Jennifer A. Nielsen's Blog, page 11

Monday Memes 2

Today’s Monday Memes are inspired by THE RUNAWAY KING. Enjoy!

And remember, there will be an online launch party on the evening of Oct 1 with some big, and awesome giveaways!

(Plus, THE CAPTIVE KINGDOM!)

Redemption

*** THIS STORY TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE FALSE PRINCE AND THE RUNAWAY KING AND CONTAINS A MAJOR SPOILER. PLEASE DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED THE FALSE PRINCE. ***

*** SERIOUSLY. GO READ THE FALSE PRINCE FIRST. ***

The declaration had been hand-delivered by a personal messenger of the royal court. He called himself Errol, and he smelled like soap. That was how Mrs. Turbeldy knew he was a real messenger.

Which meant his message – stating that the new king of Carthya was coming to pay her a visit today, must also be real.

“New king?” she asked while scratching her chin. “What happened to the old one?”

Errol got all serious and said, “He’s dead, madam. But his son reigns now, King Jaron.”

“Never heard of him.” But whoever this Jaron was, he clearly had heard of her, and there could be only one reason for it. Maybe she was getting on in age and short a tooth or two, but Mrs. Turbeldy still figured she’d kept her youthful beauty well. Perhaps the new king had heard of her. 

“Did the king say why he was coming?” she asked Errol.

“He would prefer to explain that on his own,” Errol replied.

Mrs. Turbeldy began scratching again, wondering how to make him talk. Slowly, a smile spread across her face. She’d try a subtle approach. “I heard a rumor that the king has his eye on a commoner. Someone most people would never expect to become a queen.”

Errol tilted his head. “I’ve heard that rumor too, my lady.”

Mrs. Turbeldy giggled. So she was my lady now? Just like he’d address a future queen.

“I will go now and tell the king he is welcome to come,” Errol said.

He started to leave, but Mrs. Turbeldy grabbed his arm long enough to add, “If the king should wonder, Mr. Turbeldy ain’t been seen for years. He always used to say, ‘Woman, I’d rather live with the devils than with you.’ So I suspect that’s where he’s gone, off to live with the devils.”

Errol pressed his lips together and nodded. “I will tell the king, if he asks. You can expect him to arrive within the hour.”

Within the hour? The instant the orphanage door closed, Mrs. Turbeldy flung herself into action. It took near ten minutes to threaten the orphans into finding somewhere better to be for the day, and twice that to squeeze into her finest dress. She did her hair up all nice and even took a comb to the worst parts, then put on a pretty necklace Sage had given to her once, no doubt stolen from someplace.

He’d been gone for almost a month now. Mrs. Turbeldy found herself thinking of him a lot. Mostly for how glad she was to be rid of him. But were some days when she actually missed that brat.

Mrs. Turbeldy had no sooner finished staining her cheeks with a little rouge than she heard the sound of horses outside. That had to be him. The king had come.

Maybe he wasn’t here to offer marriage. But he’d come all the way from Drylliad so it had to be for something big.

She took care of those miserable orphans, showing love despite them all being ungrateful little beasts. Maybe the king was here to thank her for that.

Or he could have heard of her charity work, by accepting old bread from the wealthy so they could feel like they were good folks.

Or— 

A knock came to the door. That had to be him!

“Please enter, King Jaron,” she said, then curtsied low and bowed her head as the door opened.

She looked up, expecting to see the king, which made it all the more insulting to see who had entered.

She grunted, both irritated and disappointed. “Sage? What’re you bothering me for now? Help me up.”

He was better dressed than when she’d seen him last, must’ve robbed that nobleman who bought him or something. But he reached down to help pull her out of her curtsey.

She brushed a bead of sweat from her brow and darted to the window. “You need to leave, boy. I’m expecting the king himself.”

“Are you?” Sage grinned and looked out the window beside her. “Why would he come here?”

She thrust out an elbow to push him away, then tidied up her hair. “Perhaps he’s heard of my beauty and wants to propose marriage.”

