Bones of Faerie is five years old this spring! I’d get all sentimental, only Liza isn’t really the sentimental sort, so instead here’s a Book Smugglers’ “Old School Wednesday” review.

“Bones of Faerie is an unexpectedly lyrical and beautifully written book – I am an immediate fan of Janni Lee Simner’s haunting prose, which captured me from the first eerie chapter. It’s a poignant, elegiac novel about a world ravaged by magic and the children who have grown up in its ruins. It is Liza’s world that is so captivating, that draws you in and defines Bones of Faerie …”

Also, the Zombies, Run! episode I wrote is now live! Specifically, it’s Season 3, Mission 6: Career Day: “Mysterious giant footprints have been spotted–could this be related to the Phantom of Abel?” I had a blast writing this, and of course, I jumped ahead and ran the mission out of order just so I could hear it. It was a blast, running to my own words–but of course, the real blast is thinking of other people running to my words.

Because, after all, we are all Runner 5.

I’m starting a new email list for book news and updates. If you’d like in, you can join here:

Basically, it’s really easy to miss things on the Internet, so this list is for anyone who wants to be sure they don’t skip the important stuff. (Or at least, the important stuff as it relates to me and my books.)

I’ll keep posting more frequent updates here (along with a whole bunch of other stuff) here, too, of course!

My short story “Drawing the Moon” is being adapted into a short film by Chelsea Garland–details on the movie’s facebook page. “Drawing the Moon” originally appeared in Bruce Coville’s Book of Nightmares.

Elizabeth DiFiore created a series of images inspired my short story “Tearing Down the Unicorns”–see her art here. “Tearing Down the Unicorns” first appeared in another Bruce Coville anthology, A Glory of Unicorns.

It’s so easy for it to feel like the things we write are “through” within a few weeks or months or maybe a year after we release them into the world. I love these reminders that everything we create echoes out far beyond that.

Takes on Faerie After from Shorewood Library, Faerie Winter from Random Amber, and Bones of Faerie from Nerdy Enough and Randomly Reading and Ranting.

I’ve been taking the past few months off from traveling/conferences/speaking (though I was very sorry to miss everyone at Sirens!) for some much needed retreat/vacation/book-finishing/well-charging time, but will be around and about again in November:

Saturday, November 2, 1-2 p.m.
Signing at Mostly Books
6208 E Speedway Blvd
Tucson, Arizona
Perfect for some early holiday shopping–plus, it’s the day before my birthday, so there’ll be cookies/cake, too!

Friday-Sunday, November 8-10
TusCon Science Fiction Convention
Hotel Tucson City Center
475 N Granada Ave
Tucson, Arizona
I’ll be reading Friday night at 9 p.m.–come join me!

In the Albuquerque area? I’ll be reading at Alamosa Books’ Summer solstice party this Friday night at 7 p.m. The party itself begins at 5:30–do come! (And if you’re not in Albuquerque, spread the word to those who are.)

Alamosa Books has some lovely things to say about Faerie After:

“Janni Lee Simner has a gift for moving a plot along at a relentless pace but making it feel whispered and ethereal. Her books are tantric, but rather than emptying you of emotion these pages fill you up … you cannot disbelieve the story—no matter how fantastic—when wrapped in its magical web.”

VOYA also reviews Faerie After this month:

“Fans of the first two novels of this series will be delighted to read the wrap-up to this trilogy … Liza continues to be a strong female protagonist, and the supporting cast of characters, both faerie and human, are well drawn and interesting. Besides the suspense of survival, this story also explores the themes of use and abuse of powers and talents. This is a satisfying finish to the Bones of Faerie trilogy that both junior and senior high students will be eager to read.”

My Shelf Confessions reviews Bones of Faerie and Faerie Winter:

“Faerie Winter exceeded my expectations for a sequel! I felt about it the same way I did Bones of Faerie. That it was a great story and by the end I would have been satisfied if I learned there wasn’t going to be another book. Lucky for me its a trilogy but even better that each book thus far in this trilogy has done such a stellar job of standing on it’s own legs.”

Marietta Zacker asked several Nancy Gallt Literary Agency clients, including me, for our thoughts on writing YA for her guest post on Pub(lishing) Crawl. You can see our thoughts, and her definition of the genre, there.

Arizona Jewish Life included me in their summer roundup of Jewish Arizona authors.

There’s still time to watch VLC Productions’ most excellent Faerie After trailer and win the entire trilogy.

Sarah Johnson interviews me at Through the Tollbooth today about writing a trilogy, including discussion of writing exploratory drafts, crafting a character arc over multiple books, and researching the Bones of Faerie trilogy (including some of the pictures I took of Liza’s forest, pre-faerie-apocalypse).

And speaking of trilogies, look! It’s a complete set!

Faerie After comes out just one week from today!

Hey, it’s less than two months until Faerie After‘s release! Here’s what Kirkus says about it:

“With the faerie and mortal lands crumbling away, a teenage girl must work with both worlds if anyone is to survive. The Bones of Faerie series concludes with this high-stakes adventure … In a satisfying trilogy conclusion, Liza confronts the conflicts between saving the world and saving her friends in an environment where nobody is willing to let go of the last generation’s hatreds.”

Faerie After releases into the wild May 28–spread the word!

And if you have any friends who’ve maybe read Bones of Faerie but didn’t realize there were sequel, I’m running a giveaway for Faerie Winter on Goodreads this month.

Thanks to Matociquala, I’ve been obsessively listening to Antje Duvekot’s music this week.

This one in particular feels like a Bones of Faerie sort of song–I can listen to it and focus on Liza, or listen to it and focus on all the parent/daughter relationships that echo through the trilogy.

Plus, it’s just a gorgeous and haunting song.

It’s been … well, longer than I thought … since I last did a review-and-interview roundup post. So!

An interview with the Montgomery County Book Festival, where I’ll be February 2. (Are you in the Houston area? Come join us!)

An interview with the Mesa Bookman’s, where I chatted about Bones of Faerie with their Young at Heart book club last fall. (If you’re an adult reader of YA in the Phoenix area, you should totally join them for their spring book discussions.)

SLJ’s roundup of the Fae-Tal Attraction faerie panel I moderated at NCTE this fall. Includes a link to our handout of recommended YA faerie fiction.

FromSkye’s trailer for Bones of Faerie:

Various takes on Bones of Faerie from Writings by K, Readview, For Those About to Read, Bitches with Books, and Fairy Fiction for Young Fans.

Takes on Faerie Winter from The Book Fix and Readview.

Takes on Thief Eyes from Readview and Mette Ivie Harrison. Planet YA also includes Thief Eyes on this fun map of YA books from every country in Europe. In the Iceland slot, of course. :-)

A review of The Fortune Teller, edited by Lawrence Schimel, in which I had published the short story “Beyond the Flames” a decade or so ago. Because every book is new if it’s the first time you’re reading it.

And Rhiannon says nice things about “Drawing the Moon” and some of my other stories in Bruce Coville’s Book