Karah Sutton is a former bookseller and a current writer, bird watcher, and Baba Yaga enthusiast. Her debut middle grade fantasy adventure A Wolf for a Spell is inspired by her Russian heritage and the fairytales that have enchanted her since childhood. Karah also works in marketing for the video game industry, and has had the pleasure of working with some of the world’s most respected and well-loved entertainment companies including Disney, DreamWorks, Fox, and Cartoon Network. A dual American/New Zealand citizen, she splits her time between her home town in Kentucky and Wellington, New Zealand.
1. Tell us about your recent publications/projects?
A Wolf for a Spell publishes on September 22 from Knopf Books for Young Readers (Random House Childrens’ Books). It follows a wolf, a witch, and a human girl in a world where characters and creatures from different Russian fairy tales intersect. When a wolf named Zima is tricked into trading places with the witch Baba Yaga, she must learn magic and human ways to break the spell and stop the hunt that threatens her pack. But soon she’ll discover an evil that threatens wolves, witches, and villagers, and must find a way to unite them to stop it.
2. What has been the best publishing or SF community experience of your career so far?
The day I’m looking forward to the most will be when my nieces and nephews can read the finished book. But until then, definitely an incredible moment was when I received the news that the American Booksellers’ Association named A Wolf for a Spell as one of their top reads for 2020. As a former bookseller, having that support from indie bookshops was really a dream come true!
3. Which recent Australian/NZ work would you recommend to international fans interested in expanding their Antipodean spec fic knowledge?
I have to recommend the graphic novels of Katie O’Neill, including The Tea Dragon Society and Princess Princess Ever After. I love the way she makes fantasy tropes feel fresh and new. It brings such wholesome joy to read them and make me feel like a kid again.
Australian SF Snapshot Project 