Liz DeJesus's Blog, page 16
September 20, 2013
Zombie Ever After....the comic book?
Okay...for those of you that know me personally know that I LOVE COMIC BOOKS. Seriously. Not a joke. I've had a love affair with comic books for as long as I can remember. It started with Archie. Yeah...laugh all you want, but I loved that freckled redhead that couldn't choose between Betty and Veronica. After that I moved on to Catwoman, then Witchblade and Fathom...and basically anything that Top Cow Comics came up with. And when I was 17 I got a job at a comic book store. Best 6 months of my life. Why 6 months? Because shortly afterwards the store closed. Sigh. Too much awesome in one place I guess. :/ Anyway, that's where I learned about other comic books, like Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore and got super nerdy and started playing Magic. LOL I literally was the only girl at those games. :D
Anyway, so as I'm working on Zombie Ever After I keep going to this idea that it would make an awesome comic book.
But I can't draw...which SUCKS. But it's one of those things that once it's in my head I can't get it out no matter how hard I try. So I asked my dearest friend
megumi_kitten
if she wanted to put a little something together and she said yes! Although...this isn't the first time we've tried to work on something together so keep your fingers crossed.
So what do you think? Yay? Or nay?
Pssstttt....please say 'yay'. ;-)
In other news....my short story Sisters: A Fairy Tale is going to be going to be published in an anthology. The story takes place in Everafter (the same world that I created for my Frost Series). :D
Anyway, so as I'm working on Zombie Ever After I keep going to this idea that it would make an awesome comic book.
But I can't draw...which SUCKS. But it's one of those things that once it's in my head I can't get it out no matter how hard I try. So I asked my dearest friend
megumi_kitten
if she wanted to put a little something together and she said yes! Although...this isn't the first time we've tried to work on something together so keep your fingers crossed. So what do you think? Yay? Or nay?
Pssstttt....please say 'yay'. ;-)
In other news....my short story Sisters: A Fairy Tale is going to be going to be published in an anthology. The story takes place in Everafter (the same world that I created for my Frost Series). :D
September 12, 2013
Fairy Tale Friday
On today's edition of Fairy Tale Friday I'm going to talk a little bit about one of my favorite fairy tales, Snow White & Rose Red (or it can often be called Rose White & Rose Red). Some people will wonder if the Snow White in this story is the same exact one that is in the other story Snow White & the Seven Dwarves but it's not the same character. They are two completely different people they just have a similar name. Although the similarities will make you wonder, same name, dwarves, and a handsome prince. But based on what I've read it's not the same person.
I did play around with this particular fairy tale while working on First Frost, Bianca's mother has bright red hair and her full name is Rose Red Frost. And Bianca's full name is Bianca Silver Frost. Her father, David gets turned into a bear because Lenore (the evil witch in my book) wanted to 'help turn their lives into a fairy tale'.
Anyway, the story is about two sisters that live in the woods. They are very happy and want for nothing until one cold winter's night there's a knock on the door. Their mother opens the door and finds a white bear near freezing out in the snow storm that's raging outside. They let the bear inside and help him get warm by the fire. The bear spends all winter with them until spring comes and he has to leave in order to protect his treasure from a wicked dwarf. The girls encounter the same dwarf every time his beard gets trapped somewhere, they have to cut his beard in order to set him free.
LOL This just makes me laugh because he's crying because of his beard. And I'm like 'Would you rather lose a little bit of hair or be stuck under a rock for the rest of your life?' but anyway eventually they find out that it's the same dwarf that's been messin' with their friend the bear.
Here's the official story I found on wikipedia:
Snow White and Rose Red are two little girls living with their mother, a poor widow, in a small cottage. They are very good little girls; they love each other dearly; and their mother is very fond of them. Rose-Red is outspoken and cheerful and loves to play outside. Snow White is quiet and shy and prefers doing housework and reading.
One winter night, there is a knock at the door. Rose Red opens the door to find a bear. At first, she is terrified, but the bear tells her not to be afraid. "I'm half frozen and I merely want to warm up a little at your place," he says. They let the bear in, and he lies down in front of the fire. Snow White and Rose Red beat the snow off the bear, and they quickly become quite friendly with him. They play with the bear and roll him around playfully. They let the bear spend the night in front of the fire; and, in the morning, he leaves, trotting out into the woods. The bear comes back every night for the rest of that winter, and the family grows used to him.
