Liz DeJesus's Blog, page 19
July 30, 2013
Zombie Ever After ~ Teaser
Note: This is an unedited excerpt of my work in progress Zombie Ever After.
“Come here little bunny. I won’t hurt you,” Neve whispered in a sweet tone of voice.
It was a small rabbit. Light brown with a pink nose that twitched as it sniffed the carrot Neve had placed as bait. It was probably the runt of the litter, either that or it was starving. Neve took a deep breath and forced her aching body to sit still even though all she wanted to do was kick the tree behind her in frustration. The rabbit hopped forward, getting closer to the miniscule carrot. It was the only one that they had been able to grow in their poor excuse of a garden, so Neve cut it up into several pieces and used it as bait for rabbits.
Neve grinned when the rabbit was within her reach. In a flash she had the rabbit by the scruff of its neck and snapped it before it could offer any form of struggle.
“Bunny stew…is what’s for dinner,” Neve said as she stuffed her prize in the sack. It would keep the other rabbit and the quail company. Neve pushed a blue button on her shoulder and called back her seven search droids. She worked with them every day to make sure there weren’t any infected people in the area while she searched for clean water and uninfected game. Last thing she and her friends needed was to get sick from food. Or worse.
She got up and headed to the compound. Her droids faithfully zipped up and lined up behind her.
© Liz DeJesus 2013
Post Apocalyptic Snow White by ~happyicecream1234 on deviantART
Snow White bot by ~studioawacs on deviantART
“Come here little bunny. I won’t hurt you,” Neve whispered in a sweet tone of voice.
It was a small rabbit. Light brown with a pink nose that twitched as it sniffed the carrot Neve had placed as bait. It was probably the runt of the litter, either that or it was starving. Neve took a deep breath and forced her aching body to sit still even though all she wanted to do was kick the tree behind her in frustration. The rabbit hopped forward, getting closer to the miniscule carrot. It was the only one that they had been able to grow in their poor excuse of a garden, so Neve cut it up into several pieces and used it as bait for rabbits.
Neve grinned when the rabbit was within her reach. In a flash she had the rabbit by the scruff of its neck and snapped it before it could offer any form of struggle.
“Bunny stew…is what’s for dinner,” Neve said as she stuffed her prize in the sack. It would keep the other rabbit and the quail company. Neve pushed a blue button on her shoulder and called back her seven search droids. She worked with them every day to make sure there weren’t any infected people in the area while she searched for clean water and uninfected game. Last thing she and her friends needed was to get sick from food. Or worse.
She got up and headed to the compound. Her droids faithfully zipped up and lined up behind her.
© Liz DeJesus 2013
Post Apocalyptic Snow White by ~happyicecream1234 on deviantART
Snow White bot by ~studioawacs on deviantART
July 29, 2013
The secret of la chancla
This is why Latin children are so well behaved. At least when their parents are around. ;)
I write....
I write....therefore I am.
I bought some pencils on etsy.com a couple of weeks ago and the artist carved those words on them. I write...therefore I am. I love them. Every day they remind me of why I love my job. The pay sucks sometimes but the reward is priceless. I wish you all knew how much I love being a writer. Granted, I'm not the best at it. Sometimes the words don't flow the way I wish they would. I wish I could master grammar and all the other rules that exist but I'm learning. Slowly, steadily, patiently...I tinker and work my way through my stories. I will stumble and fall, but I'll just get up and try again until I get it right. And it might take me a lifetime but I'll keep at it with a smile on my face.
I may never win an award, or be recognized the way other writers do. But I'm filled with joy every time I pick up my pen and notebook because I have a story to tell. Ideas to share. Things to say. I have a voice. It's not much, but it's mine.
That's all I wanted to say. :)
Writing is... by ~Beginte on deviantART
I'm writing u a poem by ~saltyshadow on deviantART
I bought some pencils on etsy.com a couple of weeks ago and the artist carved those words on them. I write...therefore I am. I love them. Every day they remind me of why I love my job. The pay sucks sometimes but the reward is priceless. I wish you all knew how much I love being a writer. Granted, I'm not the best at it. Sometimes the words don't flow the way I wish they would. I wish I could master grammar and all the other rules that exist but I'm learning. Slowly, steadily, patiently...I tinker and work my way through my stories. I will stumble and fall, but I'll just get up and try again until I get it right. And it might take me a lifetime but I'll keep at it with a smile on my face.
