Danielle’s Comments (group member since May 19, 2014)

Danielle’s comments from the Danielle L. Jensen's Reader Group group.

Nicole wrote: "I'm definitely a Marc fan, but #TeamTristan all the way! I think Marc is almost a protective older brother type character than love interest for Cecile. Also, he has his own story which is beautifu..."

Marc IS a couple years older than them, so it does make sense. And Cecile and Penelope are nothing alike... Penelope was really shy and quiet.

Patricia wrote: "I love Marc but never really saw him as a real love interest for Cecile. Team Tristan here all the way!"

I knew you would say that, Patricia ;-)

Makenna wrote: "Danielle wrote: "Makenna wrote: "#1 I am #TeamTristan! I felt that throughout the book Tristan needed to know love and Cecile was able to provide that for him. Even though I felt he was a little co..."

I always love hearing about how people discovered my books!

Louisa wrote: "1. I'm #TeamTristan because he's the hero of the story and all the reasons why he's the hero. If it had been Marc and Penelope's story, then I would be #TeamMarc. I love the guy that the heroine lo..."

I like your answer, Louisa! But what do you do when you encounter a love-triangle? ;-)

Makenna wrote: "#1 I am #TeamTristan! I felt that throughout the book Tristan needed to know love and Cecile was able to provide that for him. Even though I felt he was a little cold at first I fell in love with h..."

Great answers, Makenna! I also think it was important for Tristan to know love, because I think events would have turned out quite differently without Cécile's influence.

I actually use a couple flashback scenes in Warrior Witch - moments from Tristan's past :)

Do you often discover books browsing shelves, or do you usually hear about them from friends or online?

Melissa wrote: "Danielle wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Team Tristan all the way!!! I seriously love Marc, but I love him as the amazing supporting character that he is. He is such a strong friend, super smart and brave...."

Mercy? Not sure I know what that means... :D

https://www.goodreads.com/videos/9821...

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ge9N...

Abby wrote: "2. I feel like I like YA books to start with a bang cause I love action and it draws me in immediately, and then when 3-4 chapters in the backstory starts :)

4. I think I would've reacted the sam..."

I wanted to make Cecile's reaction as realistic as possible :)
I've heard great things about Poison Study - it's totally on my to-read list:)

Becky wrote: "Danielle wrote: "Becky wrote: "I am #TeamTristan because he's brave, but I also like Marc because he is loyal"

He IS really loyal! All of Tristan's friends are loyal - why do you think that is? Be..."

That makes me happy. Good friendships are as important to novels as romances :)

Melissa wrote: "Team Tristan all the way!!! I seriously love Marc, but I love him as the amazing supporting character that he is. He is such a strong friend, super smart and brave. He is a key element to Tristan's..."

I'm not sure why, but I love tragic romance (think Romeo and Juliet), so I love Marc's relationship with Penelope. Have you read the love letter he wrote to her? http://danielleljensen.com/2015/01/05...

Abby wrote: "I'm #TeamTristan and always have been from the start :) I love Marc but I already kind of felt the Cecile and Tristan vibe, so Cecile and Marc felt off to me lol"

Did you find her chemistry with Marc was definitely friendship, or was it because she had more chemistry with Tristan?

Becky wrote: "I am #TeamTristan because he's brave, but I also like Marc because he is loyal"

He IS really loyal! All of Tristan's friends are loyal - why do you think that is? Because of their friendship or because they believe in his cause?

Fun Facts!!!

Chapter 1: I met and subsequently signed with my AMAZING agent, Tamar Rydzinski, through an online pitch contest known as The Baker’s Dozen. She asked to read Stolen Songbird based on the first 250 words and a log-line, and you can read all about that here http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot...

Those willing to dig a little further can probably find my entry and the original title of Stolen Songbird, which was changed because it was too similar to the title of another series, and also because it was deemed too much of a spoiler.

Chapter 2: Forsaken Mountain was inspired by a real mountain in the Canadian Rockies. You can watch a really cool video of it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvwt-...

