Hey Everyone:
I finally have some copies of my novel Nina. So if anyone is interested in getting a personalized and signed copy send me an email at lizdejesus23@yahoo.com . The book is $12.99. Shipping and Handling will be included.
Here's a blurb:
Nina is the moving story of a work of art that comes to life and of how she affects the lives of those around her. After several miscarriages, Rachel Ramirez, a brilliant but tragic artist, secludes herself and begins a series of paintings based on her lost child, naming each painting 'Nina'. One of them (the title character) comes to life inside her canvas. She is able to see and hear the world around her. Even though Nina has innate wisdom, there are still many things that she doesn't understand. When Rachel commits suicide, Nina is thrown into the confusing world, and her painting is passed around to others. But as Nina progresses from Rachel's mother to a buyer named Anna, she keeps learning, and eventually is able to leave her canvas and enter the world. She meets Elijah (mostly in dreams or inside her canvas), who acts as her guide, and tells her of her fate. She has one year to decide whether to join the rest of the world, beginning life anew, or to remain a painting forever.
And here are some of the reviews Nina has recieved since it's release:
Many religions believe that the soul exists before birth. What if your soul was created, but you were not born? Nina, the desperately desired daugther of her mother, was left exactly in that predicament. Yet her mother's death leads to the events that lead to Nina's spiritual - and literal - birth into our world.
A child painted by her mother's brush grows into a rich character whose descriptions of the world are as broad and detailed as a painter's own work.
"Nina" is a brief excursion into how the universe may make right what goes wrong.
Tamara Wilhite Author of Humanity's Edge
Liz DeJesus has captured a true essence with her debut novel, Nina. Not only is it compelling and makes you turn the page every step of the way, the story is told masterfully.
I'm very skeptical about debuts, but not about this one.
This story is of a woman longing to live a life, striving to be her own person, and with that, Liz captured a truly remarkable story.
I would be on the lookout for her for many, many years to come.
Nina is fantastic, heart-pounding and truly amazing.
--Joseph McGee, author of In the Wake of the Night, Phil's Place, and Snow Hill (June 2008)
Nina is an enchanting novel, poles apart, superb and striking. The voice of mystery is up and running from the beginning. The story never let's go as it paint's a picture of love and anonymity. A fantasy like no other. What better to ask from an author of the genre?
Eric Enck ~ Author of The Reckoning
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
Word Count for Under the Moonlight
table border='0' cellspacing='0' cellpadding='5'>
The mind is a cruel trickster that lives within the body to torture the heart.
Morgan Carbone, page 152. © Liz DeJesus 2007
     |
44,141 / 50,000
(88.3%)
(88.3%)
The mind is a cruel trickster that lives within the body to torture the heart.
Morgan Carbone, page 152. © Liz DeJesus 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Interview and Review of Nina
Here's a short excerpt of an interview I did with Leigh Dragoon ldragoon from The Byzarium webzine.
Q - First off, I have to ask - how did you come up with the idea for Nina?! It's such a wonderful concept, which immediately snagged my attention.
It started by reading about Vincent Van Gogh’s life. I’ve always been fascinated by him and his art. Some people believe that he was schizophrenic and I agree. But the more I read about him the more I wondered…or daydreamed, what if he wasn’t crazy? What if his paintings were talking to him?
Then I got into a whole different set of questions. What is life about? Is it worth living? If so why? What makes us real?
Then I started wondering how I would react if a painting started talking to me. What if I could tell the story of what this painting was seeing? Being moved from place to place, from person to person. What if she wanted to be real? What if she had a year to live life and decide whether or not she wanted to live? Would she choose life? Or seclusion inside a canvas for all eternity?
Q - I've seen you mention that Nina was originally intended to be a short story. At what point did the dawning horror of the realization: "Oh my gawdess, it wants to be NOVEL!" strike you?
