Liz DeJesus's Blog, page 18
August 16, 2013
Fairy Tale Friday
I read a retelling while looking through submissions for Twisted Fairy Tale Anthology V2 many years ago and decided that it was such an interesting story that I had to read the original fairy tale that inspired it. :)
Anyway, I'm not as familiar with this fairy tale so I'll share the snippet I found on wikipedia. Maybe this will get you to crack open that copy of The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales that you have sitting on your shelf and read it.
Enjoy!
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Illustration by Heinrich VogelerA shape-shifting witch (or "fairy," depending on the translation) lived alone in a dark castle in the woods. She could lure wild animals and birds to her before killing them. She transfixed anyone who would come near to where she stood, and turn innocent maidens into birds and cage them. Jorinde and Joringel (who had promised to marry each other) went for a walk in the forest. They came too near to the witch's lair. She turned Jorinde into anightingale and fixed Joringel to the ground. Once she had carried away the bird, she freed Joringel.
One night Joringel dreamed of a flower and that it would break all the witch's spells. He sought it for nine days, found it, and carried it back to the castle. He was not frozen to the ground when he approached the castle and it opened all the doors. He found the witch feeding the birds. She was unable to curse him. When she tried to take one cage away, he realized it was Jorinde. He touched the witch with the flower and her evil magic left her forever. He touched Jorinde with the flower and she became a woman again. Then he transformed all the other women back.
Jorinda and Jorindel by ~monologish on deviantART
August 13, 2013
August 9, 2013
Fairy Tale Friday
Okay, the first time I remember learning about Rumplestiltskin was on Faerie Tale Theater. I remember being afraid of the little man stomping his feet at the end of the show. I watched it again years later and I couldn't help but giggle at the stuff I had been so scared of as a child. Did you know that Shelley Duvall had a miniature horse on that show? Yeah....they glued a horn to its forehead and called it a unicorn. Gotta love the 80's man. The only time you could get away with stuff like that.
Basically it's the story of a young peasant girl who has a drunkard for a father and one day he starts shouting that his daughter can spin straw into gold and much to the girl's horror the king takes her father's ravings seriously. They take her and lock her in a room filled with straw and if she succeeds she can marry the prince, if she fails she'll die. (It's always one extreme or the other in these stories, don't you agree?) Anyway the girl starts crying and all of a sudden a little man appears and offers to help her. First he takes a ring in exchange for his help, the next day she gives him her necklace and then the next day she has nothing left to offer in exchange for his help. So he tells her that he wants her first born child in exchange for his help. She readily agrees (crazy, right?). Eventually she marries the prince and then before you know it....she has a baby. Her first born.
Let's just say things get interesting after that.
Here's the version I found on wikipedia:
In order to make himself appear more important, a miller lies to a king, telling him that his daughter can spin straw into gold. The king calls for the girl, shuts her in a tower room filled with straw and a spinning wheel, and demands that she spin the straw into gold by morning or he will cut off her head (other versions have the king threatening to lock her up in a dungeon forever). She has given up all hope when an imp-like creature appears in the room and spins the straw into gold for her in return for her necklace. When the king takes the girl on the next morning to a larger room filled with straw to repeat the feat, the imp spins in return for the girl's ring. On the third day, when the girl has been taken to an even larger room filled with straw and told by the king that he will marry her if she can fill this room with gold or kill her if she cannot, the girl has nothing left with which to pay the strange creature. He extracts from her a promise that her firstborn child will be given to him, and spins the room full of gold a final time.
The king keeps his promise to marry the miller's daughter, but when their first child is born, the imp returns to claim his payment: "Now give me what you promised." The now-queen offers him all the wealth she has if she may keep the child. The imp has no interest in her riches, but finally consents to give up his claim to the child if the queen is able to guess his name within three days. Her many guesses over the first two days fail, but before the final night, her messenger (though he does not know the significance of his mission) comes across the imp's remote mountain cottage and watches, unseen, as the imp hops about his fire and sings. In his song's lyrics, he reveals his name.[1]
When the imp comes to the queen on the third day and she, after first feigning ignorance, reveals his true name, Rumpelstiltskin, he loses his temper and his bargain. In the 1812 edition of the Brothers Grimm tales, Rumpelstiltskin then "ran away angrily, and never came back." The ending was revised in a final 1857 edition to a more gruesome ending wherein Rumpelstiltskin "in his rage drove his right foot so far into the ground that it sank in up to his waist; then in a passion he seized the left foot with both hands and tore himself in two." Other versions have Rumpelstiltskin driving his right foot so far into the ground that he creates a chasm and falls into it, never to be seen again. In the oral version originally collected by the brothers Grimm, Rumpelstiltskin flies out of the window on a cooking ladle.