When summer comes, the bear tells them that he must go away for a while to guard his treasure from a wicked dwarf. During the summer, when the girls are walking through the forest, they find a dwarf whose beard is stuck in a tree. The girls rescue him by cutting his beard free, but the dwarf is ungrateful and yells at them for cutting his beautiful beard. The girls encounter the dwarf several times that summer, rescue him from some peril each time and the dwarf is ungrateful each time. Then one day, they meet the dwarf once again. This time, he is terrified because the bear is about to kill him. The dwarf pleads with the bear and begs it to eat the girls instead, but the bear pays no heed and kills the dwarf with one swipe of his paw. Instantly, the bear turns into a prince. The dwarf had previously put a spell on the prince by stealing his precious stones and turning him into a bear, but the curse is broken with the death of the dwarf. Snow White marries the prince and Rose Red marries the prince's brother.
snow-white and rose-red. by ~gloeckchen on deviantART
Snow White and Rose Red by ~LilifIlane on deviantART
I did play around with this particular fairy tale while working on First Frost, Bianca's mother has bright red hair and her full name is Rose Red Frost. And Bianca's full name is Bianca Silver Frost. Her father, David gets turned into a bear because Lenore (the evil witch in my book) wanted to 'help turn their lives into a fairy tale'.
Anyway, the story is about two sisters that live in the woods. They are very happy and want for nothing until one cold winter's night there's a knock on the door. Their mother opens the door and finds a white bear near freezing out in the snow storm that's raging outside. They let the bear inside and help him get warm by the fire. The bear spends all winter with them until spring comes and he has to leave in order to protect his treasure from a wicked dwarf. The girls encounter the same dwarf every time his beard gets trapped somewhere, they have to cut his beard in order to set him free.
LOL This just makes me laugh because he's crying because of his beard. And I'm like 'Would you rather lose a little bit of hair or be stuck under a rock for the rest of your life?' but anyway eventually they find out that it's the same dwarf that's been messin' with their friend the bear.
Here's the official story I found on wikipedia:
Snow White and Rose Red are two little girls living with their mother, a poor widow, in a small cottage. They are very good little girls; they love each other dearly; and their mother is very fond of them. Rose-Red is outspoken and cheerful and loves to play outside. Snow White is quiet and shy and prefers doing housework and reading.
One winter night, there is a knock at the door. Rose Red opens the door to find a bear. At first, she is terrified, but the bear tells her not to be afraid. "I'm half frozen and I merely want to warm up a little at your place," he says. They let the bear in, and he lies down in front of the fire. Snow White and Rose Red beat the snow off the bear, and they quickly become quite friendly with him. They play with the bear and roll him around playfully. They let the bear spend the night in front of the fire; and, in the morning, he leaves, trotting out into the woods. The bear comes back every night for the rest of that winter, and the family grows used to him.
When summer comes, the bear tells them that he must go away for a while to guard his treasure from a wicked dwarf. During the summer, when the girls are walking through the forest, they find a dwarf whose beard is stuck in a tree. The girls rescue him by cutting his beard free, but the dwarf is ungrateful and yells at them for cutting his beautiful beard. The girls encounter the dwarf several times that summer, rescue him from some peril each time and the dwarf is ungrateful each time. Then one day, they meet the dwarf once again. This time, he is terrified because the bear is about to kill him. The dwarf pleads with the bear and begs it to eat the girls instead, but the bear pays no heed and kills the dwarf with one swipe of his paw. Instantly, the bear turns into a prince. The dwarf had previously put a spell on the prince by stealing his precious stones and turning him into a bear, but the curse is broken with the death of the dwarf. Snow White marries the prince and Rose Red marries the prince's brother.
snow-white and rose-red. by ~gloeckchen on deviantART
Snow White and Rose Red by ~LilifIlane on deviantART
September 10, 2013
Shattered Frost
ACEO:Bluebeard by ~Achen089 on deviantART
ACEO: Snow White by ~Achen089 on deviantART
23847 / 50000 words. 48% done!