At first I was terrified of the idea of turning Nina into a novel, because when I wrote the first twenty-something pages I had no idea where to go from there. The story was supposed to end with the artist committing suicide. But characters have a certain way of talking to you while you’re sleeping. So Nina ‘talked’ to me a lot in my dreams. That’s why in some parts of the book it feels almost as though you’ve stepped into a hazy dream. And that’s basically how Nina turned into a novel.
Read the rest here http://byzarium.com/interview_liz_dejesus
A Moving Story
Liz DeJesus NINA (Blu Phier Publishing, 2007)176 pages,
fiction, $ 12.99 U.S.
To say NINA is a “moving” story is something of an understatement—it will pull you in and, if you’re lucky, spit you out when it’s done. The story is at times mystical, at other times gritty and dramatic and still keeps you turning the page until you get to the end. And if you’re like me, you’ll find you still want to know what happens next.
I enjoyed reading NINA; I found it entertaining as well as containing elements of life with which I could identify. There is a certain realism some of us can relate to about how the character Andrea relates to her parents. And I enjoyed not being able to predict what happens next—Liz DeJesus seems to have a knack for keeping her readers on their toes. I appreciate that in a novel. Then there’s the title character, Nina, and how she learns and grows and relates to the world around her. What I found particularly enjoyable was her introduction to desserts and chocolate. Made me want to run out and grab a brownie.
NINA takes a wonderful look into how we relate to one another and how a person, plucked and placed into life essentially grown, might relate to the people she meets as she struggles to find her place. It’s definitely a worthwhile read.
Review By Cheri L. Chesley www.myspace.com/weaversofwords
Q - First off, I have to ask - how did you come up with the idea for Nina?! It's such a wonderful concept, which immediately snagged my attention.
It started by reading about Vincent Van Gogh’s life. I’ve always been fascinated by him and his art. Some people believe that he was schizophrenic and I agree. But the more I read about him the more I wondered…or daydreamed, what if he wasn’t crazy? What if his paintings were talking to him?
Then I got into a whole different set of questions. What is life about? Is it worth living? If so why? What makes us real?
Then I started wondering how I would react if a painting started talking to me. What if I could tell the story of what this painting was seeing? Being moved from place to place, from person to person. What if she wanted to be real? What if she had a year to live life and decide whether or not she wanted to live? Would she choose life? Or seclusion inside a canvas for all eternity?
Q - I've seen you mention that Nina was originally intended to be a short story. At what point did the dawning horror of the realization: "Oh my gawdess, it wants to be NOVEL!" strike you?
At first I was terrified of the idea of turning Nina into a novel, because when I wrote the first twenty-something pages I had no idea where to go from there. The story was supposed to end with the artist committing suicide. But characters have a certain way of talking to you while you’re sleeping. So Nina ‘talked’ to me a lot in my dreams. That’s why in some parts of the book it feels almost as though you’ve stepped into a hazy dream. And that’s basically how Nina turned into a novel.
Read the rest here http://byzarium.com/interview_liz_dejesus
A Moving Story
Liz DeJesus NINA (Blu Phier Publishing, 2007)176 pages,
fiction, $ 12.99 U.S.
To say NINA is a “moving” story is something of an understatement—it will pull you in and, if you’re lucky, spit you out when it’s done. The story is at times mystical, at other times gritty and dramatic and still keeps you turning the page until you get to the end. And if you’re like me, you’ll find you still want to know what happens next.
I enjoyed reading NINA; I found it entertaining as well as containing elements of life with which I could identify. There is a certain realism some of us can relate to about how the character Andrea relates to her parents. And I enjoyed not being able to predict what happens next—Liz DeJesus seems to have a knack for keeping her readers on their toes. I appreciate that in a novel. Then there’s the title character, Nina, and how she learns and grows and relates to the world around her. What I found particularly enjoyable was her introduction to desserts and chocolate. Made me want to run out and grab a brownie.
NINA takes a wonderful look into how we relate to one another and how a person, plucked and placed into life essentially grown, might relate to the people she meets as she struggles to find her place. It’s definitely a worthwhile read.
Review By Cheri L. Chesley www.myspace.com/weaversofwords
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