Spoiler for those who haven’t read Hidden Huntress… but what really caused Forsaken Mountain to collapse is also inspired by the real mountain ☺

Chapter 3: I’ve always envisioned the sluag as big slimy white slugs, but their stingers were somewhat inspired by the vampires in The Strain, which have these long tongue things that stick victims in the neck to suck out blood. The sluag, of course, use their stingers to inject venom.

Chapter 4: The inspiration for Marc’s disfigurement was from Michael Crichton’s novel Timeline. This is probably a bad summary, but in that novel, in order to time travel, your body is broken up in one time and reformed in another. The cost of time travel – or at least the cost of doing it frequently – is that misalignments form when you are put back together. Arteries that don’t match up, faces that aren’t aligned. There is a movie, if you want to see what I’m talking about.

Chapter 5: One of the golden items that Luc takes in payment is a duck statue. This is a reference to skit in Monty Python and The Holy Grail where they are trying to prove a woman is a witch. It’s pretty funny, so you should check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMh...

Let me know if any links don't work :D

Here are the discussion questions! You can answer as many or as few as you want, and you can also pose questions about these chapters to me!

TO UNLOCK EXTRA CONTENT #2 (A NEW TRISTAN SCENE) I need 15 different people to answer at least one question!

1. There are A LOT of Marc fans out there, and I know some people wish that he’d been the love interest in Stolen Songbird. What about you? Tell me why you are either #TeamTristan or #TeamMarc!

2. As I discussed in my video (https://www.goodreads.com/videos/9821...) , lots of YA novels start with a bang. Do you prefer your reads start with action or do you like a bit more backstory? Why?

3. For the Opera fans… Post a link to a YouTube video of the song you think Cecile is singing at the beginning of Stolen Songbird.

4. What was your reaction to the description of Trollus when Cecile first sees it? Was it the same or different from what you expected? And would you have done anything different than Cecile did?

5. What is your favorite fantasy novel of all time, and how did you discover it?

Here is a brief summary of chapters 1-5 for those who need it :)

Chapter 1

In the first paragraph, I introduce you to our heroine, Cécile. She’s practicing an opera piece on the steps of the inn in Goshawk’s Hollow while the town folk watch on. She completes the piece successfully for the first time ever, but her unpleasant vocal coach warns her not to get too puffed up in the head about it, because she still isn’t as good as her mother. Cécile has a flashback to the moment when her fate as a future opera star was sealed: the moment when her absent mother decided that Cécile would move to Trianon to live with her when she turned seventeen

(This scene takes place real-time in the prequel short story THE SONGBIRD’S OVERTURE, which you can read for free here http://issuu.com/angryrobot/docs/thes... )


Lesson over, Cécile meets up with her best friend Sabine, who has been watching. Both girls are sad about the fact Cécile will be leaving in the morning for Trianon, although Sabine is more so, as she is the one being left behind. Cécile urges her friend to attend her going away party that night at the de Troyes family farm, but Sabine is reluctant. Cécile’s appears to unwittingly use some sort of power to compel Sabine to attend the gathering. Promising to return shortly with a cart (Sabine is afraid of riding), Cécile gallops out of town.

On her way back to the farm, Cécile is struck by a sense of unease. When a rider appears behind her on the road, her first instinct is to gallop away, but she stops when she hears her name called, the voice familiar. The rider is Luc, a boy who grew up in the Hollow, but now lives in Trianon. He has a bad reputation, and Cécile’s unease grows with his strange questions and comments. He grabs her horse’s reins and tells her he’s taking her to meet some individuals, but she pulls free, galloping toward her friend Chris’s farm for help. But her flight is short-lived, as she is pulled from her horse by a tree branch and knocked unconscious.

