Tui Tamara Sutherland (born July 31, 1978 in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, Venezuela) is an American children's book author who has written more than 50 books under her own name and under several

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

s. In 2009, she appeared as a contestant on '' Jeopardy!'', becoming a two-day champion and winning a grand total of $46,200. Sutherland's books have sold over 15 million copies; she is perhaps best known for writing the ''Wings of Fire'' series of dragon fantasy novels.

Early life, education and literary career

Tui T. Sutherland was born on July 31, 1978 in

. Her mother, who was from New Zealand, named her after the tui, a bird native to that country. Sutherland lived in Asuncion, Miami, and Santo Domingo for short periods before moving to New Jersey in high school. While in high school she began doing theater, mostly backstage work. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Williams College in 1998, writing her college thesis about Ophelia from William Shakespeare's '' Hamlet,'' then earned a Master of Arts in Art History. Sutherland abandoned ideas of a career in theater in favor of writing children's books after "she partook in creative writing courses over six months in New Zealand", a decision she half-joked allowed her career path "to be more far stable and lucrative". Sutherland began her professional literary career as an editor in Brooklyn, New York, at

Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. Today, through the Penguin Gro ...

, then at HarperCollins; she rose to initial notoriety after becoming a member of the Erin Hunter team alongside Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary and Cherith Baldry on the popular ''Warriors'' and ''Seekers'' series, from the perspective of

cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

and bears respectively. Her initial success during this time, coupled with what she learned about the inside workings of the publishing industry, helped her build the courage to publish books of her own and to eventually quit her position as an editor to write full-time. Her first solo work, ''This Must Be Love'' (a retelling of ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

''), was published in 2004. Sutherland wrote books under her actual name (or an initialized variation) and under pseudonyms and

s, including Tamara Summers, Heather Williams, and Rob Kidd. After releasing the eighth and final installment in her dog-oriented ''Pet Trouble'' series, Sutherland pitched the editing team at

Scholastic Inc. Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

about writing an epic fantasy series starring dragons as the heroes. With Amanda Maciel as her editor, the first ''Wings of Fire'' book was released on July 1, 2012, to generally positive critical reviews, as did subsequent entries; the series gradually amassed a substantial

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

and became an international bestseller.

Personal life

Sutherland grew up sharing original ideas and exploring the

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

with her younger sister Kari. She married her husband Adam in October 2007, and the two live in Watertown (in the greater Boston area) with their two children, Jonah (born 2010) and Elliot (born 2012). Though she has generally refrained from revealing private details about her life in her frequent public events, Sutherland's religious background has been noted. Sutherland is known to borrow influences from a variety of religious traditions and backgrounds; she "attended a Baptist missionary school in Paraguay, studied Buddhism in college" and is raising her children within a dual

Judeo-Christian The term Judeo-Christian is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's borrowing of Jewish Scripture to constitute the "Old Testament" of the Christian Bible, or ...

context, having "married a wonderful Jewish man". Though she has woven philosophical and spiritual aspects from a variety of sources into her work, she has also said that "religion isn't something talked about as freely" in her daily life, instead hoping that her writing can open up discussions among readers and pose questions to contemplate in the freer, larger-than-life fantasy worlds she creates. Sutherland has drawn inspiration from locations she has visited over the years, including the Waitomo Caves in New Zealand and the Amber Palace in India. A long-time fan of '' Jeopardy!'', she named the sixth dog in the ''Pet Trouble'' series after it. In 2009, she was a two-day champion on the show, winning a total of $46,200 over three episodes; the first two games she won by a fine margin, whereas she lost the latter game by not wagering enough money on the final clue; had she wagered everything, she would have won the game.