Zombie Ever After ~ Teaser
*Note: This is a work in progress and is unedited. Hopefully you'll enjoy this little snippet*
Bella frowned as she studied Briar’s charts. She had been checking in on her every day since she had been bitten by the snake several days ago and Briar still hadn’t turned into a zombie. The virus was definitely coursing through her veins but there was no change whatsoever. Her skin was a slate grey, not the rotting ashy color that Teddy had. Briar would twitch once every twelve hours or so, but other than that she was completely still. Her chest rose and fell as though she were simply taking a nap.
“Strange,” Bella muttered as she removed her glasses and placed them on top of her head.
She took a vial of Briar’s blood and put it in the refrigerator to study more thoroughly later. It would keep the other seven vials company. The first few samples gave her nothing to work with, nothing that gave her a hint as to whether or not she was close to a cure for this horrific disease. Bella took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders. She had been doing nothing but typing her observations and look at charts all week. It was time for a break.
Bella left Briar’s examination room and went to see Teddy, her boyfriend. Bella stood before Teddy’s examination room and closed her eyes before going inside. She always performed this ‘ritual’ first. Bella pictured Teddy the way he used to be before he got bitten, before his life had been changed forever.
His golden blond hair and the way it glinted in the sunlight. His dark chocolate brown eyes. His dimpled smile.
The way he laughed. Bella took a deep steadying breath and opened her eyes. She punched in the code into the keypad and stepped into her laboratory.
“Hi, Teddy,” she whispered.
A grunt was the only thing he responded with. It was dark in the back of the room but she knew he was chained up. She was safe…for now.
“How are you?”
“D-dead…” he groaned.
“You’re not dead. You just need to rediscover your zest for life again that’s all,” Bella replied.
Teddy gave her a dry, throaty laugh.
Bella smirked. She could always get him to laugh.
The chains jangled as he moved closer to the fluorescent light of the room. Her heart always leapt to her throat no matter how many times she had seen him. It always killed her to see parts of him decaying. He had spent the past three years as a zombie. He had fewer and fewer moments where he remembered who he was. Teddy had been subjected to several of Bella’s ‘cures’ none of them worked. Some of them managed to keep his skin from completely rotting and it kept his stomach from distending. Which is what happens to zombies when they eat too much food that they can’t properly digest…because they’re dead.
Bella thought about how handsome he used to be. How they always held hands when they walked around the once lush garden. The rose he gave her when he asked her to marry him.
But that was a lifetime ago. That was before he was bitten by the old cook. She had ventured out of the compound, past the perimeter and came back even though she had been bitten. No one had suspected a thing. She bit Teddy when he was helping her in the kitchen. Bella could still hear that roar of pain and anguish as he transformed into a zombie before her very eyes. On a table just like Briar’s.
She had to beg with Neve to let her keep him in quarantine.
“No, abso-fucking-lutely not!” Neve said.
“Please. I can save him. I can use him to find a cure!”
“And if he escapes. He’ll infect us all. Then what?”
“It won’t happen.”
“That’s right, because I’m gonna chop his head off before he bites anyone,” Neve pulled out her dagger and headed to the quarantine room.
Bella used every ounce of strength to push Neve back.
“No! Neve, I’ve done everything you’ve ever asked of me. When my parents turned and you asked me to kill them. I did it. I chopped their heads off just like you asked me to. Every order you’ve ever given me I’ve followed without complaint. And I’m asking you for this one favor. I need you to trust me. I can save him. I can save everyone,” Bella begged.
“Bella….this is a monumentally bad idea. If you do this you’re on your own. I wash my hands of this.”
“Understood.”
“He has to be chained up at all times. No exceptions.”
“Understood.” Bella nodded.
“Very well.”
That was three years ago and countless experiments later. The only thing she had been able to do is slow down the rotting of his skin. He retained fragments of his memories of who he used to be. But other than that he was still one hundred percent a zombie.
Bella placed a chair in front of him and tossed some food to him. Rabbit’s brains.
“It’s not much but it’s all we have right now.”
Teddy reached out and popped both of them inside his mouth. Bella was used to it, so she didn’t gag the way she used to before.
© Liz DeJesus 2013
Bella frowned as she studied Briar’s charts. She had been checking in on her every day since she had been bitten by the snake several days ago and Briar still hadn’t turned into a zombie. The virus was definitely coursing through her veins but there was no change whatsoever. Her skin was a slate grey, not the rotting ashy color that Teddy had. Briar would twitch once every twelve hours or so, but other than that she was completely still. Her chest rose and fell as though she were simply taking a nap.
