Title: The Frost
Series Omnibus
Author: Liz DeJesus
Series: the Frost Series Books 1 – 3
Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism, Fairy Tales, Young Adult
Publisher: Indie Gypsy
Release Date: Nov 1
2016
Edition/Format: 1st Edition~ Format eBook &
Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
First Frost: (Book 1)
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.
Glass Frost: (Book 2)
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 the peace of 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.
Shattered Frost: (Book 3)
Bianca Frost and her BFF Ming Lee return to Everafter to
attend the Winter Ball with their boyfriends, Terrance and Prince Ferdinand.
They were looking forward to a short vacation, especially Bianca, who is being
bullied at school. She is looking forward to the day when she can finally
graduate from high school. But all is not cute hair and fancy shoes as a
mysterious count sets his sights on Bianca at the ball. When Count Jonathan
Bleu kidnaps Bianca and Ming, the pair must do everything in their power to
escape his clutches.
Excerpt
from First Frost
Bianca got out of her car and ran inside the house. She called for her mother as she searched for her upstairs in all of the rooms. Nothing. She quickly ran downstairs and was ready to go down to the basement when a strange turquoise light caught her eye. She looked out the kitchen window; she couldn’t believe what she saw. Her mother was throwing what Bianca could only describe as balls of turquoise fireballs at a woman wearing a black hood. Bianca couldn’t see the woman’s face, but she could see her pale hands and slender fingers.
Bianca got out of her car and ran inside the house. She called for her mother as she searched for her upstairs in all of the rooms. Nothing. She quickly ran downstairs and was ready to go down to the basement when a strange turquoise light caught her eye. She looked out the kitchen window; she couldn’t believe what she saw. Her mother was throwing what Bianca could only describe as balls of turquoise fireballs at a woman wearing a black hood. Bianca couldn’t see the woman’s face, but she could see her pale hands and slender fingers.
Bianca tried to make sense of it all. She kept expecting to
see a special effects crew to come out from behind the trees and tell her that
it was all part of an elaborate prank. But no such thing happened. All she knew
was that a strange turquoise flame was coming out of her mother’s hands.
She knew that her mother sometimes read old dusty books on
witchcraft, but she didn’t know she had actual powers. She thought about all
the little quirks her mother had. Things that Bianca thought were essentially
Rose. Her mother talked to plants and trees. She would sometimes stare off into
space as though she were looking at something in another world. Something only
she could see. She read tarot cards to random people and would tell them things
about his or her life as though she were reading an open book. Bianca always
thought she just made really lucky guesses. She chose not to believe in this
other world and everything it stood for. Magic represented a life out of the
norm, and Bianca desperately wanted to be normal. Just like everyone else.
Bianca pulled herself out of her thoughts. As she looked at
the blue and green flashes in the backyard, she quickly realized that this was
something she couldn’t escape. Normal was no longer a part of her world. Normal
was no longer an option for her.
Bianca didn’t know what to do. She was frozen in place. She
was afraid to distract her mother for even a second. She ducked behind the
screen door; at least this way she could still hear what they were saying to each
other.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t come?” the witch shouted.
“Oh, I knew you’d be back,” Rose replied.
Bianca slowly lifted her gaze and peeked above the screen.
She saw her mother standing behind the shed on the left side of their backyard.
The witch was still too far away for her to get a good look at her, but Bianca
could tell that she was on the far right corner of their yard.
“Where’s the book?” the witch demanded.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Rose replied
with a smirk.
“Don’t be coy with me. You know very well what I’m talking
about.”
“Sorry. I can’t help you.” Rose’s breathing was becoming
more labored and she was drenched in sweat…obvious signs of exhaustion, but
Bianca could tell by the look on her mother’s face that she wouldn’t give up.
“The wards in the museum are impressive. I couldn’t get past
them. But maybe…she’ll know where the book is,” the witch said as she looked in
Bianca’s direction and threw a sickly olive-colored fireball at the screen
door.
Bianca shrieked and jumped out of the way. The screen door
fell off its hinges and landed on the kitchen floor with a loud thud.
“Bianca!” Rose screamed.
Tell us a little about the book and where did you get the idea to
write this story.