I may never win an award, or be recognized the way other writers do. But I'm filled with joy every time I pick up my pen and notebook because I have a story to tell. Ideas to share. Things to say. I have a voice. It's not much, but it's mine.
That's all I wanted to say. :)
Writing is... by ~Beginte on deviantART
I'm writing u a poem by ~saltyshadow on deviantART
July 28, 2013
2nd and Charles Book Signing ~ Update
Had a wonderful time yesterday at 2nd and Charles. Everyone sold a fair amount of book and we were invited back on the spot! So we're all going back to 2nd and Charles on November 9th. I got a chance to meet and speak to a lot of amazing people and got to know author J. Alex Blane during the 4 hours we sat next to each other. LOL Poor guy, I talked almost the entire time I sat next to him. I can't help it. I'm chatty (I'm home all day with 2 boys I have things to say).
Toward the end of the event two young ladies showed up and bought J. Alex's book Where We Left Off and they were HILARIOUS. OMG I was smiling and laughing so hard that my cheeks literally hurt by the time we were finished. I can't even tell you what they were talking about because it would be the longest blog post of my life. They were awesome and they made my day.
Toward the end of the event two young ladies showed up and bought J. Alex's book Where We Left Off and they were HILARIOUS. OMG I was smiling and laughing so hard that my cheeks literally hurt by the time we were finished. I can't even tell you what they were talking about because it would be the longest blog post of my life. They were awesome and they made my day.
July 26, 2013
2nd and Charles Book Signing
I was going to write something here...but I think this awesome poster speaks for itself. I feel like there should be a trailer or something. All of us walking in slow motion, wearing sunglasses and an explosion or something somewhere in the background. You know what I mean? LOL
A very serious voice saying things like "4 Authors. 1 Event! 2nd and Charles...be there or be square."
Fairy Tale Friday
Today I'm going to talk about The Red Shoes by Hans Christian Andersen. You thought he wrote only nice, fluffy fairy tales? Think again. This one is as creepy as they come. This is the first time that I was seriously scared of a fairy tale and avoided wearing red shoes for many, many years. This is about a girl that becomes obsessed with a pair of red shoes and when she finally has the money to buy them she wears them all the time until...she can't take them off. The shoes make her dance until she decides to chop off her feet and the shoes keep dancing. Seriously....creepy.
Anyway here's the version I got from wikipedia:
A peasant girl named Karen is adopted by a rich old lady after her mother's death, and grows up vain and spoiled. Before her adoption Karen had a rough pair of red shoes, and now she tricks her adoptive mother into buying her a pair of red shoes fit for a princess. Karen repeatedly wears them to church, without paying attention to the service. She ignores the anger of her adopted mother and disapproving stares that even the holy images seem to express at her wearing red shoes in church. Her adoptive mother becomes ill, but Karen deserts her, preferring to attend a party in her red shoes. A mysterious soldier appears and makes strange remarks about what beautiful dancing shoes Karen has. Soon after, Karen begins to dance and she can't stop. The shoes take over; she cannot control them and they are stuck to her feet. The shoes continue to dance, through fields and meadows, rain or shine, night and day, and through brambles and briars that tear at Karen's limbs. She can't even attend her adoptive mother's funeral. An angel appears to her, bearing a sword, and condemns her to dance even after she dies, as a warning to vain children everywhere. Karen begs for mercy but the red shoes take her away before she hears the angel's reply. Karen finds an executioner and asks him to chop off her feet. He does so but the shoes continue to dance, even with Karen's amputated feet inside them. The executioner gives her a pair of wooden feet and crutches, and teaches her the criminals' psalm. Thinking that she has suffered enough for the red shoes, Karen decides to go to church in order for the people to see her. However her amputated feet, still in the red shoes, dance before her, barring the way. The following Sunday she tries again, thinking of herself at least as good as the others in church, but again the dancing red shoes bar the way. Karen gets a job as a maid in the parsonage, but when Sunday comes she dares not go to church. Instead she sits alone at home and prays to God for help. The angel reappears, now bearing a spray of roses, and gives Karen the mercy she asked for: it is as though the church comes home to her and her heart becomes so filled with sunshine, peace, and joy that it bursts. Her soul flies on sunshine to Heaven, and no one there mentions the red shoes.
