The Grimm Diaries Prequels

Today I finished what was keeping me busy for the whole week. As you might know I claim that I have written a new series that tells the truth about fairy tales ( please don't throw tomato at me. Apples, I am fine with )
Anyway, to give a hint about what the Grimm Diaries will read like, I decided to publish around seven short stories ( around ten thousand words each ) that I call the Grimm Diaries Prequels.
So what in the name of the Evil Queen is that?!!
Ok. The Grimm Diaries series is a collection of diaries of fairy tale characters, telling the truth about the tales that the Grimm Brothers once forged for reason of their own. -- Or so I claim. Sorry Grimms. I have German blood in me too so not offense. These diaries are collected in a seven volume that is called --- ummm , guess what? the Grimm Diaries . Taraaa!
So every diary has some mini entries, small writings of things that were thought of a trivial in a day that wasn't that full of events. This is what the Grimm Prequels are ... with a twist .. that what's written in them is by no means trivial.
Each of the Grimm Prequels is also told by one of the fairy tales character, and will give the reader a great insight of what this series is about -- i have to remind you that this a YA, paranormal, adventure, fantasy, fairy tale retelling, and romance series ( what genre haven't I left out? ) By that i mean there is no erotica in it, since many retellings do favor that part. There are some scary scene but that isn't the theme of the series. If I am allowed to say, I would say it's like nothing I have ever read -- and i write books that I wish have been written but weren't. The series theme is FUN. I like fun books, stir some romance, two grains of paranormal, so chilli emotional horror, and mixed with jokes and silliness, then add a lot of sugary adolescence,  and let boil seven times.

Of course at the end if the day, you might feel you want to crush me with an honest review if you're picky about grammar issues and some other editorial stuff i can't afford right now. But stick with me. I might one day make it to the 101 book in the 100 hundred bestseller list. Who knows.

I know I can't stop talking ( which might be the reason why I write ) so this is an announcement for the Grimm Diaries Prequels.
If you do kindly read them and have questions please do email on catch somewhere on the internet. T

And again, the series is only a teaser for the bigger series The Grimm Diaries which I think I will publish its first book next October. It's called Snow White Sorrow

So here is a list with the kindle teasers for the Grimm Diaries

Snow White Red Blood
Ashes to Ashes and Cinder to Cinder
If Butterflies Could Kill
A Dream within A Dream

P.S. I did want the teaser series on kindle to become absolute free, but amazon.com said it isn't possible and that the lowest price could only be 0.99
They offer five days free which i will use and will blog about the dates.

I Am Alive is out

The book called Every Girl Dies is back to its original name I AM ALIVE and is available on Amazon.com kindle.
For those kind reader who reviewed the book when it was first published on Amazon.com kindle and smashwords, many many thanks. Because in very few words I learned what I need to change about the book and I did a lot of re-editing.

 

I Am Alive book one in the I Am Alive series available on Amazon,com kindle

Right now I have to prepare for the Grimm Prequel which you will know about it in a couple of days, I just had this crazy idea in my head and will experiment with it and will blog about asap.

 

Every Girl Dies

Today I decided to publish the first book in my Every Girl Dies trilogy. I published it on kindle a month ago under another name, only to test the waters and got amazing feedback ( I included the reviews at the bottom of the post )  It was downloaded over 500 times without me marketing it in any way.

I don't know if I mentioned this before but I wrote 12 books ( oops ) but I am not sure if I want to publish all of them. I'll will post later about how this happened

The book will be available from June 10th on kindle for 2.99 I think. I might also publish it as 10 episode book where every episode is for free so if you find that you like the book at some point, you can purchase the full version. Feedback is appreciated on this idea.

If you're wondering about the Title. I got the idea from the famous quote which inspired the film Braveheart by William Ross Wallace. It says: 

"Every man dies - not every man really lives."

And the manipulator of words and re-liar of lies I am ( you will get that when you know me better ) I twisted it into:

"Every GIRL dies - not every Girl really lives."

Which perfectly describes my sixteen year old protagonist, Deka Tenderstone's condition in the book which is a dystopian young adult with a tinge of romance.

