Dudes! I am so excited to be part of the Fall 2013 YA Scavenger Hunt :) GOLD TEAM FTW!!!

What's this all about, you ask? YASH is a super-cool blog hop sponsored by Colleen Houck and Beth Revis where you get access to exclusive content from tons of different authors You also get a chance to win lots of books by collecting and adding up secret numbers from each team (gold, red, blue) as you hop from blog to blog, not to mention winning all kinds of swag and whatnot in secondary contests. This YASH goes live on October 3rd at noon Pacific and ends at noon on October 6th, so if you've arrived early, know that my page is loaded so the sponsors can make sure all the links are working and that for the optimal YASH experience you shouldn't start just yet. When it's time, you can start right here (Goooooooooooooold team!) or you can be all proper and begin at the beginning at the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage. That's probably a good plan, especially if you're new to the hunt and need a little more guidance than you've gotten from my crazed ramblings.

I am hosting my awesome Apoca-sis Leanna Renee Hieber who has written all kinds of dark and delicious Gothic books. In fact, I'm pretty sure she's working on at least 5 new ones right now!

Author, actress and playwright Leanna Renee Hieber graduated with a BFA in Theatre and a focus in the Victorian Era. Her debut novel, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, landed on Barnes & Noble's bestseller lists and is in development as a musical theatre production. This series will be reissued by Tor/Macmillan in 2014. DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul, hit the Kid's/YA Indie Next List as a recommended title by the American Booksellers Association and was a "highly recommended" title by Scholastic Book Clubs. THE TWISTED TRAGEDY OF MISS NATALIE STEWART continues the Magic Most Foul series and has been praised by Booklist, RT Book Reviews and more. She is serializing the finale on her blog in true Gothic Victorian fashion. A member of Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA, Leanna works in film and television on shows like Boardwalk Empire. When not writing or on set, she tells ghost stories, frequents Goth clubs, corset shops, channels Narcissa Malfoy, wanders graveyards and adventures in full Victorian regalia. She resides in New York City with her husband and their beloved rescued lab rabbit.



"I'm coming for you."
The whispers haunt her dreams and fill her waking hours with dread. Something odd is happening. Something...unnatural.
Possession of the living. Resurrection of the dead. And Natalie Stewart is caught right in the middle. Jonathon, the one person she thought she could trust, has become a double agent for the dark side. But he plays the part so well, Natalie has to wonder just how much he's really acting.
She can't even see what it is she's fighting. But the cost of losing her heart, her sanity...her soul.

Praise for Hieber's DARKER STILL, an Indie Next Selection:
"Original, haunting, and romantic." —YA Bound
"This chilling tale will draw you in and keep you guessing until the very last page." —Seventeen.com


