Awesome Day

Went Christmas shopping with my awesome friend ladytairngire and her son the Kinglet. I bought a lot of stuff. And Kurt didn't kill me which was nice. I think he was mostly relieved because he didn't have to set foot into the mall.

(*) means that I have these items in my possession and all I need to do is sit down and wrap them up.
1. Mom is getting pictures I took of my brother in a frame and maybe a book. I'm not sure. She told me she'd kick my ass if I spent too much.
2.Mother in-law, is getting some fun crossword puzzles and a Bath and Body works basket of goodies. *
3. Dad...I have no idea what to get my father. Probably a framed picture of me and my brothers or something along those lines.
4. Father in-law. He's getting a lamp based on the one the father in the movie Christmas Story. The leg lamp. I think he'll love that. It'll probably go in his 'man' room.
5. My big brother George...no idea. He never gets me anything anyway so I don't know.
6. My baby brother Pablo, probably a PSP game.
7. My husband Kurt. I can't say what I got him because he reads my blog. (Don't go snooping around the house babe.) *
8. Sister in-laws, Christy and Lora Lee, gift cards to Bath and Body Works. *
9. Sandy my other sister in-law. No idea.
10. Tom and Shannon. I can't say what I got them either because they read my blog too. *
11. Random people that we visit on Christmas morning. 4 of Kurt's Aunts *
12. My Uncle Ralph and his wife Jesse. Not a clue.
13. Kurt's brothers Karl and Matt. Still debating on that.
14. Aunt Sue and Elaine. Still need to find something to Sue. But Eliane is getting a little Bath and Body Works bag. *
15. Owen, Alec and Adeline. Books and a bubble gum machine that's also a bank. *
16. My nephews Ethan and Sean, clothes and a video game.
17. Grandparents...no clue.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

40,371 / 50,000(80.7%)

Under the Moonlight. Almost finished!! I'll take a mental break for a day or two and the start working on The Laurel once more.

I won!

I put my name in for a raffle at http://www.gudmagazine.com/ and I won a copy of this book! I've never won anything before. I'm so excited. *bounce, bounce, bounce*

Word Count for Under the Moonlight

Okay, so I finally found a book on Slovakia that has seriously helped move my story further along. There's even a small phrase section in the back so I was able to include a few conversations in Slovak. :) So exciting! This is my favorite part about writing, the research. I love learning about other countries, especially ones I know absolutely nothing about. This is the book I've been using. And I also bought a pocket atlas to help with the location of rivers and stuff like that. I did take a few liberties here and there to make the story work. Anyway I've spent the past two days doing nothing but writing. My hands hurt. My brain hurts. I think I'm going to take a nap. Zzzzzz.

38573 / 50000 words. 77% done!

Another review for Standing Still

Standing Still is a wonderful, fast-paced story that is engrossing from beginning to end, and introduces Liz as a very talented author to short-fiction, much like her novel, Nina, this is a great read of realism, hardship and loss with feeling. Highly recommended!
Joseph McGee, author of In the Wake of the Night and Snow Hill.

Pick up a copy of Standing Still here (Only 49 cents!)

Review for Standing Still by Crystal

Tim knew he loved Rose from the moment he saw her at age 17. Time has taken a toll on the love he felt for Rose, it is eight years later. She was married now to another man, and was 4 months pregnant with his child. Tim missed his chance.After hearing the news, Rose broke down and cried the tears of a lost friendship. He was walking right out of her life, the last memory she would have of him is that soul searing kiss. All she could do was cry.Liz DeJesus' Amazon Short story entitled Standing Still, is an addictive piece of literature. Even though the story was very short, it had a good story line and the affect to let you feel what the characters are experiencing. I hope there is a continuance to Standing Still. 5 Hearts

Pick up a copy of Standing Still here (Only 49 cents!)

http://bookreviewsbycrystal.blogspot.com

Nina Excerpt

"Finally, I'm finished." A deep feminine voice said. Opening my eyes, I saw my creator for the first time. Her short brown hair was pulled into a loose pony tail and she wore old, comfortable-looking overalls that were paint splattered in a rainbow of hues and colors. She stood in front of the canvas with her arms crossed over her chest examining me; trying to detect any flaw that didn't meet her standards of perfection.The purple in the background is perfect. The black/brown in her hair matches the other paintings. Bone structure resembles mine. These thoughts belonged to my creator. There were other things in there too, like lyrics to songs from her childhood, Spanish phrases, a grocery list, and memories of her father. They slowly swam along my mind and became one with the rest of me. I could feel as her memories connected with everything in my being.I gazed at her face and her body. I began mimicking her movements. They were small gestures. A hand on her hip, tapping her index finger against her lips or the way she arched her eyebrow. I let out a light giggle as I tilted my head to the side the way she tilted hers. She was the first person to see me. I knew the depths of her soul just as she knew mine. Her chestnut eyes twinkled when she smiled at me. She was my creator. Looking around I found that my vision was limited to the four walls of her studio. At the other end was a tiny, square window that was close to the ceiling. There was a neatly stacked pile of blank canvases on a corner of the room. There were three easels, all of them covered in paint. A rust colored couch was beside me with a coffee table in front of it. The top of the table was covered in magazines. Underneath the tiny window were several shelves with dirty jars full of brushes and tubes of paint. It made me happy to see the paint. There was always potential hidden inside the tubes of color. The sound of footsteps came from up above. It startled me. I took a few steps further inside my canvas and waited for the noise to stop. Carefully I peeked at the person who was making the loud noises.I saw that it was a man who walked into the room. He wrapped his arms around my creator. She turned to him and brushed a kiss across his lips and then turned back to me to continue her appraisal. I came to the conclusion that they couldn’t see me moving inside the canvas. I allowed myself to relax a little."Wow," the man said when he saw me. He stood in front of me, hand on chin. "I can see why you spend more time down here than you do upstairs, Rachel." He took a step towards me and reached out to try and touch my face. I drew my face back slowly. I feared that he would smear my paint, therefore ruining my face. Luckily, Rachel slapped his wrist. "You silly ass," she said to him, "Don't touch, the paint is still wet.""Oh...yeah. Sorry," he said as he took a step away from me. I felt myself sigh with relief as I watched him leave. I didn’t like him."You need a name, my sweet," Rachel said as she sat on the blue gray floor in front of me, her brow furrowing. I was quite entertained because she had a bit of black paint on the left side of her forehead and some light blue on the other side and as she frowned these two colors met each other in the middle of her face ever so slightly. "La Nena. La Nena preciosa,"she said. The Girl. The Precious Girl. That’s what she was saying in Spanish."Nina. You are my girl, aren't you? At least you would be if you were real," she let out a heavy sigh, her voice sad as she spoke. "Since I can't have children the only thing I can do is paint what I imagine they would look like if I had them," Rachel walked away, leaving me to my thoughts. I spent the next few minutes looking around the studio. There were dozens of paintings and all of them were different versions of me. From left to right there were portraits of me as a newborn child, a toddler, me at six, and so on. I realized that I was the latest in the series. I looked at the other versions and came to the conclusion that I'm pretty or at least as pretty as I can be in a two dimensional sort of way. I have brown hair just like Rachel's, but my eyes are not like her brown ones. No, my eyes are almond shaped, larger than Rachel's and dark green. My lips are full, but not overly large. In every painting there is a different color chosen for background. In one, there was a light pink, in another deep purple, looking about myself in my current version, I was standing in a royal purple room wearing a simple outfit of white blouse with black pants. I took a bit of pigment from my hair and drew myself a bed and an armoire and from the purple on the wall and white from my shirt I created a lilac color. This is the color I chose for my sheets. I sat down on my bed and thought for a moment and tried to think of what else was missing. What else did I need? I drew a chair and a window. Now all I needed was a good view. But what kind of view does one choose when all you have ever seen is the inside of an artist's studio?

Nina (c) 2007 Liz DeJesus

Now available through Blu Phi'er Publishing
ISBN 0977203492
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