 | 20 Aug 09 |
I met Leanna Renee Hieber last year at RT when she helped shoot the video interviews RT Magazine did with a bunch of authors. (She and director Morgan Doremus had me cracking up between takes, which is probably why I look like I am high or a complete ditz and WE ARE JUST GOING WITH THAT THEORY, thank you.) I adored them both immediately. They are the kind of women you wish lived right around the corner, because you just know you’d have a blast hanging out.
Which turned out to be amazingly true. Leanna and I hung out a bit this year at PASIC and again at national and she is just one of those amazing, talented people you immediately root for. Especially since her book – The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker — is terrific.
The story:
What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Hidden in the dark heart of Victorian London, the Romanesque school was dreadfully imposing, a veritable fortress, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met its powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadows, of the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She saw simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gift. This arched stone doorway was a portal to a new life, to an education far from what could be had at a convent—and it was an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death…
[This is where I get to say, "I got an ARC, I got an ARC, nyah nyah nyah nyah, nyah."]
I know, I am so mature. But while we’re waiting for this book to come out TUESDAY, AUGUST 25TH, Leanna agreed to blog for me, and I know you’re going to have fun with this one.
So I am pleased to give you Leanna Renee Heiber:
“Everyone’s Favourite Serial Killer”
No, I don’t mean Dexter. I mean the other one, the real one. Jack the Ripper.
How does one deal with such a household name? From movies to graphic novels, fiction to non-fiction, the killer is a superstar and has made his presence known in every artistic form.
I’ve been on the classic Jack the Ripper walking tours through Whitechapel, and found myself enrapt, and spooked, and I left those alleys feeling no closer to knowing the truth. All the London walking tours are led by exceedingly knowledgeable guides who have very passionate opinions on all that’s been written and proposed about Jack and the murders, but they themselves are hesitant to present conclusions. Resources like www.casebook.org will have you immediately steeped in a vast wealth of valuable information proving that Jack remains, by far, the most popular of all unsolved mysteries.
Why? I believe our fascination with Jack has many factors. It was an immediately famous spree of horrific murders at a time when ‘serial killing’ didn’t have a sensational list of names attached. It remains mysterious and unsolved. It came at a time we now regard as quite ‘civilized’, an era we highly romanticize. The Victorian era fascinates us as being so very different from ours. Yet we can certainly recognize true horror, no matter the era.
If an author decides to take a crack at including Jack the Ripper in their book, it can easily become daunting. I don’t, frankly, have an opinion about who Jack was. My favorite Jack narrative is Alan Moore’s From Hell, but that doesn’t mean I believe Moore’s take on Jack’s identity. Because I’ve no sense of who, I made Jack supernatural, an unfortunate side-effect of the much larger problem of a war between the mortal and spirit world that’s about to rage at the center of London.
While Jack is a bit of a sidebar in The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, I do use details of the murders, locations and victims within my fantasy narrative. During my research I found my fascination with the Ripper case as strong as it was the day I’d first heard the name and surprised at how easily upsetting and shocking it still remains. The Victorian photograph of Mary Jane Kelly’s body, the final and most severely mutilated corpse, haunts me to this day.
What fascinates you about everyone’s favourite serial killer? Why Jack? Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction accounts of Jack the Ripper? Do you have any theories?
– Leanna Renee Hieber is an award winning author, professional actress and award-winning playwright. Her greatest loves are ghosts and fantasy fiction. The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, first in a Gothic Victorian fantasy series with Leisure Books/Dorchester Publishing, launches 8/25/09 visit her at www.leannareneehieber.com
© 2009 Toni McGee Causey. All rights reserved.
Toni McGee Causey lives in Baton Rouge, LA, and is the best-selling author of the BOBBIE FAYE trilogy. She has contributed a critically acclaimed short story to the KILLER YEAR: STORIES TO DIE FOR anthology edited by Lee Child and an essay in DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO MISS NEW ORLEANS. Additionally, she recently produced an indie film, LA 308. She and her husband, Carl, are licensed general contractors and, in order to support her writing addiction, they run their own company, specializing in civil construction.
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Oh, I am so looking for this book when it’s out! One of the things I find MOST fascinating about Jack is the persistent theory of his royal connections … because, of course, if he’d been an ordinary mortal instead of a Prince of England, they’d have caught him. I don’t have an opinion one way or another, but I love the way his killing spree created this whole conspiracy theory.
I, too, am a big fan of ‘ghosties and beasties and things that go bump in the night’…and the Victorian era, because of its fascination with the occult, is an excellent choice of setting!