“Strange,” Bella muttered as she removed her glasses and placed them on top of her head.
She took a vial of Briar’s blood and put it in the refrigerator to study more thoroughly later. It would keep the other seven vials company. The first few samples gave her nothing to work with, nothing that gave her a hint as to whether or not she was close to a cure for this horrific disease. Bella took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders. She had been doing nothing but typing her observations and look at charts all week. It was time for a break.
Bella left Briar’s examination room and went to see Teddy, her boyfriend. Bella stood before Teddy’s examination room and closed her eyes before going inside. She always performed this ‘ritual’ first. Bella pictured Teddy the way he used to be before he got bitten, before his life had been changed forever.
His golden blond hair and the way it glinted in the sunlight. His dark chocolate brown eyes. His dimpled smile.
The way he laughed. Bella took a deep steadying breath and opened her eyes. She punched in the code into the keypad and stepped into her laboratory.
“Hi, Teddy,” she whispered.
A grunt was the only thing he responded with. It was dark in the back of the room but she knew he was chained up. She was safe…for now.
“How are you?”
“D-dead…” he groaned.
“You’re not dead. You just need to rediscover your zest for life again that’s all,” Bella replied.
Teddy gave her a dry, throaty laugh.
Bella smirked. She could always get him to laugh.
The chains jangled as he moved closer to the fluorescent light of the room. Her heart always leapt to her throat no matter how many times she had seen him. It always killed her to see parts of him decaying. He had spent the past three years as a zombie. He had fewer and fewer moments where he remembered who he was. Teddy had been subjected to several of Bella’s ‘cures’ none of them worked. Some of them managed to keep his skin from completely rotting and it kept his stomach from distending. Which is what happens to zombies when they eat too much food that they can’t properly digest…because they’re dead.
Bella thought about how handsome he used to be. How they always held hands when they walked around the once lush garden. The rose he gave her when he asked her to marry him.
But that was a lifetime ago. That was before he was bitten by the old cook. She had ventured out of the compound, past the perimeter and came back even though she had been bitten. No one had suspected a thing. She bit Teddy when he was helping her in the kitchen. Bella could still hear that roar of pain and anguish as he transformed into a zombie before her very eyes. On a table just like Briar’s.
She had to beg with Neve to let her keep him in quarantine.
“No, abso-fucking-lutely not!” Neve said.
“Please. I can save him. I can use him to find a cure!”
“And if he escapes. He’ll infect us all. Then what?”
“It won’t happen.”
“That’s right, because I’m gonna chop his head off before he bites anyone,” Neve pulled out her dagger and headed to the quarantine room.
Bella used every ounce of strength to push Neve back.
“No! Neve, I’ve done everything you’ve ever asked of me. When my parents turned and you asked me to kill them. I did it. I chopped their heads off just like you asked me to. Every order you’ve ever given me I’ve followed without complaint. And I’m asking you for this one favor. I need you to trust me. I can save him. I can save everyone,” Bella begged.
“Bella….this is a monumentally bad idea. If you do this you’re on your own. I wash my hands of this.”
“Understood.”
“He has to be chained up at all times. No exceptions.”
“Understood.” Bella nodded.
“Very well.”
That was three years ago and countless experiments later. The only thing she had been able to do is slow down the rotting of his skin. He retained fragments of his memories of who he used to be. But other than that he was still one hundred percent a zombie.
Bella placed a chair in front of him and tossed some food to him. Rabbit’s brains.
“It’s not much but it’s all we have right now.”
Teddy reached out and popped both of them inside his mouth. Bella was used to it, so she didn’t gag the way she used to before.
© Liz DeJesus 2013
September 9, 2013
Baltimore Comic Con
Words cannot express how much fun I had this past weekend. It was incredible. I actually met my new BFF Esther Wheelmaker on facebook and I wasn't exactly sure how we'd get along once we met in person and I'm happy to say that we got along so incredibly well. I can't wait to go to more conferences and conventions with her. We're even planning on having a book signing together sometime next month.