Books

* ''Kermit's Mixed-Up Valentines'' (January 2, 2001, with Emily Sollinger; Out of Print) * ''Meet Mo and Ella'' (February 1, 2001; Out of Print) * ''Fun with Mo and Ella'' (February 1, 2002; Out of Print) * ''Who Was Harry Houdini?'' (July 1, 2002, as Tui Sutherland; Out of Print) * ''This Must Be Love'' (September 1, 2004; Out of Print) * ''Avatars: So This Is How It Ends'' (October 1, 2006, ''Avatars'' Book #1; Out of Print) * ''Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - The Junior Novelization'' (April 10, 2007, ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' Junior Book #3; Out of Print) * ''He's With Me'' (May 1, 2007, as Tamara Summers; Out of Print) * ''Warriors: Secrets of the Clans'' (May 29, 2007, as Erin Hunter, ''Warriors'' Companion Book #1) * ''Nellie Oleson meets Laura Ingalls'' (September 1, 2007, as Heather Williams; Out of Print) * ''Avatars: Shadow Falling'' (October 1, 2007, ''Avatars'' Book #2; Out of Print) * ''Save the Date'' (April 29, 2008, as Tamara Summers; Out of Print) * ''Seekers: The Quest Begins'' (May 27, 2008, as Erin Hunter, ''Seekers'' Book #1) * ''Kingdom of Twilight'' (October 1, 2008, ''Avatars'' Book #3; Out of Print) * ''Legends of the Brethren Court: The Caribbean'' (October 14, 2008, as Rob Kidd, ''Legends of the Brethren Court'' Book #1; Out of Print) * ''Legends of the Brethren Court: The East'' (December 9, 2008, as Rob Kidd, ''Legends of the Brethren Court'' Book #2; Out of Print) * ''Legends of the Brethren Court: The Turning Tide'' (March 17, 2009, as Rob Kidd, ''Legends of the Brethren Court'' Book #3; Out of Print) * ''Pet Trouble: Runaway Retriever'' (April 1, 2009, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #1) * ''Pet Trouble: Loudest Beagle on the Block'' (April 1, 2009, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #2) * ''Seekers: Smoke Mountain'' (May 14, 2009, as Erin Hunter, ''Seekers'' Book #3) * ''Pet Trouble: Mud-Puddle Poodle'' (July 1, 2009, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #3) * ''Legends of the Brethren Court: Wild Waters'' (August 18, 2009, as Rob Kidd, ''Legends of the Brethren Court'' Book #4; Out of Print) * "Skittering" (''Half-Minute Horrors'', Short Story Anthology, August 25, 2009; Out of Print) * ''Never Bite a Boy on the First Date'' (September 16, 2009, as Tamara Summers; Out of Print) * ''Legends of the Brethren Court: Day of the Shadow'' (November 1, 2009, as Rob Kidd, ''Legends of the Brethren Court'' Book #5; Out of Print) * ''Pet Trouble: Bulldog Won't Budge'' (November 1, 2009, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #4) * ''Pet Trouble: Oh No, Newf!'' (February 1, 2010, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #5) * ''Pet Trouble: Smarty-Pants Sheltie'' (May 1, 2010, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #6) * ''Seekers: Fire in the Sky'' (May 11, 2010, as Erin Hunter'', Seekers Book #5)'' * ''Pet Trouble: Bad to the Bone Boxer'' (August 1, 2010, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #7) * ''Pet Trouble: Dachshund Disaster'' (November 1, 2010, as T.T. Sutherland, ''Pet Trouble'' Book #8) * ''Farmer Boy Goes West'' (February 14, 2012 as Heather Williams; Out of Print) * ''Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy'' (July 1, 2012, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #1) * ''Wings of Fire: The Lost Heir'' (January 1, 2013, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #2) * ''The Menagerie'' (March 12, 2013, with Kari Sutherland, ''The Menagerie'' Book #1) * ''Wings of Fire: The Hidden Kingdom'' (May 28, 2013, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #3) * ''Wings of Fire: The Dark Secret'' (October 29, 2013, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #4) * "The Incredibly Important True Story of Me!" (''Lucky Dog: Twelve Tales of Rescued Dogs'', Short Story Anthology, January 28, 2014; Out of Print) * ''The Menagerie: Dragon on Trial'' (March 11, 2014, with Kari Sutherland, ''The Menagerie'' Book #2) * ''Wings of Fire: The Brightest Night'' (March 25, 2014, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #5) * ''Spirit Animals: Against the Tide'' (September 30, 2014, ''Spirit Animals'' Book #5) * ''Wings of Fire: Moon Rising'' (December 30, 2014, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #6) * ''The Menagerie: Kraken on Trial'' (March 10, 2015, with Kari Sutherland, ''The