Erin Hunter

Erin Hunter is a pseudonym used by the authors Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and Tui Sutherland, along with editor Victoria Holmes, four different people. Under this pen name, they have written two series of books. They are best known for the Warriors series, but the authors have also created another similar series called Seekers. The pseudonym was created because using various names on the books would mean that the books would be shelved in different places in libraries, making them harder to find. The name Hunter was chosen because it fitted the theme of feral cats in Warriors; as well, it would be shelved close to books by Brian Jacques, an author that the writers like.

Kate Cary, Victoria Holmes, and Cherith Baldry live in the UK, and Tui Sutherland lives in the United States. Each of the authors play a different role: while Holmes creates the storyline of each book, Cary, Baldry, and Sutherland take turns writing the books. Sutherland is the newest Erin Hunter of the group and writes mostly for the Seekers series (which is about bears, rather than cats); she has written fewer Warriors books, with all of them being field guides.

As well, another person who is not an Erin Hunter writes the manga: Dan Jolley.

History

In 2003, HarperCollins asked Victoria Holmes to write a fantasy series about feral cats, but, being more interested in dogs and not a reader of fantasy, she was less than enthusiastic. After writing one storyline, Kate Cary was brought in to write the book as Holmes went behind the scenes to supervise details and edit the book. Then on the third book, Forest of Secrets (Warriors) Cherith Baldry joined Erin Hunter. Later, after Tui wrote the first special edition of Warriors, she became the fourth Erin Hunter.

The name Erin Hunter was chosen for a few reasons. First, if the authors used all of their own names, the books would be placed in different places in a library making them hard to find. Also, the name "Hunter" relates to their topic of feral cats living in the wild. The name "Hunter" also placed them close with Brian Jacques, author of the Redwall series which has a similar story to Warriors.

Authors

Victoria Holmes

Holmes was the original author of the series with HarperCollins requesting her to write the series. After inviting Kate Cary to do the actual writing of the book, she moved behind the scenes to help edit and supervise the details.

Holmes grew up on a farm in England. She was born on the July 7, 1974, and learned how to ride horses at two. Later she attended Oxford University. There, the buildings "inspired an interest in history". She now lives in London where she works as the editor for the series.

On April 5, 2011, Bookperk, a site that offers special deals on books, ran a special for signed copies of Warriors: Omen of the Stars #4: Sign of the Moon. Because Erin Hunter is not an actual person, these books were signed by Victoria Holmes on behalf of the created persona.

Kate Cary

Kate was the second author brought on board to write for the series. Holmes chose Cary to write the first book after Holmes had finished one storyline. In the first series she wrote Into the Wild, Fire and Ice and Rising Storm. In the second series (The New Prophecy) she only wrote Dawn, the third book. In the third series (Power Of Three) she wrote The Sight, Dark River and Eclipse. In the most recent series(Omen of The Stars) she wrote Fading Echoes.

She was born in England on November 4, 1967. She later moved to Scotland where she lived for 12 years before going back to England where she currently resides. Besides the Warriors series she has also written the books Bloodline and the sequel Reckoning. 67u890-

Cherith Baldry

Cherith was the third author brought in to the Erin Hunter team. Holmes invited her to join on the third book, Forest of Secrets after seeing her writing style feeling that it was similar to Erin Hunter's.

Tui Sutherland

Sutherland was born in Caracas, Venezuela, but now lives in the United States which makes her the only non-British author of the series. She now lives in Boston and first wrote the field guide Secrets of the Clans.

Works

Warriors

Warriors (original series) Into the Wild (2003) (Kate Cary) Fire and Ice (2003) (Kate Cary) Forest of Secrets (2003) (Cherith Baldry) Rising Storm (2004) (Kate Cary) A Dangerous Path (2004) (Cherith Baldry) The Darkest Hour (2004) (Cherith Baldry) Warriors: The New Prophecy Midnight (2005) (Cherith Baldry) Moonrise (2005) (Cherith Baldry) Dawn (2006) (Kate Cary) Starlight (2006) (Cherith Baldry) Twilight (2006) (Cherith Baldry) Sunset (2007) (Cherith Baldry) Warriors: Power of Three The Sight (2007) (Kate Cary) Dark River (2007) (Kate Cary) Outcast (2008) (Cherith Baldry) Eclipse (2008) (Kate Cary) Long Shadows (2008) (Cherith Baldry) Sunrise (2009) (Cherith Baldry) Warriors: Omen of the Stars The Fourth Apprentice (2009) (Cherith Baldry) Fading Echoes (2010) (Kate Cary) Night Whispers (2010) (Kate Cary) Sign of the Moon (2011) (Cherith Baldry) The Forgotten Warrior (2011) (Cherith Baldry) The Last Hope (2012)

