Sharon Ledwith: I came. I saw. I wrote.: Spotlight on a Book Series: Liz DeJesus and the Frost Series...

I want to thank and welcome good friend and fantastic YA author, Liz DeJesus for sharing her personal experiences on writing a book series and showcasing her paranormal/fairytale series The Frost Series with us on my blog today. So let’s get this interview rolling…

Where did you get your idea and inspiration to write The Frost Series, Liz?

I got the initial idea for First Frost while watching a commercial for a local children’s museum. I thought about how cool it would be to have themed museums (since children are often into different things), like a train museum, pirate museum, or a fairy tale museum. And once I came upon that idea I knew I had stumbled upon something special. I grabbed my notebook as quickly as possible and jotted down the first things that popped into my head. Nine months later I had a novel.

Nine months? Sounds like you were having a baby. LOL! How many books are you planning to write in this young adult paranormal/fairytale series?

As many as I possibly can. I have an endless fountain of inspiration, there are so many fairy tales that I can have fun with and add to the storyline. But I don’t want to force anything with this series. If it has to come to an end, I want it to happen organically.

What sets The Frost Series apart from other series in the same genre?

The Frost Series is not a fairy tale retelling in the traditional sense. I’ve taken characters that live in the real world and thrown them into a series of magical events. The liberties I’ve taken with some fairy tales it’s mostly to add a solid foundation to the plot line. And some of the main characters are descendants of some of the most popular fairy tales. Bianca Frost is the great-great-great granddaughter of Snow White. Terrance is the grandson of the Big Bad Wolf. Prince Ferdinand is the great-grandson of Cinderella. The only one that’s just a normal girl is Bianca’s best friend, Ming.

We also get to interact with some of the items in the fairy tale museum and discover what each item is truly capable of.

Wow, your characters sound well developed and believable! How long did it take for you to

start and finish each book from The Frost Series?

The initial draft for First Frost took me about 9 months to write. And then another 3 months to edit and polish the book before I started submitting it to publishers and agents. Then while I dealt with rejection I wrote Glass Frost which took me about a year and a half to write and in that time Musa Publishing accepted First Frost and published it.

And I just finished writing the third book in the series, Shattered Frost, it took me about 2 years to write mostly because it’s such a complicated novel. It’s split between two points of view (Bianca and Terrance) and it was harder for me to get inside of Terrance’s head and write his scenes. With Bianca it’s so easy to slip in and out of her head because she’s so much like me. But I think people will enjoy this new adventure and see how these characters have grown and matured since we last saw them.

What are some of your favorite book series, Liz?

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore, The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher and anything written by Jessica Clare.

Hmm, I’ve got to check those authors out. Do you have any advice for other writers striving to write a series?

What has worked for me is to treat each book like a stand-alone novel. Only difference is that I’m using the same characters over and over again. But again, I’m new at writing a series so I’m just having as much fun as possible and listening to what my readers and other bloggers have to say. I do take some of their comments into consideration but I make sure it all goes with what I have in mind for the series.

I agree. As long as your readers give you constructive advice, then listen to them. So, what’s next for Liz DeJesus the author?

A lot of things! I’m getting ready to hit the road again, going to a whole bunch of conventions, book festivals, fairy festivals and libraries. I put together a few workshops and I am thrilled that people are enjoying them and that they are learning as well as putting some of my tips to good use. I also finished writing the third draft of Shattered Frost, I sent it to my editor and I’m waiting to hear back from her. Once that’s done I’ll send it to Musa Publishing and see if they will accept it for publication.

I’m also working on a collection of short stories titled Mugshots (it was inspired by some amazing artwork by MarilenAdroverhttps://www.facebook.com/adroverart ) still have a few things to work on story-wise (if they are going to be individual short stories or if it will all tie in together somehow), but I’m having fun with this particular book.

I also have a few ideas bouncing around my head for book #4 of The Frost Series but nothing concrete yet.

I’m also working on a middle grade book titled Pros and Cons of Being a Teenage Fairy. It’s about a girl that grows fairy wings on her 13^th birthday and how she navigates her life now that she’s a fairy.

So there is a lot to look forward to as far as writing is concerned.

Sounds like you’ll be one busy gal! Okay, here’s one for me, since I’m writing a time travel series—IF you could time travel into Earth’s past, WHO would you love to meet, and WHY?

It’s definitely a tie between Vincent Van Gogh and Antoni Gaudi. I love art and architecture (probably because I wish I could draw, only thing I can draw are stick figures) and I would love to meet artists that I admire just to see what it is that inspired them to create. I believe that as a writer there is a lot you can learn from other creative people.

SPECIAL NOTE: I’d like to take the opportunity to congratulate Liz on being a finalist in the Book Bzz competition! If you’d like to vote for Liz during the month of February, here’s the link: http://bookbzz.com/first-frost-by-liz-dejesus/

Blurb for First Frost:

Fairytales 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.

Blurb for Glass Frost:

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 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 magical aid, 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.

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 2011) First Frost (Musa Publishing, June 2012), Glass Frost (Musa Publishing, July 2013), Morgan (Indie Gypsy, July 2014) and The Laurel (Musa Publishing, November 2014). Her work has also appeared in Night Gypsy: Journey Into Darkness (Indie Gypsy, October 2012) and Someone Wicked (Smart Rhino Publications, Winter 2013).

Liz is currently working on a new novel and a comic book series titled Zombie Ever After (Emerald Star Comics, Fall 2014).

First Frost Buy Links: