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I Am Wolf is an idea that’s been bouncing around my head for ages, in a few different forms. I loved the thought of these huge mechanical beasts roaming the land, carrying their crews on their backs, fighting and roaring and all driven to believe in the same thing – Wolf, Wolf, Wolf! But I didn’t have a character to push it forward, until Coll came along.

Sometimes, if you’re really lucky, characters just arrive in your head ready to go. It’s like a knock at the door and when you open it, there they are, tapping their watch, saying, “Hurry up and put me in your book already!” Coll was like that. From the moment he appeared, I knew all about him. Coll is strong, tall, a bit hot-headed, sometimes grumpy, maybe not the smartest, but very loyal and brave, with a prosthetic arm and leg. And that was him – and I just knew that he was the star of the story.

But I also knew that I had to do him justice.

Representation really matters. Everyone should be able to see themselves as the hero of their stories. Coll is the hero of this story and his limb difference is one part of him, but not the point of him. I hope I told it right. But I don’t have a limb difference, or personal experience to draw on. I knew I would need help to make Coll feel real to people who actually understood what it was like.

Fortunately, my publishers Nosy Crow were brilliant. They understood how important it was to be authentic and reached out to some amazing organisations who support kids with limb differences, like LimbBo Foundation https://limbbofoundation.co.uk/ and Finding Your Feet https://findingyourfeet.net/. I shared Coll’s story with them, and they took time and care to help me understand the things I’d missed or got wrong. Thank you, all of you – you made Coll real.

In particular, huge thanks to Jane Hewitt, who invited us to the LimbBo Adventure Day where I got to meet and chat with kids and hear about their experiences. Coll’s prosthetics are more advanced than the ones currently available, but there is incredible progress being made all the time. And watching wearers adapt even simple mechanisms to perform complicated manoeuvres was extraordinary. Thank you everyone for your patience and humour as I pestered you with endless tech questions – you made my geeky heart very happy!

And while I’m thanking people… Thank you so much Zöe Griffiths, my editor, for your enthusiasm, guidance and determination to do right by Coll. The cover was designed by Ray Tierney and illustrated by Karítas Gunnarsdóttir, and it is UNBELIEVABLY COOL – thank you!

But there are so many more people involved in turning my scribbles into something sensible! So if you’ve ever wondered who does what, Wolf also involved…

Kirsty Stansfield, Fiction Publishing Director

Halimah Manan, Assistant Editor

Jennie Roman, Copyeditor

Jessica White, Proofreader

Sîan Taylor, Publicist

Ian Lamb, Marketer

Xeni Soteriou, Digital Marketer

Lara Kelly, Digital Marketer

Stephanie McClelland, Production Controller

(and many more – thank you!)

Thanks also to all the people around me for help and encouragement – the good folks of Visible Ink, Adam and everyone at Argonaut Books (which you should check out if you find yourself in Edinburgh), my agent Caroline Montgomery, who somehow stays calm whenever I’m flapping around, and to the Scottish Book Trust – your support has allowed me to visit schools and libraries across the country and chat to kids I’d never get to meet otherwise. And Catherine – always, and for everything.

Alastair

Edinburgh, 2023