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Alaya Dawn Johnson

rhymes with papaya

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  • A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai’i

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Odds and Ends in 2022

September 28, 2022 by alaya Leave a Comment

Well, hello September 2022! I have finally given this site a long-overdue update, including my incredible collaboration with Janelle Monáe on The Memory Librarian AND my forthcoming novel The Library of Broken Worlds from Scholastic in June 2023. I’ll have a lot more about the new novel, which I am SO EXCITED ABOUT, so watch this space. I’m also delighted to share that my short story collection, Reconstruction, was a finalist for the Ignyte Award for Best Anthology/Collected Work, and also for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Fiction.

Also, I am excited to announce that I’m offering editorial services! You can contact me directly here, or if you prefer, via Reedsy.

Finally, if you’d like to read essays about immigrant life in Mexico, writing, and my journey as a trauma survivor, please check out and subscribe to my newsletter A Stranger Comes Home. Bonus: I am most likely to post any announcements there first.

Filed Under: news Tagged With: awards, editorial services, news

Reconstruction: stories is out!

January 29, 2021 by alaya Leave a Comment

My first short story collection just pubbed this month from the inimitable Small Beer Press. I’m delighted to finally have a collection of my best work from the last decade, including two new short stories (one of which is the title story). Available now from wherever books are sold (and if you can help out your local independent book store, even better!)

Filed Under: news Tagged With: news, reconstruction, short stories

Nebulae!

February 25, 2015 by alaya 5 Comments

Well, folks, this website has never been very up-to-date at the best of times, but considering that the last post I made was a year ago, I think I have exceeded myself! Still, some amazing things have been happening which I would like to share.

Love Is the Drug was nominated for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult (and middle grade) literature by SFWA! I am so excited about this. The Summer Prince was nominated last year, and I am honored beyond words to have this recognition twice from my peers. Members of SFWA will be able to download a review copy until March 15 (though they can read it after). So please if you’re at all interested take the opportunity to get a copy during the window of its availability.

And secondly, my short story A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai’i, originally published in the July/August issue of F&SF, edited by the inimitable C.C. Finlay, is up for the novella Nebula Award! I truly feel that this is one of my best stories, though it’s in a category that is so stuffed with brilliant work I would just as happy not to win! But for the voters, SFWA members can access the story in the forums right now, and that link above also goes to an online version for easy access.

I’ve also posted this online because there are many Hugo voters who are not SFWA members. I’ve never  thought of the Hugo in a serious way before, but I am proud of this work and I would be very happy to be considered. So if you can vote for the Hugo, I hope you’ll take a look at this story and consider it for the Novella category.

That’s all for now. Greetings from sunny Mexico, where the food is delicious and I have way too much work to finish 🙂

Alaya

Filed Under: news Tagged With: news

New YA novel, awards excitement

January 28, 2014 by alaya 1 Comment

Let me explain, no, let me sum up:

My next YA novel is coming out in the Fall of  this year. It’s called Love Is the Drug, it will be published once again by the fabulous team at Scholastic and Arthur A. Levine, and I can’t wait. It’s very different from The Summer Prince, but I think if you liked that one, you’ll enjoy this. I will wait to give details and a cover, but as a teeny preview: It’s a novel set in a Washington, DC private school in the midst of a global flu pandemic.

In other news, The Summer Prince made the longlist for the National Book Awards, Young People’s Literature category. It’s also made the Top Ten Rainbow List for 2014, which honors GLBTQ books for children and teens. Also, the YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults list. All very exciting, and I’m honored that this book has connected with so many people.

I have added an “appearances” section in my header, so if you’d like to meet me in person and maybe get a book signed be sure to check that regularly to find out when and where I will be.

Filed Under: news Tagged With: news

The Summer Prince

August 15, 2012 by alaya 8 Comments

My next novel will be something completely different. A YA science fiction novel set on the coast of Brazil (the modern state of Bahia), 400 years in the future. Pretty much everything here is something I haven’t done before: A standalone, science fiction, YA, Brazil. Even so, I hope those of you who have enjoyed my other novels will give it a shot (and hopefully, some new people will find their way to my work).

I wrote a post back when it was first announced about how I came to write The Summer Prince. You can read a basic description on Goodreads. Or you can just sit back and enjoy the cover:

Cover for The Summer Prince

Filed Under: news Tagged With: news

Wicked City is published, and a prequel story

April 11, 2012 by alaya 7 Comments

Wicked City, the sequel to Moonshine, is finally out (Amazon/B&N/Powells)! It seems to be trickling into Barnes and Nobles over the country right now, or you can get it online. If you like it, please pass on the word–leaving reviews is especially helpful, if you’re so inclined.

And if you’d like a more extensive taste of Zephyr and her world, I’m pleased to say that the awesome Tor.com has published my very first Zephyr Hollis short story, “The Inconstant Moon.” This is a prequel story, taking place four years before the events of Moonshine, and explains how Zephyr first came to the city and started to change her mind about the vampires she’d always killed with her daddy.

And remember, if you’d like to hear news about Zephyr (or my other books), please email me to sign up for my very low-volume mailing list.

Alaya

Filed Under: news Tagged With: news

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October 26th, 6pm EST: Hurston/Wright Voices of the Legacy Awards (nominee reading). Link and other details TBA!

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