CONTEST: Author Spotlight: Leanna Renee Hieber

Leanna Renee Hieber, author of Darker Still, has kindly taken time out of her busy schedule to drop in and answer some of our questions about her wonderful book! Before reading the interview, you can read the review of the book HERE.

I was obsessed.

It was as if he called to me, demanding I reach out and touch the brushstrokes of color swirled onto the canvas. It was the most exquisite portrait I’d ever seen–everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable…utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.

There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. Trapped within his golden frame.

I’ve crossed over into his world within the painting, and I’ve seen what dreams haunt him. They haunt me too. He and I are inextricably linked–bound together to watch the darkness seeping through the gas-lit cobblestone streets of Manhattan. Unless I can free him soon, things will only get Darker Still.

A Midsummer Night’s Read (MSNR): Leanna, thank you so much for taking time to answer some of our burning questions about your Young Adult debut, Darker Still!

Leanna Renee Hieber(LRH): Thank you! I am thrilled to be here!

MSNR: It is clear to me, as a huge fan of Victorian Literature, that a lot of the gothic novels published in the nineteenth century were very influential on your creation of Darker Still. Is there any particular works that really influenced the text?

LRH: Absolutely! My most formative influences as a reader were classic, 19th Century stories and paranormal novels (Poe, Wilde, Stoker, Shelley) and classic fantasy novels (Tolkien, Lewis) and horror novels (Stephen King), all these informed the stories I wanted to write. I loved the paranormal and the fantastical; I have very early memories of telling ghost stories to scare my friends and my girl scout troupe and loving every minute of it. I started my first novel when I was about 12 years old, it was a sequel to The Phantom of The Opera, set in 1888, so the Victorian era has long appealed to me. I adore the rich and delectable language of the Victorians. Big words are sexy. I also like making up magical things. Put those sexy big words and rich language alongside magic and ghosts? Music to my ears.

MSNR: What is your favorite Victorian/Gothic novel? What would you say to convince someone to read it?

LRH: The Picture of Dorian Gray. It’s creepy, sensual, unexpected, rich, and it’s short, so don’t be daunted!

MSNR: Did The Picture of Dorian Gray influence the plot of Darker Still?

LRH:
I suspect my above answer indicates yes! 🙂 A novel about a haunted, changing painting? Oh, yes, Dorian Gray and stories by Poe introduced haunted paintings beautifully. Oscar Wilde is a formative influence for me, as a playwright, actress and author. I asked for his blessing at his grave-side in Paris. As I listed him first in my acknowledgements, I’d like to think that considering my life in the theatre and as a novelist mirrors his interests, and that I have my own very distinct style, that he and I would have been friends. 🙂

MSNR: What made you decide to venture into the wild world of Young Adult literature?

LRH: My Strangely Beautiful saga is YA friendly with a teen heroine and PG-13 content, so my voice was already leaning this direction. Harry Potter got me obsessed with reading and writing again after a bit of a dry spell, so I wanted to pick up with something as magical, epic yet immediate and intimate as YA can be.

MSNR: Did the (internal) voice of Natalie speak to you? What made you decide to make the main character of your novel mute?

LRH: Yes, I can’t say what exactly influenced me to write her, it’s more that she sort of wrote me. There are certain characters that hit me like a ton of bricks. Miss Percy Parker was like that in Strangely Beautiful, but entirely opposite as she’s so shy. Natalie is a spitfire despite her odds, and I love her for it. All I can do is sit back and let her drive the carriage. I knew I wanted Natalie’s world inside and outside of the painting to be profoundly different, and so her speech was a way to do so. I also think the theme of “finding one’s voice” whether literal or figurative is something we can all relate to.

MSNR: There is some interesting information about the occult and the use of Egyptology in the magic that imprisons Lord Denbury. Did you have to do a lot of research on this, or did you combine the mythical elements in your own fashion?

LRH: I worked and created the magic system entirely on my own, following some of my own particular interests. I believe in the supernatural and I also believe in negative forces. I did not want to consult specific dark occult texts because I actually don’t want to mess with that stuff directly, it has negative energies I don’t want to associate with. I am a woman of faith (I’m Lutheran, protestant like Natalie) but I am of an open-minded faith that allows for different viewpoints and for the validity of all world religions. I do believe in darkness and evil, so if I was going to spend time writing it, I wanted it to be a system that I directly controlled and could change at will, a system that I had power over. I enjoyed pulling the different aspects together to create my own system from existing, “real” pieces and letting my characters work the mystery of each of them out.

MSNR: You just released the title for the sequel to Darker Still, which is The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart. Can you tell us a little bit about the sequel?

LRH: I’d love to, thanks for asking! Our intrepid heroine Natalie continues to lead us on yet another adventure, alongside our dashing hero Lord Denbury, who has to play his evil doppelganger to shed light on the shadowy organization who cursed him and who has ensnared another vulnerable young woman. There’s adventure on trains, in carriages, morgues, in nightmares, theatres and of course, lots more pretty clothes. And more kissing. 🙂

MSNR: Will the Point of View stay the same? For instance, will the story be told through another journal of Natalie’s?

LRH: Indeed it will. A fresh journal for fresh adventures. This time in addition to letters there are also telegraphs, which are like the 19th century version of Text Mesages.

MSNR: Can you tell us a little bit more about Mrs. Northe? Will we see more of her and her neice, Maggie in the sequel?

LRH: Mrs. Northe is an important archetype, the mentor character. Much like Dumbledore in Harry Potter, Mrs. Whatsit in A Wrinkle in Time, these mentors become almost mythic, and I can’t imagine my stories without them. As a child who always got along better with adults than with people my own age, they’re vitally important for our young characters’ growth, sanity and perspective. I adore Mrs. Northe, she’s the culmination of all my favorite role models, teachers and elder friends in my life. There were many unconventional women like her in Victorian society, chafing against society’s boundaries and I find she continues to be terribly useful in the saga as it continues, though her and Natalie go through some trouble and strain in the sequel. And yes, you will see Maggie again, outrageously. Poor Maggie…

MSNR: Since you are such an experienced author, can you give any insight for aspiring writers on how to break into the publishing world?

LRH: One word: persistence. My first novel took 9 years from inception to publication and I had a thousand crises along the way. Keep reading, keep writing, surround yourself with encouraging and successful people and see how they deal with the business. Steel your heart, you have to have a thick skin. Prepare yourself for rejection, you have to want your work to reach an audience more than your fear of rejection.
Your work is not perfect, accept editorial suggestions, always, always, always hone your craft. If you can’t collaborate with an editor get out of the business. Always strive to improve.

MSNR: Leanna, I know you are extremely busy and I really appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to speak to A Midsummer Night’s Read and our readers! I know I personally cannot wait to read The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart. Thank you again.

LRH: Thank YOU, Jessica! Your questions were wonderful and I had a lovely time answering them, thanks for your blog and for your time and consideration! To keep track of me: I’m on Twitter: http://twitter.com/leannarenee on FB: http://facebook.com/lrhieber and of course on the web at http://leannareneehieber.com – Happy reading, happy haunting!

/*{literal}{/literal}*/
a Rafflecopter giveaway
You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway.