Jennifer Nielsen taught me how stories work.

Before I understood the mechanics of writing, I understood the magic of reading. But Nielsen helped me begin seeing the invisible architecture behind the pages.

She taught me how to hook a reader from the first sentence. How to plant questions that demand answers. How to weave clues into a story without revealing the secrets too soon. How every scene, every choice, and every character decision has a purpose.

She taught me that a good story is not just something that happens.

It is something carefully built.

And because of her, I began looking at my own stories differently—not just as worlds I wanted to create, but as experiences I wanted readers to live through.