover, was the fact that I love not only to perform, but I love to create. Words move me, whether they’re in music or on the page. I’d always loved reading and the next step was logically to write. Which I did. I just had to take a little detour with husband, kids, dog and so on.

But, I got there eventually. I think now, that I was always meant to be a writer and would have found my way down that path at some point. Like I said, timing. The fact that I actually sold is just icing on the cake.

Made me wonder what path other writers took on their way to publication. Did they always know? Or did they find their way there randomly. What other talents do the many authors I’ve gotten to know over the past year have? What cool facts are they hiding in their closet?
Anyone want to share?

As for me, I’m still a Rock Star in my own little corner of the world! The picture up top is a sneek peek of our last gig! Check out the name of the bar! And um, it’s not what you think! It’s to do with Harley’s!

A few days after my last post here I got my cover for Laid Bare - a contemporary, menage, erotic romance out from Berkley Heat on August 4

Coming August 4 from Berkley Heat

Unexpected Desire…

It’s been ten years since clean-cut, sexy-as-hell police officer Todd Keenan had a white-hot fling with Erin Brown, the provocative, wild rocker chick next door. Their power exchange in the bedroom got under his skin. But love wasn’t in the cards just yet…

Now, life has thrown the pair back together. But picking up where they left off is tough, in light of a painful event from Erin’s past. As Todd struggles to earn her trust, their relationship takes an unexpected and exciting turn when Todd’s best friend, Ben, ends up in their bed—and all three are quite satisfied in this relationship without a name. As the passion they share transforms Erin, will it be enough to help her face the evil she thought she had left behind?

It’s so pretty I squee every time I look at it! Nicely enough, I sold the sequel to Laid Bare just days after getting this cover! I still don’t have a title but I’m hoping to get an agreement on one soon because I’m the kind of dork who has a hard time writing without one. This book will be Brody’s story. Brody is Erin’s older brother, a man who took in his siblings to raise when he was just 19. They’re all successful people now, as is he. He’s spent all of his adult life parenting his siblings and now he’s not looking to be responsible for anythone or anything else! He sure isn’t expecting Elise Sorenson to enter his life.

This one will be out in January of 2010 and I’m currently writing it.

On that topic -

The heroine in the book I’m writing now is a ballet teacher but she used to be a principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre (although I may have to change the company depending on licensing issues). She’s different from many of my heroines so far, not as outwardly emotional and expressive but in a lot of ways, she emotes through her body when she dances.

As I was thinking about her, about who she’d be in relation to who Brody is (and I wrote him in Laid Bare so I knew him much more as I began to write the proposal). I wanted her not to be his opposite, but with core things very much like his, but outwardly different. Her mode of expression also through art but what or how? And then I thought about ballet and dancing. I love ballet. Like, really, really, really love ballet.

When I was ten, a woman my mother worked with had a son who danced with the Royal Australian Ballet and he came to visit her in Los Angeles and with him, came tickets to a gala at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach for the American Ballet Theatre. This was huge and a moment in my life I’ll never forget (I still have the program tucked into a book Lois - our friend - gave me for my birthday a few days before that.) A gala is often a chance to see bits from the season so it has several acts, each with different styles and it’s wildly exciting for people who love ballet. And even better, it’s a great excuse to get dressed up. We had these amazing seats because of our friend’s son and that night I knew I’d love ballet forever. I wanted to be Cynthia Gregory when I watched her dance the Grand Pas Classique with Fernando Bujones (both of them such amazing, amazing dancers).

That night, I don’t think I can really put into words how it changed my life. I was this kid who watched ballet on PBS. We didn’t hob nob, we couldn’t afford lessons or anything. I’d never seen it live and even later in my life I hadn’t seen anything that could touch it until I was an adult. Something inside me was set free by the beauty I saw that night. By the way the dancers moved and carried themselves. It’s one of the most beautiful things imaginable to see ballet live.

This is the Grand Pas Classique with music by Auber - I looked for Bujones clips because I love how he looks when he dances but the only one I found was of poor quality. This one features Sylvie Guillem, who is one of the finest ballet dancers ever. It’s worth a watch because she doesn’t allow her dancing to be filmed these days.

This is very a very classic, very beautiful piece. Look at the balance required, the timing, the strength and poise. It’s one of my favorite pieces when done by a good company because it’s lovely to look at. It had embedding disabled but the link works. When you watch closer to the end and see her freaking balance during her turns, it’s amazing. She’s flawless, like a thing of magic and air.

