What is the title of your latest release?
THE REIMAGINING OF THORNWOOD HOUSE
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
When land witch Evie Sharpe and her adopted daughter Ruby move to Iskendra to be caretakers of Thornwood house, they discover a grumpy, grieving, damaged structure that won’t let them in. They’ll need all their love and magic to re-imagine Thornwood house into the home they’ve always longed for.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
For a long time, whenever the world felt too heavy, I nursed a fantasy of becoming a witch and running off to live in a cottage in the woods. I quickly realized this would be impractical for me, but there was no reason my characters couldn’t live out that fantasy, with all the complications and challenges that go along with it.
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely. Evie is much cooler than I am. In fact, she’s the least like me of any character I’ve ever written. She could also give me advice on how to manage my garden. I love the idea of a garden, but in practice I’m extremely mediocre at growing most things. Doesn’t stop me from trying.
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Witch. Guardian. Mother.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I thought I knew the reason I was writing this book. I wanted the comforts of magic, of community, of romance and healing. But it’s also about re-imagining a life, and I think I was doing some of that for myself too, without entirely acknowledging it.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
When I can, I follow a one-hundred-page rule, which basically means that every hundred pages or so, I go back in and do a round of edits. It helps keep my story and characters on track and firms plot details and progression in my mind. If I’m really struggling, I’ll do it every fifty pages. It helps me a lot.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I love to bake, especially anything baked with LOTS of chocolate. If a recipe calls for an unseemly amount of chocolate, I’m probably going to try to make it.
Describe your writing space/office!
I have a lovely desk in a lovely office that I almost never use because I end up sprawled on the couch, hunched over my laptop like a gremlin with terrible posture. But that’s where the comfy blankets and pillows are, and they draw me in like a siren. I’m typing this from the couch right now. I should probably get up and stretch.
Who is an author you admire?
There are so many, but Martha Wells is a current favorite. Reading WITCH KING is like taking an advanced class in world building and having an amazing reading experience at the same time. I highly recommend it.
Is there a book that changed your life?
I tend to be careful about declaring that something has changed my life, because in practice that’s very hard to do, but I can tell you that when I read A WRINKLE IN TIME when I was a kid, it was one of the first times I felt seen. I didn’t know books had the power to do that, and it left an impression on me and my relationship to stories. It and other novels like it made me want to know how stories worked, how they were crafted and created. It wasn’t a straight line to me becoming a writer, but it was a big influence.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I had just gotten home in the wee hours of the morning after a harrowing travel day. We’d had to come back early from a family vacation in New Orleans, snagging a last-minute flight to outrun a massive snowstorm. At that time, New Orleans hadn’t had snow in decades, I think, but there you go. I took “the call” on very little sleep, fueled by caffeine and nerves, but thankfully, it all worked out.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I adore a good mystery with a side of romance, although to be fair, almost any genre with a side of romance will have me taking notice.
What’s your favorite movie?
I usually cheat here and name the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies. It’s all one story to me, and it draws me in, no matter how many times I’ve seen it.
What is your favorite season?
I’m a spring girl, even though spring in the Midwest is often a fleeting, muddy, messy gray thing with way too many windy days and tornado warnings. But when you get a perfect spring day, when I can smell the garden, and the sun is warm and everything is green and just starting to bloom, it’s absolute magic. It brings me back to myself after a long winter.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I prefer to celebrate as long as possible. Typically, a week, although my husband claims the festivities have been getting longer and longer every year. My birthday also falls around the holidays, so I have to grab as much attention away from that as I can, obviously!
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I’m a big Bridgerton fan, and season four ticked almost every box for my romantic, fairy tale loving heart. Seriously, I was giggling and smiling through the entire thing.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Mexican. I could probably have it every day. Now you’re making me crave it. I’ll be right back, I need some salsa.
What do you do when you have free time?
Mostly I play games: video games, role playing games, board games, card games – you name it, I’ve played it. I also bake, and I love to sneak out to my back porch with a good book or work in my garden.
What can readers expect from you next?
More cozy fantasy! More! More!
Narrator: Isuri Wijesundara
A witch and her young ward discover a magical, walking house and learn the true meaning of home in this cozy, enchanting novel from New York Times bestselling author Jaleigh Johnson.
Evelyn Sharpe is accustomed to dealing with natural disasters as a land witch, but she longs for a life with a little less danger for her and her adopted daughter, Ruby. So when the opportunity to take over as Caretaker of Thornwood House—a sentient home that acts as the magical heart of the village of Iskendra—arises, it seems almost fated.
When they arrive in sunny Iskendra, Evie and Ruby find the house is nothing like what they expected: First of all, it has walked away from the address. Thornwood House is also grumpy, guarded, and extremely hesitant to allow the two witches through its doors.
Armed with gentle hearts and wild magic, Evie and Ruby begin to form tentative bonds with the house and the citizens of the small town. But there’s something deeply damaged about the building seeping into the forests surrounding Iskendra, and Evie will have to use all her power to protect the roots she’s started to grow.
Fiction Adventure | Action | Romance Fantasy [ Ace, On Sale: June 9, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9798217188819 / eISBN: 9798217188826 ]
Jaleigh Johnson lives and writes in the wilds of the Midwest. Her middle grade debut novel The Mark of the Dragonfly is a New York Times bestseller. Her other books from Delacorte Press include The Secrets of Solace, The Quest to the Uncharted Lands, and The Door to the Lost. She has also written fiction for Dungeons and Dragons, Marvel, and Assassin's Creed. Johnson is an avid gamer and lifelong geek.
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