#eliza and her monsters

[exeuntstormtroopers]

What was writing Eliza and Her Monsters like? The process, the inspiration, or how it felt, etc etc

The inspiration was interesting, because I didn't come up with the initial kernel of idea. I'd wanted to write a book about fandom for a long time, but it was actually my agent and her assistant who came up with the "girl draws monstrous sea as a webcomic and it has a fandom" idea. I was under contract for another contemporary book, but what I really like writing is sci-fi/fantasy/supernatural/horror/etc, so they were looking for a way to incorporate those loves of mine into a contemporary book. Everything that came after that initial kernel was pretty much all my ideas, of course with some nudges and help from agent/assistant/editor.

What I remember of actually writing it was very difficult. The story came to me easily, but actually putting it down was tough because I was putting so much of myself into Eliza the character, and because I had to write the book as if Monstrous Sea, this story I love that I've been working so hard on my whole life, was some super-important, mega-popular franchise. I felt like a huge fraud. I was worried people would think I had a huge ego, or I was really self-important.

That being said, I do think I managed to get a lot of truths out in that book, and I still stand by them. I like what I got to say about fandom and creating things, although I think I have even more thoughts about it now than I did then. I also really did love the parts where I got to just talk about Monstrous Sea.

No joke, anyone wants to ask me in-depth questions about the Monstrous Sea world or characters, I will absolutely get into it right now, right this second.

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[winchester-1895]

I don't want to be the girl who freezes when confronted with new friends, or on the outside world, or the smallest shred of intimacy. I don't want to be alone in a room all the time. I don't want to feel alone in a room all the time, even when there are other people around.

- Francesca Zappia, Eliza and Her Monsters

[julie-schwieters-supremacy]

you're an Eliza and her monsters fan????? omg

omg yesssss i love the book and her smmmm

i literally have not found one person who is omll

[crixaflamma-the-second]

What's your favorite book? (Or like the top five)

HOW DO I PICK THEY'RE ALL SO GOOD

But my top five (in no particular order) are Radio Silence (Alice Oseman), Eliza and her Monsters (Francesca Zappia), Drifters (Kevin Emerson), House of Hades (Rick Riordan), and Neverseen (Shannon Messenger)

[beyondthedustjacket]

‘If you had to choose, which would it be — dying in a year or living forever?’ ‘Neither. A year is too short and forever is too long.’

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

[themelodyofspring]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge

May 12, 2023 - Should Win An Award

Truth is the worst monster, because it never really goes away.

[hermesdoesthings]

I love rereading books that I devoured in high school.

[quinniehb]

amity fanart! first finished drawing in 3+ years <3 ps, francsca zappia if u see this ilysm

[rei-the-head-shaker]

23.12.2023

The sadness of watching a post-it you attached at the start of 2019 falls off the wall...

[ I tried to re-attach it, but it fell off once again. I guess it is a sign to finally let go... ]

[hufflepuff-belle]

“I don’t know anymore. I don’t know, I don’t know, god, I’m so tired.” ― Francesca Zappia, Eliza and Her Monsters

[exeuntstormtroopers]

So, I just got to chapter 23 in eliza and her monsters, and I gotta say, you are like- wow- my librarian at school said I was the first to read it so far, and I love it very much! So, what other books have you written if any? I wanna know so I can recommend the books for next year to read!

Amazing question!

I currently have five published novels. Not counting Eliza, the other four are...

Made You Up (2015) is about Alex, a girl with paranoid schizophrenia, just trying to make it through her senior year of high school. The reappearance of her childhood imaginary friend—now a very real and very mystifying teenage boy, Miles Richter—throws all her plans into disarray. (This has some dark humor but is generally fun and overall, I think, lighthearted. It's closer to Eliza than the others.)

Now Entering Addamsville (2019) follows Zora Novak, a girl with a mean streak and a bad reputation in her small haunted Indiana town. Unfortunately, she's also the only one who can save it from the Firestarters, demons that kill the residents and feed off their souls. (The level of horror in this is like Buffy or Supernatural.)

Katzenjammer (2022) is about Cat, a girl with a cat mask for a face, who is stuck with all her classmates in a warped and living School. Cat has to recover her memories to learn how they all got trapped there before they're all hunted down by the terrifying force stalking the hallways. (This is horror horror. There is a lot of violence and very dark themes.)

Greymist Fair (2023) is a retelling of several lesser-known Grimm's Fairy Tales. Set in the remote forest village of Greymist Fair, Heike the tailor and the other young people of the town must contend with the mysterious witch, a vicious killer, the wargs of the forest, and Death themself in order to save Greymist Fair from annihilation. (There's some scary elements here, but it's more dark Christmas vibes.)

Currently, these book are all standalones. I have ideas for Addamsville sequels, but I don't know if I'll get to make those happen.

If you're interested, I've also written the first three books of The Children of Hypnos from Eliza, and they're available online to read. I plan on finishing all five books, it's just a matter of finding the time!

[entity9silvergen]

2 years since I wrote this!

[owl68]

On page 300, once again reminded of how obsessed I was when I read Katzenjammer. This is heart wrenching

(Francesca Zappia is awesome!!!)

[an-author-someday]

an absolute gut punch of a novel, how i waited on reading it for so long i have no clue.

this is one of the things that, if i could, i would travel back in time and give to my younger self. the last time a book hit me this hard, it was jandy nelson's i'll give you the sun, back in 2016. that moreso took a stab at dysphoria i had but didn't know how to identify, but this,,,,

this reminded me so starkly of my years as a depressed teenaged artist, in more ways than i can rattle off the top of my head. i thought about this book constantly while reading it, read it while eating breakfast, and found myself wishing i'd brought it to work to read over breaks. it didn't just tug at my heart, it yanked. it grappled me and left me gasping for air, metaphorically speaking. it reminded me of my own experiences drawing comics as a kid, and what if i picked that up again. eliza essentially being grounded from her sketchbook when they go camping, the long and in depth email from wallace, her sense of perfectionism with her art, the anxiety, the sense of being unattractive and undesirable, the fact that it didn't need to have a sex scene to establish the relationship as being a good and valid one.... maybe not to everyone, but to me, this book felt.

5 stars. hands down five stars.

[beyondthedustjacket]

You found me in a constellation.

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia