Tales of the Forgotten Founders

 

 

Tales of the Forgotten Founders

by C. W. Allen

GENRE: Middle Grade Fantasy

Zed and Tuesday ought to be living the good life. After all, it’s not every day two kids take down an evil dictator and their mom gets put in charge of an entire dimension. But after moving into Falinnheim’s palace, they learn that life as royalty isn’t as carefree as they’d imagined.

Mysterious hidden passages aren’t the only secrets lurking within the palace walls. When the siblings discover a stash of banned books, they realize everything they’ve been told about Falinnheim’s history might be a lie. And though contact between worlds has been cut off for centuries, returning home might not be as impossible as their parents claim.

Could the adventures of a runaway monk, a reluctant viking, a silent ambassador, and a rebel librarian hold the solutions to both problems? To find the truth, Tuesday and Zed will have to learn the stories of Falinnheim’s forgotten founders.

Excerpt:

For some odd reason, Bastian started laughing. “Now you’re just messing with me,” he said, wagging an accusing finger at Tuesday. “London’s imaginary!”

Tuesday stared at him, perplexed. “No?”

“Oh come on,” Bastian insisted, “London’s in a bunch of stories. Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes both talk about London, and they aren’t real either, you know.”

“Wait, now you know Sherlock Holmes, too? He wasn’t in any of the books you showed us.”

“That’s because he’s not from a book,” Bastian said with a shrug. “Here, see for yourself.” He scooted over to the jumble of papers on the crate shelves and pulled out a dog-eared magazine. He flipped past several black and white illustrations until he found the page he wanted, then handed it to Tuesday.

“The Valley of Fear,” she read aloud, “a new Sherlock Holmes story by A. Conan Doyle.” Her eyes flicked to the page heading. “The Strand magazine. January, 1915.”

“See?” said Bastian smugly. “London’s just a place from stories. Like Oz, or Neverland.” He laughed again. “I mean, it’s not like there’s really a land called India full of talking animals, just because The Jungle Book says so.”

Zed tried to break the news to Bastian without making him feel stupid. “Look, we know the stories are made up, but those are all real places. Well, not all of them—Neverland and Oz are imaginary—but India and London are real.”

“Have you ever been there?” Bastian argued.

“Well, no,” Zed was forced to admit. “But I’ve seen them on maps.”

Bastian just rolled his eyes. “Stop trying to prank me. Next you’ll be saying there really are giant wind storms in a place called Kansas.”

“There are!” Tuesday protested.

About the Author:

C.W. Allen is a Nebraskan by birth, a Texan by experience, a Hoosier by marriage, and a Utahn by geography. She knew she wanted to be a writer the moment she read The Westing Game at age twelve, but took a few detours along the way as a veterinary nurse, an appliance repair secretary, and a homeschool parent. She writes long stories for children and short stories for former children. When she’s not writing, she helps other writers hone their craft as a board member of the League of Utah Writers. 

Her debut novel Relatively Normal Secrets is the winner of the Gold Quill Award, being named the best children’s book of the year by a Utah author. The Falinnheim Chronicles series continues with The Secret Benefits of Invisibility (Cinnabar Moth, 2022) and Tales of the Forgotten Founders (Cinnabar Moth, 2023). She also has shorter work published in numerous anthologies. Keep up with her latest projects at cwallenbooks.com. 

Q&A With the Author

What did you enjoy most about writing this book? 

I’ve had the world of Falinnheim living in my head for a long time—its origin story, the adventures of multiple generations of characters, the worldbuilding and technology, and how all the mysteries fit together. So with this series conclusion, I’m thrilled that I finally get to spill all the beans! I loved the opportunity to give readers a window into how Falinnheim got started and what Zed and Tuesday’s parents were up to before the series began. “Castle with secret passages” stories were my absolute favorite as a kid, so I had a ton of fun writing one of my own.

Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about? 

Tales of the Forgotten Founders is the Falinnheim series conclusion. My next book is slated for summer 2024, featuring a whole new world and cast of characters. Mellie Morton Is Not Imaginary takes characters from international mythology and forces them to live in the same neighborhood. I had an absolute blast getting to work with an evil tooth fairy, a mischievous Japanese fox-spirit, a West African spider librarian, a legendary Chinese warrior, and fourteen Icelandic Christmas ogres all in the same story. So even though Zed and Tuesday’s adventures are coming to an end, there’s lots of great stuff to look forward to in my next series!

Can you tell us about what you have planned for the future? 

I have a short story for adults coming out in an anthology this fall—it’s about a group of senior citizens who see some problems in their town and decide to take matters into their own hands. (Check out the Bookshelf tab on my website for links to all my short stories.) My next two middle grade novels, the Mellie Morton series, will be a duology—those are already scheduled for publication in 2024 and 2025. After that, I have a ton of ideas I’d like to explore, including a middle grade heist adventure that has a ghost on the crew, and a humorous fairy tale spoof of Swan Lake. I haven’t written them yet, but I think they sound fun! I’d also like to dip a toe into the realm of picture books.

How long have you been writing? 

I’ve always loved coming up with stories, but my first serious attempts at writing came about eight years ago. I actually did it backwards from what I’d recommend to aspiring writers—I jumped right in with novels, and then later learned how to craft short stories. It took a lot of study, trying things out, and finding my authorial voice before I was ready to pursue publication, which is also a long process. My first published short was in 2020, and my debut novel Relatively Normal Secrets came out in 2021.

Anything more you would like to say to your readers and fans?

Thank you so much for coming along on this adventure with me! I feel like Zed, Tuesday, and the rest of the Falinnheim crew are people I got to know, rather than characters I invented, and I’m honored to share their stories with you.

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GIVEAWAY

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