Author Spotlight: Jennifer Nielsen

Jennifer lives at the base of a very tall mountain in Northern Utah with her husband, three children, and a naughty puppy. She loves the smell of rainy days, hot chocolate, and old books, preferably all at once. She is a former speech teacher, theater director, and enjoyed a brief but disastrous career as a door-to-door pollster. In her spare time, Jennifer tends to panic, wondering what she has forgotten to do that has allowed her any spare time.

A Midsummer Night’s Read (MSNR):  All of us here at A Midsummer Night’s Read would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to interview you and for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us!

First and foremost, we want to congratulate you on the success of The False Prince and tell you again how much we enjoyed it! So the first question here is how did you come up with Sage’s story?
Jennifer Nielsen (JN):  Thank you very much for having me here. I’d actually had the seeds for this story in mind for some time, but never could get the right protagonist. One day I was listening to the song, Guaranteed, by the amazing Eddie Vedder. A line in that song, “I knew all the rules, but the rules did not know me, guaranteed” caught my ear, and my imagination. Sage was born in that line, and once I had him, I had his story.

MSNR: Was his story essentially the same when you first started writing it? Or did certain aspects change through the writing and editing process?
JN: Minor things changed, as always will happen in a story. But The False Prince was actually the most linear, quick manuscript I’ve ever written. Sage came to me complete, so writing this book wasn’t really about creating his story, but rather it was about getting the words down to let the story unfold.

MSNR: Is there any real life inspiration for Carthya and the situation concerning Sage and the other orphans?  Was it hard to create your own world rather than use other historical events?
JN: Sage is a completely unique character, but I do confess this: many years ago when I was a high school debate teacher, I had a student who was popular, brilliant, and talented…and also a bit of a thief. He used to steal wristwatches from our bus drivers before tournaments. Luckily, he always returned them at the end of the ride, usually with the bus driver thanking him for his honesty. I did think of this student a few times when Sage was stealing something.

About the world creation, I love the freedom of basing my settings on actual history but then adding in original details that give it a fantasy feel. I do a lot of research to ground the story in events or traditions that could have happened, though of course, much of it never did.

MSNR: Speaking of which, do you know if the purchase of orphans as servants happened in reality? I was wondering that the entire time!
JN: From my understanding, there were many instances of the wealthy purchasing people as indentured servants (my great-grandmother actually came to this country after buying her freedom as an indentured servant), but I think in most cases, both parties entered willingly into the contract. In my research, I never found an example of servants being taken against their will. So what happened to Sage is a sort of combination between indentured servitude and slavery.

MSNR: What can you tell us about the upcoming sequel?
JN: I can tell you the title, The Runaway King, and that it should be out next spring. I can tell you that for Sage, things will get worse. And um, I can’t say anything else.

MSNR: Will readers see Imogen and the betrothed battle for his attentions and his affections?
JN: There is a definite chance of this possibly happening. Or not. (Cheeky grin)

MSNR: Will Connor be returning as a foe in the future? Or will Sage be facing new enemies?
JN: See my snarky, unhelpful answer above.

MSNR: Will we find out who really killed the royal family?
JN: Other than what is revealed in The False Prince? Hmm, that’s a great question!

MSNR: We could keep asking questions about this wonderful book all day, but we know you need to keep some secrets for the upcoming installments! So just a few standard questions for our readers.  What made you want to become a writer?
JN: When I was choosing a career, I never actually gave any serious consideration to becoming an author. I’d never met any authors, and so it never felt like a real career choice. (This is where I pause to give a plug for schools bringing in authors, or for parents taking their children to local book signings – it’s invaluable to young writers!) Then one day I was reading a book by an author I had always loved. All of a sudden, it wasn’t enough to live in someone else’s fictional world. I wanted to create my own. That was when I knew I wanted to turn my hobby into a career.

MSNR: Do you have any advice or suggestions for readers who are interested in becoming authors?
JN: My advice comes from a quote by Winston Churchill: “Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give up. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.” There are so many talented people who abandon their dreams because they become discouraged too soon. Success may not happen on your first or second or third manuscript. It may not happen in the way you expected, or as quickly as you’d hoped. But if you keep writing, keep improving, and keep submitting, you will one day find success.

MSNR: Thank you so much again, Jennifer, for stepping away from Sage and his friends to discuss their trials with us!  We can’t tell you enough how much we enjoyed The False Prince and how invested we are in Sage’s future.  We will try to wait patiently to find out what happens!
JN: Thank you. It’s been an honor to visit here, and I very much hope you’ll find that The Runaway King was well worth the wait!

Check out our review of The False Prince
Buy The False Prince

Book Review: The False Prince by Jennifer Nielson

In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king’s long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner’s motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword’s point — he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage’s rivals have their own agendas as well. 


 As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner’s sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.


I have to say that Nielson’s novel reminded me a bit of Marchetta’s Finnikin of the Rock, but I’m not going to compare and contrast them, because essentially, Sage and Finnikin’s journeys are different.

Now the narrative didn’t exactly start off extremely enticing or anything, but sometimes the best stories don’t.  The story begins with Sage, an orphan, getting in trouble for stealing in his hometown, which was really for the other children in the orphanage where he has been living since he was ten.  A sinister sort of man comes and “purchases” him from the orphanage to serve for his purposes.  (Question: was this something that actually happened in real European orphanages?)

Either way, we are immediately thrown into a shady situation with Regent Collins, his band of merry thieves, and three other orphans gathered for the journey.  It isn’t until the arrival of the party (sans one orphan) at Collins’ estate that the reason of the orphan purchases are revealed.

Suddenly, Nielson thrusts the reader into an information dump about the country of Carthya, the recent murder of the royal family, the past death of Prince Jaron, and Collins’ plan to turn one of the three remaining orphans into the “False Prince” Jaron, and take control of the throne before revolution rocks the country.

Okay, so here is when we finally get to the meat of the story and we get to know the three orphans and Sage’s journey to understand his role in this plan.

Nielson’s writing ability is excellent, and I must say that once the story picked up, I really enjoyed Sage’s story and the exquisite descriptions of everything.  There is a significant twist to the story, that I honestly did not predict, and didn’t see coming.  I will be going back to re-read the story and figure out if there are more clues than the false gold rock to give me an idea of the ending.  Nielson certainly caught me by surprise and I loved Sage’s story and his character growth.

If you like fantasy with a bit of intrigue, then The False Prince is for you.  Check it out!

4 Bards.

Now Reading: The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen

In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king’s long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner’s motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword’s point — he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed.

But Sage’s rivals have their own agendas as well. As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner’s sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.