Tui?

What kind of name is that? Is it short for something?

Nope. Among the many great things to come out of New Zealand (such as, for instance, my mom) is a bird called the tui—not as well known as the kiwi, but a heck of a lot noisier!

I was born July 31 in Caracas, Venezuela, and lived in Asuncion, Paraguay; Miami, Florida; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, before moving to New Jersey in high school, where I started doing theatre—mostly backstage work, because (a) it was fun, and (b) you got to hang out in the dark with cute boys. (Er, I mean . . . because it was artistically fulfilling, yes.) 🙂

I graduated from Williams College in ’98 (go Ephs!) and I currently live in Boston with my husband, my two hilarious children, an alarmingly funny ever-increasing number of snails, and our fluffball who finds us all terribly boring, Rainbow Dog (we call him Bo for short).

I was very lucky to work for a while as an editor on the publishing side of things, where I dearly loved all the authors I worked with and their wonderful books. But if you met me, you’d know that mornings are VERY MUCH not my thing and office attire is not any of my other things, and really I am best suited for a job where I can write until 4am, sleep until noon, and work in my pyjamas (ideally with a puppy nearby). 🙂 (Also, apparently I used too many smiley faces in my professional emails. Now I can use ALL THE SMILEY FACES I WANT mwa ha ha!) 🙂 🙂 🙂

Plus I had all these ideas bouncing around my head wanting to be written, so off I went to do that, and now I’ve written about 50 books for children and teens, ranging in age from sticker books and easy-to-reads to middle-grade and YA novels.

My current series is the #1 New York Times bestselling Wings of Fire series, a big epic dragon fantasy that’ll be at least fifteen books long, plus two related stand-alones and graphic novel adaptations . . . it’s the most fun, and it’s definitely been keeping me busy! 🙂

I also wrote the Menagerie trilogy with my fabulous sister Kari, the fifth book in the Spirit Animals series, and a couple of books in the Warriors and Seekers series. Click around the site to find out more!

My first novel for teenagers was called This Must Be Love, which retells Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a modern-day high school, from the POV of the two heroines, Hermia and Helena. (It’s out of print now but you might be able to find it at a library somewhere!)

I’ve also written under a bunch of different names. As “Rob Kidd” I wrote a five-book Pirates of the Caribbean spin-off series entitled Legends of the Brethren Court. I put on my “Heather Williams” hat to write two Little House on the Prairie spin-offs: Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls and Farmer Boy Goes West. And if you’re looking for my romantic beach reads for teens, check the bookshelves under “Tamara Summers” for He’s With Me, Save the Date, and my vampire murder mystery/romance Never Bite a Boy on the First Date.

Or if realistic middle grade fiction is more your thing, try my Pet Trouble series (under my real name!) for all your misbehaving puppy needs. 🙂

You can write to me via Scholastic at:

Tui Sutherland
c/o Scholastic Inc.
557 Broadway
New York, NY 10012-3999

I’m afraid I probably won’t be able to write back (see the aforementioned two hilarious children and all the book deadlines!), but I love hearing from you and seeing your amazing dragon art! You can also visit me on Instagram or check out my Events page to see if I’m coming to a bookstore (or computer screen!) near you sometime soon!