Jennifer A. Nielsen's Blog, page 5

Two Weeks to Launch!

I KNOW! I’ve been super AWOL here on the blog. There’s a lot of reasons for that, and I’m still getting caught up on comments, but I hope to get to all of them soon.

Anyway…the launch for THE SHATTERED CASTLE is coming up in two weeks! I hope you can participate in one of these ways:

Option 1: 

Online Zoom, Oct 18, 6 pm Mountain Time.

Click HERE to register! (First 100 participants allowed – only 21 spots left!)

(Registration will allow you to receive the Zoom link. I do not save nor sell any email addresses.)

Option 2:

Online Zoom, Oct 18, 7 pm Mountain Time. (NOTE: Last blog post had an error on the time:

Click HERE to register! (First 100 participants allowed – there is more room left in this slot)

Option 3:

In person launch, Oct 19, 7 pm Mountain Time.

Three Goats Gruff Bookstore, 

14 South Main Street, Brigham City, UT

Option 4:

In person launch, Oct 21, 7 pm Mountain Time

Viridian Center

8030 South 1825 W, West Jordan, UT

At each event, there will be giveaways and some exciting announcements, so I hope you are able to attend at least one!

If you can’t, but you still want to order a signed book (of any of my titles), please click on either link from Option 3 or 4, and they’ll get you taken care of.

And finally, another quote from book 5, from the king himself…

The Shattered Castle Launch

Launch details are here – finally! You have several opportunities to participate.Option 1:

Online Zoom, Oct 18, 6 pm Mountain Time.

Click HERE to register! (First 100 participants allowed)

(Registration will allow you to receive the Zoom link. I do not save nor sell any email addresses.

Option 2:

Online Zoom, Oct 18, 6 pm Mountain Time.

Click HERE to register! (First 100 participants allowed)

Option 3:

In person launch, Oct 19, 7 pm Mountain Time.

Three Goats Gruff Bookstore,

14 South Main Street, Brigham City, UT

Option 4:

In person launch, Oct 21, 7 pm Mountain Time

Viridian Center

8030 South 1825 W, West Jordan, UT

SHATTERED CASTLE QUOTE #2

I gotta be honest – it’s sort of the perfect storm for me right now in terms of writing projects, deadlines, and plans.

So…here’s today’s quote from THE SHATTERED CASTLE. I hope you enjoy it! A book giveaway will be held next Sunday, but you don’t have to comment below (unless you want to). I’m simply going to pull randomly from all comments left over the past month.

SHATTERED CASTLE Not Really a Quote, but…

Congratulations to Evie L, the winner of an ARC! Thanks to everyone for your favorite characters list – that was really fun to read.

A giveaway is happening this week on Instagram. You can find me at nielsenwriter there.

But if you can’t get onto Instagram, you can still enjoy this!

SHATTERED CASTLE Quote #1 (and Giveaway)

Okay, my friends – I have a few more books to give away. This week is easy. In the comments, name your three favorite characters from any of my books. That’s it!

Next Sunday (Aug 15), I will choose a winner at random. You can win an ARC of THE SHATTERED CASTLE or your choice of several others of my books.

THE SHATTERED CASTLE will be released on October 19, 2021. You can pre-order now or next week I will be talking about release parties and signings!

My Big Birthday Wish

Today is my birthday.

Not just any birthday. The big 50. The half century marker.

I’ve got plans to celebrate that may or may not involve cake (it will involve cake), but a big birthday deserves a big birthday wish. I hope a few of you out there will be able to help.

First, background…

I’m a book person. Obviously. Most likely, so are you, that’s why you’re on my blog. So we all get it, and by “it,” I mean, we all know how incredibly powerful books are, for any number of reasons.

Yet far too many young people in our country do not own a single book of their own. They have good parents, but what money the family makes has to go to food and rent and there isn’t much left afterward.

And this problem is far bigger than you may realize. In middle class neighborhoods, there is an average of 12 books per child. In high poverty neighborhoods, for every 300 children, there is only 1 age-appropriate book. This is true in the place where you live. It is not another state’s problem.

But it is a problem we must address.

Reading does more than improve vocabulary or teach stories. It builds confidence, models how to achieve goals, improves empathy and social skills. Reading skills allow a person to navigate life’s challenges and exposes them to new ideas and perspectives. It inspires positive personality traits, and teaches creativity, which is a vital skill when we ask a young person raised in poverty to imagine themselves in college or in a dream job.

And poor reading skills are far too often associated with more poverty, crime, and chronic health problems.

My birthday wish is to help change that. All of that.

Some of you know about the incredible teen writer’s organization called Teen Author Boot Camp. I’m working with them on a new initiative called Book Drop. This program will purchase a book for every child in a high poverty school. In addition, the author of those purchased books will visit the school and spend the day there, talking about the importance of reading and writing. It will be a day the children will not forget.

This program will change lives, and change futures. It’s going to be amazing.

But to get this off the ground, we need donations. TABC has set up a link via Paypal for any amount you can give. 100% of donated funds purchases the books for these students. I know not everyone is in a position to donate and that’s all right. But if you are, it will make a huge difference for us.

PLEASE CLICK HERE IF YOU CAN HELP.

