One Year Ago Today, We Were in England!

One year ago today, the LadyJanies were at Jane Grey's home of Bradgate! It's now a park. Please enjoy our video, in which Brodi has her hand down her pants twice.

Happy Book Birthday to The Mirror King

Hello, Lady Janie Cynthia Hand here. It's a special day today! Our fellow Janie, Jodi Meadows, has a new book that is hitting the shelves today! It's the second (and final) book in the Orphan Queen series, and it is (this kind of goes without saying) FANTASTIC, so we thought we'd take the time to tell you about it (in case you didn't already know. . .)

Here's some info on the first book of the series, THE ORPHAN QUEEN.

Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.

She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.

She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.

She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others.

Jodi Meadows introduces a vivid new fantasy full of intrigue, romance, dangerous magic, and one girl’s battle to reclaim her place in the world.

I feel extra fond of OQ because I have a wonderful memory of driving around Virginia with Jodi Meadows, back when we were first conceiving of MY LADY JANE, and the three of us each reading from our works-in-progress. I read a little from the draft of my book, THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE, Brodi read from a hilarious book about a teen who runs a poker ring that she was working on (that I'm going to be poking at her to finish until my dying day), and Jodi read from THE ORPHAN QUEEN. And it was just. so. freaking. good.

And now you all can read it too, and it ends on a doozy of a cliffhanger, so you'll want to move right on to THE MIRROR KING to see how it ends.

Wilhelmina has a hundred enemies.

Her friends have turned. After her identity is revealed during the Inundation, Princess Wilhelmina is kept prisoner by the Indigo Kingdom, with the Ospreys lost somewhere in the devastated city. When the Ospreys’ leader emerges at the worst possible moment, leaving Wil’s biggest ally on his deathbed, she must become Black Knife to set things right.

Her magic is uncontrollable. Wil’s power is to animate, not to give true life, but in the wraithland she commanded a cloud of wraith mist to save herself, and later ordered it solid. Now there is a living boy made of wraith—destructive and deadly, and willing to do anything for her.

Her heart is torn. Though she’s ready for her crown, declaring herself queen means war. Caught between what she wants and what is right, Wilhelmina realizes the throne might not even matter. Everyone thought the wraith was years off, but already it’s destroying Indigo Kingdom villages. If she can’t protect both kingdoms, soon there won’t be a land to rule.

In this stunning conclusion to THE ORPHAN QUEEN, Jodi Meadows follows Wilhelmina’s breathtaking and brave journey from orphaned criminal on the streets to magic-wielding queen.

I can't wait to read it. . .

via GIPHY

Young Adult Scavenger Hunt

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in our team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are THREE contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! We are part of the TEAL TEAM--

but there are also teams of many different colors for chances to win whole different sets of twenty signed books!

If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage. 

Scavenger Hunt Puzzle

Directions: Below, you'll notice that we've listed our favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the teal team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!).

Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by April 3, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

Scavenger Hunt Post

Today, we are hosting Wendy Higgins for the YA Scavenger Hunt! We are super thrilled about this because we are HUGE fans of Wendy's work! (Cynthia's personal favorite is her book about--wait for it--hot leprechauns, SEE ME. But seriously, that book is AH-MAZING! We can't wait to read her newest, THE GREAT HUNT!)

Here's some information about Wendy:

Wendy Higgins is the USA Today and NY Times bestselling author of the SWEET EVIL series from HarperTeen, the high fantasy duology THE GREAT HUNT, and her independently published Irish Fantasy SEE ME.

After earning a Creative Writing degree from George Mason University and a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Radford, Wendy taught high school English until achieving her dream job as a full-time writer. She now lives on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with her family.

Find out more information by checking out Wendy's website!

Check out Wendy's books here!

And here's a peek at the gorgeous cover of her new book: *drools*

Wendy Higgins reimagines a classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale with The Great Hunt, a dramatic, romance-filled fantasy with rugged hunters, romantic tension, and a princess willing to risk all to save her kingdom.

