Jeff, you are my best friend and true companion. I thank you for sharing each day of your life with me. My thanks also to Ron Peters. Without your encouragement, friendship, and sharp critiquing eye, I might have given up a long time ago. And to the late Tom Horner, who saw details others overlooked. I miss our association. Finally, I wish to thank Ammi-Joan Paquette and Lisa Sandell, for your invaluable roles in bringing The False Prince to life. It is an honor to be associated with each of you, and I look forward to many great years ahead.
JENNIFER A. NIELSEN collects old books, loves good theater, and thinks that a quiet afternoon in the mountains is a nearly perfect moment.
A major influence for this story came from the music of Eddie Vedder and one of his greatest songs, “Guaranteed.” From his line “I knew all the rules, but the rules did not know me,” Sage was born. Sage’s personality is his own, but Jennifer did borrow two of his traits from a couple of students she once taught in a high school debate class. One of them was popular, brilliant, and relentlessly mischievous. He could steal the watch off a person’s wrist without their knowing and would return it to them later, usually to their embarrassment. The other student had a broad spectrum of impressive talents, not the least of which was his ability to roll a coin over his knuckles. If he had wanted to, he’d have made a fine pickpocket. As it was, he went on to become a lawyer. Go figure.
Jennifer lives in northern Utah with her husband, their three children, and a perpetually muddy dog.