Blog Tour: First Frost Teaser!

That's right, I disappear for ages, then come back with a blog tour! I had intended to post a review for my stop, but nothing worked and school made my life pretty hectic, so we decided on a teaser! I'm really excited about y'all getting to hear about this book! I hope y'all enjoy it! I hope to review this one (and others I got through later blog tours) sometime in the future!

Official Blurb:

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.

About Liz DeJesus:

 

Liz DeJesus was born on the tiny island of Puerto Rico.  She is a novelist and a poet. She has been writing for as long as she was capable of holding a pen. She is the author of the novel Nina (Blu Phi'er Publishing, October 2007) and The Jackets (Arte Publico Press, March 31st 2011). Liz is currently working on a new novel.

Author's Links:

Website

Facebook

Purchase First Frost

Teaser:

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

How does that sound? Do you think you'll check out First Frost? Have you read it? What did you think?

Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge: Accepted.

I've just learned about the Witches and Witchcraft Reading Challenge over at Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf and I accept the challenge! Click the picture above for details on the challenge and the linky!
I'm signing up as an Initiate saying I'll read between 1 and 5 witchy books and review them. I only aim so low because of my late start, but I hope to exceed my goal.
Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft, which I read and reviewed last month is/was my first witchy read of the year so I'm counting that.
Make sure you check out Melissa's blog! I've just found it and I'm greatly enjoying it!
Do you like witchy reads?

An Author Interview with Jody Gehrman

Last Friday I posted my review of Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman. I loved the book and approached Mrs. Gehrman for an interview, and she said yes! I'm so happy So let's get right into it!

Goodreads
Website
Buy Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft: E-book or Hard copy
And get the other books on Amazon

Jody Gehrman is the author of seven novels and numerous plays. Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft is her most recent Young Adult novel. Her other Young Adult novels include Babe in Boyland, Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty, and Triple Shot Bettys in Love, (Penguin's Dial Books). Babe in Boyland won the International Reading Association Teen Choice Award and has recently been optioned by the Disney Channel. Her adult novels are Notes from the Backseat, Tart, and Summer in the Land of Skin (Red Dress Ink). Her plays have been produced in Ashland, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and L.A. She and her partner David Wolf won the New Generation Playwrights Award for their one-act, Jake Savage, Jungle P.I. She is a professor of English at Mendocino College.

Lifeducks: First, I want to say thank you so much for the opportunity to review your book, Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft. I really enjoyed reading the book, but for my readers have not, would you mind telling us the general idea of Audrey's story?

Jody Gehrman: It's about a 17-year-old witch-in-training who must hone her newfound magical powers in order to save her mother from an evil necromancer. Oh, and it has magical chocolate cake plus cute boys!

LD:What inspired you to write such a neat story?

JG: I've always been fascinated with witchcraft. I even dabbled in it a bit in my youth. I started writing it about seven years ago as a book for adults, but I never felt like it was quite working. Then I realized it would be better as a YA novel, so I pulled out the old draft and gave it a radical makeover, including a brand new protagonist and a totally different plot.
LD: What about the background love story? Why did you choose to not make the love story the focal point of the novel?

JG: Audrey's attraction to Julian needs more time to really develop, and while I do see the love story getting fleshed out in the next two books, in this first book she's got her hands full. Her primary concern here is getting her magical powers up and running so she can save her mom. Still, Julian's too cute and charming to ignore completely! She feels an irresistible connection with him. I do love romance, when well done, but Audrey's story isn't just boy-meets-girl. She's busy!
LD: What would you say was the most difficult part about writing this story?

JG: This book took me longer to write than anything I've ever attempted. I had to be patient and wait until the story unfolded. That can be super frustrating, but I do believe you can't force a book into being--or if you do, anyway, it usually shows.

LD: Which of your characters do you feel like you relate most to?

