I considered writing a long carefully constructed argument laying out the harms and limitations of AI, but instead I wrote about being a hater. Only humans can be haters.

A rainbow graphic that says Irving Public Library's North Texas Teen Book Festival 2026 author reveals. March 7, 2026 Irving Convention Center. Presented by Irving, Texas and EpicReads. Four authors and their books are shown: Scott Reintgen and Devious Prey, James Riley, The Dragon's Apprentice, Lance Rubin and 16 Forever, and Aisha Saeed and Hafsa's Way.

Please welcome Scott Reintgen, James Riley @jamesrileyauthor.com, Lance Rubin @lancerubinparty.bsky.social, and Aisha Saeed @aishasaeed.bsky.social to #NTTBF26!

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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.

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.

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...

I haven't even remotely processed this yet, but just found out that THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE made the NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller list for Middle Grade Paperbacks today!

A photo of the cover of The Dragon’s Apprentice by James Riley

A photo of the pages of The Dragon’s Apprentice by James Riley, showing off the dragon design on them.

A photo of the inside page of The Dragon’s Apprentice by James Riley. It’s signed, “To Alex!” with a doodle of a dragon.

YIPPEE‼️‼️‼️ I completely missed that my copy of The Dragon’s Apprentice by @jamesrileyauthor.com arrived yesterday and finished reading the copy I borrowed, but that’s okay I’m just happy to have my own signed copy!! <3
#jamesrileyauthor #thedragonsapprentice

TONIGHT!

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

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!

Aw, thanks Andrew!

Just over a week out, don't forget to RSVP! And if you can't make an event, several of the stores are taking preorders for signed and personalized copies for shipping. More info here: jamesrileyauthor.com/tour-dates-e...

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

Belmont Books is offering both hardcovers and paperbacks for signing, just preorder before April 4! belmontbooks.com/dragons-appr...

This is a great reminder

Author Event with James Riley: The Dragon's Apprentice The Castle in Beverly Saturday, April 5 10:30am Free event Registration preferred

If you like magic, mayhem, and sassy dragons, you'll love THE DRAGON'S APPRENTICE.
Come on down to The Castle in Beverly for an author event with @JamesRileyauthor.com

Register for this free event here:
buff.ly/Av5rOwt...%E...

And Wellesley Books before April 2nd: www.wellesleybooks.com/personalized...

The Dragon's Apprentice by James Riley (Signed + Personalized) - Curious Iguana Preorder a signed and personalized copy of Love at Second Sight by F.T. Lukens! To be released on April 29, 2025.

@curiousiguana.com before April 1st: curiousiguana.com/product/the-...

@politicsprose.bsky.social through March 24: politics-prose.com/book/9780593... Write the following in the comment box: "This is for The Dragon's Apprentice pre-order campaign. Please have James Riley sign my copy when he is at Politics and Prose on April 3" along with the name to be personalized

Quick tour update: If you can't make any of the store events, the following stores have offered to take online preorders so I can sign and personalize copies for you at the event, and the store will ship them to you afterwards:

Can't wait! Join us for our book signing with James Riley on April 1 in the store from 6 pm-7 pm!

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.

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

[“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape? The moneylenders, the know-nothings, the authoritarians have us all in prison; if we value the freedom of the mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can.”]

Ursula le Guin, on the accusation that fantasy is an escape from reality

The book's designer, Michelle Cunningham at PRH! She's AMAZING.

Did a very fun interview with Bob and Anna on the Mercer County Library System's Behind the Books podcast a few weeks ago, that I'm very late in sharing. Link below, where you can find great interviews with both authors and library personnel: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mcl...

I feel like book designers never get any credit, so just wanted to shout out Michelle Cunningham at PRH for her gorgeous art on this. It's SO fun, and compliments the amazing cover by Cecille Carre really well!

Great series, great store!

Spoiler: Most of my readers had him eaten by dinosaurs over and over. So proud of them.

It was definitely a challenge, but really glad I tried it!

This was the easily the hardest book I'll ever write, and that's even with a lot of cheating I did, given the conceit of the series (kids jumping into books, so the main character knew he was trapped in a CYOA type book, and readers could either help him escape or get him eaten by dinosaurs).

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.

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

Really can't wait to read this! Any idea what happened to the Comixology/Kindle version, though? It was available a couple of weeks ago, but disappeared (looks like it's up on apple books).