Emily Kate Johnston, who publishes as E.K. Johnston, is a Canadian novelist and forensic archaeologist.

Career

Johnston started writing

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...

in 2002, and wrote her first manuscript in 2009. Her first book, ''The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim'', was published in 2014, and is set in an alternate present-day Ontario where dragons are both real and a menace. The review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called the book "a clever first step in the career of a novelist who ... has many more songs to sing", it was nominated for the

William C. Morris Award The William C. Morris YA Debut Award is an annual award given to a work of young adult literature by a "first-time author writing for teens". It is administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American ...

in 2015. A sequel, ''Prairie Fire'', followed in 2015. Johnston's third book was '' A Thousand Nights'', a retelling of ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition ( ...

.''

C.S. Lewis CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

's descriptions of the desert in ''

The Horse and His Boy ''The Horse and His Boy'' is a high fantasy novel written by British author C. S. Lewis and published by Geoffrey Bles in 1954. Of the seven novels that comprise ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956), ''The Horse and His Boy'' was the fift ...

'' inspired Johnston in writing her own novel set in the desert. A companion book, ''Spindle'', followed in 2016, which was a reinterpretation of

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

. Her fifth novel, ''Exit, Pursued By A Bear'', was published in 2016. Inspired by Shakespeare's ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

'', it tells the story of cheer-leading captain Hermione Winters, who discovers she is pregnant after being sexually assaulted at a camp party. It was written partially as a challenge, and partially as a response to Stephen Woodworth's 2013 bill to re-criminalise abortion. It was named a "Book of the Year" by several organisations, including

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', and the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

. It won the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Amy Mathers Teen Book Award in 2017. A ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' fan, Johnston was asked to write a book on the character

Ahsoka Tano Ahsoka Tano (pronounced ) is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. She was introduced as the 14-year-old List of Star Wars species (P–T)#Togruta, Togruta Jedi Padawan of Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker in the animated film ''Star ...

. Published in October 2016, ''

Ahsoka Ahsoka may refer to: * Ahsoka Tano, a character in the ''Star Wars'' universe ** ''Ahsoka'' (novel), a 2016 novel centered on the character ** ''Ahsoka'' (TV series), a 2023 live-action television series centered on the character See also * As ...

'' fills in the gap between her appearances in '' The Clone Wars'' and ''

Rebels A rebel is a participant in a rebellion. Rebel or rebels may also refer to: People * Rebel (given name) * Rebel (surname) * Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution * American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; ...

''. Her second Star Wars novel, ''Queen's Shadow'', was released in March 2019. Featuring Padme Amidala, ''Queen's Shadow'' is set in the years between the events of ''

The Phantom Menace ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' and ''

Attack of the Clones Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Attack (fencing) * Charge (warfare) * Offensive (military) * Strike (attack) Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * '' Attack No. 1'', comic and animation * Attack! Books, a publis ...

''. Additionally, she has also written the story ''By Whatever Sun'', focusing on Miara Larte, a character Johnston created within ''Ahsoka'', and set during the events of ''

A New Hope ''Star Wars'' (later retitled ''Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope'') is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and released by Twentieth Century-Fox. It is the first film in ...

''. Johnston describes her novel ''That Inevitable Victorian Thing'' as a " ar-future Sci-fi Canadian Idealistic Romance". It was published in 2017. She credits her discipline in academic writing for helping her time management while writing prose; and states she is a fast writer, the composition of ''A Thousand Nights'' taking "about 20 days",. She advises early and young writers to learn to finish projects as practice in self-discipline and editing. Among her favorite authors are

Jo Graham Jo Graham (born 1968) is an American author who debuted in 2008 with her novel ''Black Ships'', a re-imagination of ''The Aeneid''. She lives in Maryland. ''Black Ships'' received a star rating when reviewed by ''Publishers Weekly'' and was no ...

, Elizabeth Wein, Tessa Gratton,

Kiersten White Kiersten White is an American author of fiction for children, young adults, and adults. Her first book, '' Paranormalcy'', was published by HarperCollins in 2010. Early life White graduated in 2004 from Brigham Young University, where she stud ...

Madeleine L'Engle Madeleine L'Engle (; November 29, 1918 – September 6, 2007) was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including ''A Wrinkle in Time'' and its sequels: '' A Wind in the Door'', '' A Swiftly Tilting Planet'' ...

J.R.R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

David Eddings David Carroll Eddings (July 7, 1931 – June 2, 2009) was an American fantasy writer. With his wife Leigh, he authored several best-selling epic fantasy novel series, including ''The Belgariad'' (1982–84), '' The Malloreon'' (1987–91), '' The ...

, and

Holly Black Holly Black (; born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the ''New York Times'' bestselling young adult ''Folk of the Air'' series. She is also well kn ...

. She plays the alto saxophone and the clarinet. Johnston released another ''Star Wars'' novel, ''Queen's Peril'', on June 2, 2020.

Personal life

Johnston is biromantic and

demisexual Demisexuality is a term used to describe individuals who rarely experience primary sexual attraction – a type of attraction that is based on immediately observable characteristics such as appearance or smell, and is experienced immediately af ...

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim'' (2014) * ''Prairie Fire'' (2015) * ''A Thousand Nights'' (2015) * ''Spindle'' (2016) (also published as ''Kingdom of Sleep'') * ''Exit, Pursued By A Bear'' (2016) * ''That Inevitable Victorian Thing'' (2017) * ''The Afterward'' (2019) * ''Aetherbound'' (2021) * ''Pretty Furious'' (2024) * ''Titan of the Stars'' (2025) * ''Sky on Fire'' (2025)

Short stories

* ''Work In Progress'' (2017) (in ''Three Sides of A Heart: Stories about Love Triangles'' anthology edited by Natalie Parker)

Star Wars

* ''

'' (2016) * "By Whatever Sun" (2017) (short story in '' From A Certain Point Of View''

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

) *''Queen's Shadow'' (2019) *''Queen's Peril'' (2020) *''Queen's Hope'' (2022) *''Crimson Climb'' (2023)

Dungeons & Dragons

* '' Honor Among Thieves: The Druid's Call'' (2022)

Awards

* 2015: William C. Morris Award, shortlist (''The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim'') * 2017: Amy Mathers Teen Book Award in 2017, winner (''Exit, Pursued By A Bear'')

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, E. K. Living people Canadian women writers of young adult literature Canadian women novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers Canadian writers of young adult literature Canadian women short story writers Canadian science fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people) Asexual people Demisexual people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Canadian LGBTQ women Canadian LGBTQ novelists