If you are a business and want more information, please leave a comment below and I’ll email you about ways to benefit a school in your immediate area, and how you can be part of the celebration of books.

If you know of a business that might be interested, please reach out to them. I am happy to send them more information.

And since it is a big birthday, please know that I intend to make this a most incredible year, in any number of ways. But for the writing part of my life, I couldn’t do this without all of you.

Stay tuned for a lot of excitement to come! (And I’m serious about that!)

LINES OF COURAGE – COVER REVEAL

There is SO MUCH news today, but the biggest news is first.

#1 LINES OF COURAGE

Check out this FREAKING AMAZING cover for my next historical novel – LINES OF COURAGE. I gotta be honest. I can’t stop staring at it.

World War 1 took place over five years. I am telling five stories from the perspectives of five young people in five different countries impacted by the war.

FELIX (1914; Austria-Hungary) Felix was there on the day of the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, the event that launched the Great War. He fears the chance that he may one day have to go to war. But he fears even more the Russian Captain Garinov, who seems to be targeting the Jews. Can Felix and his mother escape in time?

KARA (1915; England) When Kara and her mother are given the opportunity to join a Red Cross train, traveling through war-torn France, Kara knows this is her chance to become a nurse. Yet when she brings a wounded officer on board from the enemy side of the lines, she may have ruined that chance forever.

JULIETTE (1916; France) Juliette’s family are among the last to flee from Verdun before the battle starts. A mistaken turn to avoid the invading Germans leads to her separation from her family. Her search to find them will take her through farmland and fields, towns and trenches as she ultimately discovers her courage within.

DIMITRI: (1917; Russia) Recruited too young and by force, Dimitri now finds himself on the battlefields without even a weapon to defend himself. After a disastrous battle, his world is turned upside down, here in the war, and in the revolution waiting for him at home.

ELSA (1918; Germany) Germany cannot win the war. Elsa understand that more than most. Her once revered father, a German officer, now is targeted by angry citizens who see their country falling into poverty and chaos, made worse by the onset of a pandemic that can take anyone at random. And now the anger has turned toward her.

I hope this is a book you will want to read and discover how these five stories gradually come together in a book about loyalty, friendship, and courage. If you want a better understanding of World War I, this may be the perfect book for you!

LINES OF COURAGE will be released on March 1, 2022.

#2 School Visits

If you are a school librarian or teacher and are interested in having me come for a visit in the 2021-2022 school year, please see THIS POST for more information. I am booking schools now all over the country. I hope yours can be one of them.

#3  Newsletter Winners

The newsletter has another one hundred subscribers – thank you! That means two more book giveaways. Our two winners are:

Liza….90  and Anna…er

Congratulations! If you have not yet signed up for the newsletter, CLICK HERE to learn more about what it is, and what you have the chance to win.

#4. SMIAH Conference

If you are a writer in the Kansas City, Missouri area, on Aug 27-28, 2021, I will be giving the keynote and teaching some classes at the upcoming SMIAH conference. This is an amazing conference run by highly dedicated people. It’s large enough that they can bring in wonderful teachers, but small enough that you won’t feel lost in the crowd. Please consider checking it out HERE!

Now Booking Fall School Visits!

For my librarian friends;

I know it’s been a rough year with the pandemic. If you are in an area that is still feeling the impact, I hope you’ll return to a more normal situation soon.

However, if your school expects to be open in this coming school year, then you may be interested in booking an author visit.

I am booking visits now, but I’d love to add more. As an incentive, I’m offering a steep discount on my usual honorariums for all bookings made by August 13, 2021.

If you’d like more details, please feel free to reach out to me at jen@jennielsen.com

TO STUDENTS: If you’re interested in having me come to your school, feel free to share this with your school librarian. It might also help to offer them some cookies!

Three More Winners!

It’s time to announce another THREE winners of book giveaways! If you haven’t had the chance yet to subscribe to the newsletter, you can do so HERE!

The next three winners are Gideon L_,Bookwriter_, and Elsie M__.

And since I have a little free space, if Sage had a cell phone…

Drink the Tears of Your Readers!

…and just like that, we bumped to another fifty subscribers, making our winner today: Jorgie…

Signups for my newsletter are HERE. I can’t wait to keep giving away more books!

BUT, I do have something else to share. Many of you have been involved with Teen Author Bootcamp before, or at least have heard me talk about it.

If you don’t know about it, this is, in my opinion, the best conference for young writers, and has already produced a great number of published authors. However, they are expanding their mission, reaching out to support diverse voices, to give opportunities for young readers and writers in poverty, reaching into areas of the world that may not have access to books or writing development. They are doing SO. MUCH. GOOD.

But they need help.

And I could not be more thrilled to show you this simple way to help.

Let’s start with this mug. 

Honestly, if you are a writer – especially if you’re willing to do horrible things to your characters that make your readers cry – then you will want this mug. If you know a writer, get this for them. They will want this mug. I already have one and I’m ordering more!

You can order one HERE. It’s only $12 + shipping.

There are other items for sale at the TABC Gift Shop – all worth checking out HERE. But seriously…this mug. Smile as you drink the tears of your readers!

If you need a little more encouragement, this video explains more about the expanded mission of Teen Author Bootcamp.