BUY TWISTED TRAGEDY NOW AT B&N
Here's Leanna's EXCLUSIVE BONUS CONTENT:
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DELETED SCENE from THE TWISTED TRAGEDY OF MISS NATALIE STEWART
Leanna: Originally, the heroine of the Magic Most Foul saga, Natalie Stewart, was going to spend a lot more time away from New York City recovering from the dark magic dealt her during DARKER STILL, set in 1880 New York City. In early drafts, while in St. Paul, Natalie began growing closer to Samuel Neuman, a best friend of our hero, Jonathon Whitby, Lord Denbury. But in later drafts, it was clear Natalie had to return more quickly to New York City and so closeness between her and Samuel had to be curtailed. No love triangle for the book. And in the end, I'm glad about that. But here's a deleted scene where Natalie, Samuel and Jonathon share a dream.
            The long corridor again. What about my dreams managed to always remain a hallway I couldn’t figure. At the end, the deck where Samuel and I had overlooked the Mississippi. And standing there, was Sam. I moved to join him. But wait. Did this mean now that Sam and I were somehow connected? Being connected to every handsome young man with whom I became acquainted was bound to cause trouble.            He spoke: “She’s so far away.”            “Who?” I queried.            “Elsa.”            “Yes,” I said, empathetic. “It’s a particular cruelty that she looks so alive, merely sleeping, and yet she is inaccessible. It must be maddening.” I put a hand on his shoulder, an instinctive response I would do to any friend. But I had to remember, contact between men and women, however friendly or innocent, carried different weights, different consequences.            Another voice from behind me, in the hall. At the doorway was Denbury, standing in a fine dark suit, immaculate, and his bright eyes eviscerating.            “Hello Natalie, what’s this?”            “Sam. And the Mississippi river, the greatest in all our country. It’s a wonderful view, isn’t it?”            “Spectacular,” Denbury admitted. He shifted to squint at Sam. “Should I worry that you’re dreaming of him?”             I glanced over my shoulder. Sam stood still as if he were a portrait himself, unmoving. I suppose Sam wasn’t active in my dreams as Denbury was, so he was simply placed there by me. But there was no harm in that, was there?            “A girl can hardly entirely control her dreams, Lord Denbury,” I used his title when trying to be particularly gracious to him. “But goodness knows I always want you here. Sam and I shared a pleasant day and I suppose I’m fondly recalling it. He was just speaking of his fiancé, Elsa. He is a friend who is here in my waking life. You, my love, are not.”            “No. No, I’m in London, haunted and no closer to rhyme or reason as to why there’s a grave with my name on it, a body inside it that isn’t mine. I’m glad it’s sunny and pleasant in Saint Paul.” There was a bitter bite to his tone. I stiffened.            “I would have gone with you, Jonathon, gladly, and you know that. But you didn’t want me there. Unburden your troubles, love, let me share them,” I moved to him, he stepped back into the darkness. He seemed fixed upon scowling. I folded my arms. “Sam is your friend. He is now my friend. Can a girl not have friends?”            “I’m in London," Jonathon retorted. "I can have plenty of friends, whenever I like.”            At that, the hall suddenly filled with pretty ladies, the hallway had lit sconces casting glittering light over glittering jewels.            My mouth dropped open. “Is that a threat, Lord Denbury?”            He sighed. “Just keep your dreaming focused on what you want, Natalie. I can’t bear or handle any more betrayals-”            “As if I’d betray you-”            “We are strangers, Natalie, our worlds are now new. I’ve not… dealt with any of this, let alone in loving a girl, being jealous of a girl I didn’t want to leave behind but for her safety.”            I placed my hands on my hips. “Well start trusting. Trust your friends. Trust me. Can I trust you?”            A girl lavishly draped in green draped herselfover Denbury’s arm. Which of our minds placed that chess piece? I raised an eyebrow.             Jonathon stepped forward. When he did, everything else receded into shadow. He spoke with quiet gravity.             "Our lives have depended on nothing less."
Leanna: Hope you enjoyed a tidbit of lost Magic Most Foul lore! Check out my blog at leannareneebooks.blogspot.com to see how I am wrapping up the finale of the Magic Most Foul saga in serialized form every Tuesday! Cheers! 
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Okay, it's Fiona hollering at you again. Wasn't that awesome? I dunno, Natalie. I think I might enjoy being connected to every handsome young man with whom I became acquainted ;-)

Now for bonus contests--if you're a writer looking for feedback/freelance editing on your query letter or manuscript, some of my author friends and I have started an editing service! We're running a contest to win a free critique. Check out the deets at Manuscript Critique Services.

And a second bonus contest! Some of you know I've got contemporary books coming out under the name Paula Stokes. In fact, I'll be doing a cover reveal for THE ART OF LAINEY over at Ensconced in YA on October 9th that will involve a contest where you (yes, YOU) can win a cameo role in my book! You know you want to be in my book :-)

In the meantime, I'm doing my very first Rafflecopter as a way to get the word out about both the Fiona Paul books and the Paula Stokes books, so please like/follow/comment about your favorite part of YASH for a chance to win a $25 USD gift card to Powell's Books. They ship all over the world so this contest is INTERNATIONAL!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



TIME TO KEEP YASHING! 

Are you ready to hop along to the next stop for more amazing bonus content? Get on over to Suzanne Lazear's blog. Happy hunting!

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