Warriors Manga: Graystripe's Trilogy The Lost Warrior (2007) (Dan Jolley) Warrior's Refuge (2007) (Dan Jolley) Warrior's Return (2008) (Dan Jolley) Warriors Manga: Rise of Scourge The Rise of Scourge (2008) (Dan Jolley) Warriors Manga: Tigerstar and Sasha Into the Woods (2008) (Dan Jolley) Escape from the Forest (2009) (Dan Jolley) Return to the Clans (2009) (Dan Jolley) Warriors Manga: Ravenpaw's Path Shattered Peace (2009) (Dan Jolley) A Clan in Need (2010) (Dan Jolley) The Heart of a Warrior (2010) (Dan Jolley) Warriors Manga: SkyClan and the Stranger The Rescue (2011) (Dan Jolley) Beyond the Code (2011) (Dan Jolley) After the Flood (2012) (Dan Jolley) Warriors: Super Edition Firestar's Quest (2007) (Cherith Baldry) Bluestar's Prophecy (2009) (Kate Cary) SkyClan's Destiny (2010) (Cherith Baldry) Crookedstar's Promise (2011) (Kate Cary) Yellowfang's Secret (2012) Warriors: Field Guides Secrets of the Clans (2007) (Tui Sutherland) Cats of the Clans (2008) (Victoria Homes) Code of the Clans (2009) (Tui Sutherland) Battles of the Clans (2010) (Tui Sutherland) Enter the Clans (2012) (Compilation of Secrets of the Clans and Cats of the Clans)

Seekers

Seekers (Original Series)

1. The Quest Begins (2008) (Tui Sutherland)
2. Great Bear Lake (2009) (Cherith Baldry)
3. Smoke Mountain (2009) (Tui Sutherland)
4. The Last Wilderness (2010) (Cherith Baldry)
5. Fire in the Sky (2010) (Tui Sutherland)
6. Spirits in the Stars (2011) (Cherith Baldry)

Seekers (Return to the Wild)

1. Island of Shadows (2012)
2. The Melting Sea

Seekers Manga

1. Toklo's Story (2010)
2. Kallik's Adventure (2011)

Book development

With four authors, there are specific roles with each author. First, Holmes, who acts as the editor sends in the preliminary script and outline to Cary, Cherith or Sutherland, depending on who writes the book. Then, the author develops Holmes' ideas into a single book which is sent back to Holmes for one last check over and edit. After she finishes, the author fixes it up and gets ready to publish it.

Writing style

With four different authors, Holmes has said that "[the book] "sounds" like Erin, because she has a very distinctive voice". She compares the style of the authors to a different language where a stray line or word can stick out. Holmes says that she is in charge of editing and making sure that the book sounds correct. The books are all told in a third person narrative though the point of view changes with each series. The first series, the original Warriors series, followed Firepaw. Then in the second series, The New Prophecy, the view switched between Firepaw's, now Firestar, two daughters, Squirrelpaw and Leafpaw, in addition to Tigerstar's son, Brambleclaw, and Graystripe's son and daughter Stormfur and Feathertail in Moonrise. In the Power of Three series, it goes back between Firestar's grand-children Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf. In the Omen of the Stars series, it go between Lionblaze, Jayfeather, Dovepaw, and Ivypaw. In Night Whispers, it also includes the perspective of Flametail of ShadowClan, which is the only time it has been out of ThunderClan in the four main series since Moonrise. In the Seekers series, the point of view alternates between the three bears, Lusa, Kallik and Toklo until The Last Wilderness, where Ujurak's point of view is added in with the other three.