People like Tui T. Sutherland

Tui Tamara Sutherland (born July 31, 1978 in Caracas, Venezuela) is an American children's book author who has written over fifty books, both under her own name and several pen names. In 2009, she appeared as a contestant on Jeopardy!, becoming a two-day champion and winning a grand total of $46,200. Tui's books have sold over 15 million copies; she is perhaps best known for writing the Wings of Fire series of dragon fantasy novels.

Tui T. Sutherland was born on July 31, 1978 in Caracas. 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, which consisted mostly of backstage work. Obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Williams College in 1998 as well as a Master of Arts in Art History shortly after, Sutherland decided to abandoned her 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 forward "to be more far stable and lucrative". Her college thesis was about Ophelia from William Shakespeare's Hamlet.