It is no secret how much I love the debut fantasy epic A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde, as I spent the better part of June 2025 obsessing over it. The story follows a young woman named Temi, and a host of other characters as they navigate the politics surrounding the discovery of dangerous old-world tech called “greybloods” and Temi’s ability to invoke ancestral magic while being a commoner, something that only nobles have been able to achieve.
Now, I typically steer clear of epic high fantasies because they are… well, epic, forcing a time commitment I can’t always guarantee. But A Song of Legends Lost never felt like a chore. Ancestral invocation as a magic system enthralled me. The characters, especially the women, were beautiful and powerful representations of global diversity. The politics were messy and brilliant. And it felt like an amazing video game with immersive world-building. I hosted a live interview on Instagram with Conjuring Literacy and M.H. Ayinde in the summer to discuss A Song of Legends Lost that you can check out here. Now that a few months have passed, I interviewed Ayinde again, after the well-deserved international praise to see how things have changed and possibly get a sneak peek into Book 2!!
NOTE: question #5 will be hidden until the cover art and title release!
1. It’s been a while since we last spoke during the live interview for A Song of Legends Lost! How are you?
Hello! It’s good to be back! I am trying to enjoy life as an author whose novel is now out in the world and has to get used to being perceived and to managing deadlines and to finding some kind of balance between writing, day job, and family … which is to say, I am well, although I am also a constant ball of anxiety.
2.Wait, you’re anxious? Why? If you don’t mind my asking, what have you been doing to release the anxiety? For me, I watch dog grooming videos and go on really long walks with no destination.
That sounds so wholesome! I’ve always been an over-thinker and a people pleaser, so I think that makes me programmed to worry… it’s something I’m definitely trying to work on! The main way I combat this is through exercise, mostly running. I run several times a week, usually before work or writing and it really helps reset my brain and my emotions. (Also, I sometimes use my runs to work through plot problems in my head.) Running has become essential to maintaining my mental health – to the point where, when we drive along some of my regular running routes, I feel a sense of relaxation just by glimpsing those streets! I’m also great at switching off with a videogame or a movie, when my kids let me have the TV.
3. To no one’s surprise, ASOLL is receiving high praise internationally. Now that some time has passed since the UK and US publication dates, what has been your reaction to the high praise?
Thank you so much! It’s wonderful, but it’s also terrifying. My brain being what it is, my first thought is usually, oh no, I’m gonna let all these people down with the sequel. I’m trying to enjoy it, because publishing is such a difficult industry to build a career in and I think it’s really important to celebrate the high points, but I am a bit of a worrier, so every milestone comes with a truckload of fear. Mainly, I just hope my books continue to reach enough people who enjoy them for me to be able to keep writing and publishing novels.
4. You recently posted about ASOLL “earning out” in the UK. Can you tell everyone what ‘earning out’ means and why it’s so important as a Black writer?
The short answer is – earning out means selling enough copies of your book to start receiving royalty payments. The longer answer is that it means you’ve paid back the advance on royalties payment your publisher gave you (your “advance”, which is the chunk of money you get when you sell a book) and it’s a great thing to be able to say you’ve done as most books don’t earn back their advance, and it helps when trying to secure future publishing deals. However, what that actually means can vary wildly, not least because advance sizes vary wildly (alas.) Publishers actually start making money on books a long time before authors earn out. If you want a deep dive into this, fantasy author Hana Lee created an amazing calculator for payments, which you can read more about here. One of the biggest contributing factors to me earning out was being the May pick for Illumicrate, and also having a Goldsboro Books special edition.
I think every publishing win is doubly important for a Black writer because every aspect of this industry is doubly hard for us. As #PublishingPaidMe showed us a few years back, Black authors receive smaller advances, and we also tend to be judged more harshly by reviewers, and we are still underrepresented in the industry as a whole… and all this is after we’ve actually managed to secure deals from publishers that remain dominated by a very narrow demographic. So it’s important on a business level, because so much is stacked against us, and for me personally on an individual level, it gave me the external validation that I wish I didn’t crave, but sadly do.
5. Book 2 is in its final stages of proofing. What were some of the differences in writing Book 2 that improved upon the story?