Sage coughed, as if he’d suddenly choked on something. When he’d recovered, he said, “I am certain that is not his reason.”

“Then he’ll reward me for my compassion—”

“Do you actually have compassion?”

“Compassion happens to be my finest trait, and I’ll give you a beating if you forget it. Why’d you have to come now, Sage?”

“Because I have a debt to pay,” he said. “I came here to tell you that I am—”

“What sort of debt?” Now her eyes widened. She’d figured it out all right. Now everything made sense.

She grabbed Sage’s ear and pinched it hard enough to get a reaction from him, then twisted until he was hunched over.

“You horrible little thief!” she snarled. “You did something to Jaron, didn’t you! Whatever it was you stole, he blames me and now he’s coming to have me hauled off to the dungeons. Is that it?”

“I literally cannot steal from him,” Sage said. “Mrs. Turbeldy, I am—”

She wasn’t having any of his excuses. “No, I won’t cover for you this time, I won’t let you hide here. You’ve given me far too much trouble and I’m finished with you.”

With a final twist, she released his ear, then started toward the door to kick him out.

“Wait,” Sage said. “I just need to know something first.”

“What is it? Ask quickly, before Jaron gets here.”

He stood up, still rubbing his ear, but said, “Why’d you take me in? Nobody else would, and you knew I was difficult.”

“Difficult?” Mrs. Turbeldy sniffed. “Nah, you’re much worse. The devils have you, boy.  You put a hole in my floor, stole food from my kitchen, got into fights with the other orphans, and acted the whole time as if you was something more than just a rat for the streets. Like I said, you need to go, before the king comes to arrest you.”

Sage smiled again. “Still protecting me?”

“Maybe.”

“Then I want to do something here, as a thank you.”

She rolled her eyes, irritated once more. “Whatever you’ve stolen for me now, I don’t want it. Unless it’s valuable, or pretty, or I can eat it.”

“Very well.” He opened the door and a bunch of people began walking in, some carrying tools and wood, or crates that smelled like they contained real food.

“What’s this?” Mrs. Turbeldy asked. “Who are all these people?”

“Workers who will repair the holes in the floor where the boys sleep, and in the roof where they are rained on at night. The food is to restock your kitchens. Some of it will last a very long time if you are careful, and fresh bread will be provided to you every week from now on. The boys here will not eat bean bread any longer.”

More people continued entering, carrying bed frames, mattresses, and several loads of books. Last of all, Sage pulled something out of a pocket of his very fine clothes and held it out for Mrs. Turbeldy. It was a beautiful necklace with a small ruby at the end. Mrs. Turbeldy figured if she sold it, something like this would fetch a fine price at the market, but it seemed far too beautiful to sell.

Besides…her eyes narrowed, suspicious again…he could only have gotten this through thievery. She couldn’t allow him to be here when the king arrived.

“You need to get out now,” she said. “I can’t have an orphan thief around me when his highness arrives.”

“No, indeed you cannot.” Sage glanced around the room, then gave a polite bow to Mrs. Turbeldy. “I just wanted to thank you, for all you did for me.”

Then he straightened up and left. The workers in the home remained for the rest of the afternoon, but Mrs. Turbedly spent most of that time staring out the window, waiting and watching.

The king never did come.

What a disappointment. It would have been so exciting to have met him, to have seen what a true royal was like. She’d probably never get the chance again to know a king.

Finally, she opened the door to look for any sign of him on the road, but got no farther than the stoop. There sat Sage’s final gift for her: a roast.

She groaned and picked it up. Better to get it cooked before the butcher came to claim it. 

Mrs. Turbeldy went back inside with a new thought. After all Sage had done here to help her, what did she need with the king anyway?

Maybe Sage wasn’t so terrible after all.

At least he was no worse than the king.

Sassy Saturday 2

Spoilers are below – even if they don’t look like spoilers, they are. Please read THE FALSE PRINCE before reading this post.