 

Every Girl Dies trilogy by Cameron Jace

Here is the blurb:

Every girl dies - not every girl really lives.

In a dystopian future in Los Angeles where every sixteen-year-old is ranked on a scale from one to ten to determine their future, Deka Tenderstone sacrifices her rank to save her best friend Woo whom she believes is still alive after being forced to attend the Monster Show, a brutal sacrificing ritual where rebellious, outranked teens are labelled Monsters and get to fight for their lives on TV because they are considered bad kids who are a threat to society.

In her journey, Deka has meets with reckless Leo, who is unlike anyone she knows. While Deka and Leo can't stand each other, she will find out why she doesn't fit into any rank and why her mom tried to kill her when she was a seven.

Nothing will stand in her way as she has to makes choices concerning love, life, staying alive, growing up, and finding out who she really is.

End of blurb 

Of course I know it will turn out that there is another two or three books that either have a similar name or have a similar story line and other will point out at it  LOL
that's ok if it happens. Every Girl Lies is also very original ( not as original as Snow White Sorrow ) but it will give you a glimpse of how my books sound like. 

Reviews for Every Girl Dies ( when first published under a different name )

"Need more of these. possibly in my top tens. most people would say this is a rip off/parody of the hunger games. i say no to that."
~ Leon cpPaulnash

"I found this book randomly, and loved it!!!!! Please hurry up and publish book 2. I can't wait to read it."
~ T. Vlahakis

"I enjoyed the book and will read the next one when it comes out." 
~ Susan Hocking ( Susan is the first to ever review any of my books under my new pen name, I'll always remember that )

Questions about Snow White Sorrow

I just watched the Breakfast Club and Labyrinth back to back and I never get bored out of the two movies.

So I am going to change my book blurb. Taraaaa!

Although it's a mystery to me how many books Snow White Sorrow sounds like, I will do it.

I could have kicked my self with a sponge hammer in my head if I have written a book was actually written before, because then either I am a Clairvoyant or an utter lame writer who puts so much effort copying someone's else book than writing his own. I have written 12 unpublished books, If they are copied, I deserve to be shot with paintball guns in public.

Ah, and i forgot to mention that my previous book under my other pen name was recently optioned for film. (I'll post about it soon since i wrote that book 5 years ago and it's not like the books I write now )

and please, I am not bragging. I do love writing and do write the kind of stories I would like to find on bookshelves but don't. Although it seems otherwise at the moment, I have never read anything like the Grimm diaries. I guarantee that these books are super original. That they are good or not, that's the readers verdict, not mine. Still, I'll be always grateful I wrote them.

I am extremely appreciative to the reviewers who have taken interest in Snow White Sorrow and commented or reviewed it before they read it. I wouldn't have seen the resemblance if not for your reviews and comments.

Even though I wouldn't have wanted to mention other writers and their magnificent work, I owe you explanations.

Before I explain, I am sure of two things. One, that Snow White Sorrow is one of the most original ideas ever. I've written 12 books and chose to put this out first specifically because of its originality.
Two, this blurb just tells the first 30 pages of the book. I wrote it this way because I didn't want to give anything away, so even if it sounds like anyone else, it really doesn't affect the book. ( I am thinking of making the first 5 chapters available online for free. )

So I had to read Anna Dressed in Blood and what a good book this is. Super entertaining that I am officially a Kendra Blake fan. And thank God it has nothing to do with mine, unless you count the idea of  a monster girl in house copycatting, which would be crazy since it's an ancient plot device used in Supernatural, the TV series, and so many other books and films before.

And about the fact that Loki finds a girl filled with rage, I can't change that. I tried to talk to my Snow White in the book but she snarled at me on page 666 with her fangs and demon eyes. I can't do anything about it. Her character is much stronger than me.

Now to the fact that she spared Loki's life. How I wish I didn't write that because it's not that important. The truth is that when Loki and Snow meet for the first time, she will asks him to save her, and then the story really rolls on. My heart is aching as I am writing this. I didn't want to expose this part. Waaa. Besides, she has to spare Loki, because when you know who Loki really is, you'll will agree that she has to spare him.