The Red Shoes by ~LathronAniron on deviantART
The red shoes by ~veryangelic on deviantART
Anyway here's the version I got from wikipedia:
A peasant girl named Karen is adopted by a rich old lady after her mother's death, and grows up vain and spoiled. Before her adoption Karen had a rough pair of red shoes, and now she tricks her adoptive mother into buying her a pair of red shoes fit for a princess. Karen repeatedly wears them to church, without paying attention to the service. She ignores the anger of her adopted mother and disapproving stares that even the holy images seem to express at her wearing red shoes in church. Her adoptive mother becomes ill, but Karen deserts her, preferring to attend a party in her red shoes. A mysterious soldier appears and makes strange remarks about what beautiful dancing shoes Karen has. Soon after, Karen begins to dance and she can't stop. The shoes take over; she cannot control them and they are stuck to her feet. The shoes continue to dance, through fields and meadows, rain or shine, night and day, and through brambles and briars that tear at Karen's limbs. She can't even attend her adoptive mother's funeral. An angel appears to her, bearing a sword, and condemns her to dance even after she dies, as a warning to vain children everywhere. Karen begs for mercy but the red shoes take her away before she hears the angel's reply. Karen finds an executioner and asks him to chop off her feet. He does so but the shoes continue to dance, even with Karen's amputated feet inside them. The executioner gives her a pair of wooden feet and crutches, and teaches her the criminals' psalm. Thinking that she has suffered enough for the red shoes, Karen decides to go to church in order for the people to see her. However her amputated feet, still in the red shoes, dance before her, barring the way. The following Sunday she tries again, thinking of herself at least as good as the others in church, but again the dancing red shoes bar the way. Karen gets a job as a maid in the parsonage, but when Sunday comes she dares not go to church. Instead she sits alone at home and prays to God for help. The angel reappears, now bearing a spray of roses, and gives Karen the mercy she asked for: it is as though the church comes home to her and her heart becomes so filled with sunshine, peace, and joy that it bursts. Her soul flies on sunshine to Heaven, and no one there mentions the red shoes.
The Red Shoes by ~LathronAniron on deviantART
The red shoes by ~veryangelic on deviantART
July 25, 2013
Editing and a random list...for fun! :D
Note: I used Grammarly to grammar check this post, because time spent proofreading could be time spent writing.
Going through edits can be brutal sometimes. I’m looking over Nina/Girl and that was written before I finally found my style as a writer. I’m reading and looking through the edits and part of me just wants to hide under the covers and groan with embarrassment. This was definitely a novel that never should’ve gotten published without proper editing. LOL It’s crazy. There’s even a part where my characters start talking and my editor posted a comment asking ‘Where is this conversation taking place?’
In the air? I guess. Because I have no idea.
LOL
And trust me, even now that I ‘know better’ this stuff still happens to me sometimes. Why? Because it’s all happening inside my head and I can see it clear as day when I close my eyes. And I’m just there. I can see the chair their sitting on, I know the texture of the fabric, the color, the temperature in the room...everything. But it’s hard to know exactly what to write because I’m a pantser. I just go with the flow and write everything as soon as it comes to me. That’s a good thing when it comes to getting things on paper. Not so good when you want things to actually make sense, you know what I mean?
Just for fun here’s a clip from my favorite ‘Liz’. Because this is how I feel when my editor asks me to add more to my story.
Another thing that does affect my writing and my style is language. Yes, I’ve lived in the U.S. for fourteen years but there are still moments where my sentences get a little jumbled.
So here is a pros and cons list I made:
Pros
1. Creativity/Imagination. I always, ALWAYS have an idea for a story.
2. Inspiration. Anything can trigger an idea for a novel.
3. I can write anywhere on anything.
4. Determination (aka being a persistent pain in the ass). I’ll finish my story even if it sucks. Even if it doesn’t make any sense to me as I’m writing it, I’m going to do my best to finish it. It’ll take a while…but it’ll get done. Why? Because I’m as stubborn as a mule…that’s why.
