Today we are very excited to share an interview with author E.K. Johnston!
Read on to learn more about the author, the book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: E.K. Johnston
E.K. JOHNSTON is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of several YA novels, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist The Story of Owen and Star Wars: Ahsoka. Her novel A Thousand Nights was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award. The New York Times called The Story of Owen “a clever first step in the career of a novelist who, like her troubadour heroine, has many more songs to sing” and in its review of Exit, Pursued by a Bear, the Globe & Mail called Johnston “the Meryl Streep of YA,” with “limitless range.” E.K. Johnston lives in southwestern Ontario.
About the Book: Sky on Fire
A fast-paced and thought-provoking queer sci-fi/fantasy novel from #1 New York Times bestseller E.K. Johnston.
Morgan Enni has things to do. A science prodigy in a university full of mage-scientists, she’s notable for having no magical ability, which only increases her ambition and drive to prove herself. Her research has the potential to devastate every aetherworker in the galaxy and shake the crumbled foundations of the Stavenger Empire. It’s no wonder she can’t find anyone who wants to listen to her, much less fund her expedition.
But Morgan is stubborn, and eventually her work catches the attention of a group of rebels, who hope it might turn the tide in their favor. When they try to recruit the young scientist, they get much more than they bargained for. Morgan Enni has secrets of her own.
Set in the world of Aetherbound, E.K. Johnston continues to entwine Arthurian myth and the history of North Atlantic fisheries in a clever, character-driven space fantasy.
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
I’ve been reading Arthurian legends for a long time, and have be arguing with the female archetypes in the stories for about three seconds less. More than anything, I wanted to write Sky on Fire as a story where Morgan Le Fey gets to be the protagonist and a force for good. She still doesn’t exactly fit in with the good guys when the book starts, but it’s not because she’s evil or working on an opposite agenda. She has to find her place and her destiny as much as Arthur ever does, she’s just going to fight it a little harder.
YABC: What research did you do to write this book?
This is always a weird question for me, because I kind of don’t? I look stuff up to confirm details and verify things, but generally speaking, I come up with the idea for the book after I have done the research. I accumulate knowledge all the time, thanks to my academic background (archaeology teaches you to research things and then construct a narrative out of them). Also, I have an extremely good memory for random facts, and that’s what shows up in my books. I went to Iceland in 2017, realized it was a space station in 2018, and that’s the moment Sky on Fire really started.
YABC: What came first, the concept, landscape, characters, or something else?
This is a sequel, but I had the landscape for Sky on Fire before I started writing Aetherbound, because I started out by building the space station network. I didn’t know how I was going to incorporate Iceland when I was there in 2017, but I knew it was only a matter of time. That turned out to be entirely accurate, because in 2018, I figured it out (on the side of the TransCan in Newfoundland, because that’s just how it goes sometimes). Each of my space stations was going to be an island from the Norse conquest of the North Atlantic. Brannick was Newfoundland, Katla is Iceland, and Enragon is Greenland. For Aetherbound, I did have a couple of characters first, but for Sky on Fire, it started with Iceland’s ring road and went from there.
YABC: If you could only write one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Writing multiple genres is why I got into YA in the first place. Way back in 2012, YA books were all shelved together in most bookstores, and even now, they’re only broken up occasionally. I love moving back and forth between genres every book, and it’s even more fun to smash a bunch of genres together. But if I have to pick, it would be fantasy. I am absolutely going to cheat, though.
YABC: What can readers expect to find in your books?
With a few exceptions, readers can generally expect to find stories about people making good choices, even when it’s hard. Sometimes especially when it’s hard. You’ll find stories with teamwork and girls who end up with a strong circle of support. If they didn’t have a family when they started out, they will by the time I’m done. My characters tend to be a bit quiet and extremely determined, and their conflict is mostly internal. I’ll take you to big worlds and then show you how I’ve burrowed out personal stories inside of them. I love relationships that aren’t just one thing. And most of all, I love getting to share all of it with my readers.
YABC: Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
I joke that every time I write an ace character in a romance, I get an editorial note that says something like “I feel like this romance needs a grand gesture” one paragraph after the grand gesture. I was really proud of this one, so I made extremely light changes to it during revisions, and then of course I was worried that it was still too subtle for allosexual people to understand. Then my copy editor basically chewed through her keyboard shipping that scene, so I knew it was perfect.
YABC: What is your favorite snack when writing?
I don’t generally snack while I’m writing, because I need both hands to type. If I’m in the zone, I don’t have time to stop. Also, I tend to move around a lot while I’m drafting, so if there’s something spillable on my desk, I will hit it with my elbow. That said, when I am trying to bribe myself into writing, I will put a plate of cookies on the other side of the room, and every time I finish a chapter, I get to go eat one. This also gives me a mobility break and makes me stretch my shoulders out a bit rather than staying hunched over my keyboard for hours.
YABC: What other age group would you consider writing for?
“Consider” isn’t quite a strong enough word. I am actively trying to write both MG and Adult, in addition to YA, because it turns out I have a lot of stories in my head and dividing my focus into different age categories is the best way to get to tell them all (and also, from a business perspective, it gets around the non-compete clauses in my contracts, which lets me get paid faster).
YABC: What daily thing do you see that brings you joy?
I love the ladies at my gym. My housemate has coaxed so many flowers out of her gardens. We just bought a really nice couch. Dragon Age: The Veilguard might have saved my soul (again). There are children on my street that laugh and scream as they play together year round. We have a great porch. My brother just hung up some shelves in my room and now I can display my Lego Botanicals. I bought the stuffed whale that Ikea sells for children and I regret nothing.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
I am currently made up of publishing secrets, but I can tell you three things: magic, murder, memories.
Title: Sky on Fire
Author: E.K. Johnston
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9781984816160
On Sale: 7/22/2025
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Ages: 14+
