Liz DeJesus's Blog, page 14
October 17, 2013
October 15, 2013
Zombie Ever After ~ Teaser
Note: This is a work in progress. None of this text has been edited for content. My apologies for any mistakes found. Happy reading.
“You smell…different,” Teddy muttered.
Bella frowned. She had gone to see Jack to take some food and water to him but she hadn’t touched him. She was almost certain of it.
“Must be some new soap,” she lied.
Teddy roared and said, “Another man! I smell another man on you.”
Bella jumped. She pulled the gun out of her holster and aimed it at Teddy’s head.
“Who is he? Smell him on you,” he grunted.
Bella had never seen him like this. Jealous. Animated and violent.
“Teddy, nothing happened.” Bella did her best to keep her voice calm.
“It’s not fair!” he roared.
“I know, Teddy. I know,” she whispered.
“Can’t touch. Can’t kiss. Can’t love. Can’t, can’t, can’t.” He tugged at his chains as he reached out to Bella.
“Teddy, calm down, please. Don’t make me hurt you,” Bella said.
“Already dead, Bella. Dead.” Teddy fell to the floor and folded himself into a fetal position. He placed his hands over his head and whimpered.
A sob escaped her lips. She took a steadying breath and focused. Teddy was being crazy, last thing she wanted was to get killed because her emotions got in the way.
“Kill me,” Teddy whimpered.
He lifted his blood red eyes and locked with hers. Bella flinched. She couldn’t do it. No matter how hard he begged she could never let him go.
“I can’t. You know I can’t.”
“Please…I can’t…no more. Please,” he begged.
“Dammit! Teddy, I won’t do it.” Bella punched her code into the keypad and ran out of the lab. As soon as the door closed behind her, she slid down to the floor and burst into tears.
© Liz DeJesus 2013
“You smell…different,” Teddy muttered.
Bella frowned. She had gone to see Jack to take some food and water to him but she hadn’t touched him. She was almost certain of it.
“Must be some new soap,” she lied.
Teddy roared and said, “Another man! I smell another man on you.”
Bella jumped. She pulled the gun out of her holster and aimed it at Teddy’s head.
“Who is he? Smell him on you,” he grunted.
Bella had never seen him like this. Jealous. Animated and violent.
“Teddy, nothing happened.” Bella did her best to keep her voice calm.
“It’s not fair!” he roared.
“I know, Teddy. I know,” she whispered.
“Can’t touch. Can’t kiss. Can’t love. Can’t, can’t, can’t.” He tugged at his chains as he reached out to Bella.
“Teddy, calm down, please. Don’t make me hurt you,” Bella said.
“Already dead, Bella. Dead.” Teddy fell to the floor and folded himself into a fetal position. He placed his hands over his head and whimpered.
A sob escaped her lips. She took a steadying breath and focused. Teddy was being crazy, last thing she wanted was to get killed because her emotions got in the way.
“Kill me,” Teddy whimpered.
He lifted his blood red eyes and locked with hers. Bella flinched. She couldn’t do it. No matter how hard he begged she could never let him go.
“I can’t. You know I can’t.”
“Please…I can’t…no more. Please,” he begged.
“Dammit! Teddy, I won’t do it.” Bella punched her code into the keypad and ran out of the lab. As soon as the door closed behind her, she slid down to the floor and burst into tears.
© Liz DeJesus 2013
October 13, 2013
Book signings
Writing this blog post so other authors might be able to use it in the future. This is what I do whenever I have a book signing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Although personally, most of these work for me. Good luck!
Elevator pitch: It means that you need to know exactly what your book is about in 2 or 3 sentences. It's hard and it takes some practice but if someone asks you what your book is about you can't stumble. It has to be ready on the tip of your tongue 24/7. When someone asks me what First Frost is about, I'll immediately say 'It's about a girl named Bianca, that helps her mother run a fairy tale themed museum. Then she discovers that all of the items in the museum are real and that she's a witch. Her mother gets kidnapped and Bianca has to rescue her in a magical land called Everafter where all of the fairy tales originally took place.' And even that's a little long, but it keeps people by my table a little longer and it keeps them interested.
