I got the idea for Wolf Hour back in 2019, just after querying my first novel Embers, while listening to the radio driving home from a visit to my grandmother in Sweden. A number of wolf hybrids had been reported in Sweden in the past year – cross breeds with a very wolflike resemblance, many of them imported from the States. Some months later a mini docu-series aired on Swedish radio, all about the rising trend of wolfdog hybrids. The hybrids caused a good deal of controversy, many of them breaking free from their enclosures and scaring neighbours, especially other pet owners. The news lingered in my mind – I wondered what it might be like to have such a wolflike creature as a domestic animal. What were the risks, how would you know what could trigger the wild wolf within, and most specifically – what it would feel like to be a hunter tasked to track and shoot these creatures?

The novel changed form (as all novels do) drastically through the drafting process. My male main character in his thirties became a queer woman in her early twenties. Characters came and went, the reasoning behind the murders changed. Most importantly, the novel became more than just a story about wolves, but a reflection on Swedish rural society: the hunting culture, the love hate relationship between people and wolves, the widespread impact of gang violence, and a young woman’s struggle to be understood by her family and community.