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James Riley

@jamesrileyauthor.com

482 followers 257 following 39 posts

New York Times Bestselling author of HALF UPON A TIME, STORY THIEVES, REVENGE OF MAGIC, ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME, and THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE jamesrileyauthor.com

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 26/09/2025

I'm SO THRILLED to share the news that @sourcebooks will be publishing my first graphic novel, MOVING ON, with art by the amazing Jen Lynch! I've wanted to write a comic for so many years, and I can't tell you how happy I am to have it finally happen.

Screenshot of an article that says: Justin Krasner at Sourcebooks eXpore has acquired MOVING ON, the graphic memoir debut by James Riley, illustrated by debut illustrator Jen Lynch, which explores what it's like to grow up in a family that never stayed in one place very long. James's family moved several times while he was young, and as a third move looms, James's personality and sense of self are slowly disappearing without an anchor to home, school or friends. Publication is scheduled for summer 2027; Michael Bourret at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret negotiated the deal for world rights.

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 10/06/2025

Book 2 of THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE (called REVENANTS RETURN ... that seems sort of ominous, huh?) will be out Feb. 3, and I'm so thrilled to share the amazing cover by Cecille Carre! Preorder here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/748783...

Cover to the second book in THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE series, titled REVENANTS RETURN, by James Riley. A dragon hides behind a column above a girl in red holding a spellbook, who's looking horrified at the royal boy in blue giving her a disdainful look next to her.

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 30/03/2025

DC readers! I'll be in Frederick at @curiousiguana.com on Tuesday at 6PM, Barnes and Noble in Fairfax, VA on Wednesday at 6:30 PM, and @politicsprose.bsky.social in DC on Thursday at 10:30 AM. Hope to see you there!

Book tour for THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE by James Riley, with stops in Frederick, Maryland, at the Curious Iguana on Tuesday, April 1 at 6PM; Fairfax, Virginia at Barnes and Noble on Wednesday, April 2 at 6:30 PM; Washington, DC at Politics and Prose on Thursday, April 3 at 10:30 AM; Beverly, Massachusetts, at Copper Dog Books on Saturday, April 5 at 10:30 AM; Belmont, Massachusetts, at Belmont Books on Monday April 7 at 7 PM; Wellesley, Massachusetts, at Wellesley Books on Tuesday April 8 at 6:30 PM; and Barrington, Rhode Island at Barrington Books on Wednesday April 9 at 3:30 PM

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 15/03/2025

Coming April 1st! Preorders available here: bit.ly/3DycyeM

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 26/02/2025

Tour dates for THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE! Come out and say hi if you're in the DC or Boston areas. RVSP links on my site here: jamesrileyauthor.com/tour-dates-e... Hope to see you there! @curiousiguana.com @politicsprose.bsky.social @copperdogbooks.bsky.social @belmontbooks.bsky.social

Tour dates for author James Riley's new book, THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE, including: Tues, April 1, 6pm at Curious Iguana in Frederick, MD; Wed, April 2, 6:30pm at Barnes and Noble Fairfax in Fairfax, VA; Thurs, April 3, 10:30am at Politics & Prose in Washington, DC; Sat, April 5, 10:30am at Copper Dog Books in Beverly, MA; Mon, April 7, 7pm at Belmont Books in Belmont, MA; Tues, April 8, 6:30 pm at
Wellesley Books in Wellesley, MA; and Wed, April 9, 3:30pm at Barrington Books in Barrington, RI.

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 14/11/2024

SO excited to talk about this: The first edition of THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE paperback will have this amazing art on the edges of the pages, all around the book! I love how it came out, and can't wait to see it in person. #kidlit #middlegrade #fantasy

Cover to the book THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE by James Riley, showing a 12 year old red-headed girl summoning a black dragon from a book of magic. The edges of the book pages are colored in light green, and have the image of a black dragon and black flames printed on them.

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 08/11/2024

And my most serious series had to be REVENGE OF MAGIC, a five book series about magic returning to the world (with all that entails), through the eyes of kids in a government-run school for magic. www.simonandschuster.com/series/The-R...

The cover to a book titled THE REVENGE OF MAGIC by James Riley, showing a boy watching as a giant monster destroys the Washington Monument in Washington, DC, with the capitol in the background.

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 08/11/2024

And that led to a sequel trilogy called, logically or illogically enough, ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME, taking place twelve years in the future, and starring a five foot tall giant named Lena (as in Thumbelina). www.simonandschuster.com/series/Once-...

The cover to a book called ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME by James Riley, showing a girl in a blue tunic flexing her bicep while standing on the nose of a giant, who is wearing a crown.

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 08/11/2024

My first series was a fractured fairy tale trilogy called HALF UPON A TIME, where I had fun mixing all the different fairy tale characters together to mess up each other's stories. Epic and funny, it's some readers' favorites of mine: www.simonandschuster.com/series/Half-...

The cover to a book called HALF UPON A TIME by James Riley, showing three kids climbing a beanstalk. The boy at the lowest is wearing a red cape, and above him is a girl wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, with a blue streak in her blond hair. She's smiling as a boy in a yellow shirt is starting to fall off the beanstalk, with just his leg caught in a vine holding him up.

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 08/11/2024

It's a five book series, and while I'm proud of them all, my favorite was probably PICK THE PLOT, the fourth book, as one of the characters, Owen, gets trapped in an interactive book where you, the reader, decide how things go ... and Owen knows you're out there, choosing his fate.

The cover to a book titled STORY THIEVES: PICK THE PLOT, by James Riley, showing a boy and a girl in orange jumpsuits that say TIME SECURITY AGENCY on the back. A tyrannosaurus rex is trying to bite the boy, while the girl tries to help him to safety on the other side of a turned book page. Behind her is what looks like a futuristic corridor, with a woman with long white hair and a black cloak looms a bit menacingly.

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 08/11/2024

Hello to all my new followers! I've written a few series for kids, including what's probably my best known, STORY THIEVES, a five book series about a half-fictional girl who can jump into books, and all the fun ways THAT can go badly.: www.simonandschuster.com/series/Story...

The cover to a book titled STORY THIEVES, by James Riley, showing a girl in a red shirt and jeans leaping into the pages of a book while holding the hand of a boy dressed in all black with a cape, holding a wand. They look to be in a castle, with dragons behind them.

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 07/11/2024

Coming April 1, 2025, the first in a series for kids 8-12, from PRH. Thanks for doing this!

The cover to THE DRAGONS APPRENTICE by James Riley, showing a girl with red hair using a book of magic to summon a cranky looking black dragon.

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James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com · 07/08/2024

I've been waiting to make this my first post for so long now! I'm finally allowed to show off the cover to THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE, art by Cecile Carre, the first book in a new series about a girl who accidentally summons a dragon who teaches her magic! #kidlit

A girl summons a dragon from a book of magic on the cover of THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE Book One by James Riley.

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