Now about Cassandra Clare's City of Bones which I actually read some time ago. Even while the world building of the book is awesome, and the character Jace ( which is my last name ) reminds me a lot of Draco Malfoy, I liked him. And I remember liking Magnus Bane.

So Cassandra Clare has Shadowhunters. I have Dreamhunters. How can this be considered a similarity.  Shadowhunters kill demons and other worldly creatures if I remember correctly, and they are invisible to most humans? Correct me if I am wrong.

Dreamhunters kill immortals in their dreams where the dreamer can dream of any situation he likes to make it harder for the Dreamhunter to kill him. The Dreamworld is controlled by a Sandman Grimm ( I won't expose who that is ) who knows the truth about fairy tales and hides the real stories in the dreams of the immortal. The dreamworld is made of six levels, so if you bury a fairy tale demon in the last level, you have buried it six Dreams under, which probably will be the title for the third books in the installments It's more Inception, if anything.

Huh. I exposed so much. But it's ok. Snow White Sorrow is more fun than dark, and is more about characters than world building, although i'd like to believe that the dream world I created is interesting.


And about the cover resemblance, I do believe that I am going to change it a little bit. In the original photo, Snow White is pale like vampires, which I changed and think I should make her pale again. Also the tattoos are important for the plot, I could pass on them. What really matters to me is for you to see a Snow White that looks innocently like the girl next door but is a vicious and scary as Dracula. It's the Snow White i like, not the giddy, doe eyed, helpless girl presented in Disney. This one is a kickass Snow White and her story is very interesting. Think of her as Snow White written by Joss Whedon ( this how the real snow white was presented in the original tales but I will blog about this later )


Finally, when I wrote this blurb and uploaded the cover, I thought that what interests you would the fact that Snow White is a vampire, and how I could pull this idea out and back it up? I thought that killing immortals in their dreams is awesome and original ( and it is ). And I thought seeing a dark young Snow White who is both innocent looking and has blood dripping lips was the biggest attraction of all


I have to thank my friend Shujun Wong for such and amazing photography for the cover. She also hated my changes to the cover so I think I will post her original cover for you to decide.


At the end, thanks again for anyone who has put effort and input into mentioning the book and commenting. Soon enough, I will be sending out ARC's and the confusion will be definitely solved.


I wrote this very long blog mainly so you understand that when I tweak the blurb, I am not trying to deceive anyone. I am actually honored if my book is compared to such names you mentioned. Only it's not a copycat in anyway. Not to sound bragging or so, but the Grimm Diaries is more original than all of the books you mentioned. 
The only book more original than mine would be Snow, Glass, Apples, by Neil Gaiman which I give two thumb up for those who commented about it, since it was a great inspiration. It's just that Snow Glass Apples was too short for me and too dark. I wanted a full length idea on what if Snow White were a vampire, and fun.scary book.


ps. the man who discovered Nutella still has my vote for president. I am an addict.

Also what I found would be better is that whatever you want to ask me about Snow White Sorrow, you can ask in the comment and I'll answer as long as it doesn't give away the plot.

Thanks to some awesome Book Bloggers

It's been a beautiful day today. Other than a lot of good things happening, I decided to release a kindle ebook this week. It's called Every Girl Dies, a dystopian fiction that I had written some time ago. I hope I mentioned that I have written 12 books before I wrote the Grimm diaries.

first I have my most grateful appreciacation and thanks to two Romanian friends who repeatedly featured me on their bookblog, even before I start any marketing for Snow White Sorrow

you can find their posts her:

http://elkosta-books.blogspot.com/2012/05/snow-white-sorrow.html

Check out L's blog for many other reviews too

and here

http://simella23.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/the-grimm-diaries-de-cameron-jace/

That's Simona's blog, a very lovely blog as well and she was kind enough to feature me like El.

I will be always appreciative to the level of awesomeness

thanks you

Then, there there is this part where I have to explain the confusion about Snow White Sorrow's blurb which still seems to sound like another book or or even three. you can read about it HERE where I figured out where the confusion came from and what I am t do about it.