That night we saw The River as the closing piece - this is Cynthia Gregory above performing part of the River (with music by Duke Ellington and choreography by Alvin Ailey)

Anyway, I’ve been watching a lot of youtube, thinking about Elise, about what she’d look like, how she’d carry herself and so I thought I’d just share a bit of that, and a bit of me, with you all.

Don’t forget to enter the Taking Care of Business ARC contest at my blog (or megan’s blog)! Have a great week everyone!

The top of my head blew off Monday night. All because of a technical issue with my DVR…which I hate…but that’s a rant for another day. Bottom line, something I had looked forward to, a simple pleasure, had been ruined by something becoming unnecessarily complicated.

I fixed the problem on Tuesday (and for a complete description of how I did it, see my blog for my rant) but the sour taste remained for a while.

So I found another simple pleasure. Music. I turned on my iTunes and cranked up my new favorite song, We Are Okay, by Joshua Radin. It’s on his new album, Simple Times, and it seemed just right to listen to an album called Simple Times when I was in search of simple pleasure.

Nothing complicated, nothing dramatic, just something feel-good, feel-good. You know what I mean? So when Joshua sang “we are okay, we are all right” — well, I can go with that. I can be okay, I can get into being all right. I can let go of that frustration and blah feeling, and just get into the fact it’s a brand new day and for me, a brand new year and season of renewal.

I can face the new year with optimism, not antagonism. I can take a deep breath. I can dance. I can eat something good, I can smell a flower, I can write a story. A good story. I can look around and appreciate everything in my life and understand if the worst that ever happens to me is that I can’t get a stupid remote control to work my tv, then I’m a lucky woman.

I can be reminded, as Josh says in his song One of Those Days — “it’s just one of those days.” And they pass, those days. Bad times pass, and we are okay.

That can apply to a lot more than a broken remote control.

M

Saturday night I went to see Santogold with my friend April, fellow author and all around hilarious person Mark Henry and his faboo wife, Caroline.

I love this song - it was on the tracklist for Relentless.  The same back up dancers in this video were there too and I gotta say, I love them. LOVE them. I watched them more than I did her.

I love to see live music. I don’t go as often as I like to because I need to do it all around my kids and deadlines and I don’t live in the heart of the city either. But every time I go I am reinvigorated.  I love to see people doing creative things and Santi White (the woman behind Santogold) is so genuine and fun and clearly she loves doing what she does.

Mark and I have decided we either need to BE back up dancers or we need some of our own. I want back up dancers, you know to come into the room before I do and warm it up by bustin a move or three. Any takers?  I pay with top pot donuts.  Just sayin.

There was a dude in a gold lame turban with a fin on top. I’m not joking. I hope mark got a picture. There were also gold lame jackets and pants and a few headbands. Unless I’m a back up dancer, I can’t see dressing like the band. But I’m just not that cool apparently.

She brought people up on the stage for Creator - including an 11 year old boy who was totally adorable but I hope he had earplugs in because holy cow it was one of the loudest shows I’ve been to in a long time.

On top of all this wonderfulness - I’m celebrating my twentieth wedding anniversary on Wednesday! Of course we can’t get away like we’d orginally planned but we’re hoping to do something mid next  year to celebrate instead.

Then to Emerald City - my RWA Chapter conference coming up the 10, 11 and 12.  If you’re in the Seattle area, I’ll be doing the booksigning at the Bellevue Hilton from 4 - 6 on October 11 along with many other wonderful authors so come by and say hello!

Y’all have a great week! Don’t forget Anya’s Chosen Sin officially releases tomorrow, October 7!

I’m pretty straightforward about writing. At its best, it is truly magical but most of the time it’s a matter of hard work and perseverence. I don’t personally subscribe to the idea of muses or of a lot of writing rituals. Most of my writing rituals revolve around notebooks and colored 3×5 cards with character notes and story points on them, LOL.

One thing I do truly subscribe to is that each story has a good sense of itself if you just let it. By that I mean, I can plot a story and I usually do have a somewhat solid structure in mind when I write, even an outline in many cases these days because when you sell on a partial or a proposal, you need to sell the idea so you have to write an outline of some sort. So I can have that outline but I know, as I write, things will reveal themselves to me that I had no idea of at the outset. This is something I can’t plan ahead on, it’s something I personally find magical and I never know what or when it will happen in any given story but it always does in some way.

