Sam Prentice-Jones is the author of Arcana: The Lost Heirs, a Summer/Fall 2025 Indies Introduce young adult selection, and July/August 2025 Kids’ Next List pick.
Heather Albinson of Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis, Minnesota, served on the panel that selected Prentice-Jones’ book for Indies Introduce.
Albinson said of the debut, “Magical, mysterious, and queer — some of my favorite words all in one place! Arcana: The Lost Heirs, with its beautiful and fluid illustrations, is full of cryptic clues, secret histories, and found family. A delightful read.”
Prentice-Jones sat down with Albinson to discuss his debut title. This is a transcript of their discussion. You can listen to the interview on the ABA podcast, BookED.
Heather Albinson: Hi, I'm Heather. I am the events lead at Wild Rumpus Books in Minneapolis, Minnesota — which is very much on the other side of the planet from our author.
We are talking to Sam Prentice-Jones, an author/illustrator working in Brighton, UK, who graduated from Arts University Bournemouth in 2019 with a BA with Honors in Illustration, specializing in digital graphic character-based work. Sam likes to create work that celebrates diversity and queer culture, and began his career by curating a queer illustration magazine titled Poof Magazine (love that!), which ran from 2019 to 2021. Sam has created work from the world of book publishing, web design, advertising and product design, and has been featured in art fairs across the UK.
He's the author of Arcana: The Lost Heirs, the first in a graphic novel duology, which goes on sale in the US on June 24. Which — when everyone's hearing this — is today!
Sam Prentice-Jones: Oh my god, that’s so exciting!
HA: Sam, I am so excited for this conversation. We are going to do our best to keep it short, but I know it could be really long because I'm so excited about this book. I have my copy with me. You'll see it has a little piece of gold tape on it because I rated it my favorite, immediately. I was like, “This goes on like my highest ratings.”
SPJ: That is high praise.
HA: I loved it. So, instead of just talking about how much I loved it, let's get everyone on their journey towards loving this book. First, just tell me who you are. Who is Sam?
SPJ: Oh, Sam is a diva. No, so I got married recently, and in the vows of my wedding, I described both me and my husband as equally bizarre and boring. I present like I'm quite a fun, interesting person, but I'm such a grandma. I want to be in bed by 10:30; I don't really drink. I'm so not a party girl, but I am quite a bubbly, fun person. So, I keep it cute, I keep it cute.
I've always loved drawing. I've been drawing little comic books and sequential narratives, and I've been illustrating since I was a little kid. I always loved it, but it was one of those things that I didn't realize could be a career until I got to my late teens, when I started thinking about university. I thought about going into fashion, because I'd always really loved that, but it always came back to drawing and creating characters and telling stories. That was always where my passion lay. That's sort of how we ended up where we are.
HA: One of my other questions for you was talking about sequential art! Did you always want to do sequential art? It sounds like it was always kind of in the mix of things?
SPJ: Yes. Honestly, I was neck deep in the anime and manga era when I was in my teens. So, I was consuming a lot of that culture and — as kind of cringe as it sounds — so much of that showed me that comic books were so much more than a Garfield comic. It could be elevated to this adult and really artistic level. So, it started there. I was always making up characters that were mish-mashes of whatever manga or anime I was reading at the time. I would make these stories, and I would draw comic books.
It’s so funny we’re talking about this because I recently, on my Instagram, did a deep dive. And I found this really old piece of artwork from a comic book that I was working on all through my teens. It's a drawing that I did when I was maybe 13, and it is so tragic, but it's like, “Oh my God, that's who I was.” So, I did a redrawing of it — of all of these characters that I designed when I was a teenager — and it felt so full circle. Like, “Oh my God, I wrote a graphic novel. I've done what Little Baby Sam wanted to do all those years ago.” It feels so cool to have come back to where I started.
I moved away from sequential narrative for a little bit when I was at Uni, because there was a degree of looking down on comic books in my art degree. People were like, “Oh, it's a lesser art form,” and “it's not as ‘serious’ as literature.” So, I tried to move away from it because I was being taught that it wasn't as high art as other stuff could be. Then I found people who were creating sequential images and narratives that were doing it in a really artful way, people like Tillie Walden and Jon McNaught. And I was so drawn to it, that you can take this thing that originally was quite a lowbrow art form and really bring it up to a high art place. So that's where I began to fall back in love with it. Then I was just waiting for the right story to fall in my lap to finally do one myself.
