LOTTIE SAAHKO is a Finnish, UK-based author, Instagrammer and TikToker. An early draft of Children of the Chimneytops, her middle grade manuscript flew onto our longlist in December 2024 and she began querying in early 2025. Sixteen full manuscript requests, and five agent meetings later, Lottie tells us about accepting representation and shares her pick of the best author accounts to follow on Insta and YouTube.
Congratulations on finding agent representation! Who did you choose and why?
I’m happy to announce I’ve signed with Gill Mclay from Bath Literary Agency. There are many reasons why I chose her, such as:
1. I’m part of the Golden Egg Club for children’s writers and the club regularly interviews literary agents. I watched about twenty interviews and Gill’s stood out to me most. She seemed so knowledgeable, experienced and smart. 2. When I met Gill, we talked for nearly two hours, going into ideas for sequels, chatting our favourite middle grade books, and she was so open to hear about my dreams and wishes. I felt so uplifted and empowered after talking to her! 3. I’m already traditionally published in Finland, and turns out Gill’s partner works as a scout for my Finnish publisher. 4. I had the idea for this book while visiting the Bath Children’s Literature Festival last year, and later found out that it’s founded by Gill and her husband John!
And I knew I’d made the right decision when Gill brought me a cinnamon bun to our first meeting, because that’s what the kids in my book eat. She’s just the best!
You met up with five agents before choosing Gill. How difficult was it to choose between them, and what made Gill the best agent for you?
My friend said she was the “Goldilocks” of agents, and that’s very accurate! What I mean by that is that I met five agents, some of which said the book is perfect as it is, and some asked me to rewrite nearly everything or cut parts I love. Gill saw all its strengths but also had some great ideas for making it even better. She also reminded me to believe in my story!
You mentioned on Instagram having interest from 16 agents within weeks of querying. What was that like and do you have a sense of what particularly caught their eyes query-wise?
It was wild! I sent about forty queries in total, had sixteen full manuscript requests, and met five agents. Last year, I took an “Edit and Pitch Your Novel” course by Curtis Brown Creative, and thanks to that I think my pitch letter was very good. But I think what helped, too, was stating that I was longlisted for the Bath Children’s Novel Award – I even added a few lines of feedback I received from the judges. Maybe that caught the agents’ interest?
Your opening extract and synopsis for Children of the Chimneytops flew onto the BCNA longlist, picking up a rare golden vote: “Love this! Autistic MC finding her tribe. GOLDEN YES.” What did listing mean to you?
My story means everything to me, and I think it is really special, and the fact that someone else saw it too meant the world! It inspired me to move forward so quickly too – after the longlist, I did two more rounds of edits and another round with six beta readers, and two weeks later, I started querying!
Readers loved your main character, Tilda, an eleven-year-old autistic girl with a love for Oxford’s legends, who often feels like she doesn’t quite fit in. You’ve talked about your own late diagnosis for autism. What would it have meant to eleven-year-old Lottie to have found herself represented in a novel?
For much of my childhood, I felt different and I never quite fit in either. But I never thought of myself as odd or wrong, because I had Anne Shirley and Jo March by my side. Anne was just as imaginative, creative, and outspoken as I was, and I saw myself in Jo’s love for her family and her big dreams. I hope that Tilda can one day be a friend to other girls who might feel different, and I hope she teaches them that they are only different because they are so wonderfully unique and magical!
How does your autism show up in your writing routine?
In the best ways! Autistic people are often very creative, highly organised, and tend to hyper-fixate on things that excite them. I am a meticulous planner (you should see my notebooks and spreadsheets), and once I get into a story, I can’t stop writing. I wrote this entire book during NaNoWriMo 2024, so 50,000 words in a month!
You were born in Finland, and raised in various countries around the world before finding your home in London and are passionate about ‘third culture kids’. How has being a TCK shaped you and your writing?
Moving always made me feel lost and alone, and books and stories were the one constant that didn’t change when everything else did. And when I felt hopeless, books reminded me that after rain comes sunshine, and even someone with a difficult childhood can achieve big, wonderful things. Anne Shirley, Jo March, Sara Crowe and others were the rare friends who stayed despite moving abroad, and their stories gave me hope.
Because of them, I too dreamed of writing stories that are as relatable and full of hope and light as theirs. And I’ve done just that! I’ve written three books about kids who move across countries, and Children of the Chimneytops has a TCK character too. I want kids like me to know they’re not alone and they will get through this!
During lockdown you moved in with your granddad and began writing about him. This became your debut non-fiction book, Coffee with Grandpa (Tammi, 2020) which reached the bestseller lists in Finland. What does he make of your success and what prompted you to switch to fiction?
This was such a happy accident! Having grown up everywhere but in Finland, I never thought I’d ever write in Finnish. But then, during lockdown, my grandfather started telling me these incredible stories of his childhood as a WW2 evacuee, and I knew that this would be my first book! He is of course thrilled, even though he’s not a reader himself. But I always knew I wanted to write middle grade fiction that will help kids believe in the magic around us – narrative non-fiction was a great first step to do so!
You’re part of a London writing group. How did you meet and what do you do when you meet?
There are many writing groups around London that you can find online! We just write for 2.5 hours in silence once a week and then go to the pub to talk about writing and books. Writing can be quite lonesome so this is a lovely way to meet like-minded people.
You’re very active on Tik Tok and Instagram. Which other authors’ socials do you love and why?
Jesse Sutanto, the author of Dial A For Aunties and twelve other books! Not only is she hilarious and sweet, but she also churns out multiple books a year, which inspires (and kind of intimidates) me. She has a very clear system and she often shares daily videos over those five weeks of writing. Her Instagram is @jesseqsutanto
Abbie Emmons, she creates wonderful writing advice videos on YouTube, and hosts Write With Me live streams which I always try to join because peer pressure makes me so productive, even if it’s online! Abbie is self-published. Her YouTube is Make Your Story Matter.
Another writer who is not published yet but has a wonderful YouTube channel is Christy Anne Jones. She is an Australian fantasy writer whose book is currently on submission, and she films “Write With Me” daily vlogs. Her YouTube is Christy Anne Jones.
I also want to recommend the following podcasts: Ink In Your Veins (by Rachael Herron) and The Rebel Author Podcast (by Sacha Black). Such smart women!
You book just went out on submission. Can you put into words how you’re feeling about that?
I HOPE SOMEONE ELSE LOVES THIS BOOK AS MUCH AS I DO! And honestly, this would be more than a dream come true. Getting an agent and a publisher in the UK is so hard because there is so much competition, but I can say that I’ve put my work in. I’ve written fifteen or more books so far (ten of which are published in Finland), I’ve taken five or six writing courses, I read 150 books a year, I read writing guides and listen to writing podcasts and I am part of the Golden Egg Club where we have lectures, interviews and Q&As with industry professionals every week. Now is the time!
Can you say anything about what you’re writing next?
I’m hoping I can switch to writing in English full-time at some point, but right now I’m also still writing books in Finnish. Next year I’ve got two picture books coming out in Finland (one about first love, one about neurodivergence) and potentially a narrative non-fiction about dementia. But I’m writing a middle grade about a girl gang who discover an abandoned farm in English on the side…
Lastly, any words of advice for other children’s authors thinking of entering 2025’s Bath Children’s Novel Award?
Don’t make the mistake I did and expect to NOT get longlisted. I finished my novel on the last day of November, edited the required 5000 words, entered the competition and didn’t look at my manuscript again – until I got the email saying I’ve been longlisted! Suddenly, I only had 48 hours to edit an entire novel! I think I slept about four hours in total that weekend…
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