Chapter 2

Cécile awakes tied to the back of Luc’s horse. He is cagey about where he is taking her, which we later learn is because of the oaths he has sworn which keep him from speaking about the trolls outside of Trollus. They reach the outer edge of the Forsaken Mountain rock fall, and Cécile recalls the stories she’s heard about treasure hunters searching under the mountain for gold, many never seen again. She attempts to escape, and when that fails, to scream for help, but Luc strips her down and drags her into a pond next to the rocks. At first, she believes he intends to drown her, but instead he instructs her to swim down under the lip of rock and into the cave on the other side. Once there, Luc explains that he’s found the lost city of Trollus, and that he has sold her to the king of the trolls.

Escape attempts foiled, Cécile accompanies Luc through the maze of tunnels that make up the labyrinth. There are markers in the stone that treasure hunters use to find their path, and Luc explains that one of the symbols indicates sluag, which he understands to be a dangerous creature best avoided. They come across the corpse of a fellow treasure hunter coated in a foul slime, and that is when they hear the roar of the sluag. They run.

Chapter 3

The sluag pursues them through the maze of the labyrinth. Cécile and Luc reach a tunnel so narrow they must get on their stomachs to crawl through, but Luc insists they will be safe once beyond. He shoves her out of the way and goes first, and as she is waiting to follow him, the sluag appears from around the corner. She screams and drops the lantern, desperately crawling and barely making it out of reach in time. On the other side, they find themselves lost in the darkness. Cécile uses magical compulsion to break free and run towards a light she believes is the moon. She doesn’t make it far. Luc attacks her and begins to beat her, but is torn off by an invisible force.

A man approaches them, his progress lit by an orb that floats above him. She begs him for help, believing him another treasure hunter. But a sixth sense warns her something is wrong with the situation, a fact that is confirmed when Luc tells her the man is a troll. The light moves around and reveals the troll’s face, and she screams.

Chapter 4

The troll, Marc, is horribly disfigured, but once Cécile gets over her initial shock, she realizes she has no choice to but to go with him. He leads her through passages that begin to take on the appearance of crushed city streets, and her curiosity grows as she discovers that it is magic holding up the rubble of Forsaken Mountain. They reach a gate, and stepping through, she has her first glimpse of Trollus.

The city streets are nearly devoid of life, and Marc tells her the population is under curfew. They reach the palace, and Marc takes her to the throne room, where she meets the troll king, Thibault, and his queen, Matilde. The King is displeased by Cécile’s appearance, but Marc comes to her defense, explaining that she had an encounter with the sluag and was mistreated by her guide. A voice demands to see her, and the Queen turns to reveal she has a tiny conjoined twin attached to her back.

The twin, Duchesse Sylvie, assures the King that Cécile is “the one” described in her foretelling. When Cécile asks what they want from her, the troll tells her she is to be bonded to Prince Tristan and have his children. The prospect terrifies Cécile, and she tries to run only to find herself bound by magic. The King decides that they will let Tristan see Cécile before any decisions are made, and they take her through the palace to another set of chambers.

Inside the chambers are two trolls playing a board game of sorts. Cécile can see only the face of the girl, Anaïs, who is very beautiful, but who argues with the King about Cécile’s suitability before he violently dismisses her. The Prince is seated in a high-backed chair, and she can see nothing of him but his arm. He converses with the King, clearly unhappy about the prospect of being bonded to a human girl, but brushes aside his father’s suggestion that they might find another candidate, arguing that “she’ll do as well as any.” Cécile has spent the conversation wondering what sort of disfigurement he’ll be afflicted with, but when he turns, he is not at all what she expected.

Chapter 5
Tristan is – as you all know! – exceptionally attractive, but Cécile is clear that she’d never mistake him for a human. That there is something preternatural about him. He mocks her and the situation, and his only display of emotion comes after his inquiry as to how Cécile was injured. When it is made clear that it was Luc who harmed her, he grows angry, and there is a tense moment when it seems he might grow violent. But the King diffuses the situation, and Tristan departs, leaving no doubt in Cécile’s mind how unhappy he is about being bonded to her.

