Children of Blood and Bone Author Tomi Adeyemi Has More Fantasy in Store (Exclusive)

If you haven’t read the book yet, you’ve at least seen the cover. Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone broke records — as well as the internet — when it first hit the scene in 2018. Hitting No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list, the novel won the author a Time100 spot, Hugo and Nebula awards and her rightful place as all but a household name. 

Now, with Children of Blood and Bone out on paperback as of Feb. 27 and Children of Virtue and Vengeance set for its paperback release on March 26, The Children Of Anguish And Anarchy — the final book in the Legends of the Orisha trilogy — will deliver the long-awaited series conclusion on June 25. And for the more visually inclined, a movie adaptation is on its way.

With the conclusion in sight, the author spoke with PEOPLE about her inspiration, her love of fashion and why she’s striving for excellence, full-stop. 

Struck by lightning in Brazil

The idea for the Legacy of the Orisha story all but smacked Adeyemi on the head when she was in Brazil, trying to get into a museum to do research for the grant that was funding her trip. The museum was closed, it was pouring, so she ducked into the gift shop to regroup. 

“And then I see the Orisha, these dark-skinned African gods and goddesses, and it had never even occurred to me that there could be African gods and goddesses,” she explains to PEOPLE. “It was like literal fireworks went off in my brain. I saw the landscapes, I saw the lions, I saw the temples. I saw the magic. I didn't know who my characters were. I didn't know what happened in the world, but the world came fully formed.”

As she wrote, the author discovered she was actually exploring a part of her own Nigerian-American ancestry. “To climb all the way back up your family tree on accident, and discover the stories and the beliefs, and the spirituality, and the songs, and the power and the rhythm, and the clothing that your earliest ancestors wore,” Adeyemi shakes her head at the magic of it all. “To stumble into my ancestry, which then also became my destiny is absolutely insane.” 

That magic has been a theme throughout the last seven whirlwind years of her career, not to mention her work. “That's actually one of the things that I care most about when I write, that I can just take you somewhere else, because my God, do we all need a little place to escape to. I think these grand stories just speak to something primal in us,” she says. 

‘I Saw it as a Movie in My Head’

Now, as she works on the movie adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone, Adeyemi is learning a new way to spread the magic. Readers who have noticed the cinematic quality of her books may not be surprised to hear that’s how the author experiences these stories, too. 

“Switching to screenwriting was a bit of liberation because I just get to take what's in my head and go on the page,” she explains. “But then there's also the part of me that's still learning to master that medium.”

Part of that process enables Adeyemi to bring her love of fashion into her work in a new way. As she sees her characters’ outfits in her head, she also puts them on a mood board for future costume designers. And as she attends runway shows or watches them online, she finds inspiration there, too.

“Fashion tells a story,” she says. “I love that process, and I love that this career as a writer has allowed me to step into that space, and that that's only going to continue because there's so much to bring on screen.”

As she learns how that translation from page to screen works best, Adeyemi counts Scott Frank, the writer of The Queen's Gambit on Netflix, as her “Mr. Miyagi” in the process. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood, who is set to helm the movie for Paramount Pictures, has also inspired Adeyemi’s screenwriting.

“I feel like I'm being mentored just through watching her work,” she adds. “She rolls up her sleeves and does the work. It's incredible to work with someone at that caliber.” 

But Adeyemi also finds mentors everywhere she goes. One of her literary heroes, Sabaa Tahir, has even gone on to become a friend. “It doesn't matter where you are on your journey. It doesn't matter your success, your accolades,” she says. “You do want an artist to hold your hand and help guide you forward, so I feel so blessed to look left, right and center, and have these incredible creators guiding me into the next stage of my career.”

An intimate and communal process

As Adeyemi looks toward the last installment of the trilogy hitting shelves, she’s also enjoying connecting with readers in a way that feels very natural to today’s reading community but hasn’t been around in its current form for very long at all.

“I believe it was Stephenie Meyer, the author of Twilight, who sort of revamped the entire industry and the entire author-reader relationship,” Adeyemi muses, about the internet’s role in the literary realm. “She was in Facebook groups with her readers, and relationships like it didn't exist until then.”

Since then, of course, Instagram and TikTok have taken over as the realms du jour for authors and readers to connect with one another. “It's communal, but it's intimate. We're really getting to see each other. We're really getting to talk,” the author says.

But the excitement of meeting readers in person hasn’t gotten old, either. “One of my favorite parts of going on tour is I get to hold hands with my readers. I get to hug them. I get to hear their stories,” Adeyemi enthuses. “To be able to communicate with them, laugh with them, celebrate with them, it feels like a genuine community. And I'm really, really enjoying it this time around.”

Striving for excellence

The faces of publishing, especially in the fantasy genre in which Adeyemi’s books live, have changed rapidly over the past few years. And there's still plenty of room to grow. "When I first put out this book in 2018, it was monumental to see someone who looks like this on the cover,” she says. “Now it's not rare anymore.”

Adeyemi wants society to strive not for diversity or inclusion, but for books, movies and art to look like the array of humanity around them as a matter of course. “One thing that comes to mind is American Fiction,” she says. “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, here is this Black movie about Black people. Here is the statue about the Black identity. No, it’s more like ‘Here is a gripping, intimate family drama that also has me cracking up.” 

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The first two Legends of Orisha books are available now, wherever books are sold. The third and final book in the series, The Children Of Anguish And Anarchy, is out June 25 and available for pre-order now.