Signs: You should have a banner, poster or a flyer of some sort at your table. Something eye catching that makes people look at your table. Thank goodness my publisher, Musa Publishing helps me design all of my stuff. All of my banners, bookmarks, flyers, lip balms, covers, etc. are all thanks to Kelly Shorten from Musa. I <3 her forever. But if you're self published and have no computer skills whatsoever ask for help from a friend that knows a little more than you do. People are always happy to help.
Display: You can get plastic holders at Staples (seriously, I should buy stock from them since I spend so much money there). You can get business card holders too! The point is that you want your table to look professional. Prop up your book proudly, you want people to see it. But don't over do it. One time I went to an author event and this lady was dressed up in a bright pink princess dress, with a tiara, neon pink feather boa and a magic wand. Her table was an explosion of pink and silver confetti. Overkill. Don't be the crazy princess lady.
Freebies: Bookmarks, stickers, business cards, anything that gets people to your table. I even had flavored lip balms made for Glass Frost with the cover on them. When I went to the Baltimore Comic Con in September they FLEW off the table.
Smile: Believe me, you will have a headache at the end of the day from smiling so much, but no one is going to approach a person when they have a frown on their face.
Be yourself: If you're funny, smart and quirky then let your personality come forward.
Be helpful: Even if someone isn't exactly interested in your book they might still want some advice on writing or the publishing industry in general. Personally, I LOVE dispensing advice and helping other writers. Why? Because other authors have done it for me in the past and I believe in paying it forward.
Ask: I always ask the manager if I can place my bookmarks throughout the store. If there's a table or a bulletin board nearby trust me, my business cards or bookmarks are on them. I'll even ask the cashiers to hand out bookmarks to customers when they pay for their items. The point is that even if someone doesn't buy your book right that second, you want them to be curious enough at some point to check out your book.
Pens: Bring lots of pens. Trust me. The last thing you want is to be an author without a pen. Bring a regular pen and a Sharphie marker, sometimes I'll sign bookmarks for people and say things like 'You never know. I might be famous some day. Hang on to it.' People get a laugh out of it and wonder. Because, seriously...you never know. ;-)
Pay attention: If you have a customer at your table, smile, be present, actually listen to what they have to say.
Have fun!!
Elevator pitch: It means that you need to know exactly what your book is about in 2 or 3 sentences. It's hard and it takes some practice but if someone asks you what your book is about you can't stumble. It has to be ready on the tip of your tongue 24/7. When someone asks me what First Frost is about, I'll immediately say 'It's about a girl named Bianca, that helps her mother run a fairy tale themed museum. Then she discovers that all of the items in the museum are real and that she's a witch. Her mother gets kidnapped and Bianca has to rescue her in a magical land called Everafter where all of the fairy tales originally took place.' And even that's a little long, but it keeps people by my table a little longer and it keeps them interested.
Signs: You should have a banner, poster or a flyer of some sort at your table. Something eye catching that makes people look at your table. Thank goodness my publisher, Musa Publishing helps me design all of my stuff. All of my banners, bookmarks, flyers, lip balms, covers, etc. are all thanks to Kelly Shorten from Musa. I <3 her forever. But if you're self published and have no computer skills whatsoever ask for help from a friend that knows a little more than you do. People are always happy to help.
Display: You can get plastic holders at Staples (seriously, I should buy stock from them since I spend so much money there). You can get business card holders too! The point is that you want your table to look professional. Prop up your book proudly, you want people to see it. But don't over do it. One time I went to an author event and this lady was dressed up in a bright pink princess dress, with a tiara, neon pink feather boa and a magic wand. Her table was an explosion of pink and silver confetti. Overkill. Don't be the crazy princess lady.
Freebies: Bookmarks, stickers, business cards, anything that gets people to your table. I even had flavored lip balms made for Glass Frost with the cover on them. When I went to the Baltimore Comic Con in September they FLEW off the table.
Smile: Believe me, you will have a headache at the end of the day from smiling so much, but no one is going to approach a person when they have a frown on their face.
Be yourself: If you're funny, smart and quirky then let your personality come forward.
Be helpful: Even if someone isn't exactly interested in your book they might still want some advice on writing or the publishing industry in general. Personally, I LOVE dispensing advice and helping other writers. Why? Because other authors have done it for me in the past and I believe in paying it forward.