HA: Yes! And to build off of what you're saying about sequential art being seen as lowbrow: I feel like anyone who enjoys sequential art, we all have a soapbox about this, because sequential art defies language. It can't be controlled. So, there is a sense of it being seen as lowbrow because it's powerful.
SPJ: It's sort of the same thing when something gets popular, it becomes lowbrow. Just because it's understood by the majority of people doesn't mean it's not high art. That's the thing about images. They're the most universally understood thing, and they get a bad rap for that.
HA: Yeah, but not your book, because it's beautiful. The inspiration for this story: what sparked it for you?
SPJ: It must have been 2021 or 2022. I was between jobs, and I didn't have any commercial work going on. I was like, “Okay, I'm going mad.” I needed to give myself a personal project to work on, and I had always wanted to design a tarot deck. I had a friend at university who was really into tarot. I was into tarot in the same way that I was into horoscopes: I liked the symbolism, but I'd never really dove properly into it. I liked it and I was interested in it, but I was never fully immersed in it. And one of the things that my friend told me was that it's a pet-peeve of hers when people redesign a tarot deck and completely wipe out all of the imagery and just do their own thing, because the imagery within the original artwork is so much a part of the reading of tarot cards. It's important that this symbol is there, and that this character looks a certain way, because that's part of the reading of it. I always really liked that, because that made reading tarot cards so much more accessible for someone who didn't have a tarot card meaning book handy at all times.
She used to read tarot by showing you the card and being like, “What do you see in this image? What are the symbols that you're seeing? What do you pull from that?”
I knew that I wanted to design a tarot deck that was really rooted in the classic imagery, so I started doing that. I was doing a lot of research into the themes of each card, what imagery was important and what had to stay, and I just kept going. I finished the Major Arcana. I still had no work, so I was like, “I guess I'll just do the rest.” That's when things really went wild, because the Major Arcana is only like 22 cards, but the rest of it is — you're just redesigning a whole deck of cards. A full tarot deck is 78 cards.
HA: That’s so many… that’s so much art!
SPJ: I got halfway through the second suit — I'd done wands, and I was halfway through cups — and I was like, “What have I done? I'm in too deep now. I can't stop.” So, I finished that. It was this really huge project that I was really, really proud of. And I figured out a way to sell them that felt like I wasn't robbing myself of all of the time.
I was like, “I have to do something with these.” Because I'd been so steeped in the imagery and the themes of each of the cards, I was like, “Wouldn't it be so cool to write a story where each chapter was a tarot card, and that chapter's content was informed by the themes of that card?” That was a really interesting starting point, and I decided I needed to come up with a cast of characters to fill this story. I was like, “Well, it's tarot cards, they obviously have to be witches.”
HA: Of course they do.
SPJ: Of course, they do. Let's be honest. I was pulling from people in my life, people who I love, people who I spent time with at school and at university, and created this cast of characters that I felt really connected to. I felt like there was a little piece of me in each of them.
I was also reading Heartstopper at the time. So I was like, “I need to put a cute little love story in this.” It became this meet-cute, turns romantasy, turns fantasy thriller. I was pulling from every genre because I wanted it to feel like a cozy little mystery that I could see people that I love in, and to fill a gap in the world that I feel has existed recently because of the actions of a certain someone.
HA: We've talked about sequential art, and now talking about the tarot, in a way, especially in the Major Arcana, there is such an actual arc. It is like sequential art with all these nuances, and so it feels so natural to want something like this.
When I first stumbled upon your book, I immediately read it. Then we started this panel, and it was on there, and I was like, “I've read this already!” Seeing it again, and looking at when readers actually get a chance to interact with this art and look at your style — it’s very stylized, it's approachable and beautiful. Even if you don't know anything about tarot, it has a sense of being rooted in this foundation of story and imagery that you've been able to hearken to. The work that you did has paid off. This is really beautiful. And not only am I excited for this book to come out, there's a sequel that's going to come…
SPJ: There might be, there might be!
HA: There had better be! By the time we get to the end of this graphic novel — no spoilers — I was so ready to turn the page and for there to be more. I was like, “It's a duology, dang it.” At the same time, this first volume is so delicious and fulfilling. It sets up your storyline really well, with each chapter being these major characters who are the Major Arcana — or the first chunk of them. I'm really excited to meet everyone else that we get to meet eventually.
