Liz DeJesus's Blog, page 23
June 21, 2013
Free on Amazon!
June 20, 2013
Baltimore Comic Con
June 19, 2013
When I Was Puerto Rican
But now that I'm reading this book so many memories are flooding back to me and it's overwhelming. I honestly don't have the words to express what I'm feeling right now. It's an odd combination of nostalgia, longing, anger and love. I have a serious love/hate relationship with my homeland. It's not even funny. :/
Anyway, even if you're not Puerto Rican or Hispanic, you should definitely check out this book. Can't wait to finish it. :)
June 18, 2013
Shattered Frost ~ Teaser Tuesday
Bianca stared at the hands on the clock. Five more minutes and she would be free from the imbeciles that surrounded her on a daily basis. She had tolerated them for five long months, all because she promised Rose that she would be on her best behavior and not use magic. That was the hardest part. No magic. Especially when she was getting picked on by the head cheerleader, who seemed to hate everyone including herself. Being slammed against lockers and made it look like it was an accident. And the school jerk Brandon Campion, who was currently throwing spitballs at her.
Even when she complained to a teacher all they would get was a warning and nothing else would ever come of it. So Bianca remained quiet and put up with it. All she wanted was to make it through the end of the day.
Her heart jumped as she felt a saliva covered piece of notebook paper as it landed in her hair, then another one in the back of her shirt and several others that had struck her on the cheek. Her math teacher, Mrs. Carpenter just sat on her desk and did nothing. Magic would’ve solved her problem. She could already imagine herself setting his notebooks on fire.
Stop. Don’t go down that train of thought. I can’t do that. Just five more minutes. Almost done with this place.
Bianca drummed her fingers against her desk and did everything she could to push the thought of fire away. To stop her hands from literally bursting into flames and melt Brandon’s stupid, smug face off. Her heart jumped when she felt yet another spitball stick to her cheek.
That does it.
© Liz DeJesus 2013
Author's Note: This actually happened to me in high school. This guy in my classroom would throw spitballs at me every day and my teacher didn't do a damned thing (because he was the mayor's nephew). Until one day I got up from my seat with a pen in my hands and told him to stop. I was waving that pen around and to everyone in the classroom it looked like I was ready to stab him in the face. LOL I had no intention of hurting him, I just wanted him to leave me alone. He was scared enough that he actually stopped. :) No thanks to my dumb-ass teacher.
Shattered Frost
Shattered Frost starts with Bianca at school. She's waiting for the bell to ring to she can begin her holiday break (which is roughly two weeks before Christmas). She has plans on going back to Everafter with Ming because they've been invited to the Winter Ball. Which is a Yuletide celebration of the arrival of Winter and The Snow Queen who is ready to take over the Faerie Realm. There are 4 queens and each one handles different seasons in Everafter. It's the coolest way I can think of to explain the changing of seasons. :)
Titania = Summer
Mab = Autumn
Snow Queen = Winter (I have a name for her...I just can't remember it. LOL)
Blodeuwedd = Spring
Anyway, I don't wanna give away too much. But Bluebeard and his wives are involved. And their is a trip to Wonderland. Another thing that's different this time around is that the story is divided in two. You will find out what's happening to Bianca and you will find out what's going on with Terrance because this time they've been separated and they're each trying to get back home. Trying to find each other again. So it's interesting to find out what's going on inside Terrance's head. What he's thinking, seeing, smelling, hearing, etc. It's very easy to pop in and out of Bianca's head. Terrance? Not so much, but it's interesting while I'm there. You know what I mean?
I'm hoping that this book will keep the reader intrigued. We'll get to see a whole different side of Terrance and Bianca.
June 17, 2013
Sentence
She did a pirouette on the very tip of his blade. She looked deadly and beautiful all at once.
Might be a poem...or I might use it in Shattered Frost...who the hell knows. All I know is that it sounds pretty freakin' cool. :D
Pirouette by ~Mariko303 on deviantART
June 14, 2013
Fairy Tale Friday
Taken from wikipedia:
"Thumbelina" (Danish: Tommelise) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 inCopenhagen, Denmark with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Traveling Companion" in the second installment of Fairy Tales Told for Children."Thumbelina" is about a tiny girl and her adventures with appearance- and marriage-minded toads, moles, and cockchafers. She successfully avoids their intentions before falling in love with a flower-fairy prince just her size.