Today’s episode of “Why-Can’t-Jaron-Just-Shut-Up-For-Once” is brought to you by THE RUNAWAY KING. Do you have any favorite lines of his sass from this book?

Friday Freebie 2!

Today’s Friday Freebie will play off last week’s post. Same deal, but this time on Facebook.  There are plenty of ways to enter to win an ARC of THE CAPTIVE KINGDOM or other books of mine. You can:

Share my post HERE to your page.Create your own FB post talking about the Ascendance series.Follow my author page HERE. If you already follow me, you’re already entered here.Invite others to follow my author page – but tell them to leave a comment on my page tagging you in, so that you get credit.

That’s it! You’ll get one entry for each. The contest ends on Sunday.

There is one more piece of news for Utah types. TONIGHT, FRIDAY SEPT 11, I am signing books at Three Goats Gruff in Brigham City from 4-7 pm (14 S Main Street). This is the only public signing I will be doing, possibly for quite some time, and the store will be giving away an advance copy of THE CAPTIVE KINGDOM and RESCUE, my next historical, due for release next March!

As a bonus, I will be signing there with James Dashner (MAZE RUNNER), Sara Larson (SISTERS OF SHADOW AND LIGHT), J Scott Savage (THE LOST WONDERLAND DIARIES), Frank Cole (POTION MASTERS), and Dustin Hansen (MY VIDEO GAME ATE MY HOMEWORK) so this is a big deal! For those in the area, I hope to see you there!

Social distancing and masks will be practiced.

Throwin’ it Out There Thursday 2

I loved hearing everyone’s thoughts for last week’s Throwin’ it Out There relationships. My picks are at the end of this post… 

This week, it’s time to pick characters from my other books for each of the characters in the Ascendance books. You are not limited to the list below – that’s just to help you remember the major character names.

Character Pairings:

Whether he likes this person or not, which character would Jaron fully trust with his life? __

The character who Imogen would love to date if she and Jaron were on a break: __

The character Roden would want at his side when walking into any battle: __

The  character Tobias might choose as his lab partner: _

The character who would become quick besties with Amarinda: __

The character Mott believes Jaron could learn the most from: __ 

The character Fink would most love to get into trouble with: __

The character who could fit into the Ascendance world perfectly: __

Matched with any of the following:

Kestra, Simon, Trina

 Audra, Lukas

Chaya, Esther

Nic, Aurelia, Crispus

 Gerta, Fritz

Ani, Weevil

From Last Week…

Jaron and Aragorn: FRIENDS. Jaron would have enormous respect for Aragorn and for a fellow king. He would see a lot of himself in Aragorn and try to be more like him. Aragorn would be wildly frustrated with Jaron most of the time, but would see him as a younger version of himself.

Hermione: FRIENDS, SORT OF. They wouldn’t be frenemies, but it’d be a difficult friendship. Hermione would respect Jaron’s intelligence but hate his plans. Jaron would admire her quick-thinking but resent when she interferes with his ideas.

The White Witch and Wicked Witch: ENEMIES, and he would absolutely defeat them both, magic or not.

Inigo Montoya: FRIENDS. These two would have a great time together and learn a lot from each other.

Edward Cullen: ENEMIES. Jaron wouldn’t consider him a villain, but he wouldn’t trust him or want to be anywhere near him.

Robin Hood: FRIENDS. Unless Robin Hood tried to take anything from Jaron, or vice-versa, in which case that would change very quickly.

Éowyn: FRIENDS. They would respect each other and fight well alongside each other.

Tyrion Lannister: FRENEMIES. Neither would trust the other, but they would maintain a working relationship because they’d be dangerous enemies.

Percy Jackson and Jamie Fraser: FRIENDS, SORT OF. Both would want to be in charge of a plan, and both would be confident that they could defeat the other in battle.

Flynn Rider: FRIENDS. Oh the trouble these two would create together!

Katniss Everdeen: FRIENDS. They’d respect each other’s talents and fight well together, but probably not hang out on weekends.