Ask: I always ask the manager if I can place my bookmarks throughout the store. If there's a table or a bulletin board nearby trust me, my business cards or bookmarks are on them. I'll even ask the cashiers to hand out bookmarks to customers when they pay for their items. The point is that even if someone doesn't buy your book right that second, you want them to be curious enough at some point to check out your book.
Pens: Bring lots of pens. Trust me. The last thing you want is to be an author without a pen. Bring a regular pen and a Sharphie marker, sometimes I'll sign bookmarks for people and say things like 'You never know. I might be famous some day. Hang on to it.' People get a laugh out of it and wonder. Because, seriously...you never know. ;-)
Pay attention: If you have a customer at your table, smile, be present, actually listen to what they have to say.
Have fun!!
October 12, 2013
Zombie Ever After
Slow and steady wins the race. I've seen some incredible artwork from the artist I'm collaborating with for the past couple of weeks. It's amazing. I wish I could show it to you guys but I have to same some surprises for when the comic book comes out.
Rapunzel ventures forth by *hogret on deviantART
16092 / 50000 words. 32% done!
Rapunzel ventures forth by *hogret on deviantART
16092 / 50000 words. 32% done!
October 11, 2013
Fairy Tale Friday
Yey! Fairy Tale Friday is finally here! :D Today we're gonna talk a little bit about one of my favorite fairy tales, The Ugly Duckling written by Hans Christian Andersen. I loved this story mostly because it's about suffering, bullying and transformation. Unfortunately I have a little bit of experience with these things seeing as I was bullied as a child because I was different from everyone else. Although I love my homeland (Puerto Rico) I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it because of the negative experiences I had up until I moved to DE in 1999. But I'm not gonna get into that. Today is about The Ugly Duckling.
I was always fascinated with the fact that this little egg found its way into a duck's nest. That would be an interesting story to explorle. :)
Anyway without further ado, here's a snippet of The Ugly Duckling:
When the tale begins, a mother duck's eggs hatch. One of the little birds is perceived by the other birds and animals on the farm as a homely little creature and suffers much verbal and physical abuse from them. He wanders sadly from the barnyard and lives with wild ducks and geese until hunters slaughter the flocks. He finds a home with an old woman but her cat and hen tease him mercilessly and again he sets off on his own. He sees a flock of migrating wild swans; he is delighted and excited but he cannot join them for he is too young and cannot fly. Winter arrives. A farmer finds and carries the freezing little bird home, but the foundling is frightened by the farmer’s noisy children and flees the house. He spends a miserable winter alone in the outdoors mostly hiding in a cave on the lake that partly freezes over. When spring arrives a flock of swans descends on the now thawing lake. The ugly duckling, now having fully grown and matured cannot endure a life of solitude and hardship any more and decides to throw himself at the flock of swans deciding that it is better to be killed by such beautiful birds than to live a life of ugliness and misery. He is shocked when the swans welcome and accept him, only to realize by looking at his reflection in the water that he has grown into one of them. The flock takes to the air and the ugly duckling spreads his beautiful large wings and takes flight with the rest of his new family.
Black Swan - Ugly Duckling by `MartaNael on deviantART
Ugly Duckling by ~timwell on deviantART
I was always fascinated with the fact that this little egg found its way into a duck's nest. That would be an interesting story to explorle. :)
Anyway without further ado, here's a snippet of The Ugly Duckling:
When the tale begins, a mother duck's eggs hatch. One of the little birds is perceived by the other birds and animals on the farm as a homely little creature and suffers much verbal and physical abuse from them. He wanders sadly from the barnyard and lives with wild ducks and geese until hunters slaughter the flocks. He finds a home with an old woman but her cat and hen tease him mercilessly and again he sets off on his own. He sees a flock of migrating wild swans; he is delighted and excited but he cannot join them for he is too young and cannot fly. Winter arrives. A farmer finds and carries the freezing little bird home, but the foundling is frightened by the farmer’s noisy children and flees the house. He spends a miserable winter alone in the outdoors mostly hiding in a cave on the lake that partly freezes over. When spring arrives a flock of swans descends on the now thawing lake. The ugly duckling, now having fully grown and matured cannot endure a life of solitude and hardship any more and decides to throw himself at the flock of swans deciding that it is better to be killed by such beautiful birds than to live a life of ugliness and misery. He is shocked when the swans welcome and accept him, only to realize by looking at his reflection in the water that he has grown into one of them. The flock takes to the air and the ugly duckling spreads his beautiful large wings and takes flight with the rest of his new family.
