Liz DeJesus

I get asked this question pretty often (all the time actually). Why do I write? And there are a lot of reasons why I choose to be a writer, why I pour my heart out day after day. It really depends what mood I'm in because the answer changes. So because I feel like telling you...here's a list of reasons why I'm a writer. 1. My mom is a writer and I wanted to be just like my mom. This is very true. I remember waking up every morning to the sound of my mom tapping her fingers against her keyboard (back then it was a typewriter). The gently click clack of the keys was the best thing to wake up to. I kinda miss that sound. Anyway, one day my mom gave me her typewriter (she bought a new one) and I felt as though I had been given the greatest gift of my life. At ten years old I felt like this moment would be forever etched in stone. I've been in love with the written word ever since. :) 2. I was lonely. Actually...I was a lonely, shy, nerdy, introverted girl with only a couple of friends. The rest of the time I was at school being bullied by the students (and some of the teachers) because I was different. So I spent most of recess hiding in the library where no one could find me. I felt safe surrounded by books. They never hurt, or insulted me. Never told me to shut up. So it was only natural that I would gravitate towards the one thing in life that made me feel safe. Books. 3. I loved books. I remember this one book that I read over and over again when I was twelve. It's titled The Curious Clubhouse by Christine Govan. It was my very first grown up book (it had a lot of chapters). It was another important moment for me. This was the one book that made me feel as though I wasn't the only one that was being picked on or pushed aside. I wanted to write a book for that girl that was lonely just like me. I wanted to write a story that would let that person know that he/she wasn't alone in the world. That they matter. That they're important. That it's okay to be different 4. I have a very overactive imagination. I'm pretty sure if I didn't write my brain would literally explode. And I mean....KABOOM! Brain chunks everywhere. 5. I once had a boyfriend tell me that my manuscript would be dipped in red ink if an editor ever got a hold of it. So I wrote another novel out of revenge. And it got published and I'm still getting royalty checks. So it's okay to write out of revenge. (And yeah....I dumped his sorry, un-supportive ass). 6. Because someone told me I couldn't write in a specific genre. A long time ago someone left a comment on my blog saying that I would never be able to write a horror novel. Challenge accepted! I wrote a horror short story and a novel and both got published (under my pen name, I recently got the rights back to that novel and I'm revising it to submit it to another publisher). 7. To impress a boyfriend. When I was thirteen I got into poetry to impress my first boyfriend. He was cute. Don't judge me....you would've done the same. Turned out I was actually pretty good so I stuck with it. 8. Another boyfriend told me that I would never amount to anything (yeah...I had a really bad string of boyfriends, I had to kiss a lot of frogs before I found my prince) and I told him that one day he would see my name in lights. Still working on that. And knowing me the way I do...I'll make it happen. ;-) 9. Because I heard an awesome song and all of a sudden a scene popped into my head that was begging to be written. 10. Crazy dreams. Trust me, that's how I get my most amazing ideas. And these are some of the reasons why I write. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my little blog post.

Now here's a little from my latest release First Frost. Happy reading!

Fairy tales aren’t real…yeah…that’s exactly what Bianca thought. She was wrong.

For generations, the Frost family has run the Museum of Magical and Rare Artifacts, handing down guardianship from mother to daughter, always keeping their secrets to “family only.” Gathered within museum’s walls is a collection dedicated to the Grimm fairy tales and to the rare items the family has acquired: Cinderella’s glass slipper, Snow White’s poisoned apple, the evil queen’s magic mirror, Sleeping Beauty’s enchanted spinning wheel… Seventeen-year-old Bianca Frost wants none of it, dreaming instead of a career in art or photography or…well, anything except working in the family’s museum. She knows the items in the glass display cases are fakes because, of course, magic doesn’t really exist. She’s about to find out how wrong she is.

To read an excerpt from First Frost, please click HERE.

To purchase First Frost, please click one of the vendors below:  

Musa Publishing
Amazon  
Barnes and Noble

Glass Frost 
Coming from Musa Publishing July 19, 2013

When joined together, Cinderella's slippers grant the wearer her heart's desire. But whose wish will be granted?

When Cinderella’s glass slipper is stolen, Queen Felicia sends her faithful steward Terrance to the real world to retrieve his love and witch-in-training, Bianca Frost. The power of the glass slipper, when paired with its mate, and in the wrong hands, could ruin peace in Everafter. Bianca must gather every bit of magic she has learned in the past few weeks to find the slipper and protect her new love. Together, Bianca, Ming, Prince Ferdinand, and Terrance venture deep into the heart of Everafter to seek clues as to who has stolen the slipper and why. Along the way, they uncover what happened to the Seven Dwarves after Snow White married the prince, but also learn the awful risk of tampering with black magic and the high price that must be paid for magic, even when used for good.

Bianca and Terrance’s relationship is put to the test. Through the pain of suffering and loss, Bianca must determine if following her gallant boyfriend into his faraway world is in fact her heart's desire.

Learn more about Liz DeJesus on her website and visit First Frost on Facebook.