Why I love Tim Burton and my Mom

When I was a kid, my mom always insisted that I find a role model to follow as an idol in my life.
Even my dad who was rarely present, supported the idea, not knowing that he was my role model, whether he liked it or not, and whether he was good to us or not.
Then my teacher in school supported the idea too, insisting that we all choose our role models  the next the class, and the better be not our parents -- I didn't get it why elders didn't want our role models to be the mom and dad of every family.
Anyways, being quirky and commercially incorrect as I was as a kid, I chose Tim Burton.
I mean, if there was to be a role model, it would be him. Every movie Tim Burton produced or directed messed with spongy gelatin in my brains in a way that I appreciates much.
I started with Beetljuice, then landed on Edward Sissorhand, and then I was enslaved by his movies.
Of course, my teacher, she didn't know who Tim Burton was, so I thought I start by showing her a picture of Timmy. She freaked out, seeing Tim's uncombed hair and out of this world stare in the nowhere. I wondered if she would have a heartattack if she had seen Edward Sissorhand, my idol at the time.
Being laughed at in the class, and taunted by the teacher, I went home and told my mom and showed her the picture. Her reaction was no different than the teacher.
"What does this man do again?" she wondered with suspicious eyes.
"Make movies! mom." I said. "You want to see Beetljuice?"
Surprisingly, my mom agreed on watching Beetljuice. I guess she did form the stand point of parental control.
But then she loved it. She L.O.V.E.D it.
And the term Beetlejuice has become a secret code between me and her whenever we have unwanted guests. And she saw every Tim Burton movie since.

Yesterday she called me from miles away, making sure I will see Dark Shadows. I am almost thirty now, and I love Tim Burton and my mom.

My name is Cameron Jace, I am author of the upcoming Grimm Diaries series' first book Snow White Sorrow.

 

check out Snow White Sorrow here at goodreads

I think I'll have to change the blurbs of Snow White Sorrow

Although I am definite about the originality of Snow White Sorrow and the rest of the Grimm Diaries ( in fact, no one has ever rewritten fairy tales that way, at least to the very day ), I feel like I should change the blurb.
It turns out that another book has a lot of similarities with Snow White's Sorrow's blurb. Actually, I was told about a number of other books who had similarity, but one book stood out being repeated and referenced. It's called Anna Dressed in Blood. My second installment's initial name is Cinderella Dressed in Ashes -- my Cinderella is really dressed in Ashes. I can't say more about this or I 'll spoil the book. I came up with name from the famous Cinderella nursery rhyme: Cinderella Dressed in Yallow. Everyone knows this. So I guess that's the same with Anna Dressed in Blood, which I had to read the last couple of days, afraid that the similarities would go further than blurbs and names. Thank god, the two books are totally different. I have to point out that Anna Dressed in Blood is an amazing book. It's fun and scary and very original ( except of that the protagonist is very much like the chatterers from the Supernatural series, which is almost the same case with my protagonist. Except he is a Dreamhunter which I don't want to expose too )
Anyways, I gave it a thought, and decided I'll have to rewrite the blurb -- thank god this happened before I start giving away arcs which will be soon.
Reading the two blurbs, I only found the fact that the monster spares the hunter's life the most strangely common thing. And I will change that part very soon when I rewrite the whole blurb. In the Snow White Sorrow case, that Snow White will spare Loki's life is an essential element in the book: tiny spoiler: it's an essential element in the Snow White fairy tale itself. And she doesn't really just spare him, she asks him to save her instead of killing her. ( now I have given some of the plot but don't worry the story is much bigger than that. )
the reason why i thought that mentioning the life sparing part in the blurb would be good is that I don't want to give much about the plot as possible. It's really original. Never been done. And I wish you that like it if you read it. Let me say this about the major idea behind the Grimm Diaries. It's based on a imaginative fact that all books ever written are connected to fairy tales.

Hmmm .... I can't say more. lol

Anyways. I think I 'll change the blurb in a couple of days and will have to apologize to the reviewers who already commented on the similarities. And i really appreciate the reviews and comments or I wouldn't have noticed such a similarity. Again, thank to everyone who commented and will be commenting.