SPJ: I'm really proud of this cast of characters. I feel like I can't put them down. I started trying to work on something else, and I was like, “No, Eli and James and Coco, they’re too in my body. I need to keep working with them.”
I felt so proud of the fact that I managed to create a cast of characters that I felt really connected to — I obviously have my characters who I relate to more, and so I sort of assumed that everyone would have that, but showing it to my friends and family, everyone had different favorites. That's all I could ask for, to have a little something for everyone and that they can feel seen. My wonderful agent, Casey, is such a huge fan of my character, Coco. I love having this character that's a plus-size, really brash, Japanese-heritage woman who is so unapologetic and fashionable and just a loud character. I just love that. I love that people see themselves in the characters, and I hope that more people get to see themselves in these characters.
HA: Yes, that was my last question for you. What do you hope that your readers take away from this as they enter this version of the world that you have built?
SPJ: My favorite genre of anything is: it's the normal world with one slightly different thing. It's the normal world. The magic is there, but it still feels kind of normal. It's become a part of everyday life. And I really hope that people see themselves in it, and that it helps them feel hopeful at this time. Finding community is so important, and finding people that see you for who you are and that you can be your true self with is a major theme of this book. Also holding each other accountable for your actions. I really hope that people find solace in this book, and that it gives them tools and hope. Finding community and standing together is always the best way to face troubled times.
HA: Couldn’t have said it better myself. That's wonderful. Where can we support you, see the other work you're doing, and engage with you? It is so exciting to see creators at the beginning of their book journey. So where can people find you?
SPJ: I'm only really on Instagram at the moment. I'm @samprenticejones. My website is sampranticejones.co.uk. I'll be updating it with where I'm going to be and where you can get the book. Also, I have a little shop where I sell prints and things. I'm selling limited edition RISO prints of some of my favorite panels from the books. And I sell tarot decks. I sell the tarot deck from the book. So, I hope that people come and are nice to me. I would love that.
HA: They better be nice to you, otherwise we're going to fold the ocean in half and come get them. Can we get some of your merch here in the US?
SPJ: Yeah, I'll send it over.
HA: I literally was eyeing your tarot deck. I need a fresh one and this would be very cool.
Well, this has been so fun. I feel like we could talk forever about this. It has been so exciting to get to talk to you, to connect with you, and to help booksellers connect to you so they can help readers find your book.
Keep an eye out. There are so many wonderful books out there, and it's so fun to have ones that just really stand out like this to us. A huge congrats from our whole panel. This one was a real shoo-in, we really loved it. I really loved it.
Everybody, please look for Sam's books, and keep an eye out for the second one, because we need to know how it ends. I know those things take time, so good things come to those who wait. Check out Arcana: The Lost Heirs, by Feiwel & Friends, and keep tabs on Sam. This is great, great work. Congrats!
SPJ: Thank you so much. It's been such a joy to talk to you, and I'm so passionate about the renaissance that graphic novels are having currently. Especially for readers who don't yet see themselves as readers, graphic novels are such an easy way to feel like you are partaking in literature. I am so passionate about graphic novels, and I love them all so much.
Thank you so much for shedding a light on this book. I actually can't believe that I've had such great luck. This is my first book! This is crazy, the fact that I'm getting to do all of this for my first book. You're joking. This is so cool. I feel very humbled by all of this, and I can't thank you enough.
HA: Thank you for putting this work in the world. This is like the little baby that suddenly you get to share with everybody.
SPJ: It really is! My little brood of children.
HA: Big year for you, getting married, having a first book out. Thank you for doing this interview. I hope we hear from you soon. We will. Manifesting that now. Alright, Sam, thank you so, so much.
SPJ: Thank you!
Arcana: The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones (Feiwel & Friends, 9781250290236/9781250290229, Hardcover/Paperback, YA Graphic Novel/Fantasy, $27.99/$19.99) On Sale: 6/24/2025
Find out more about the author at samprenticejones.co.uk
ABA member stores are invited to use this interview or any others in our series of Q&As with Indies Introduce debut authors in newsletters and social media and in online and in-store promotions. Please let us know if you do.