Amazing blog post for "The False Prince"

How does my name end up in the same blog as the amazing Suzanne Collins and Megan Whalen Turner?

Very late last night I stumbled onto a blog post from "Collecting Children's Books" by Peter D. Sieruta that got my heart pounding fast enough to keep me awake even later into the night and woke me up early (I'm a little tired right now).

In fact, the entire blog was really interesting. It starts with well-deserved congratulations to Betsy Bird on the birth of a beautiful new daughter. And it ends with an interesting discussion about how buzz is created for a book - when it works and when it doesn't. To read the entire post, please visit here. (No seriously, click that link!)

But I did want to post a few of my favorite excerpts of what Sieruta has to say about my forthcoming book from Scholastic, THE FALSE PRINCE."

"It all started on Thursday when my bookstore buddy phoned to tell me about a new book she’d just read, THE FALSE PRINCE by Jennifer A. Nielsen. The first title in a series called “The Ascendance Trilogy,” the volume will be published by Scholastic in 2012. My friend was overwhelmed by the novel, saying she was having a hard time returning to “the real world” after living within the pages of this book for the past couple days. She’s always had an instinct -- and the knowledge -- for picking out “the next big thing” in children’s books and when she loves a title, she gets right behind it. She told me, “I want to sell a hundred copies of THE FALSE PRINCE. I want to sell it to everyone!”

She then offered to let me read it next....

Wow!

Set in a mythical kingdom, THE FALSE PRINCE concerns shrewd and sneaky Sage competing with two other orphans to assume the role of their country’s long-missing prince, now the sole heir to the crown. Reminiscent of both THE HUNGER GAMES and Megan Whalen Turner’s “Attolia” series, the novel is full of twists, turns, surprises. And for those who are somewhat overwhelmed by Attolia’s detailed political and cultural milieu, THE FALSE PRINCE cuts right to the chase, offering a you-can-barely-turn-the-pages-fast-enough story, heavy on dialogue, that will appeal to even the most reluctant reader.

I agree with my bookstore friend: THE FALSE PRINCE is going to be a big hit."

Sieruta continues in the post to discuss how Scholastic sent his bookstore buddy a spiral-bound copy of the manuscript. It was accompanied by a letter signed by my editor and the entire sales team.

Then Sieruta writes:

"Based on the quality and accessibility of this novel, I think Scholastic is correct in promoting this book so strongly.

It will be very interesting to see if both reviewers and general readers agree with Scholastic, giving THE FALSE PRINCE the kind of critical kudos and sales that the publisher seems to anticipate."

Wow, right? I'm completely blown away.