Snow White Sorrow cover

I have to admit I am lucky having found the artistic photography of Shujun Wong for the Cover of Snow White Sorrow.  I would love to send you her connection but I'd have to consult her first.

Anyways, I thought I'd attach all the possible outcomes we had for the cover before settling on the one the left. I think you'd agree with me that the last one is the best.

 

The blue was my first choice but we were still working on it so it's not finished

 

Still unfinished as well, I liked that somehow what's in the back looks like a forest.

An finally the one above, tara!! The tattoo part takes place in book two but looked pretty on this one.

What I like best about this is that it's not that creepy. This is not a creepy story.

Why I love the Alchemist by Paolo Coelho

Today I felt a  little bored. I usually don't.
But then I realized that I was exhausted to boredom, which by that I mean I was exhausted and needed to rest. Resting isn't my biggest asset though. To me resting usually means that I have to surrender to getting bored for a while.
Since I decided to take the day off from everything, I found myself driving away to visit a firend sixty miles away. She is an artist. One hell of a painter.
On my way, I got a couple of phone calls, replied to a couple of tweets and had a conversation with a friend I made in a Waffle House.
Bur none of that did it for me.
Taking a day off didn't exactly mean staying in bed all day or watching too much tv and ordering food. Taking a day off, meant i want to do something irrational, irresponsible, and illogical, like riding a roller coaster three time in a row.
Then I met with my friend. She opened the door all spattered in paint. She was working on something.
And that's when the light bulb shimmered in my head. I wanted to drive back instantly cause I knew what I needed to do. We fluff talked and I gave her a peck on cheek and said i gotta go. My friends are ok with that. They know me well. I am an artist, they are artists, and we all respect the sudden change in mood and the emotional urge to do something right now.

On the way back, I found one old copy of the Alchemist by Paolo Coelho in my trunk. Haven't red that book in years. But it was like a sign. I laughed and went home.

Once I got in, I picked up my guitar, plugged in, played out loud all that I can.

This is what I needed all the way. Like my painter friend when I saw her all spattered in paint, i envied her. This what I needed to do right now. Spatter some paint, scream out loud, sing a new song, do something that kinda widen the space in my heart and makes me feel alive,

That's what relaxing is for me.

And that was the Alchemist was about, a book that implies that you need to take the journey outside only to discover that you had all you need here, inside, so long ago. The Shepperd boy had his treasure buried where slept every night before he decided to search all over the world for it.
my friend was smarter. She needed to spatter some paint in her house.
I need to strum my guitar to release my energy.

I wonder what's your thing? To find it, the trick is to look, but not look hard so you don't miss it.

How Snow White Sorrow ( the Grimm Diaries ) came to my humble mind

Firstly, whoever discovered Nutella has my vote for president.

Ok. enough with my rant.
 
Since I hadn't written anything in my blog so far, I had to start with something. It's like that first line you struggle to write in your book, essay, or poem. As much as you want to write it down, you feel hesitant about it since once your commit to it there is not coming back.

Ok. Zip with the philosophy.

I wish that my blog will reflect me as a person, not as a writer or musician. Hopefully, I won't be dragged into trying to promote and talk about my books. This blog is intended for me to communicate with others who like the things I like. The writing comes second or third after being a human lost soul who loves all kinds of art to keep alive and have fun.

A week ago, I was able to add the synopsis and lovely ( at least to me ) cover on goodreads. Finally, the release date will be on October 30th. Will Snow White Sorrow be a good companion for Helloween? I guess so. That's going to be for readers to decide.

Luckily, I have started to have comments on the book and lots of people who claim they want to read it, which is just amazing.

The synopsis, as far as written until now ( I might change little things ) does explain what the book is about. There is just much much more that can't be explained or it will ruin the book. It kind of explain the first third of the book.

Since I don't want to give out much about the book, I thought explaining how the idea came to mind and what influenced me is the best way to elaborate on the subject.

Here we go:

As much as we all love books, it's rare when the subject is original and totally new. And that's what I wanted to write when I started the Grimm Diaries. No matter how silly and too fantastic the plot sounds, I was in mood for stepping into a new territory. One I can claim no one has written like it before.