Menagerie'' Book #3) * ''Wings of Fire: Winglets #1 - Prisoners'' (March 31, 2015, ''Wings of Fire'' Short Story #1) * ''Wings of Fire: Winter Turning'' (June 30, 2015, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #7) * ''Wings of Fire: Winglets #2 - Assassin'' (September 29, 2015, ''Wings of Fire'' Short Story #2) * ''Wings of Fire: Escaping Peril'' (December 29, 2015, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #8) * ''Wings of Fire: Winglets #3 - Deserter'' (March 29, 2016, ''Wings of Fire'' Short Story #3) * ''Wings of Fire: Legends - Darkstalker'' (June 28, 2016, ''Wings of Fire'' ''Legends'' Special Edition #1) * ''Wings of Fire - A Winglets Collection: The First Three Stories'' (September 1, 2016, ''Wings of Fire'' Compilation of ''Prisoners'', ''Assassin'' and ''Deserter''; Limited Print) * ''Wings of Fire: Winglets #4 - Runaway'' (September 27, 2016, ''Wings of Fire'' Short Story #4) * ''Wings of Fire: Talons of Power'' (December 27, 2016, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #9) * ''Wings of Fire: Darkness of Dragons'' (July 25, 2017, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #10) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: The Dragonet Prophecy'' (January 2, 2018, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #1) * ''Wings of Fire: The Lost Continent'' (June 26, 2018, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #11) * ''Wings of Fire: The Hive Queen'' (December 26, 2018, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #12) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: The Lost Heir'' (February 26, 2019, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #2) * ''Wings of Fire: The Winglets Flip Book'' (April 27, 2019, ''Wings of Fire'' Compilation of ''Assassin'' and ''Deserter''; Limited Print) * ''Wings of Fire: The Poison Jungle'' (July 30, 2019, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #13) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: The Hidden Kingdom'' (October 15, 2019, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #3) * ''Wings of Fire: Legends - Dragonslayer'' (March 3, 2020, ''Wings of Fire'' ''Legends'' Special Edition #2) * ''Wings of Fire: The Winglets Quartet - The First Four Stories'' (October 6, 2020, ''Wings of Fire'' Compilation of ''Prisoners'', ''Assassin'', ''Deserter'' and ''Runaway'') * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: The Dark Secret'' (December 29, 2020, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #4) * ''Wings of Fire: The Dangerous Gift'' (March 2, 2021, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #14) * ''Wings of Fire: Forge Your Dragon World'' (May 4, 2021, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Activity Book) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: The Brightest Night'' (December 28, 2021 with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #5) * ''Wings of Fire: The Flames of Hope'' (April 5, 2022, ''Wings of Fire'' Book #15) * ''Wings of Fire: The Official Coloring Book'' (April 5, 2022, with Brianna C. Walsh, ''Wings of Fire'' Activity Book) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: Moon Rising'' (December 27, 2022, with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #6) * ''Wings of Fire: A Guide to the Dragon World'' (October 3, 2023, ''Wings of Fire'' Companion Book) * ''Wings of Fire: How to Draw'' (November 7, 2023, with Brianna C. Walsh, ''Wings of Fire'' Activity Book) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: Winter Turning'' (TBA with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #7) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: Escaping Peril'' (TBA with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #8) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: Talons of Power'' (TBA with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #9) * ''Wings of Fire - The Graphic Novel: Darkness of Dragons'' (TBA with Mike Holmes, ''Wings of Fire'' Graphic Novel #10) Note: All books credited as Tui T. Sutherland unless otherwise stated.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Tui American children's writers 1978 births Living people Jeopardy! contestants Warriors (novel series) Williams College alumni Venezuelan emigrants to the United States American women children's writers People from Caracas 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers Fantasy writers