All in my humble opinion, of course…
Lorena
by Lorena August 20th, 2009 at 6:07 amThanks for letting me be here, Murder She Writes and thanks Toni for your lovely introduction! *blush*
Lorena,
Oh, yes, I love that persistent and oft-overreaching theme of a royal connection. Like it somehow makes it even more exotic or compelling – not horrific enough on its own.
I quite appreciate your humble opinion and I’m so glad you see the Victorian era as ripe for this subject matter as I do. And that you’re looking forward to the book!
by Leanna Renee Hieber August 20th, 2009 at 6:26 amHi
by RKCharron August 20th, 2009 at 7:20 amI think Jack the Ripper is fascinating because of the violence of the crimes in a thriving city, the first real mass media coverage, and the fact that he was never caught.
So many theories abound about who he was.
Thanks for sharing,
twitter: @RKCharron
xoxo
Welcome to Murder She Writes! I can’t wait to add this to my list of books.
by HollyD August 20th, 2009 at 7:27 amHey RK! You are SO right about the first mass-media coverage, it was a veritable circus and it’s a really important part of the Ripper narrative. Thanks for commenting!
Holly, thank you so very much!
by Leanna Renee Hieber August 20th, 2009 at 10:53 amI am always happy to hear of new-to-me authors, if Toni recommends you, I’m in.
I find stories of Jack the Ripper fascinating. I tend to lean towards the stuff they know for sure, although, I’m always up for a good conspiracy theory!
by Erika August 20th, 2009 at 11:28 amHi Leanna! I’m thrilled you’re here. I received my copy from Amazon–early. Boo. So I’m going to buy another next week at Borders or BN. The kids go back to school on Monday. (Yeah! Cheers!)
by Allison Brennan August 20th, 2009 at 2:02 pmHi Leanna, and welcome! Your book sounds like a must read!
The rumors swirling around Jack the Ripper adds to the curiosity. As Lorena said, the idea that it was someone with royal connections and his status protected him really digs at our sense of justice. And it’s easier to look at a horrific crime that is in the past and not really a threat to us personally. Unless of course, Jack the Ripper had supernatural connections, then we might be in serious trouble!
by Jen Lyon August 20th, 2009 at 3:50 pmThank you for introducing me to this author and book. I used to read gothics a looong time ago. I still have a shelf of them waiting for me. I think one of the reasons the Jack the Ripper case continues on is it was one of the first cases that had massive press coverage. Pictures, updates, speculation, case progress, it was all there in black and white for everyone to follow. There were other cases, the torso killer for one, that happened at the same time in London, but they didn’t get the same type of exposure.
by Patricia Barraclough August 20th, 2009 at 6:46 pmThe fact that no one was ever seriously implicated or prosecuted leaves it in the realm of a great mystery. The constant speculation over the years, has just kept it going and growing.
THE STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL TALE OF MISS PERCY PARKER sounds very good. I’ll be looking for it.
Erika!
Thanks!! Yeah, I usually do what Toni says too.
I’m always excited about new-to-me readers!
Allison,
You know how much I love you, don’t you?
Jen,
You make great points about justice and about how the time-period difference adds to the way in which we regard it, it is in someways almost frighteningly exotic. And yes, I’ve chosen to go the “then we’re really in trouble” route. *grin*
Patricia,
Hello, thanks so much for commenting and being a lover of the Gothic I’m so excited and honoured if I can be a re-entry point for you and the genre! You’re SO right, it’s the mystery that keeps “Jack” going, along with the speculation and all that media circus.
Thanks, friends!
by Leanna Renee Hieber August 20th, 2009 at 9:29 pmLeanna, you’re hanging out at all my favorite spots, LOL, MM and now here
. I am fascinated with Jack the Ripper documentaries. The South African historian Charles van Onselen’s book on Joseph Silver – The Fox and the Flies – is a very convincing study on Joseph Silver as the Ripper. I’ve seen the finger pointed at Queen Vic’s doctor and the Prince. It is really life proving more bizarre than fiction. Once again, congrats on your debut release.
by Michelle August 21st, 2009 at 9:54 pmMichelle,
Hehe, I’m following you
Oh, thanks for reminding me about Fox and the Flies, that’s been on my TBR pile, I need to move that up, glad you were engaged.
Indeed about life proving more bizzare than fiction! Blessings and thanks for dropping by!
by Leanna Renee Hieber August 22nd, 2009 at 10:38 pm