Bilbo Baggins: FRIENDS, SORT OF. Jaron would never fully trust Bilbo, but he would like him.

THE SCOURGE new Cover Reveal (paperback)!

Today’s wonderfulness is so exciting to me, a cover reveal for THE SCOURGE!

But wait, you ask…hasn’t that book been out for a while?

Yes, but Scholastic is finally putting it into paperback and they have given it a fresh new cover, one which I love.

And it’s oddly well-timed, since we’re sort of in the middle of our own scourge. The paperback won’t be released until spring 2021, but you get to be the first to see the cover here, and that is simply wonderful!

If you don’t know this book, a summary is below.

As a lethal plague sweeps through the land, Ani Mells is shocked when she is unexpectedly captured by the governor’s wardens and forced to submit to a test for the deadly Scourge. She is even more surprised when the test results come back positive, and she is sent to Attic Island, a former prison turned refuge—and quarantine colony—for the ill. The Scourge’s victims, Ani now among them, can only expect to live out short, painful lives there.

However, Ani quickly discovers that she doesn’t know the whole truth about the Scourge or the Colony. She’s been caught in a devious plot, and, with the help of her best friend, Weevil, Ani means to uncover just what is actually going on. But will she and Weevil survive the Scourge—and the gorvernor’s wardens—long enough to make their escape and expose the cruel plan?

Tuesday Trivia 2

The answers to last week’s trivia questions are at the bottom of the post, though I think most of you sailed through them. So I made them a little harder this week. They are based on book 2, THE RUNAWAY KING. Good luck!

Who is Jaron named after, and what is his full name? What physical ailment does the Avenian king suffer from?Who do the regents want to rule instead of Jaron?What does Jaron learn about his father when he meets Nila?What was wrong with the cups of cider that Jaron offers to Mott and Tobias while at Farthenwood?Who is Jaron surprised to encounter when he robs Rulon Harlowe’s home?What does Imogen hide in the bucket of water that she throws on him?Who does Sage kick after he escapes the pirates?What room number is Jaron supposed to ask for when he goes to the tavern?What is the name of the navigator that Jaron releases from pirate captivity?



Bonus: What is the name of the plant that Jaron chews to help numb the pain from his leg?

Good luck with your answers! Here are the answers to last week’s trivia questions!

1.     How much does Conner pay the butcher for Sage?

Fifty Garlins

2.     Who does Sage first tell Mrs. Turbeldy he is when he goes to her orphanage?

The son of a dead duke from Avenia

3.     What does Imogen bring to Sage down in the dungeons?

Some water and a warm roll

4.     How does Mott cover up for the death of Veldegrath’s servant?

He stabs himself in the arm and claims self-defense

5.     What is inside the emerald-encrusted box?

The prince’s crown and the drawings his mother made of him

6.     Where was the imitation of Jaron’s sword hidden after it was stolen?

 Inside a loose step in the hidden passages

7.     Why does Tobias stop trying to become the prince?

Sage blackmailed him by putting the knife under Tobias’s bed

8.     What are Sage’s first words to Amarinda?

“You’ve got dirt on your face.”

9.     How does Sage know there is a hidden passage entrance in Conner’s room?

He sees the tapestry fringe caught between the walls

10.  Who ran the orphanage where Roden and Latamer lived?

Master Grippings  

Monday Meme 1

Business first: The winner of the Instagram giveaway is Alyssa_113. Congrats to her! Another giveaway is coming on Friday!

There are two memes today, both inspired from THE FALSE PRINCE (though the second definitely hints at THE RUNAWAY KING, and a definite theme ties these two together. Poor Sage.

The Missing Prince

Today’s short story comes before the beginning of book 1, THE FALSE PRINCE. However, it does contain spoilers. Therefore, please do not read this until after you have read THE FALSE PRINCE. If you want your own copy of that book, please order first from a local bookseller near you, or from my indie bookseller, The King’s English Bookshop.

Following news of the disappearance of Prince Jaron, an attempt was made to ask people from all over Carthya how they felt about the boy second in line for the throne.  

