Anthony Peckham: I Hope That Children Get Into Trouble for Reading Too Late in Bed
Anthony Peckham is an award-winning screenwriter and novelist. His movie credits include Invictus, Sherlock Holmes, and Don’t Say A Word. He was awarded the Christopher Award and Paul Selvin Award by the Writers…
Anthony Peckham is an award-winning screenwriter and novelist. His movie credits include Invictus, Sherlock Holmes, and Don’t Say A Word. He was awarded the Christopher Award and Paul Selvin Award by the Writers Guild of America for Invictus and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Anthony was also awarded the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival Spotlight Award in 2016. His Children of the Black Glass middle-grade fantasy trilogy is published by Simon & Schuster.
Tony was born and raised in South Africa and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Cape Town in English and Classical History. He moved to California to attend film school at San Francisco State University and earned a M.A. in Film. He now lives in Hawaii with his family. Follow him on Instagram.
In this interview, Anthony discusses surprising himself to surprise his readers with his new middle-grade fantasy novel, The Law of Solitude, his advice for other writers, and more.
Name: Anthony Peckham
Book title: The Law of Solitude (Children of the Black Glass #3)
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy Books / Simon & Schuster
Expected release date: July 28, 2026
Genre/category: Middle Grade Fantasy
Previous titles: Children of the Black Glass, Winter’s Fire
Elevator pitch: Set between the end of the age of stone and the beginning of the age of steel, the three Children of the Black Glass books are dark, twisty thrillers about a brother and sister who risk their lives to save their father … then their remote village … then the enormous trading city that becomes their second home.
Also, there’s sorcery.
What prompted you to write this book?
This trilogy began as a family road trip bedtime story, inspired by an obsidian mountain we stumbled on in the Eastern Sierras. It morphed into one book, and then three books when COVID shut down all movie production in 2020.
After having me mutter and pace querulously around the house for a few weeks, my wife suggested strongly that I go in my office and write something, preferably something long and difficult and engaging. Preferably without emerging, except for meals. Maybe not then, either.
The Children of the Black Glass trilogy is the result.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
The road trip that inspired the bedtime story happened around 2003. The idea for the novel germinated in 2020. The first novel, Children of the Black Glass, came out in 2023. The second, Winter’s Fire, came out in 2025. The third and final book, The Law of Solitude, drops in July.
The general idea for the book/books stayed pretty faithful from beginning to end. The story was always set somewhere between the end of the age of stone and the beginning of the age of metal. The expanding canvas was always a brother and sister, a family, a village, and then a city in a vast land.
However, the characters, plot, themes, and action changed continuously. I like writing my characters into a corner and then seeing/figuring how they get out. I also like to surprise myself while writing because then I feel the reader might be surprised, too. Hopefully pleasantly so.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
As a new author, I was surprised at how, um, obscure the publishing process is. I was never quite sure of what would happen next or when exactly I’d be required to do more notes. Or react to a rough version of the cover art. Emails would arrive, mostly without warning, and I would have to react to them as quickly as possible.
Over the course of three books, I got used to it.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Yes! The biggest surprise was the moment I realized that this was not one book but three. It was exciting and daunting to feel the story expand and widen, like a creek suddenly becoming a torrent during a storm. Instead of resisting, I just let myself be carried away.
The other major surprise was how difficult it was (and is) to transform from long-time screenwriter to new novelist. In the beginning, I thought that “storytelling is storytelling” no matter the form. I soon realized that form changes the storytelling fundamentally and entirely.
I had much more to learn and unlearn than I expected. Luckily, I had an amazing, patient, and brilliant editor called Caitlyn Dlouhy helping me every step of the way.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
A thrilling and compelling read. I hope that children get into trouble for reading too late in bed. I hope that adults are surprised that YA fantasy can speak to their interests and hold their eye.
Also, that resilience can be learned and developed. That self-determination is an internal decision. That love and honor are never wasted.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Write for yourself, not for an imaginary editor or to anticipate a “trend.” And write what you would like to read. Please and entertain yourself.
Write every day. You get weekends off once you have a productive rhythm going. Maybe.