Stuff I had at my table:
1. Bookmarks
2. Stickers
3. Limited edition Glass Frost lip balms (strawberry flavored)
4. Business cards
5. And last but not least my two awesome books First Frost & Glass Frost.
My badge for the weekend. :D
My table and my super cute dress. :D
Me and my new BFF Esther Wheelmaker.
Darth Vader on Summer Vacation.
Jem and Jerica from my favorite 80's cartoon Jem.
Pinkie Pie tagged along and kept me company. I think she has pretty good taste in books, don't you think so?
I met my hero Terry Moore and he was so incredibly kind and gracious. He asked me to tell him about my book and was intrigued. I signed two of my books for him and he let me have one of his books from his table. And he SIGNED it for me!!! :D
Highlight of my life! And I'm going to do just that. I shall WRITE...because Terry Moore told me to do so. :D
Had so much fun, will definitely be going back again next year. :D
Stuff I had at my table:
1. Bookmarks
2. Stickers
3. Limited edition Glass Frost lip balms (strawberry flavored)
4. Business cards
5. And last but not least my two awesome books First Frost & Glass Frost.
My badge for the weekend. :D
My table and my super cute dress. :D
Me and my new BFF Esther Wheelmaker.
Darth Vader on Summer Vacation.
Jem and Jerica from my favorite 80's cartoon Jem.
Pinkie Pie tagged along and kept me company. I think she has pretty good taste in books, don't you think so?
I met my hero Terry Moore and he was so incredibly kind and gracious. He asked me to tell him about my book and was intrigued. I signed two of my books for him and he let me have one of his books from his table. And he SIGNED it for me!!! :D
Highlight of my life! And I'm going to do just that. I shall WRITE...because Terry Moore told me to do so. :D
Had so much fun, will definitely be going back again next year. :D
September 6, 2013
Fairy Tale Friday
Today's edition of Fairy Tale Friday will be about Puss in Boots. I first read this fairy tale when I was a little girl. It was in one of my favorite fairy tale books:
I always thought it was funny how the younger sibling ended up with the cat and how much he complained about it but in the end it was dear old Puss that gave him all the riches, titles and lands. So yeah, I like this story. I was always curious as to how a cat could wear boots. ;-) I guess that's part of the fairy tale aspect of this story. I also thought it was hilarious how he hid the young man's clothes while he was bathing in the river. Smart cat, don't you think?
Anyway I don't have much to offer as far as opinions go on this particular story, although here's a fun fact, for those of you that watched Faerie Tale Theater, did you know that almost the entire episode is cast with African American actors? I thought that was pretty cool. :) Ben Vereen played Puss and Gregory Hines played the younger brother.
Anyway this is what I got from wikipedia:
Puss meets the ogre in a nineteenth-century illustration by Gustave Doré
Puss in Boots by ~Sentinel13 on deviantART
Puss in Boots by ~jasminetoad on deviantART
I always thought it was funny how the younger sibling ended up with the cat and how much he complained about it but in the end it was dear old Puss that gave him all the riches, titles and lands. So yeah, I like this story. I was always curious as to how a cat could wear boots. ;-) I guess that's part of the fairy tale aspect of this story. I also thought it was hilarious how he hid the young man's clothes while he was bathing in the river. Smart cat, don't you think? Anyway I don't have much to offer as far as opinions go on this particular story, although here's a fun fact, for those of you that watched Faerie Tale Theater, did you know that almost the entire episode is cast with African American actors? I thought that was pretty cool. :) Ben Vereen played Puss and Gregory Hines played the younger brother.
Anyway this is what I got from wikipedia:
The tale opens with the third and youngest son of a miller receiving his inheritance — a cat. At first, the youngest son laments, as the eldest brother gains the mill, and the middle brother attains the mules. The feline is no ordinary cat, however, but one who requests and receives a pair of boots. Determined to make his master's fortune, the cat bags a rabbit in the forest and presents it to the king as a gift from his master, the fictional Marquisof Carabas. The cat continues making gifts of game to the king for several months.
Puss meets the ogre in a nineteenth-century illustration by Gustave DoréOne day, the king decided that he wanted his daughter to marry the cat's master. The cat persuades his master to remove his clothes and enter the river. The cat disposes of his masters clothing beneath a rock. As the royal coach nears, the cat begins calling for help in great distress. When the king stops to investigate, the cat tells him that his master the Marquis has been bathing in the river and robbed of his clothing. The king has the young man brought from the river, dressed in a splendid suit of clothes, and seated in the coach with his daughter, who falls in love with him at once.