5. I write fast. I’m in a rush to get it all out of my head before I forget it.
6. Even if I set aside a story it’s easy for me to pick up right where I left off as if it had been a few days since I last worked on it. And not, months or years.
7. Research. I am good about reading books about topics I’m not familiar with and putting that information in my books. I’m now reading books on how to survive the zombie apocalypse. Hopefully I’ll never ever have to put any of that info into practice.
Cons
1. Grammar rules. I get my past and present tense mixed up sometimes. Which is why I hire a freelance editor before I submit my work anywhere. Because I know this is a problem for me sometimes.
2. Language. Sometimes I think up sentences in Spanish and they don’t always translate well…meaning I’ll sometimes have a hot mess of a sentence where I’ll get comments from my editor asking me ‘WTF?’ But I did spend the first 17 years of my life on a tropical island where everything was in Spanish. For me it’s adjetivo, pronombre, adverbio, etc.
The red pencil. in Spanish is El lapiz rojo. <-- adjective goes in the end in a Spanish sentence sometimes. Weird!
See? Still learning! Which I love. I love learning about writing. I spend so much time in the B & N reference section and I love buying books on grammar rules and the best way to write a sentence. I hope I never EVER EVER stop learning.
3. Poetry. Sometimes it’s good to mix in a little poetry into your work but in my case this makes for short fragmented sentences. Which is my style as a writer but some people just don’t like it.
4. School (lack of it). I did go to community college when I first came to the US. I even took a technical writing class…but I was asked to drop out of it because I was doing so poorly. I didn’t even know how to use the tab key. Seriously. I wish I were joking.
5. I write fast. Which can be good when you’re doing NANOWRIMO and need to add word count, but not so good when you want your story to…you know…make sense and other fun stuff like that.
Going through edits can be brutal sometimes. I’m looking over Nina/Girl and that was written before I finally found my style as a writer. I’m reading and looking through the edits and part of me just wants to hide under the covers and groan with embarrassment. This was definitely a novel that never should’ve gotten published without proper editing. LOL It’s crazy. There’s even a part where my characters start talking and my editor posted a comment asking ‘Where is this conversation taking place?’
In the air? I guess. Because I have no idea.
LOL
And trust me, even now that I ‘know better’ this stuff still happens to me sometimes. Why? Because it’s all happening inside my head and I can see it clear as day when I close my eyes. And I’m just there. I can see the chair their sitting on, I know the texture of the fabric, the color, the temperature in the room...everything. But it’s hard to know exactly what to write because I’m a pantser. I just go with the flow and write everything as soon as it comes to me. That’s a good thing when it comes to getting things on paper. Not so good when you want things to actually make sense, you know what I mean?
Just for fun here’s a clip from my favorite ‘Liz’. Because this is how I feel when my editor asks me to add more to my story.
Another thing that does affect my writing and my style is language. Yes, I’ve lived in the U.S. for fourteen years but there are still moments where my sentences get a little jumbled.
So here is a pros and cons list I made:
Pros
1. Creativity/Imagination. I always, ALWAYS have an idea for a story.
2. Inspiration. Anything can trigger an idea for a novel.
3. I can write anywhere on anything.
4. Determination (aka being a persistent pain in the ass). I’ll finish my story even if it sucks. Even if it doesn’t make any sense to me as I’m writing it, I’m going to do my best to finish it. It’ll take a while…but it’ll get done. Why? Because I’m as stubborn as a mule…that’s why.
5. I write fast. I’m in a rush to get it all out of my head before I forget it.
6. Even if I set aside a story it’s easy for me to pick up right where I left off as if it had been a few days since I last worked on it. And not, months or years.
7. Research. I am good about reading books about topics I’m not familiar with and putting that information in my books. I’m now reading books on how to survive the zombie apocalypse. Hopefully I’ll never ever have to put any of that info into practice.
Cons
1. Grammar rules. I get my past and present tense mixed up sometimes. Which is why I hire a freelance editor before I submit my work anywhere. Because I know this is a problem for me sometimes.
2. Language. Sometimes I think up sentences in Spanish and they don’t always translate well…meaning I’ll sometimes have a hot mess of a sentence where I’ll get comments from my editor asking me ‘WTF?’ But I did spend the first 17 years of my life on a tropical island where everything was in Spanish. For me it’s adjetivo, pronombre, adverbio, etc.