JG: That's a hard question. I relate in to Sadie, Audrey and Megan in very different ways. I relate to Sadie's mentoring style, to Audrey's intensity, and to Megan's drive to be a rock goddess. Not that I AM a rock goddess, but I'd like to be! I guess all of my characters reflect a different part of my psyche.

LD: What lessons or feelings do you hope your reader will take away from the experience of reading your novel?

JG: I hope they'll see the magic in everyday life. Audrey's ability to absorb everything around her and channel it does happen all the time on a subtle level; we pull ideas and emotions from our environment and channel it into our work, our art, our interactions. It would be gratifying if readers resonated with that and started to recognize it more.
On the other hand, the wonder of being a writer is that readers always see something I never intended to show them. Maybe they recognize reflections of people they know in the characters. Maybe the setting reminds them of someplace they've been. In a way, the responses that surprise me are even more delightful than the ones I predicted. It's the ongoing alchemy that happens when a reader's imagination encounters the words on a page.



Questions about Life And Other Works
LD: Would you like to tell us a little bit more about yourself? What kinds of things do you like to do when you're not working?

JG: Yoga, kickboxing, swimming, theatre, thrift shopping, reading, movies and eating. I'm a big fan of bacon and chocolate, though not necessarily together.
LD: I’ve read you’re also a playwright. How does play writing differ from writing a novel? Which do you enjoy most?




JG: Plays are all about dialogue; it's your only tool. I think writing plays hones my dialogue skills so when I go back to novels the muscle is stronger. Plays are much more communal by nature, too. You usually work with the director and cast; that helps fight the solitude of writing novels. When you see a play performed you get to feel what the audience feels; you know when a joke falls flat, when a kiss or a monologue moves people. With novels, you have a huge space between you and your readers; only through reviews and emails do you know what they're thinking. But novels help me reach a wider audience, and I get a bigger canvas to paint on. I can delve into setting and pack in all kinds of sensory details. For me it's ideal moving back and forth between the two forms. I call it "cross-genre pollination." My work in one form inspires and strengthens my work in the other.

LD: So Disney has shown interest in your novel Babe in Boyland. How excited are you to have the opportunity to see your novel in movie form? Will you be working on the script?

JG: Disney has their own distinct style, so they're hiring a screenwriter. I'm fine with that. I actually think I can learn a lot more this way; I get to see how another writer transforms my story into something that will work on screen. I think it will be fascinating. Since I've experienced the "letting go" process plenty in theatre (hanging back as a director makes changes or interprets my play in new ways) I'd like to think I'm not as control freaky as most writers. Who knows, though! I'm just really excited.
It's kind of a dream come true, even getting as far as the option.



Questions About the Writing Process
LD: For those of us who are aspiring authors, I can't resist a couple of questions about your experience. What inspired you to become an author?

JG: My first "novel" was really a very long letter sent to my best friend about us riding around on our flying dogs. I was eight. We'd moved to Canada for the year and I missed our imaginary games, so I wrote about them instead. I guess writing for me has always been about delving into imaginary worlds. I still tend to think of each of my novels as long love letters to a place, a time in my life, a person, a feeling.  

In college I discovered playwriting, and after college I freelanced as a journalist. Both of these experiences really confirmed my commitment to writing, in part because they helped with the inherent loneliness that can become an occupational hazard. As a playwright I love working with actors and directors; as a journalist I love doing interviews. These more social aspects of writing balance out the isolation of writing novels.
LD: Where do you like to write? Do you have a specific place or time of day that you like to do your work?

JG: I have an office, we call it "the writing room." It's my favorite place in the world. I'll attach a picture. I'm generally a morning writer, though when I'm on a roll I'll sometimes write all day.




LD: What went into your decision to be a self-published author?