Black Swan - Ugly Duckling by `MartaNael on deviantART
Ugly Duckling by ~timwell on deviantART
October 9, 2013
Zombie Ever After & Frost Series Giveaway
What do you think about a chance to win a $15 gift card to amazon? I think that's a pretty sweet deal. Oh wait there's more! How about an ecopy of First Frost & Glass Frost? And...signed bookmarks and other fun swag? Sounds like an awesome giveaway to me! Check it out...
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
October 8, 2013
Happy Anniversary
Eight years ago today I married my best friend in the whole wide world. He's been there for me for so long that it's hard to imagine my life without him. Happy Anniversary my love. I can't wait to see the next chapter of our lives together.
October 7, 2013
Happy Birthday Musa Publishing!!
Week 2 of the Musa Publishing Birthday Bash continues!!! This week all of the Calliope (Romance) Imprint books are on sale. Here's a chance to get fantastic romance at a great price.
And now it's time to dance!!
And now it's time to dance!!
October 5, 2013
October 4, 2013
Fairy Tale Friday
I'm a little late on Fairy Tale Friday but better late than never am I right? LOL Anyway today I'm gonna talk a little bit about The Seven Ravens. There are a few versions of this fairy tale but my favorite is the one I saw in The Storyteller by Jim Henson. Do any of you remember that show? It didn't last very long but it definitely made an impression on me especially since they worked on some pretty obscure fairy tales which I love.
Anyway here's a short clip of The Ravens from The Storyteller. Enjoy!
The Seven Ravens by ~plantiebee on deviantART
The Seven Ravens by ~areimold on deviantART
Here's the original version that I found on wikipedia:
A peasant has seven sons and no daughter. Finally a daughter is born, but is sickly. The father sends his sons to fetch water for her, in the German version to be baptized, in the Greek version to take water from a healing spring. In their haste, they drop the jug in the well. When they do not return, their father thinks that they have gone off to play and curses them and so they turn into ravens.
When the sister is grown, she sets out in search of her brothers. She attempts to get help first from the sun, which is too hot, then the moon, which craves human flesh, and then the morning star[disambiguation needed]. The star helps her by giving her a chicken bone (in the German) or a bat's foot (in the Greek) and tells her she will need it to save her brothers. She finds them on the Glass Mountain. In the Greek version, she opens it with the bat's foot, in the German, she has lost the bone, and chops off a finger to use as a key. She goes into the mountain, where a dwarf tells her that her brothers will return. She takes some of their food and drink and leaves in the last cup a ring from home.
When her brothers return, she hides. They turn back into human form and ask who has been at their food. The youngest brother finds the ring, and hopes it is their sister, in which case they are saved. She emerges, and they return home.
Anyway here's a short clip of The Ravens from The Storyteller. Enjoy!
The Seven Ravens by ~plantiebee on deviantART
The Seven Ravens by ~areimold on deviantART
Here's the original version that I found on wikipedia:
A peasant has seven sons and no daughter. Finally a daughter is born, but is sickly. The father sends his sons to fetch water for her, in the German version to be baptized, in the Greek version to take water from a healing spring. In their haste, they drop the jug in the well. When they do not return, their father thinks that they have gone off to play and curses them and so they turn into ravens.
When the sister is grown, she sets out in search of her brothers. She attempts to get help first from the sun, which is too hot, then the moon, which craves human flesh, and then the morning star[disambiguation needed]. The star helps her by giving her a chicken bone (in the German) or a bat's foot (in the Greek) and tells her she will need it to save her brothers. She finds them on the Glass Mountain. In the Greek version, she opens it with the bat's foot, in the German, she has lost the bone, and chops off a finger to use as a key. She goes into the mountain, where a dwarf tells her that her brothers will return. She takes some of their food and drink and leaves in the last cup a ring from home.
When her brothers return, she hides. They turn back into human form and ask who has been at their food. The youngest brother finds the ring, and hopes it is their sister, in which case they are saved. She emerges, and they return home.