The cat hurries ahead of the coach, ordering the country folk along the road to tell the king that the land belongs to the "Marquis of Carabas", saying that if they do not he will cut them into mincemeat. The cat then happens upon a castle inhabited by an ogre who is capable of transforming himself into a number of creatures. The ogre displays his ability by changing into a lion, frightening the cat, who then tricks the ogre into changing into a mouse. The cat then pounces upon the mouse and devours it. The king arrives at the castle that formerly belonged to the ogre, and, impressed with the bogus Marquis and his estate, gives the lad the princess in marriage. Thereafter, the cat enjoys life as a great lord who runs after mice only for his own amusement.[5]
The tale is followed immediately by two morals: "one stresses the importance of possessing industrie and savoir faire while the other extols the virtues of dress, countenance, and youth to win the heart of a princess."[6]
Puss in Boots by ~Sentinel13 on deviantART
Puss in Boots by ~jasminetoad on deviantART
September 5, 2013
Comic Con here I come!!
This basically sums up how I'm feeling about this weekend. :D
September 3, 2013
School!!!!
Today was my son's first full day of school. Peter (my youngest son) was still with me but it's a lot more quiet when you only have to take care of one toddler. It's so...quiet. Strange. Here's a list of things I did with my quiet time.
1. Fed Peter his breakfast and had the Occupational Therapist over for Peter's appointment. (1 hour).
2. Watched a movie on my Nook. From start to finish....it was glorious!
3. Put Peter down for a nap. Sat on the couch and basked in the silence. I even turned the TV off and just sat there and did absolutely nothing. It was awesome.
4. Missed Mason for about five minutes and went back to enjoying the quiet.
5. Looked at the clock and thought about waking Peter up from his nap. Decided that this was a very silly idea and got on facebook.
6. Writing this blog post. It's official...quiet time is amazing.
7. Just realized that I really ought to be writing...but I might do that tomorrow since I'm currently enjoying myself...and the great amount of nothing that I'm accomplishing.
8. Moms with loud rambunctious kids will totally get me and why I'm compiling this list.
What are some of the things you enjoy during quiet time? :)
1. Fed Peter his breakfast and had the Occupational Therapist over for Peter's appointment. (1 hour).
2. Watched a movie on my Nook. From start to finish....it was glorious!
3. Put Peter down for a nap. Sat on the couch and basked in the silence. I even turned the TV off and just sat there and did absolutely nothing. It was awesome.
4. Missed Mason for about five minutes and went back to enjoying the quiet.
5. Looked at the clock and thought about waking Peter up from his nap. Decided that this was a very silly idea and got on facebook.
6. Writing this blog post. It's official...quiet time is amazing.
7. Just realized that I really ought to be writing...but I might do that tomorrow since I'm currently enjoying myself...and the great amount of nothing that I'm accomplishing.
8. Moms with loud rambunctious kids will totally get me and why I'm compiling this list.
What are some of the things you enjoy during quiet time? :)
September 2, 2013
Shattered Frost
Okay, I did A LOT of writing for Shattered Frost today. It definitely helped that I read The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen today, so that's what I'm going to do all this week while Mason is in school. Read and watch lots of fairy tales to get me in that frame of mind. How else am I supposed to write a book that's revolving around fairy tales and folklore? It's all research...really...it is. LOL ;) Stop looking at me like that. I'm just going to write and figure everything out later. Plot? What plot? Just a bunch of seemingly random scenes that I'm going to weave together once I've reached my word count goal of 50k. Seriously though, if you do outlines that's the most amazing/incredible thing for a writer to do. I've tried writing outlines and all it does is make me cry because I'm a pantser through and through.
Anyway here's the word count for today. :)
Snow Queen portrait by *RozennIlliano on deviantART
Queen of Ice and Snow by *Hannah-Alexander on deviantART
23165 / 50000 words. 46% done!
Anyway here's the word count for today. :)
Snow Queen portrait by *RozennIlliano on deviantART
Queen of Ice and Snow by *Hannah-Alexander on deviantART
23165 / 50000 words. 46% done!
