Lottie Saahko: ‘Even if you want to teach a child something, you should first and foremost write a good story’
BY Maya Fernandes
24th Sep 2026
In this interview Lottie Saahko, author of the debut adventure story Lumi and the Wolf, shares her advice on writing for younger readers.
'My parents always read to me at night before I began reading myself, and because we moved so often, many of my best friends were fictional. But there were many questions unanswered in books at the time.'
We caught up with Lottie to discuss her time studying with us, her views on social media and her approach to character development.
Lumi and the Wolf is an epic adventure about an autistic girl who leads a wolf through the wilderness of Lapland to save him from hunters. What did you enjoy most about developing Lumi as a character, and what challenges did you face in bringing her to life on the page?
It was an adventure for me, too. From starting in third-person past tense and struggling to portray Lumi’s thinking patterns, to switching to first-person present tense, which allowed me to show exactly what she thinks about the world and how she sees it in pictures and stories. The switch to first person made all the difference, because it helped me to communicate her misunderstandings, but also the way she sees beauty in the world. Lumi’s sensitivity, determination and love for nature and art are very much based on me, but she’s her own character. Now she has a very distinct voice that I’m very proud of!
The novel is set against the frozen wilderness of Lapland. How did the landscape and environment shape the way you wrote the story? Did you have this strong sense of place in your imagination before the plot began to take shape?
Yes – but I got things wrong. I’m from Finland but was raised all around the world, which helps me see and appreciate my home country from an outsider’s point of view. That made it easy to write about all the things I love: nature, wildlife, the distinct seasons, sauna, ice-swimming, folklore and more. But I also sold the book on a partial and wrote it quite quickly, which means the proofs were printed before I had ever been above the Arctic Circle in winter. I got to experience it after the proofs were sent out and realised I got many details wrong, like the size of the trees (Lapland’s trees are meagre!) and the darkness (it never gets completely dark because the snow reflects every bit of light). So, I still made quite a few changes after!
Whilst Lumi and the Wolf is your first English novel, you also have thirteen books published in Finnish. Across your work, you explore themes including neurodivergence, third-culture identity, belonging and our relationship with nature. What advice would you give to writers who want to write for younger readers, particularly when tackling important themes like the ones in your books?
As a child, I learned a lot from books. My parents always read to me at night before I began reading myself, and because we moved so often, many of my best friends were fictional. But there were many questions unanswered in books at the time: like what it means to move abroad, where you belong if you don’t have a steady home, or what it means if your grandparent starts getting confused. That’s why I wanted to write about these themes, among others.
My advice is that even if you want to teach a child something, to first and foremost write a good story. Children and their grown-ups read books for the fun plots and interesting characters, and rarely for the lessons behind them.
You are very active on social media and involved in the world of Bookstagram. Do you think that helped your publishing process?
Definitely. I review over a hundred children’s books every year and follow the industry with interest. That’s where I picked up many of the ideas and techniques I later used in my own book: we meet the wolf in chapter one, and the chapters are super short and with cliffhangers because of children’s short attention spans nowadays. My book also has entries from Lumi’s Forest Diary to break up the prose. Those are methods that work for today’s readers. Being active on social media also means I have a lot of online friends who have been incredible at shouting about the book online, even months before publication!
You studied with us on our Edit & Pitch Your Novel – Advanced and Novel-Writing Intensive courses in 2024. What was the most important lesson you learned from us?
I don’t think I would’ve ever got an agent without Curtis Brown Creative! I’ve told everyone who’s asked me about querying to take one of your courses. You taught me that there’s a method to query letters – and when I queried, nearly half of the agents requested a full manuscript! And now that I have an agent, I’ve still been using the same methods to write submission letters for publishers. Thank you for teaching me how to pitch!
Many of our students find lifelong writing friends on our courses. Are you still in touch with anyone you met on the course?
Yes, we still have a WhatsApp group where everyone is very supportive of each other’s successes!
And finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I have had a whirlwind of a publishing year. Not only is Lumi and the Wolf coming out in 2026, but I’ve also published a dementia memoir and two picture books in Finnish, and I have one more Finnish book coming out in November. It’s a highly illustrated non-fiction about autism for girls written in diary format. I really hope I can find a UK home for it, too! But my deal with Hachette is a two-book deal, so I’m now working on book two. And I always have a plethora of ideas ready to go . . .
I can be found on Instagram as @lottiesaahko and on my website.
Get your hands on a copy of Lumi and the Wolf – out now with Starboard (Hachette).
Lottie was a student on our Edit & Pitch Your Novel – Advanced and Novel-Writing Intensive courses in 2024.
The books linked in this blog can be found on our Bookshop.org shop front. Curtis Brown Creative receive 10% whenever someone buys from our bookshop.org page.