The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde… New York City, 1880.Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart’s latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing… Lord Denbury’s soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.
It sounds intriguing and I’m really looking forward to reading it. I’ll hand over to Leanna to tell us all about Darker Still and her inspirations.
I’m so excited to be here today! While I’ve written several novels, I’m here to talk about my YA debut, DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul. I’ve always wanted to write a haunted painting story: Ever since I was little and I saw Sesame Street’s DON’T EAT THE PICTURES where the Sesame Street gang get locked in the Metropolitan Museum of Art overnight. Ever since I read THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. Ever since I went to art museums wondering if the painter and the sitters infused part of their own life’s energy into the art. At last, I’ve written my haunted painting story. DARKER STILL: A Novel of Magic Most Foul begins the Magic Most Foul saga set in 1880 New York City. It tells the tale of a hot British Lord whose soul is trapped in a painting and the brave girl who must set him free.
I’m so excited to be shelved in teen fiction. But for my adult readership who know me from my Strangely Beautiful series about ghostbusters and Greek Mythology in Victorian England, don’t be deterred. DARKER STILL has the same flavors found in my Strangely Beautiful saga, it’s still the 1880s, it’s still romantic and spooky, (the Magic Most Foul series is far more spooky, actually) it’s definitely still Gothic. Similar attractions, different shelf. I want to be a “gateway drug to 19th century literature” for teens and for all readers. I want to build a bridge between today’s fiction and the books and style that defined me as a reader and a writer. When I was about 10 years old I fell in love with Edgar Allan Poe and haven’t ever looked back. Poe was my own “gateway drug” and my love of his work led me to appreciate Stoker, Shelley, and all the spooky 19th century classics. Especially Dorian Gray. (If you haven’t read The Picture of Dorian Gray, you should. It’s short, creepy, sensual and amazing.)Award winning, bestselling Gothic Victorian Fantasy
http://leannareneehieber.com
http://twitter.com/leannarenee
http://facebook.com/lrhieber
My Best Friends Are Books 