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Interview: March 2010

T.T. Sutherland is a prolific author who has written a number of books under the pen names Erin Hunter, Tamara Summers and Heather Williams. In this interview with Kidsreads.com’s Donna Volkenannt, Sutherland discusses her latest work, OH NO, NEWF!, the fifth installment in her Pet Trouble series, and describes how --- from watching “Dogs 101” to getting a part-time job as a dog walker --- she researched the animals she portrays in her books. She also talks about her own furry friend, Sunshine, recounts a recent experience as a contestant on “Jeopardy!” and shares details about future books currently in the works.

Kidsreads.com: Yeti, the lovable dog in OH NO, NEWF!, is a huge black-and-white Newfoundland. Previous books in the Pet Trouble series have featured a golden retriever, a beagle, a bulldog and a poodle. How do you choose which breed to feature in each book?

T.T. Sutherland: Great question! It’s hard, actually, because there are so many terrific breeds, and I would love to write about all of them! I spent a lot of time talking to my editor about which dogs to start with, and we decided to go with some of the most popular dog breeds, like the golden retriever, since they’re so lovable. I also gave her story ideas for a few different breeds so she could pick based on which story she liked best…we were both pretty excited about the singing beagle and the way-too-big Newfoundland right from the start. And of course, I had to do a book about a poodle --- I grew up with miniature poodles, and my little dog Sunshine is ¾ poodle, so they’re the dog breed I know best, and I love them!

KRC: Heidi Tyler, the main human character in OH NO, NEWF!, is knowledgeable about almost everything related to dogs. What resources do you use when writing the series, and how do you research to make sure the details in your books are accurate?

TTS: One of the reasons I love working on these books is that the research is so much fun! I did some breed-specific research --- for instance, by watching “Dogs 101” and reading about beagles or bulldogs online --- and I also did some training research by watching “It’s Me or the Dog” with Victoria Stilwell, who is my favorite TV dog trainer. Plus I found some great YouTube videos of dogs escaping from crates or fences (for RUNAWAY RETRIEVER), beagles howling (for LOUDEST BEAGLE ON THE BLOCK) and bulldogs skateboarding (for BULLDOG WON’T BUDGE), which was actually really helpful for writing specific moments in the books.

But most of my research involved hanging out with real live dogs…I got a part-time job walking dogs and helping out at an awesome dog daycare center near me (kind of like Bark & Ride in the books) so I could spend time with as many different kinds of dogs as possible. That way, I could imagine different dogs in the leading roles of the stories --- otherwise I probably would have been describing my own dog over and over again!

KRC: Heidi is obsessed with dogs and loves to read. Several books, including classics about dogs, are mentioned in OH NO, NEWF! What were some of your favorite books growing up?

TTS: I loved books about dogs, too, like Heidi does! I also read almost everything I could get my hands on. A WRINKLE IN TIME and ENDER’S GAME were two of my favorites; I also loved the Nancy Drew mysteries, the Black Stallion books, anything by Louisa May Alcott, and everything by Roald Dahl (especially THE WITCHESand MATILDA). I adored Richard Peck’s books about Blossom Culp, like THE GHOST BELONGED TO ME, and I remember loving THE WESTING GAME, too. I still read a lot of YA books --- nowadays my favorite authors would have to include Sharon Creech, Diana Wynne Jones, Philip Pullman and Megan Whalen Turner.

KRC: I’m certain you are asked this question frequently, but I think readers would be interested in learning more about your first name, Tui. Would you mind sharing with us what Tui means?

TTS: Sure! It’s actually a kind of bird that only lives in New Zealand --- like the kiwi, except tuis are smaller and can fly. They’re a dark purple-blue-black color with a tuft of white feathers under the chin, and they’re known for making a lot of hilarious weird noises. My mom is from New Zealand and she knew someone named Tui, so that’s how my parents came up with it; they liked the idea of a really unusual name…and it does make me easy to Google!

KRC: It is obvious you are a dog lover. Your yoodle Sunshine has her own blog. What is a yoodle, and what can you tell us about Sunshine?

