Today we are very excited to share a special interview with Author James Riley (Happily Ever After), conducted by Nathan Reid, Jr. YABC staff member!
Meet the Author: James Riley
James Riley lives in Boston. He is the New York Times bestselling author of the Half Upon a Time, Story Thieves, Revenge of Magic, and Once Upon Another Time series.
About the Book: Happily Ever After
The third and final book in a new trilogy of twisted fairy tales from New York Times bestselling author James Riley, set in the world of his popular Half Upon a Time series, that’s perfect for fans of Fablehaven and Chris Colfer’s A Tale of Magic series!
Who doesn’t love a good Happily Ever After? The Cursed City is now the Blessed City, with its residents’ curses removed. Lena is now fully human, as are the rest of the giants, and together they live in peace with all the other humans in the city, all their differences now gone. And sure, Jin might have disappeared, but really, genie magic only caused trouble.
At least, that’s what the magic spell in Lena’s head is telling her. But somewhere inside, she knows that this new world isn’t right, that no real Happily Ever After would take her giant heritage from her…and that Jin is in danger.
When things are at their darkest, can a single Spark light the way?
~Author Chat~
Nathan: What is your favorite fairytale?
I love the weirdest ones, where cabbage turns you into a donkey (appropriately named Donkey Cabbages), but my favorites are probably still the classics, like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. My favorite though is probably The Little Mermaid, both the original story (with a VERY downer ending) and the Disney versions. There’s just something so universal in wanting something we can’t have, and paying a sea witch our voice just to get it. We’ve all been there, am I right?
Nathan: What is your inspiration for this series?
After I finished my original fairy tale series, HALF UPON A TIME, I kept getting questions about whether I’d do more stories in that world, and at first, I said probably not, because I didn’t have a good story to follow-up the original. But as I thought about it, I realized that it might be fun to see a fairy tale life from a giant’s perspective, since they’re the ones living with their heads in the clouds, literally. And that’s where Lena, a five and a half foot tall giant, and my sequel series, ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME, came from!
Nathan: Why did you decide to become an author?
I just have so many ideas, so many stories in my head, that it seemed like it might be fun to share them. It’s been pretty hard work all around, but there’s no greater compliment than a reader telling you they enjoyed a story that once only existed in your imagination.
Nathan: What would you tell people that makes your stories different from other fairy tales?
I took all the fairy tales everyone knows, and used them to build out a world. Like in HALF UPON A TIME, Jack doesn’t want to be anything but a farmer, but his grandfather makes him take princess rescuing classes, because rescuing a princess and marrying her is the best way to get ahead in their world. That … is not how things go. My princesses not only rescue themselves, but frequently save the world in spite of the boys.
Nathan: Who is your favorite character?
In this series, probably Jin, a 12 year old genie. I brought genies into my series, HALF UPON A TIME, because I thought it’d be fun to see a genie fight a fairy godmother. And it was! But just like with the giants, I decided the genie in that first series didn’t get to have his own story told, so I created Jin, a younger genie who still has to fulfill wishes, in spite of how much he really doesn’t like people. I love writing characters like him, snarky and sarcastic. It MIGHT be because I’m a bit like that myself.
Nathan: If you were part of the story, who would you be?
I’d be the one hiding in a cave somewhere while the world keeps ending in the three ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME books.
Nathan: What is your next writing project?
I can’t really say too much about it, but it’s a bit about how humans learned magic in the first place (spoiler alert: they learned it from dragons!).
Nathan: What was your favorite book/author when you were growing up?
One of my favorite series is called THE CHRONICLES OF PRYDAIN, by Lloyd Alexander, and they’re AMAZING. Funny, adventurous, and the characters are some of my favorites. Go read it, it’s totally worth it! The first book is called THE BOOK OF THREE.
Nathan: What is your intended moral of the story?
This feels a bit like cheating, since that’s for the readers to decide, but Lena and Jin both have trouble fitting in with their worlds, and have to figure out how to be themselves when other people don’t necessarily like who they are. It’s always hard trying to stay true to you, but so much worse when the world is telling you that who you are isn’t okay. So the moral of both my fairy tale series is to Be Yourself, Once You Figure Out Who That Is.
Nathan: What would you pick if you had magical powers?
I’d jump into books, like in my series STORY THIEVES, or use magic to teleport myself instead of having to drive. Just so much more convenient!
Nathan: Between all of the series you have written, which are you most proud of?
Oh, I can’t really choose. I love HALF UPON A TIME and ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME both because they’re my funnier series, and I love love love fairy tales. STORY THIEVES is pure me, with a half-fictional girl searching for her fictional father in books while her friend messes up the stories. And REVENGE OF MAGIC was my first try at a school for magic, this one run by the government and military after magic returns all at once one day, but only those born on that day or after can use it. Oh, and there are giant monsters, so that’s fun.
Title: Happily Ever After
Author: James Riley
Release Date: 5/30/23
Publisher: Aladdin (Simon & Schuster)
Genre: Middle Grade
Age Range: 8-12