When a monstrous beast attacks in Eurona, desperate measures must be taken. The king sends a proclamation to the best and bravest hunters: whoever kills the creature will win the hand of his daughter Princess Aerity as a reward. The princess recognizes her duty but cannot bear the idea of marrying a stranger—she was meant to marry for love—until a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention. And while there’s no denying the fiery chemistry between them, Princess Aerity feels that Paxton’s mysteriousness is foreboding, maybe even dangerous.

Exclusive Content -

Here's the exclusive content that Wendy sent over just for you:

An Abridged Version of Chapter One with Pictures from the Vantage Point of the Great Beast

Wendy Higgins lives on the eastern shore of Virginia, on a peninsula nestled between the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. The forests and waterways of the eastern shore provided much inspiration for her newest book, The Great Hunt. Wendy has pieced together bits from the first chapter and combined them with pictures she took herself. This is how she imagined the beast’s slow approach of Wyneth and Breckon as they shared a seemingly private intimate moment on the royal docks.

A late summer breeze blew warm over the deep and wide Lanach Creek.

Moonlight caught the shock of Wyneth’s red-orange curls as she let her fiancé, Breckon, lay her back on the end of the dock.

Another breeze crested down the creek from the nearby sea, but the couple’s combined heat warded them against it.

She pulled his face to hers again, feeling brazen and greedy for his soft lips. She hated when he left for the sea; it always filled her with a pang of worry and longing. Wyneth urged Breckon closer.

A rustle sounded from the nearby dark woods. The couple stilled, listening.

The noise came again like a crackle of dead leaves and brush. Definite movement. In a rush, they sat up.

“Do you think someone’s spying?” Wyneth whispered.

“No.” Breckon shook his head, a lock of hair falling across his worried brow. “It’s most likely a deer.” But to Wyneth’s ear, he didn’t sound so sure.

Another abrasive rustle rom the trees caused them to break away again. They both stood.

In the darkness, a large shadow moved within the mossy trees as they swayed. Wyneth grabbed Breckon’s arm, and he stared intently into the trees. His dagger, which she hadn’t seen him unsheathe, glinted in the moonlight.

“Who’s there?” Breckon called. “Show yourself!”

The trees stilled. Even the bugs and frogs stopped their chatter. It was too quiet. Wyneth’s heartbeat quickened.

Just as Breckon was about to sheathe his dagger, a deep snort sounded from the trees.

“Stay here,” Breckon ordered. “I’m going to scare it off.”

“No!” She grabbed for his hand and he kissed her forehead, gently prying himself away.

Before he could take two steps from her, the dark shadow in the trees resolved itself into a gigantic creature on the sandy walkway.

It was taller than any man, standing on its hind legs. Wyneth questioned her own sanity as she stared in disbelief. Its body was massive, the size of a bear, with wiry hair like nothing she’d ever seen. Its face was as ugly as a boar’s. Tusks curled up around a dripping snout, sharp teeth shining.

The long length of the dock separated them from the thing, but it was not far enough for her. Not nearly far enough.

The great beast let out a roar, forcing a startled scream from Wyneth. Breckon bit out a curse. The thing charged down the dock; she felt the heaviness shake the wood beneath her feet with each landing.

Breckon had no plans to run from the beast. He grasped Wyneth’s waist and push her backward with all his might. She felt herself flying through the air off the dock, all breath leaving her lungs as her body submerged with a crash into the cold water.

When her wet face hit the air and she gasped for breath, it only took a moment for her to turn toward the growling sounds and see the monster reach for Breckon, towering over him.

Skies above! “Breck!”

“Swim!” He angled himself to avoid the beast’s mouth. “Get help!”

Wyneth snapped from her fear-induced stupor and the instinct of flight kicked in. She couldn’t fight this thing with Breckon, but she could do what he’d commanded: get help. She turned and swam with all her might.