The red pencil. in Spanish is El lapiz rojo. <-- adjective goes in the end in a Spanish sentence sometimes. Weird!
See? Still learning! Which I love. I love learning about writing. I spend so much time in the B & N reference section and I love buying books on grammar rules and the best way to write a sentence. I hope I never EVER EVER stop learning.
3. Poetry. Sometimes it’s good to mix in a little poetry into your work but in my case this makes for short fragmented sentences. Which is my style as a writer but some people just don’t like it.
4. School (lack of it). I did go to community college when I first came to the US. I even took a technical writing class…but I was asked to drop out of it because I was doing so poorly. I didn’t even know how to use the tab key. Seriously. I wish I were joking.
5. I write fast. Which can be good when you’re doing NANOWRIMO and need to add word count, but not so good when you want your story to…you know…make sense and other fun stuff like that.
July 24, 2013
Reviews...the good, the bad and the ugly
All right....since First Frost exploded on amazon.com people have been reading the book and leaving reviews like crazy. And I will use Zooey Deschanel GIFs to tell you all how I feel so here goes nothing.
The highest First Frost made it was #10 on the Amazon Free on Kindle list.
I sat up and took notice. I couldn't believe it. People actually gave a crap about my book. And why wouldn't they? My book is awesome.
The next day people actually PAID for the book. People were actually purchasing copies of my book! I was all like WOOHOOO! Finally. It took me a whole entire year of being a pain in the ass promoting my book.
Then the reviews started trickling in. And believe me, I love reviewers, they are an indie authors bread and butter, but now it's the big leagues....now it's actual readers leaving reviews.
And so far it's been pretty positive.
Most people just love Terrance and Prince Ferdinand. They're adorable! Of course people love them.
But then I'll come across a not so good review. And it makes me want to crawl in my bed, and cry under the covers.
This is the good/bad thing about putting yourself out there. You're opening yourself up to criticism (WOOHOOO! Spelled it correctly on my first try!) and sometimes it makes me wonder whether I really want to stay on this crazy ass path I'm on. I mean, I love writing but sometimes it's...you know...hard. LOL I'm sort of obsessing over goodreads and amazon because I keep checking the rank and the reviews and everything else. I wish I could just turn off the internet. And trust me...I try...but then it's on my phone and on my tablet. It's EVERYWHERE. I can't get away from the internet. Seriously. I can't. Sigh.
But the good news is that so far everyone's enjoying my book. Which is a relief because I still have a few more stops to go before I'm finally finished with my book tour. It ends with the Book Festival after that I'm taking a break. This is getting insane.
One last GIF before I go. ;)
The highest First Frost made it was #10 on the Amazon Free on Kindle list.
I sat up and took notice. I couldn't believe it. People actually gave a crap about my book. And why wouldn't they? My book is awesome.
The next day people actually PAID for the book. People were actually purchasing copies of my book! I was all like WOOHOOO! Finally. It took me a whole entire year of being a pain in the ass promoting my book.
Then the reviews started trickling in. And believe me, I love reviewers, they are an indie authors bread and butter, but now it's the big leagues....now it's actual readers leaving reviews.
And so far it's been pretty positive.
Most people just love Terrance and Prince Ferdinand. They're adorable! Of course people love them.
But then I'll come across a not so good review. And it makes me want to crawl in my bed, and cry under the covers.
This is the good/bad thing about putting yourself out there. You're opening yourself up to criticism (WOOHOOO! Spelled it correctly on my first try!) and sometimes it makes me wonder whether I really want to stay on this crazy ass path I'm on. I mean, I love writing but sometimes it's...you know...hard. LOL I'm sort of obsessing over goodreads and amazon because I keep checking the rank and the reviews and everything else. I wish I could just turn off the internet. And trust me...I try...but then it's on my phone and on my tablet. It's EVERYWHERE. I can't get away from the internet. Seriously. I can't. Sigh.
But the good news is that so far everyone's enjoying my book. Which is a relief because I still have a few more stops to go before I'm finally finished with my book tour. It ends with the Book Festival after that I'm taking a break. This is getting insane.
One last GIF before I go. ;)