In the forest by ~annoulaki on deviantART
August 5, 2013
YA vs Adult Lit
Anyway I'm just having a lot of fun working on Zombie Ever After. All my characters are adults and I don't have to watch what I say. They can do what they want and some of them are crazy. LOL So it's nice to let that side of my brain (and my creativity) go wild and do whatever it feels like.
But don't worry. I'm gonna go back to Bianca soon. I just needed a little break.
August 3, 2013
Zombie Ever After
Kei by *muju on deviantART
Little Red Riding Hood by ~digitalartaficianado on deviantART
Alternative Little Red Riding Hood by ~Lady-I-Hellsing on deviantART
My, what big guns you have. by *OminousHam on deviantART
Added a new character named Red, because every book should have a crazy redhead. LOL My version of Red Riding Hood is a little bit of all these images combined.
Red is a mentally unstable firearms expert that names all of her guns. Her favorite is Velma. You'll have to wait until the book comes out to find out more about Velma. ;)
10381 / 50000 words. 21% done!
August 2, 2013
Fairy Tale Friday
I remember watching Disney's Alice in Wonderland when I was a little girl but I didn't read until I found it at the library when I was nine or ten years old. I remember being captivated by this odd little girl that was trapped in a strange land. My absolute favorite Wonderland character was The Cheshire Cat, closely followed by The Caterpillar. I think it had something to do with the fact that he became a butterfly after talking to Alice. Anyway I remember being a little frightened of the Mad Hatter. To this day I don't know why maybe because he was so argumentative with Alice or it could be the way that I perceived him when I read it the first time (I was little).
I also enjoyed the original illustrations by John Tenniel more than the Disney version (See? I was picky even then). Oh! Here's a neat little tid bit...I'm using Alice in Wonderland in book #3 of the Frost Series. :) Muahahahahahaha!!! Bet you're dying to find out what happens to Bianca, aren't you? Of course you are! :D
What's your favorite aspect of Alice in Wonderland?
Anyway here's a short summary of the story according to wikipedia:
The White RabbitChapter 1 – Down the Rabbit Hole: Alice is feeling bored while sitting on the riverbank with her sister, when she notices a talking, clothed White Rabbit with a pocket watch run past. She follows it down a rabbit hole when suddenly she falls a long way to a curious hall with many locked doors of all sizes. She finds a small key to a door too small for her to fit through, but through it she sees an attractive garden. She then discovers a bottle on a table labelled "DRINK ME", the contents of which cause her to shrink too small to reach the key which she has left on the table. A cake with "EAT ME" on it causes her to grow to such a tremendous size her head hits the ceiling.
Chapter 2 – The Pool of Tears: Alice is unhappy and cries as her tears flood the hallway. After shrinking down again due to a fan she had picked up, Alice swims through her own tears and meets a Mouse, who is swimming as well. She tries to make small talk with him in elementary French (thinking he may be a French mouse) but her opening gambit "Où est ma chatte?" (that is "Where is my cat?") offends the mouse.
Chapter 3 – The Caucus Race and a Long Tale: The sea of tears becomes crowded with other animals and birds that have been swept away by the rising waters. Alice and the other animals convene on the bank and the question among them is how to get dry again. The Mouse gives them a very dry lecture onWilliam the Conqueror. A Dodo decides that the best thing to dry them off would be a Caucus-Race, which consists of everyone running in a circle with no clear winner. Alice eventually frightens all the animals away, unwittingly, by talking about her (moderately ferocious) cat.
Chapter 4 – The Rabbit Sends a Little Bill: The White Rabbit appears again in search of the Duchess's gloves and fan. Mistaking her for his maidservant, Mary Ann, he orders Alice to go into the house and retrieve them, but once she gets inside she starts growing. The horrified Rabbit orders his gardener, Bill the Lizard, to climb on the roof and go down the chimney. Outside, Alice hears the voices of animals that have gathered to gawk at her giant arm. The crowd hurls pebbles at her, which turn into little cakes. Alice eats them, and they reduce her again in size.
Chapter 5 – Advice from a Caterpillar: Alice comes upon a mushroom and sitting on it is a blue Caterpillar smoking a hookah. The Caterpillar questions Alice and she admits to her current identity crisis, compounded by her inability to remember a poem. Before crawling away, the caterpillar tells Alice that one side of the mushroom will make her taller and the other side will make her shorter. She breaks off two pieces from the mushroom. One side makes her shrink smaller than ever, while another causes her neck to grow high into the trees, where a pigeon mistakes her for a serpent. With some effort, Alice brings herself back to her usual height. She stumbles upon a small estate and uses the mushroom to reach a more appropriate height.