After swimming nearly a hundred yards, her body was numb when she reached the dock on the other side of the creek. She pulled herself up, panting for air and cursing her wet, heavy garments. Her eyes scanned the water, but it moved at the same calm, slow speed as always. Then she allowed her eyes to seek out the dock beyond…

To find out what happens, please check out The Great Hunt!

Enter the Contest

And don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books and more! To enter, you need to know that our favorite number is 3. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the teal team and you'll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

Continue the Hunt

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author! Click here!

Enter The Extra ARC Giveaway

In honor of this special event, we're going to give away 1 extra ARC of MY LADY JANE. Just follow the directions in the rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway winner and MY LADY JANE blog tour sign-up!

Greetings!

We have two things for you today: the winner of our giveaway, and a sign-up form for the blog tour.

So, first thing:

We really (really really really) enjoyed reading about whose history you'd rewrite. There were so many thoughtful, clever ideas! So we sat down and wrote books about all the historical figures you named.

Kidding. We only had time for half.

Kidding kidding. We promised you a giveaway, and a giveaway you shall have.

We picked a winner through a highly sophisticated process of random selection. First, we hired a random expert. Then, we endured an hour-long lecture on the life-cycle of ants. At that point, we realized the ad we'd placed looking for a "random expert" had not given us an expert in randomness, but an actual random expert. So we made the random expert choose a winner.

And the winner is . . .

. . . drumroll . . .

AILA! From One Way or an Author.

Aila, send us an email at ladyjanies@gmail.com with your address and we'll make sure a book reaches you!

---

And now for our next order of business -- the blog tour sign-up form!

The incredible Alexa from Alexa Loves Books is running this thing, so you have to do whatever she says.

Here's the form!

Wanna Change History and Maybe Win a MY LADY JANE arc?

Do you ever wish you could go back in time and change something? Make a different decision? Choose a different door? Take the blue pill?

Well, that's the beauty of being authors. We CAN go back in time and fix stuff! (No, we can't). Because we have the power to alter reality! (No, we don't).  And the space time continuum means nothing to us! (Actually, it means everything).

So, armed with this magical power (a placebo) we decided to give one of our favorite heroines a second chance. Lady Jane Grey was smart and studious and a humanist and she definitely didn't deserve to be queen-for-nine-days-and-then-imprisoned-and-later-beheaded.

In March of 2015, we enabled our tesseract and created a wrinkle in time so we could travel back centuries to the mid 1500's. (We really just turned on our computers and started typing). And before you could say, "I'm Henry the 8th I am, Henry the 8th I am I am," we resurrected Lady Jane Grey. (No we didn't. We aren't gods). Pretty soon, she had the happy ending she truly deserved in our book MY LADY JANE.

So, dear readers, we would like to turn the tables and ask you: who in history do you think deserves a revised story? (We reserve the right to use your ideas to write our next book.) (Kidding. We would never.) (But maybe we will.)

Leave a comment with your idea and you will be entered to win a MY LADY JANE arc!

(Open to U.S. addresses only. Cuz our publisher can only ship to the U.S.)

On This Day. . . Edward VI Is Crowned King

Make way for THE KING!

Let's take a trip back to Tudor England, when on this day, February 20, a nine-year-old boy was crowned the king.

No pressure.

Yep, let's talk about Edward VI (also known in MY LADY JANE as "Poor Dear Edward," "Eddie," "Eddikins," "Sire," "Your Majesty," "Dennis" (read it--you'll see) "boy" and "Hey, you." In our book, Edward is quite the character--he's snarky and filled with teenage ennui and wants more than anything to kiss a girl (possibly with tongue) and have a real adventure before he dies.

We love Edward. We also did a ton of research to make sure that the details of Edward's life lined up pretty well with that of the real-life Edward.

So here's how our book-Edward and the real-life Edward ended up being alike:

They're the only legitimate sons of King Henry VIII, and they both became king on this fine day in 1547. They both knew Lady Jane Grey (obviously) and named her the heir to the throne. They were both once briefly betrothed to Mary Queen of Scots (shudder). They both got sick in the year 1552.

And . . that's about where the similarities end.

