Fly Through the Fire (a Song for Book 16!)
Hello most amazing lovely readers in the world!
I am back in my writing cave after all the excitement of FanWing Fest 2026, trying to finish Book 17 (eeeee I hope you like it!), but I had to poke my head out because something SO COOL is happening, and I can finally tell you about it! 😊
(Well, those of you at San Francisco FWF already know, because we got to preview it there — but now it’s officially in the world and you can listen to it as much as you want!)
A song! A Wings of Fire song! A Wings of Fire song by Christina Perri!!!!!!!!!!!
Here’s what happened: Last year as I was writing The Hybrid Prince, I realized I was finally going to include a character I’ve been thinking about for years: an IceWing-SkyWing hybrid named Aurora, who is the dragon equivalent of a beloved pop star. And if she was going to be in a book, I knew I should include one of her songs — and if I included one of her songs, inevitably at some event sometime, someone would ASK ME TO SING IT AAAAAACK.
So I thought to myself: wouldn’t it be more fun to make it a real song, and get a real singer to make it as beautiful as it is in my head?
So even after I finished the book and it was off to the printers, I kept working on the lyrics (since the whole song isn’t in the book anyway!). And then I got one of my very cool children to write a melody for it, and then he and my husband did other music-y things to it…
And THEN . . . WE GOT TO COLLABORATE WITH CHRISTINA PERRI!
Christina! Perri!
Christina Perri!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my gosh, if you could go back in time to Tui in 2010, lying on the couch with her baby watching Kathryn and Billy dance to “Jar of Hearts” on So You Think You Can Dance, and you said to her: “hey, Tui, you know that dragon book you’re trying to write? one day, many many… many dragon books from now, you’ll get to work on a related song with this incredible singer who you are falling in love with right this minute!” — I (a) would have fallen off the couch and (b) wouldn’t have believed it for a second (also I would have had a lot of other questions about the future, which perhaps it is best I didn’t get the answers to!).
In addition to being the sweetest person and so wonderful to work with, Christina made the song beyond gorgeous and thrilling and perfect — the first time I heard her recording of it I burst into tears; I couldn’t believe it was real. I still kind of can’t believe it! 😊 I’m so so grateful to her (and to my musical family!) and I hope you all love it as much as I do! (If the link above doesn’t work, you can search for it under “Christina Perri” or “Fly Through the Fire” wherever you listen to music!)
The funny part is that this ingenious plan has saved you all from listening to me sing at events . . . but I fear now it may lead to you watching me dance instead. (I can’t help it! It’s so much fun to dance to!) 😊😊😊
We did some exciting reveals at the other FanWing Fests, too: For instance, we announced a graphic novel of the Winglets stories, which will include the fifth one (little prince Cliff’s story! currently only available as an ebook!), with art by Jake Parker — it looks so cool so far! And we revealed the cover of the 10th graphic novel — if you haven’t seen it yet, tada!:
Eeee I love it so much; look at Qibli being all noble and determined and saving the world because someone has to! This one will be out December 29, 2026! Hooray!
AND I told you all who the star of Book 17 is, so now I assume everyone knows, but in case you haven’t heard: it’s Kinkajou! At last! 😊 It turns out I only had to be asked “when is Kinkajou getting a book???” exactly twelve thousand four hundred and thirty-eight times before my brain went “hey, maybe I should actually write a Kinkajou book!” (So those of you who asked me at a 2025 FanWing Fest, you’re the ones who tipped it over the edge!) 😊
She is really fun to write; I hope she is also fun for you all to read — and I hope I finish writing this book soon so you can have it as soon as possible! More about that when I know more! 😊
I also now have so much FanWing Fest art to go through and people to thank — thank you all, especially, for coming out to celebrate books and dragons with me, or for reading the books, making art, writing your own stories, and being the kindest, most supportive community! (Thanks to you, my proceeds from merch sales will once again be going to We Need Diverse Books (to give amazing, empathy-building books to kids and schools who need them!) and the Amazon Investor Coalition (to protect the Amazon rainforest)). Thank you to my amazing Scholastic team and the awesome people at Oasis for making everything happen; to the incredible bookstores and libraries who hosted us; to special guests/superstars Joy Ang, Mike Holmes, Jake Parker, Kieran Viola, and Brianna C. Walsh for joining us; and to Tom, Allie, Joanna, and Kieran for being my lovely Q&A partners! (I’m sure I’m forgetting someone, so big hugs and thank you to everyone else, too!)
OK, back into my writing cave! Wish me luck! (And go listen to the song! Yaaayyyy!!! 😊)
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