JG: Here are some of the reasons I decided to experiment with the independent route after publishing with large, established houses for the past decade:1) TOTAL CREATIVE CONTROL: While authors occasionally get to offer input into book design and marketing strategies, more often we're sidelined or not included in the process at all. With AUDREY, I hired my own model and sketched out my own vision for the cover. We transformed my writing studio into a photo studio and my husband David went to work. For over a week obsessed over fonts and poured over Photoshop tutorials. We had a blast making it our own. I plan to attack every aspect of marketing with the same gusto. It's liberating, taking control in this way. 2) MASSIVE INCREASE IN ROYALTIES: I know I'll have to sell a lot of books to earn anywhere near the advances I got with my book deals. Still, considering that I'll be going from an average of 10% royalties to a much larger percentage, even a moderate success has the potential to keep me afloat. 3) NO WAITING: Ask any writer and they'll confirm that the waiting process is endless and creatively draining. You have to wait months for editors and agents to get back to you, your pub date gets delayed, your project is on hold until you can get more feedback. It goes on and on. With this process, publishing happens when I say it does.



4) IT'S FUN: I'll probably be singing a new tune if my marketing falls flat and I join the fifty percent of self-pubbed writers who earn less than $500 a year at their craft. After living with the disempowering lack of involvement I often felt with traditional publishing, though, there's a real skydiving-esque thrill to all of this. I'm taking the plunge. The outcome is uncertain. Wish me luck.


LD: Do you have any advice to give to me and other aspiring authors?

JG: One: Write on a regular schedule.

Two: Surround yourself with people who support your writing dreams. 

Three: Know that external validation (getting published, getting praise) can only take you so far. You have to love the process itself, savor it every day. That's where a writer's true pleasure lives.


I really want to say thanks again for the wonderful opportunities you've given me with both the review and this interview. I wish you the best in your future works and I can't wait for the next installment of Audrey's story!


If you missed my review of Jody's newest YA novel, Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft, Check it out HERE!

The Alchemyst: A Book Review

“At the heart of every legend there is a grain of truth.”
― Michael Scott, The Alchemyst

"Nothing is as it seems. You must learn to question everything.
― Michael Scott, The Alchemyst



Opening words: The first thing I have to say is that this book is fantastic, in every sense of the word! Mr. Scott obviously spent a large amount of time on this. His use of mythology is amazing and the "truths" he creates are wonderful. He does an excellent job at creating his world and his history within our own.

Summary: When twins Josh and Sophie move to San Francisco for the summer, they think getting jobs to buy a car is a great idea. Little did they know that their jobs would lead them into a world they'd always known to be fiction.
Nicholas Flamel died in the 1400s. Nick Fleming owns the book shop at which Josh works. When a man storms in and magic begins, Josh is caught in the middle. Sophie runs to help her brother and ends up learning more than she wanted to know about the store owners, Nick and Perry Fleming.
From that moment on, the twins are wound tight into a story of magic, immortals, and prophecy.

Opinions: Absolutely fantastic. Scott pulls in mythology from all over the world to create a web both complex and easy to follow. He creates characters with good and bad sides, selfless and selfish motives. He creates a world within our own that the reader can almost imagine is real.
My personal favorite character is Perenelle Flamel, Nicholas's wife. We see little of her in comparison to the other characters, but in that little bit you glimpse so many strong emotions and so much strong will that it's hard for me not to adore her.
I also love Scatty, a Warrior. She's spunky and makes even the tensest of moments easy to read.
Nicholas is a well developed character, while still keeping the bit of mystery that teaches you to love him but you're never sure if you fully trust him.
Dee makes a wonderful villain.
Sophie and Josh make the story. They are the center point of the story. Since they are two 15 year old kids, never having stepped into the world they're pulled into, the stories, the histories, etc. are all told to the reader naturally by their explanation to Sophie and Josh. They're also very different, which makes the story all the more interesting.
I really like that it is NOT a love story. Most YA books now, even in the face of apocalypse,are coated with a thick layer of love drama. Though you do see a bit of Nicholas and Perenelle's love, it's not a major part, but makes both characters very likeable.

Recommendation: I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy tales. Alchemy is, obviously, a major part of this story, as is magic. It is a YA fiction, but it's not one that reads slowly or like a story told to children. I highly suggest it.