Interview & Giveaway with Liz DeJesus, author of FIRST FROST

Earlier in Fairy Tale Fortnight, Bonnie reviewed First Frost by Liz DeJesus, and on Saturday, I'll be reviewing it. In the in-between, we have this awesome interview and giveaway for you today, and then an excerpt of First Frost tomorrow on A Backwards Story!

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You have a new book coming out soon, GLASS FROST. Will it be more of a companion novel or a direct sequel to FIRST FROST? What can you tell us about it?
Glass Frost is a direct sequel to First Frost. It’s going to pick up right where the first one left off. This time we have Bianca returning to Everafter (with Ming) and she’s diving in head first into a bit of trouble. Cinderella’s glass slipper has gone missing and Queen Felicia (Prince Ferdinand’s mother) has asked Bianca to retrieve it. We meet a new set of villains that are hell bent of getting the other slipper. Who are the villains? Rebekah, the Frog Queen. She is the great granddaughter of the Frog Prince. I won’t say too much about her because I want the reader to be surprised when they finally meet her. Elda, the Snake Witch, you may know her from another fairy tale titled Toads and Diamonds. And Blair and Marguerite who are Elda’s cohorts.

Bianca will also meet Titania, the fairy queen. She’ll also find out what happened to the seven dwarves and their cottage is AMAZING. So yeah…lots of things going on with this book. And her relationship with Terrance is going to be tested. They’ll find out if what they have is a crush on each other or if it really is true love.

And the exciting news! Finally got a release date for Glass Frost! The book comes out July 19th.

One of my favorite elements of FIRST FROST is the fairy tale museum full of goodies. It's gut-wrenching to know that in our world, there's no such thing. How did you come up with such an amazing concept?
If anyone ever decided to put together a fairy tale themed museum I will work there on a heartbeat. I would work there for free! Just to be around all that cool stuff. LOL

I got the idea for First Frost a few years ago when my son Mason was 18 months (he’s four years old now). I was watching TV and a commercial for a local children’s museum came on. My mind started to wander (like it normally does) and I thought ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if they had themed museums for kids? Like a pirate, car, or train museum. Or even a fairy tale themed museum.’ After that it was like I was struck by lightning. I put Mason down for his nap, scrambled for the closest notebook and pen and wrote. When I look at the notes now they make no sense whatsoever, but it was all I needed to get me started.

After a while the book sort of wrote itself. But Bianca Frost is closely modeled to who I was when I was 17 years old. So all of the smartass comments she makes in the books…yeah…that’s me talking. LOL I tried to think about what I was like at that age and how I would react to everything that Bianca encounters throughout the book. She is just so much fun to write for, Bianca is a great character.

As much as we may love any particular tale, each has its own "problematic" aspects (for me, I can't get over the fact that Prince Charming has to find Cinderella, the glorious love of his life, by matching up her feet. I mean, really?). Which problematic aspect of a tale really gets under your skin?
Bluebeard. His wife had everything she could desire. He leaves her alone and gives her keys to every room in the house and he gives her specific instructions; do not open the door to the basement. And she goes ahead and opens the door! After he told her not to. Seriously?

Which fairy tale would you most like to spend 24 hours inside of, and which the least?
The Most: The princess from The Three Heads of the Well. She saw her situation at home wasn’t the best and she packed up her stuff and went on a journey. Because of her kindness she ended up even more beautiful than before, married a king and was finally happy.

The least: Little Red Riding Hood. She meets the Big Bad Wolf, tells him where her grandmother lives (seriously?), strays from the path, she and her grandmother get eaten and luckily they get rescued by the huntsman.

If you could merge any two fairy tales (introduce the characters, combine the worlds, etc), which would they be and what would result?
LOL Jack and the Beanstalk and Alice in Wonderland. I would have Jack go down the rabbit hole with Alice. I’m pretty sure that instead of Alice waking up from a dream she and Jack would end up being the new king and queen of Wonderland.

Someone gives you a key ring and says you can open any door you want, save one. Then they leave you alone with all those keys and doors. What do you do?
Run away. Melt the keys. Bury them in the backyard…and run off to a deserted island. Just to avoid temptation. I’ve read the tale of Bluebeard, I know what happened to his wives. No way. It’s interesting that Bluebeard is even considered a fairy tale, for all we know it’s a cautionary tale based on the true story of a serial killer. I mean…the man killed his wives!

You have a fairy godmother who is granting you one perfect day: what does that entail?
Sleep. Lots and lots of sleep. And maybe a day at the spa…while I sleep. LOL I can get a manicure, pedicure, get my hair and makeup done. Then I can wake up feeling refreshed and looking fabulous. :D

Your favorite obscure (or less well-known) fairy tale?
Toads and Diamonds. This was one of the first fairy tales I read and was absolutely fascinated by the story of two sisters. This fairy tale is a little obscure so if you've never heard of it, here's a little info I got from Wikipedia.  I first read about it in Michael Hague's Tales of Charles Perrault. I'm using some of those characters in Glass Frost (the sequel to First Frost). Safe to say...I'm having tons of fun.

Most overrated fairy tale?
Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Seriously? It’s about breaking and entering. And then she trashes their house and eats their food.

What made you fall in love with fairy tales--and decide to write one?
I’ve loved fairy tales for as long as I can remember. But I think what really did it for me was watching Faerie Tale Theater as a little girl. And I decided to write one because the idea came to me and the twelve year old in me was bouncing up and down, screaming ‘YES! DO THAT!’. So the voices in my head sort of won that argument for me. LOL

QUICKFIRE FUN STUFF:
This or That:
- Tower or Dungeon? Tower.
- Evil Queen or Wicked Witch? Evil Queen.
- Seven League Boots or Glass Slippers? Seven League Boots.
- Talking Birds or Talking Mice? Talking Birds.
- Prince or pauper? Pauper.

Would You Rather:
- ride in a pumpkin carriage (sticky) or climb a hair-rope (tiring) to get where you're going?
Ride in a pumpkin carriage.
- face 3 Billy Goats Gruff or 3 Bears from Goldilocks?
The three bears.
- be able to spin straw into gold or have precious gems drop from your lips when you speak?
Spin straw into gold.
- be cursed with blindness (Rapunzel) or knife-like pain when you walk (Little Mermaid)?
Cursed with blindness.

Thanks for stopping by, Liz!
As for the rest of you, keep reading!

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****GIVEAWAY***
Lis has offered up a couple of First Frost prize packs! Each will include a copy of First Frost and a swag pack with bookmarks, stickers, business cards, mini cards and a signed First Frost postcard!
This giveaway is US only, and ends April 10, 2013. Fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter. Good luck!
As with all of the giveaways for Fairy Tale Fortnight, make sure you've already filled out our Giveaway Registration Form - this only needs to be done once!
Please do not leave any sensitive info or email addresses in the comments!!

ABOUT THE BOOK:
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.

Find FIRST FROST ON

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Musa Publishing

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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, COMING SOON).
She is also a member of The Written Remains Writers Guild http://www.writtenremains.org/.
Liz is currently working on a new novel.

Find Liz on

Twitter | Facebook | Website

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