"Thumbelina" is chiefly Andersen's invention, though he did take inspiration from tales of miniature people such as "Tom Thumb". "Thumbelina" was published as one of a series of seven fairy tales in 1835 which were not well received by the Danish critics who disliked their informal style and their lack of morals. One critic, however, applauded "Thumbelina".[citation needed] The earliest English translation of "Thumbelina" is dated 1846. The tale has been adapted to various media including song and animated film.
Plot[edit]In the first English translation of 1847 by Mary Howitt, the tale opens with a beggar woman giving a peasant's wife a barleycorn in exchange for food. Once planted, a tiny girl, Thumbelina (Tommelise), emerges from its flower. One night, Thumbelina, asleep in her walnut-shell cradle, is carried off by a toad who wants the miniature maiden as a bride for her son. With the help of friendly fish and a butterfly, Thumbelina escapes the toad and her son, and drifts on a lily pad until captured by a stag beetle. The insect discards her when his friends reject her company. Thumbelina tries to protect herself from the elements, but when winter comes, she is in desperate straits. She is finally given shelter by an old field mouse and tends her dwelling in gratitude. The mouse suggests Thumbelina marry her neighbor, a mole, but Thumbelina finds repulsive the prospect of being married to such a creature. She escapes the situation by fleeing to a far land with a swallow she nursed back to health during the winter. In a sunny field of flowers, Thumbelina meets a tiny flower-fairy prince just her size and to her liking, and they wed. She receives a pair of wings to accompany her husband on his travels from flower to flower, and a new name, Maia. In Hans Christian Andersen's version of the story, a bluebird had been viewing Thumbelina's story since the beginning and had been in love with her since. In the end, the bird is heartbroken once Thumbelina marries the flower prince, and flies off, eventually arriving at a small house. There, he tells Thumbelina's story to a man who is implied to be Andersen himself, who chronicles the story in a book.[1]
Thumbelina and the Swallow by ~Himmapaan on deviantART
Thumbelina Nouveau by ~kishokahime on deviantART
June 13, 2013
Identity crisis
Lately I've been looking at some books written by Hispanic authors and I don't see a lot of Latinas writing fantasy, sci-fi or horror. If they are then I sure as hell can't find them. I don't even know what I'm trying to say. All I know is that I feel like I'm the only one with a Spanish sounding name writing fantasy with characters that aren't typically Hispanic.
You'll never hear Bianca Frost say 'I want some arroz con habichuelas.' or 'Carajo!'. She's an American girl. She wants a cheeseburger with fries. She's Irish/German for crying out loud. LOL I mean, I could've easily have changed her name from Frost to Nieves because I know for a fact that there are agents looking for Latin YA books and authors. But I didn't want to sell out just to make a quick buck. I want to write stories that make me happy.
Although for all I know this might have something to do with my less than idyllic childhood. I spent most of the first 17 years of my life in P.R. trying to get OUT. I don't think I ever wanted to leave a place so desperately. So maybe that might have something to do with why I don't write in Spanish or have too many Latin characters.
When I'm driving, I'll often see people with stickers of the Puertorican flag on their bumper or have a little flag hanging on their rear view mirror and sometimes I wonder what that feels like. To be so proud of where your from that you'll display it for the whole world to see. I'm not saying I'm ashamed of who I am. Sometimes I'll miss my little island. But those moments don't last very long. It's hard to miss a place where I spent most of my time hiding in the bathroom stall or the library. Or having teachers shove me all the way in the back of the classroom on broken chairs just so they could ignore my raised hand.
Sigh. Sometimes I wish I could just find someone who was a little like me, you know what I mean? Still trying to find some place to fit in.
June 12, 2013
Shattered Frost
White Queen by ~Voodica on deviantART
20827 / 50000 words. 42% done!
OMG I'm not even halfway finished with this book but I can already tell you that it's going to be EPIC! I can't wait for you guys to read this next installment of the Bianca Frost series. :D *happy dance*