Most often this is about character details, things I didn’t know about my characters until I began to write them. Liv Davis in Chased for instance - I didn’t know her mother had died when she was young and that she’d walled a part of herself off because of it. I didn’t know it until I got about halfway into the writing and it just came out. It happened to me recently with Relentless when I got to know Abbie and her real motivations, who she really was, came to me. It changes the book, layers in it ways you can’t plan in advance.

That’s the beauty of the creative process, it’s like alchemy and I truly love it when it happens. Well sometimes I get annoyed because I’ll have to go back and alter the earlier stuff to adjust for something I learn later on, LOL, but still, it’s wonderful and I love it.

Right now, I’m writing Outshined, a contemporary erotic romance for Berkley and something I hadn’t planned on AT ALL just jumped at me so many times, no matter how many times I tried to fend it off, that I’ve finally given in and let it happen. I now have to hope it works, LOL. Sometimes you have to fight off a story idea that tries to invade your book but other times, I give my story her lead and in the end, I think the story is better for it.

I’m nearing 64,000 words so I’ll let you know when I finish the first draft and go in to edit.

BTW, you have until noon pacific today, August 11 to enter a contest at my blog to win a copy of my upcoming Cascadia Wolves book - Fated.

Summer is here. Which means my kids are home and my time is taken up differently so I have to guard my schedule more carefully or I won’t get my work done. And I have a book due July 31 and another one in September so I can’t give in to the long, bright, hot lure of summer lethargy.

Sometimes when you’re caught up in a bunch of deadlines, your to do list takes over your life and you forget the wonder of popsicles and playing in the backyard and a cold margarita or beer on a hot day. So I try, very hard, to remember the magic of sunsets at ten pm and to squirt my kids with the hose for no other reason than to glory in the sound of their suprised, joyful giggles.

In an around three summer book releases and my deadlines. Because goodness, why do this if I can’t be joyful?

Happy summer to you all. Don’t forget to keep some money near the door so you can run with the kids when you hear the ice cream man!

Lauren

(oh and you wanna check out those releases - check my website) To celebrate summer - in this hemisphere anyway - I’m giving away a print copy of Making Chase or What Happens In Vegas - winner’s choice. Just comment here with your favorite thing to do in summer. I’ll choose a winner at six pm pacific/nine eastern, today June 30

**WINNER - is GRETA! Send me your mailing address and your preference between What Happens in Vegas or Making Chase and I’ll get the book your way! laurendane at laurendane dot com

I had a whole blog started about bathing suits and blogs and how they’re alike in that you want both to make you look GOOD and not make people want to throw up into their mouths, but I figured we’d all heard that before and we knew better than to be morons in public on our blogs, so I’ll just stop right there and talk about something else, ‘kay?

Now if only I had something to talk about. 

We’ve covered hot guys, we’ve covered writing about sex, and we’ve talked about inspiration, the muse (or lack thereof) and the fact that as professional writers it’s our job to put our butts in the chair and hands on the keyboard and write instead of farting around all day on the ‘net or playing the Sims 2 or Guitar Hero on the Wii. We’ve covered music and movies and upcoming books. 

What’s left?

Well, I’d like to talk about all of that again and then some — how being a writer means that everything  you do, every moment, is somehow always tied into the work. At least it is for me. I collect stories the way some women collect shoes. I want to learn about people because listening to them talk about their lives and what’s going on in them helps me find new inspiration every single day. Because even though I have a pretty deep well, not everything I pull up out of it is fit to see the light. Sometimes what comes up in the bucket stinks and falls apart into sludge and I have to throw it away. It really helps, sometimes, to have someone else’s bucket to scoop from.

Something as simple as the story of how a couple met can springboard me into a whole, vast wonderland of WHAT IF. A comment, a phrase, a casual mention of someone’s favorite song can all lead me to add the small details to a character that make him real to me (and hopefully, to you.)

My best friend since junior high got me a t-shirt that says “Be careful, or I’ll put you in my novel.” And that’s so true. Everything I see and hear finds its way, somehow, into the work. Most of the time I change it to protect the not-so-innocent, but it still came from something I came across in my day.

I look at the world through a filter. I listen. I pay attention. And then I get lost in the world inside my head; I let down the bucket and pull it up and sift through the contents and hope to find something worth using. Sometimes I remember where it came from. Sometimes I don’t. But in the end, it’s all big jumbled mess inside my head and I do my best to mash it all together into something palatable.

I can’t imagine what it would be like NOT to be a writer. I can’t imagine how it would feel not to spend so much time taking WHAT IF and turning it into AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED NEXT. I can’t imagine not…imagining. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

What is one thing about yourself you can’t imagine ever changing?

M