I got the idea for First Frost back in 2010. My son, Mason was 1
1/2 year old and I was putting him down for a nap while watching TV. Then I saw
a commercial for a local children’s museum and I was excited about that because
it would be a fun place to take Mason because he was more active at that time.
And then I started to think about other types of museums that would be great to
have. A pirate museum, a train museum, and then I stumbled onto the idea of a
fairy tale museum.
I immediately jumped at that idea. I started wondering what sort
of items would it have. Who would work there? Were the items magical? What
fairy tales did I want to incorporate into the story? The possibilities were
endless.
How and when did you get started writing novels?
I feel like I’ve always been a writer. I was always interested in
books, comic books and anything that had to do with storytelling. I started
writing short stories when I was 8 years old when my mother gave her old
typewriter. I wrote stories about pirate rats (the book was called PiRats) and
a story about brothers that also turned into dragons. And then I started
writing poetry when I was 13 years old, it was very angsty poetry and I’m glad
no one has ever read the poems I wrote. LOL
But I decided to try my hand at writing a novel when I was 18
years old. It took me several years but eventually I self-published my first
book when I was 22 years old (it’s currently out of print). But I didn’t feel
like I actually ‘made it’ as an author until I published my collection of short
stories ‘The Jackets’. And I’ve been writing ever since.
What’s the best and worst part of being a writer?
The best part of being a writer is the freedom that I feel to
express myself and discover characters. I love writing. I love being creative
and coming up with new exciting ideas for stories.
The worst part of being a writer? The pressure once your book is
out in the world. Will people like the book? Will they understand what it is
you’re trying to say? What if they hate it? Promoting the book is also hard.
You want people to know you exist and you have to have a knack for promoting
your book. And that’s a lot of work, so that’s the worst part.
I would much rather be writing.
What is your writing
schedule like?
It’s erratic, at best. I have two boys and I also take care of my
nephew during the week. So any quiet time that I have available to me is
writing time. More often than not I end up staying up late (even though all I
wanna do is go to bed) or I get up early to get a few moments of silence. Or I
write in the car while I wait for my kids to get out of school. Even if it’s
five minutes I jot down notes or dialogue between my characters. I write every
single day.
Where do you get your ideas?
Dreams. Songs. Snippets of conversations. Questions that I need
to answer that refuse to leave me alone. I get ideas from the most random
places sometimes. A cloud. A teardrop. Life is full of inspiration, all you
have to do is take a moment and look around.
Is there something about you or your life that readers might be
surprised about?
I’m actually quite shy. I know some people will find that hard to
believe. When I go to comic cons and fairy festivals I tend to be chatty but
that’s because I’m comfortable in places like that. Usually I keep to myself or
stick with people that I’m comfortable with. So yeah…secret’s out. I’m shy.
Do you write a novel straight through? Or revise as you go? Plan
a whole series in advance? Or does the series evolve?
I fly by the seat of my pants. I write everything down as it
comes to me. And then once I’m finished with that initial draft, I go over it
again and it’s the same process over and over again until I’m 100% satisfied
with what I’ve written.
Do you use Beta readers?
The only person that’s allowed to read my work before it’s
finished is my mother, Liz Reyes. And that’s because she’s a writer as well and
I know she’ll give me her honest opinion. But usually once I’m finished with my
book I send it straight to my editor, Shonell Bacon. She’s been my editor for
the past 10 years. I trust her opinion without question.
What’s next?
I’m currently working on book #4 in the Frost Series, titled Ruby
Frost. I’m almost finished the third draft and I honestly can’t wait to be
finished. After that I’m going to start working on the novelization of my comic
book Zombie Ever After. Then I’m going to work on a middle grade novel titled
Pros and Cons of Being a Teenage Fairy.
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), The
Jackets (Arte Publico Press,
March 31st 2011) First
Frost (Musa Publishing, June 22nd 2012) and Glass
Frost (Musa Publishing).
Liz has a story featured in the Indie Gypsy anthology Stories
in the Key of Erotica. Look for her novel Morgan,
to be released in July 2014 through Indie Gypsy.
Feel free to email her at lizdejesus23@yahoo.com
Twitter @Liz_DeJesus23
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