TTS: Sunshine is the sweetest, smartest dog in the world. J She loves to snuggle with us or chase tennis balls outside, and she’s a total genius at agility training, where we race her through obstacle courses with tunnels and jumps and teeter-totters and stuff like that. It’s hilarious to watch her in action! We call her a yoodle because she’s ¼ Yorkshire terrier and ¾ poodle, although the official term is yorkie-poo --- but we think “yoodle” really suits her. J She has so much personality and energy that I figured she really should get her own blog…especially since my blog has often been taken over by lots of photos of her!

KRC: According to your website, like Heidi, you have visited several exotic countries. What are some of the most interesting ones you have visited?

TTS: Well, I grew up in South America --- mainly Venezuela and Paraguay, with a couple of years in the Dominican Republic as well --- so we traveled a lot down there. I loved Peru, especially Machu Picchu and the other ruins nearby. My favorite kind of traveling involves ancient civilizations and climbing around on old ruins, imagining what it was like to live there thousands of years ago, so probably the countries I’ve loved the most were Greece, Egypt, Italy and India (the last two have amazing food as well, which is something else I love!).

One of the places we went on our honeymoon was Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and that was pretty incredible, too. And then of course there’s New Zealand, which is maybe my favorite place in the world; I would happily live there if it weren’t so far from everyone I know!

KRC: According to your blog, you once appeared on “Jeopardy!”. What can you tell us about your experience on the game show?

TTS: It was probably the most fun thing I’ve ever done --- I wish I could go back and keep playing! I wrote a couple of long blog entries about the experience, but the short version is that it was a big adventure. I’ve always loved the show, so I decided to take the online test for fun, and I was thrilled when they called me for an in-person audition. And then, when they called to tell me I was on the show, I couldn’t even believe it…I literally burst into tears, I was so excited. After that call, I had about three weeks to prepare, but I had been sort of studying since I took the first test, so I felt as ready as I probably could be.

I ended up winning two games and then losing the third game to a super-lovely librarian, so that made me feel better…if I had to lose to someone, at least it was a librarian, right? And I got categories about some of my favorite things, like Shakespeare, so that felt very lucky to me. Plus everyone who works on the show is SO nice that it made the whole experience even more awesome. I definitely recommend trying out --- even the audition process was fun!

KRC: What advice do you have for young readers who want to become writers?

TTS: I’m afraid my advice is the same as every author’s: read a lot, and write a lot! The more you write, the better you’ll get at it, and the more you read, the more you’ll figure out what kind of stories you like and what you think makes a good book. When I’m working on a book, what I try to do is make myself write at least one sentence a day, no matter how busy I am or what else is going on. That way, even if that’s all I have time for, eventually I will end up with a finished draft! (Although writing one sentence usually leads to writing more, which is a good trick.)

A lot of authors have great books about writing that are really helpful, too --- I especially love Jane Yolen’s TAKE JOY and Stephen King’s ON WRITING, which get into more specifics about characters and plotting and all of that.

KRC: I read on your blog that you’re expecting a new member of your family. Has the big day arrived, or do you have any news to report?

TTS: Yes! My husband and I just had our first baby a few weeks ago, a little boy named Jonah --- we are SO excited and still kind of awestruck that there’s now a tiny new person living with us. We feel like we could just spend the whole day watching him make hilarious faces. I’m hoping he likes to read so one day I can write some books just for him.

KRC: What are you working on now?

TTS: Well, right now I’m mostly working on taking care of Jonah --- I planned my schedule so I could take a few months off from my writing deadlines to hang out with the baby. But I have about a billion ideas that I want to work on once I have time! I’d love to write a sequel to my vampire book that came out last year (NEVER BITE A BOY ON THE FIRST DATE), and I have some ideas about superheroes and dragons that I’ve been turning over in my head for a while. And of course, it would be great to get to write more Pet Trouble books --- I turned in the manuscripts for books 7 and 8 (a boxer and a dachshund) before Jonah arrived, and with luck, I would love to keep going with the series so I can write about other kinds of dogs!