Cook (Castle Servant):

I can admit it now, I had a soft place in my heart for that boy. I can’t even count the number of times he would sneak in and out of the castle through the river below my kitchen. I don’t know where he ever went, though last year he returned to the castle with his hair shaved off. All he said to me was that it had been worth it. 

Mrs. Turbeldy (Keeper of an Orphanage):

I heard the pirates got him. And that’s for the best. I wouldn’t want a troublemaker like that anywhere near me.

Master Portknow (Jaron’s Geography Tutor):

I hate to say this of any former student, but that boy was unteachable. If not for his older brother, Darius, I would have quit teaching long before Jaron released those chickens in my classroom. One laid an egg on my schoolbooks! I quit the same day.

King Humfrey (King of Mendenwal):

It’s true that Jaron challenged me to a duel last year, but few people know it was in defense of his mother. Regrettably, I had said something unkind about her. Of course, I won the duel, but if anyone thinks that was a simple thing, they don’t know Jaron.

Amelia (Carthyan citizen): 

Two years ago, my horse was spooked and began racing away wildly through the streets. Jaron was nearby and found a horse that he used to chase after me. He saved my life.

Mulwort Bench (Stable Owner):

The boy stole a horse of mine. Sure, he returned it, but what was his right to take it in the first place? I reported him to the High Chamberlain who assured me the prince would be punished as soon as he was punished for other things he had done earlier. Apparently, he created trouble faster than he could be punished. 

Platt (Market Stall Owner): 

I once left the latch open for my chickens on market day. They scattered and damaged three other stalls, more than I could pay for. The owners of those stalls threatened to have me sent to debtor’s prison, but Jaron came forward and said he had unlatched the chicken coop and the castle would pay for the damage. He’d released chickens once in a classroom of the castle so no one doubted his claims now. I heard the boy got in terrible trouble, but I know it was me that left the latch open. I pray the Saints will bring him home again.

Jaron’s Priest:

I hope the boy is still alive, wherever he is. Because there is no chance of him resting with the Saints in the next life, no chance at all. He set fire to my pulpit once, while I was preaching! At first I didn’t mind the smoke, but when I saw the flames, I knew I had to finish my sermon early.

Master Bevin Conner (Regent): 

Avenia is responsible for the death of Prince Jaron.  They hired the pirates to sink his ship. In my opinion, King Eckbert has no choice but to declare war.

Eleanor (Mother in Drylliad):

A year ago, a banker came to collect on a debt I could not pay. When he tried to throw me and my children out of our home, the prince happened to be passing by. He told the banker that he needed to smile more, and when the banker said he smiled plenty often, Jaron wagered the banker that whichever of them could get more people to smile in the next ten minutes should pay the amount of my debt. The banker agreed, and Jaron immediately ran off. 

Believing the prince had already given up, the banker returned to his efforts at evicting me. But when the time was nearly up, Jaron came walking back down the road, with his head entirely shaved except for a large smile on the back, all that was left of his hair. People started laughing and pointing and running along after him, and when he passed the banker, he merely said that my debt had been paid.

Jaron liked to make the people laugh – at him or with him, he didn’t care. I wish they wouldn’t laugh now that he’s gone. Jaron was more than people ever knew.

Crown Prince Darius (Jaron’s elder brother):

I love my brother. That’s all I have to say. If he could hear me now, that’s all I would want him to know. That our family does love him.

Sassy Saturday

Today’s quote is Sage’s sass from THE FALSE PRINCE. How about you? What’s your favorite sass from him in book 1?

If you haven’t yet read THE FALSE PRINCE, or any books in the series, would you please consider getting a copy from your local indie bookstore – help them out during this crazy time.

If there is no indie near you, when you order from my indie, The King’s English in Salt Lake City, I can sign those copies to you.

If you have read the books, then thank you! Tomorrow’s post will be a fun short story from those who knew Sage as he was growing up. (So it will contain spoilers from this book – you must read The False Prince first!)