The Cheshire CatChapter 6 – Pig and Pepper: A Fish-Footman has an invitation for the Duchess of the house, which he delivers to a Frog-Footman. Alice observes this transaction and, after a perplexing conversation with the frog, lets herself into the house. The Duchess's Cook is throwing dishes and making a soup that has too much pepper, which causes Alice, the Duchess, and her baby (but not the cook or grinning Cheshire Cat) to sneeze violently. Alice is given the baby by the Duchess and to her surprise, the baby turns into a pig. The Cheshire Cat appears in a tree, directing her to the March Hare's house. He disappears but his grin remains behind to float on its own in the air prompting Alice to remark that she has often seen a cat without a grin but never a grin without a cat.
Chapter 7 – A Mad Tea-Party: Alice becomes a guest at a "mad" tea party along with the March Hare, the Hatter, and a very tired Dormouse who falls asleep frequently, only to be violently woken up moments later by the March Hare and the Hatter. The characters give Alice many riddles and stories, including the famous 'Why is a raven like a writing desk?'. The Hatter reveals that they have tea all day because Time has punished him by eternally standing still at 6 pm (tea time). Alice becomes insulted and tired of being bombarded with riddles and she leaves claiming that it was the stupidest tea party that she had ever been to.
Alice trying to play croquetwith a Flamingo.Chapter 8 – The Queen's Croquet Ground: Alice leaves the tea party and enters the garden where she comes upon three living playing cards painting the white roses on a rose tree red because The Queen of Hearts hates white roses. A procession of more cards, kings and queens and even the White Rabbit enters the garden. Alice then meets the King and Queen. The Queen, a figure difficult to please, introduces her trademark phrase "Off with his head!" which she utters at the slightest dissatisfaction with a subject. Alice is invited (or some might say ordered) to play a game of croquet with the Queen and the rest of her subjects but the game quickly descends into chaos. Live flamingos are used as mallets and hedgehogs as balls and Alice once again meets the Cheshire Cat. The Queen of Hearts then orders the Cat to be beheaded, only to have her executioner complain that this is impossible since the head is all that can be seen of him. Because the cat belongs to the Duchess, the Queen is prompted to release the Duchess from prison to resolve the matter.
Chapter 9 – The Mock Turtle's Story: The Duchess is brought to the croquet ground at Alice's request. She ruminates on finding morals in everything around her. The Queen of Hearts dismisses her on the threat of execution and she introduces Alice to the Gryphon, who takes her to the Mock Turtle. The Mock Turtle is very sad, even though he has no sorrow. He tries to tell his story about how he used to be a real turtle in school, which the Gryphon interrupts so they can play a game.
Chapter 10 – Lobster Quadrille: The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon dance to the Lobster Quadrille, while Alice recites (rather incorrectly) "'Tis the Voice of the Lobster". The Mock Turtle sings them "Beautiful Soup" during which the Gryphon drags Alice away for an impending trial.
Chapter 11 – Who Stole the Tarts?: Alice attends a trial whereby the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the Queen's tarts. The jury is composed of various animals, including Bill the Lizard, the White Rabbit is the court's trumpeter, and the judge is the King of Hearts. During the proceedings, Alice finds that she is steadily growing larger. The dormouse scolds Alice and tells her she has no right to grow at such a rapid pace and take up all the air. Alice scoffs and calls the dormouse's accusation ridiculous because everyone grows and she cannot help it. Meanwhile, witnesses at the trial include the Hatter, who displeases and frustrates the King through his indirect answers to the questioning, and the Duchess's cook.
Chapter 12 – Alice's Evidence: Alice is then called up as a witness. She accidentally knocks over the jury box with the animals inside them and the King orders the animals be placed back into their seats before the trial continues. The King and Queen order Alice to be gone, citing Rule 42 ("All persons more than a mile high to leave the court"), but Alice disputes their judgement and refuses to leave. She argues with the King and Queen of Hearts over the ridiculous proceedings, eventually refusing to hold her tongue. The Queen shouts her familiar "Off with her head!" but Alice is unafraid, calling them out as just a pack of cards; just as they start to swarm over her. Alice's sister wakes her up for tea, brushing what turns out to be some leaves and not a shower of playing cards from Alice's face. Alice leaves her sister on the bank to imagine all the curious happenings for herself.
Alice in wonderland by *Maevachan on deviantART
Alice by *ElenaKalis on deviantART
July 31, 2013
Pictures I took
I was standing on the porch, talking to my dad on my cellphone (I wasn't getting good reception inside for some reason) and Peter was pressing his face against the glass door trying to give me kisses. LOL He's so stinkin' cute. Love him to bits and pieces. <3
Went outside for a moment to see what the weather was like before I headed out to the mall. Noticed that there were a couple of bees on my Black-eyed Susan's. So I took a risk and got as close as I could and snapped a few pictures. I think they look amazing. I'm just glad I didn't get stung by a bee.
July 30, 2013
Summer Writing Challenge
Wrote a grand total of 9,467 words. That's on Zombie Ever After! Not counting all the blogging I did and all the guest blog posts, interviews and other writer related stuff. This calls for a happy dance!