In real life, historians think it was most likely tuberculosis or a secondary infection from pneumonia that eventually killed Edward VI at the tender age of fifteen. Which was a total bummer.

In our book, he just may have been poisoned by a nefarious villain.

Also, in our version (spoiler alert!) Edward doesn't actually die. We've changed history (because that's what we, like, do, isn't it?) so that it's not only Jane who gets a less tragic ending. Edward deserved a better ending, too, in our opinion.

But the biggest difference between the Edward of real-life and the Edward of MY LADY JANE mostly has to do with their personalities. Because the real-Edward was brought up, from infancy, to be the greatest king who ever lived.

No, seriously. He was. From the moment he was born, the entire country knew that Edward would be king after Henry VIII died. Henry, for his part was overjoyed that he'd FINALLY had a son (sorry Mary and Elizabeth--too bad for you) and heir to the throne.

That's Henry VIII on the left, pointing to say, "Make this dude the king."

The people in power in England were overjoyed too, but for a different reason--if they played their cards right, they could shape this new boy-who-would-be-king into the best kind of ruler. Whereas Henry was a little, er, bad-tempered at times and did crazy things like creating his own church and chopping his wives' heads off, now they could have a king who was temperate, studious, pious, and wise. So they set about bringing Edward up to be just that. He had all the best tutors in the land, who worked relentlessly to make sure that Edward was well educated in history and politics and philosophy and pretty much anything else you can think of. He was required to pray for hours every day, so he would be religiously sound. He learned to fence and dance and hold his pinky finger just so when he drank tea. They wanted him to be the BEST at everything.

Like we said before, no pressure. But mostly Edward was just brought up to be . . . good.

And, by all accounts, Edward VI was good. He was kind. Smart. Even-tempered. And he took the job of being king very seriously.

This is not the face of a person who cracked a lot of jokes.

Our Edward, because we were writing a comedy, arrived on the page as a bit of jokester. His smirk, we claim, is one of his most finely-honed royal skills. Our Edward isn't sure he even wants to be king. He yearns for a life outside of the confines of the palace. He wants to be free. He just wants to have some FUN, for crying out loud.

Our Edward is funny. (At least we hope you'll think so.)

So today we want to lift our glasses to toast both versions of Edward VI--the real and the fictional, because we love and admire them both so very much.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again:

Long Live the King!

On This Day . . . Jane's execution

462 years ago today, Lady Jane Grey was taken from her prison in the Queen's House in the Tower of London and executed on Tower Green.

Well, that's a sad way to start this post, isn't it?

Usually we aim for funny around here, but we do have our serious moments. One of those was when the three of us went to the Tower of London and actually saw Jane’s execution site, and then the place where she was buried.

For months, we'd been writing about Edward, Jane, and Gifford (Guildford). Of course, we'd researched our socks off, learning as much about them, their time period, and their circumstances as was humanly possible, but after spending so much time with their fictionalized versions, they were our characters. Funny, adorable, and ours. Going to the Tower of London (and other Jane-related places!) was a real push back to reality -- a reminder that they aren't just characters in a story, but real people, too.

When our tour guide pointed to the memorial built where the scaffold had once been, we all looked over and . . . I think we all felt a chill. (In part because it was cold outside.) That was where Jane stood. That was where Jane died. We definitely made pained, sad-kitten noises that drew curious looks from our tour guide. And the other tourists. And the Tower ravens.

Later, we went into the chapel and where the guide told us about the bodies under the altar, and that Jane was one of them. Cue more sad-kitten noises, because Jane hadn’t even been given a proper grave. When the tour was over, we three gathered as close as possible and just looked at the stones -- at least until the guide asked us to please leave because another tour would be coming through.

So we went over to the memorial and looked at her name thereinstead.

Jane Grey was such a fantastic person. Smart, passionate, devoted to her country -- what's not to love about her?

Now, 462 years later, we want to save her from her fate. Even if it’s just in fiction.

Memorial for Lady Jane Grey, on the place where she died