Cécile is taken to a treasure room, where she is set on a massive scale so that they might pay Luc her weight in gold. Once they are through, the King sends Cécile away with Marc, instructing him to have her ready for when the moon reaches its zenith. When she asks what will happen then, Marc tells her that is when she’ll be bonded to Tristan.

I'll start posting everything around noon today :)

Irena wrote: "Yes, I'm looking forward to this since I heard about it from you on twitter.
Didn't know there would even be some prizes...
That makes it even more awesome!

And I know I probably sound stupid but...."

It means I'll write all sort of notes in a copy. Fun little facts you might not have picked up on :)

WARRIOR WITCH hits shelves on May 3, 2016, and to help prepare all my loyal readers for the big finale, I'm hosting a read-along.

The format is as follows: On each scheduled day, I will provide a summary of the chapters we'll be discussing (so if you get a bit behind, you can still participate!) along with some discussion questions. Participants can provide their answers for as many (or as few) of the questions as they wish. Readers can also ask ME questions related to those chapters and I'll do my best to answer them all. Don't feel like you need to participate each week – jump in or out as fits your schedule :)

I will provide fun facts for each of the chapters. Readers can unlock MORE additional content by answering the discussion questions. Once we reach a certain number of answers, I'll post the extra content.

Anyone who answers one of the discussion questions is eligible to receive signed WARRIOR WITCH swag by emailing me your name, mailing address, and the thread/date of the question you answered. Only one swag pack per person, and it's open internationally.

Each week, Angry Robot will select a winner who will receive a SIGNED copy of WARRIOR WITCH once the finished copies are ready! (International)

At the end of the read-along, a grand-prize winner will be selected who will receive a signed and annotated copy of HIDDEN HUNTRESS. (International)

The winner of the annotated copy of Hidden Huntress is Karim! I'm working through a few deadlines, but I'll send you an email when your book is in the mail :)


HIDDEN HUNTRESS Read-Along Schedule

Mar 24, 2016 - Chapters 1-5
Mar 31, 2016 - Chapters 6 - 15
Apr 7, 2016 - Chapters 16 - 25
Apr 14, 2016 - Chapters 26 - 35
Apr 21, 2016 - Chapters 36 - 45
Apr 28, 2016 - Chapters 46 - 58

WARRIOR WITCH hits shelves on May 3, 2016, and to help prepare all my loyal readers for the big finale, I'm hosting a read-along.

The format is as follows: On each scheduled day, I will provide a summary of the chapters we'll be discussing (so if you get a bit behind, you can still participate!) along with some discussion questions. Participants can provide their answers for as many (or as few) of the questions as they wish. Readers can also ask ME questions related to those chapters and I'll do my best to answer them all. Don't feel like you need to participate each week – jump in or out as fits your schedule :)

I will provide fun facts for each of the chapters, as well as a video or post containing extra content. Readers can unlock EVEN MORE additional content by answering the discussion questions. Once we reach a certain number of answers, I'll post the extra content.

Anyone who answers one of the discussion questions is eligible to receive signed WARRIOR WITCH swag by emailing me your name, mailing address, and the thread/date of the question you answered. Only one swag pack per person, and it's open internationally.

Each week, Angry Robot will select a winner who will receive a SIGNED copy of WARRIOR WITCH once the finished copies are ready! (International)

At the end of the read-along, a grand-prize winner will be selected who will receive a signed and annotated copy of STOLEN SONGBIRD. (International)

STOLEN SONGBIRD Read-Along Schedule
Each week will have its own thread

Chapters 1-5 - Feb 11, 2016
Chapters 6-11 - Feb 18, 2016
Chapters 12-17 - Feb 25, 2016
Chapters 18-23 - Mar 3, 2016
Chapters 24-29 - Mar 10, 2016
Chapters 30-38 - Mar 17, 2016

If there are any questions, please post them to this thread! Looking forward to hanging out with everyone over the next few months :D
Danielle