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.

Liz DeJesus

Enjoy an excerpt from First Frost, a young adult novel by Liz DeJesus

Mother and daughter looked into each other’s eyes for a brief moment. She felt ready to fight alongside her mother and actually be of some assistance. Bianca wanted to argue with Rose, but instead she reluctantly obeyed and went upstairs. She made it as far as the top of the steps.
“Come out, you coward!” Lenore shouted.
If there was one thing Bianca knew for sure, it was that her mother would never, ever back out of a fight. She slowly inched her way down the stairs. Rose stepped out of the house and was far away from the safety of her wards. Bianca tried to call as little attention to herself as humanly possible. She duck-walked across the living room until she was directly underneath the broken window. She peeked every now and then to watch her mother in action.
“Where’s the book?” Lenore asked.
“Where is my husband?” Rose demanded.
“How about we make a trade? Your husband for the book,” Lenore said.
Rose remained silent. Bianca knew that somewhere in her mother’s mind she was seriously considering trading whatever book Lenore was talking about for her father.
“You’re not getting anywhere near that book,” Rose replied.
Lenore snarled and contorted her face in anger as she created a fireball and threw it at Rose.
She created a wall of water around her, and the fireball vanished with a hiss. She then used the water that surrounded her and attacked her adversary.
Lenore used an ice spell and froze the water, and caused it to crash all around her with soft clinks.
“You have to learn to control your brat. I can smell her better now that she’s downstairs,” Lenore said and then cackled.
“You shut your filthy mouth about my daughter,” Rose shouted.
“Want to come out and play, little one?” Lenore taunted.
“Bianca! Stay inside the house. Do you hear me?!”
“Mom, let me help,” Bianca pleaded.
“You do as I say!” Rose snapped.
Bianca’s heart skipped a beat as she ducked underneath the window. She knew she was safe inside the house because of the wards. Bianca risked a peek at the battle, and the witches were fighting viciously. They were both putting everything they had into their spells and doing everything in their power to destroy each other.
Lenore had Rose trapped in a small tornado. Bianca could see her bright red hair whipping in every direction imaginable as her mother struggled to counter the spell. It was enough time for the dark witch to reach in and take something out of her pocket. Lenore pulled out a tiny glass vial and drank a black potion that swam inside the container.
What is that?
Lenore flashed her sharp yellowed teeth at Bianca and then turned her attention to Rose. Bianca turned her gaze to her mother and saw that she had finally countered Lenore’s tornado spell. Lenore took a deep breath and then blew black fire at Rose. The dark flames took on the shape of a sinister dragon.
Bianca gasped; she had never seen anything so menacing in her life. The dragon’s yellow eyes zeroed in on Rose. It chuckled as it looked upon her. It launched itself at her mother and wrapped itself around her body. The dragon pried Rose’s mouth open and shoved its clawed hand down her throat.
“No!” Bianca shouted. The blood in her veins froze, her stomach dropped, and her heart leaped to her throat. She watched in horror as her mother did everything she could to fight off Lenore’s monster…and failed.
“Mom!” Bianca dashed to the front door and stopped herself from running into the front yard.
Lenore had kicked Rose in the stomach and grabbed a fistful of her red hair. The smoke dragon took away Rose’s voice. She was now mute. She looked like a fish out of water as she tried to cast a counter spell, but it was no use. The damage had been done. Her mother had lost her voice and the battle. Rose turned her green eyes to Bianca.
“There, now we can have a little chat…no interruptions. Come on out here and sit with me a while,” Lenore said. The false saccharine in her voice was obvious.
Rose shook her head violently. Bianca knew what her mother wanted her to do. She wasn’t sure she could obey Rose’s request to stay inside the house now that she was in danger of losing her life.
I can’t just sit here and do nothing. God…what do I do? What do I do?
“Come here!” Lenore roared as her face contorted with rage, making her look uglier and older than she actually was. Lenore yanked on Rose’s hair so hard she opened her mouth as though she were screaming…except no sound came out of her lips.

© Liz DeJesus 2012

Purchase First Frost here:
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Musa Publishing

Author website of Liz DeJesus