After a lot of researching and reading and brainstorming, I came up with four ideas that I believed I haven't read about in novels before. Tarara! Proud of my little brain.

I googled and went to the library and asked my friends to find that three of them were actually super original which was amazing. Only they were so original, I was afraid to write. Imagine yourself coming up with something like Bram Stoker's Dracula, hence inventing the vampire genre, ( well a couple of writer's did it before him too ) It was too scary for me. So I thought I'd stick with the fourth idea:

What if Snow White was a vampire?

What a silly -- but original -- idea ? I thought to myself.

With all the vampire craze in the past years, I don't think I have ever read that before. So i researched if someone has ever thought about it.

the firs thing that I came upon at the time is the upcoming movie: Snow White and the Hunstman. Although I was impressed by the Evil Queen's part when I saw it in the trailer played by Charlize Theron, I though, nah, that's not it. I am looking for a better twist, something really original.

Then I cam about a short story called Snow, Glass, Apples. A short and precise masterpiece that deserves an Oscar by the one and only master of imagination Neil Gaiman. Even though he is one of my all time favorite writers, this little gem of a story slipped away somehow. I picked it up and started to read it, imagining that my fourth original plot is dead and gone. How am I going to write on a subject that Neil Gaiman wrote about. How dare I?

But after I read Gaiman's masterpiece, I thought something was missing ( with all due respects, I wouldn't compare myself to authors of such caliber )
But what was missing?
Two things:
1) the books needed to be longer, much longer. It had to be a series. An epic series. How come you come upon such a twist and just stop at about 5,000 words? I needed to know Snow White's real name, I wanted to feel her, now her, and the evil queen too. If there was one thing I didn't like about fairy tales, it's that there never mention real names and description. In the original scripts of fairy tales. You never know the evil queen's real name or motives. You never understand where teh kind, the father really is, what's prince Charming's name and back story. Details like these make masterpieces.
2) And this what really started the Grimm Diaries. How did the idea come to Gaiman's mind? Where in the subconscious would come up with Snow White being a vampire? Is there a historical significance to it? A hint that makes the idea plausible?

The only way for me to write a book about Snow White being a vampire ( after it was already done before ) was to find something to back my story up. Something to connect the threads, so it's not just a twist, but to make it a POSSIBLE twist.

So I did my research. And I have to say, if you used your imagination like I humble and hypothetically tried, you'd see that the possibility that Snow White is a Vampire is not that far fetched.

My references and researches are not based on rocket science. Simply on the original scripts of fairy tales and the origins they were collected from. If you read the scripts with a keen eye and a Gaimanesque imagination, you;d read between the lines, discovering that fairy tales are not at all how Disney presented them to us. In fact, fairy tales are so much darker and deeper, and literally more and more entertaining.

This is when the idea cemented itself in my offbeat brain. I am going to tell a story about the REAL FAIRY TALES, using historical evidence and scripture, and common sense to back it up.

Not that The Grimm Diaries is a research/debate type series like the Davinci Code. I am into that at all. I am all into fun, fantasy, young adult, and paranormal romance. All I did is create a world -- which in my case, is the world of dreams like in movies like Inception and Paprika -- to bind things together. And I cared of the characters and the adventure type. I wanted the quest for covering the books to be a Harry Potter-like adventure. Not that I claim I am s good as any of the honorable movies and books I have mentioned. I am such a humble writer, playing with a crazy idea that I would love to read myself in a book.

So not to make this blog overly long, I will explain more and more about the Grimm Diaries, and many other influences.
Lastly, I'll give you a hint of what to expect other than me trying to write a fun adventure. Did you ever wonder who the Evil Queen is? Who was it in the mirror talking to her? Who Snow White father's is? Why the dwarves preserved Snow White in a glass coffin? Why the queen asked the huntsmen to come back with Snow White's heart and liver? Why liver? ( in case you wonder, yes, she did ask for this in the original story? Why did the Brother's Grimm alternate the script on of the Snow White story -- fact -- one time mentioning the queen to be her mother and then claiming she is her step mother, and more.
Also why would a fairy tale book aimed with children start with a mother pricking her finger and relating blood to the birth of her own child?

Mmmm....