They were often stark and a bit haunted and I tried to capture that atmosphere within Don’t Call the Wolf. My main inspiration came from memories of reading Polish books with my Grandmother-especially the artwork. On the other hand, the spooky, haunted atmosphere evolved thematically with every draft. On the one hand, I really wanted to be faithful to the fairy-tale structure, so those elements developed very sequentially. I really wanted the world of the story to feel lived in but still a bit unknown, like we were experiencing it for the first time together-almost as tourists instead of readers.īecause you bring in so many different stories and creatures, did this book come sequentially or thematically? In the final version, these wonderful creatures are still occasionally referenced, but left mysterious on purpose.
There were really fun creatures like zmora, banniks, and kikimoras -almost all of them carried whole scenes in early drafts. Believe it or not, there were way more monsters in early versions of the book. Were there any tales that didn’t quite make it onto the page? Instead of being based on any one legend, the Wolf-Lords were my imagined take on a mountain-dwelling, dragon-slaying culture. I also invented some of my own mythologies to complement the traditional tales-for example, Lukasz comes from a race of Dragon-Slayers, known as Wolf-Lords. To do that, I tried to choose folk tales that would balance Polish elements with ones that felt more familiar-like having distinctly Polish creatures mixed with familiar ones, like dragons. I wanted the story to feel familiar in its themes, but culturally distinct at the same time. It was hard! My goal was to showcase Polish folklore and culture, but to do it within the framework of a traditional fairy-tale quest. How did you decide which folk tales to weave together into this story? Thank you so much for having me on your blog- I am so excited to talk about Don’t Call the Wolf!
In this interview, Ross touches on her favorite scenes, the myths that didn’t make it onto the page, and books she’s looking forward to.
Inspired by the “Glass Mountain,” this young adult fantasy draws on Polish folklore and features dragons, shape-shifting lynx queens, and a soldier wanting to bring his brothers home. I am beyond excited to celebrate and talk to Aleksandra Ross, debut author of Don’t Call the Wolf.
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