The biggest difference was knowing that this book would definitely end up in readers’ hands. ASOLL was the fifth novel I completed (so I’m excluding the several I didn’t complete!) but the first to be published, so it was a very different experience knowing that this book would definitely be read by people other than my mum and spouse! So that was a lot of: “Yay, people are gonna read this!” followed by “Oh sh!t, people are gonna read this!” I was a lot more aware of the existence of a real audience as I was writing, which was both wonderful and daunting, inspiring and terrifying. It was also the first time I’d ever written to a deadline not imposed by myself, so that was quite scary. I’m the sort of person who quite likes external pressure, but it is still a very different experience trying to be creative on demand!
On a craft level, some things were easier, because the world and most of the characters already existed and just needed to be built upon. And a lot of the plotlines had been in place for many, many years, so I knew exactly where I was headed. Some things were more of a challenge, because I had less wriggle room now that so much of the lore was set in stone. But overall, I really enjoyed it. I love middle volumes of trilogies in most things, because you have a world that is now familiar, and usually everything is kicking off with the big stakes, but you still have the climax and denouement to look forward to.
7. Last we spoke, you said Boleo was the easiest character to write and Temi was the most challenging character to write. Do these characters still hold those positions, or has someone else entered the villa?
I think they probably do! There is a new POV character in Book 2, although it’s someone you’ve already met and actually is a character that has existed in my head for a long, long time and was originally going to be in Book 1. But Boleo is still my boy, in all his snarky, grumpy, cynical glory. In some ways, Book 2 is very much his book, and he is central to a lot of what happens. Temi remains the most important character to me, and she continued to be a challenge not least because she really goes through it in Book 2, and also because so many readers seem to love her so I wanted to really to her justice. As I’ve said before, she is the character it was most important for me to get right, so I was very particular about making sure how she appears on the page is as close to how she exists in my head as I can make her. And that always takes a lot of effort, particularly with the big changes in her life that she experiences in this book.
8. In our last interview, I brought up my love for the side quests in ASOLL. They all seemed to be nuggets of information that we need to store away for another book. What is one side quest in Book 1 that we can look forward to in Book 2?
Thank you! I do loves me some side quests! (Seriously… I’m an irredeemable completionist when playing videogames, although I’m trying to wean myself off that!) Yes, a lot of them are nuggets of information for Books 2 and 3, sometimes because I had originally planned to develop that storyline in ASOLL but couldn’t quite fit it in, and sometimes just because I like to sow the seeds of plotlines early on. As a reader, I find it really satisfying when I can look back (or reread) and notice how the trail led me to where I am in the story. Without spoilers, I can say that plotlines involving certain villainous individuals (plural) will be built upon, as will aspects of the ancestral realm that were hinted at in Book 1. And some characters mentioned only briefly will become very important. I also would love to write a standalone spin-off book about a particular character from Lordsgrave, so some of those nuggets might also be expanded upon there.
9. You are currently drafting book 3 (I squealed when I saw that post). How is the draft coming along?
Thank you! At the moment, it’s the dog-in-a-burning-room “this is fine” meme! I’m totally in control of the story, honest! People usually say second books are the most difficult to write, but so far Book 3 is proving to be far and away the most challenging. I’m at the early stage of drafting, and though I know where the story is headed and most of the major plot points, there are a lot of spinning plates that I need to deal with, and figuring out how to tie everything together in a way that feels satisfying but not contrived is currently my biggest challenge. I’m quite a chaotic drafter, but I don’t really have the luxury of being able to experiment much when I’m trying to stick to a deadline, so I’m learning to balance writing quickly with feeling like I’m doing right by the characters. It feels very surreal to already be bringing this big story to a close when it’s only just stepping out into the world!
You can buy A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde by clicking on the bookshop image below or directly through Simon & Schuster. The button below is a Bookshop affiliate code that helps power this website and support the author!
M.H. Ayinde bio: M. H. Ayinde was born in London’s East End. She is a runner, a lapsed martial artist, and a screentime enthusiast. Her debut novel is A Song of Legends Lost. Her short fiction has appeared in FIYAH Literary Magazine, F&SF, Fantasy Magazine, and elsewhere, and she was the 2021 winner of the Future Worlds Prize. She lives in North London with three generations of her family and their Studio Ghibli obsession.
Leave a Reply