Erin Hunter is a collective

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

used by the authors

Victoria Holmes Victoria "Vicky" Holmes is an English author. She is better known by the name Erin Hunter, a pseudonym under which she and others write the New York Times Bestselling ''Warriors'' series. Biography Victoria Holmes was born in Berkshire, London ...

Kate Cary Kate Cary (born 4 November 1967 in Birmingham, England) is an author, most well known for her work on the ''Warriors'' series. Works Cary is a contributor to, alongside several others, the pen name Erin Hunter. She is also the single author ...

, Cherith Baldry, Clarissa Hutton, Inbali Iserles,

Tui T. Sutherland Tui Tamara Sutherland (born July 31, 1978 in Caracas, Venezuela) is an American children's book author who has written more than 50 books under her own name and under several pen names. In 2009, she appeared as a contestant on ''Jeopardy!'', beco ...

, and Rosie Best in the writing of several

juvenile fantasy Children's fantasy is children's literature with fantasy elements: fantasy for young readers. It may also mean fantasy read ''by'' children (regardless of intended audience). The genre has roots in folk tales such as ''Aesop's Fables'' that wer ...

novel series, which focus on animals and their adventures. Notable works include the '' Warriors'', ''

Seekers The Seekers, or Legatine-Arians as they were sometimes known, were an English dissenting group that emerged around the 1620s, probably inspired by the preaching of three brothers – Walter, Thomas, and Bartholomew Legate. Seekers considered all ...

'', '' Survivors'', ''

Bravelands Bravelands is a children's novel series written by a team of authors under the pseudonym Erin Hunter. The series has overall been well received, with critics praising the realistic behavior of the characters, the excitement in the novels, and t ...

'', and ''Bamboo Kingdom''

book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...

. Each of the authors play a different role in the production of the books: Holmes creates the plot for each book, and the others take turns writing the books. Dan Jolley, though not an official Erin Hunter author, also writes the stories for

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

published under the Hunter name.

History

In the year 2003,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

asked Victoria Holmes to write a fantasy series about feral cats, but, not being a reader of fantasy, she was less than enthusiastic, despite her love of cats. 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 ''Forest of Secrets'' is a children's fantasy novel, the third book in the original ''Warriors'' series, written by Cherith Baldry under the pen name of Erin Hunter. The plot is about Fireheart, a ThunderClan warrior, attempting to prevent his b ...

'', Cherith Baldry joined Erin Hunter. Later, after Sutherland wrote the first ''Warriors'' field guide, she became the fourth Erin Hunter. The name "Erin Hunter" was chosen for several 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. Second, they wanted to pick a surname that would place the books very close to the '' Redwall'' series by Brian Jacques, which was, at the time, the book series with the closest plot to ''Warriors''. One of the authors suggested "Hunter", and the others found that it was "perfect" because not only did it place the book series close to Jacques, but it evokes the image of a cat. Victoria Holmes suggested ‘Erin' because she liked the name. One of Victoria Holmes's favorite given names is Erin, and it was accepted for being a strong Celtic name and "not particularly girly".

Members

Victoria Holmes

Victoria Holmes was born in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

, England. Holmes was the original author of the series with

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 learned how to ride horses at age two. Later she attended Oxford University, whose buildings "inspired an interest in history". She now lives in London where she works as the editor for the series. On 5 April 2011, the Bookperk website 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 her behalf. Following a diagnosis of cancer in 2017, Holmes stepped back from her involvement in ''Warriors''.

Kate Cary

Kate Cary was the second author brought on board to write for the ''Warriors'' series. Holmes chose Cary to write the first book after Holmes had finished one storyline. In the first series ('' The Prophecies Begin'') she wrote '' Into the Wild'', '' Fire and Ice'' and '' Rising Storm''. In the second series ('' The New Prophecy'') she wrote ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's ...

''. In the third series (''

Power of Three In mathematics, a power of three is a number of the form where is an integer – that is, the result of exponentiation with number three as the base and integer as the exponent. Applications The powers of three give the place values in ...

'') she wrote '' The Sight'', '' Dark River'' and ''

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three c ...

''. In the fourth series ('' Omen of The Stars'') she wrote '' Fading Echoes'' and '' The Last Hope''. She was born in England on 4 November 1967. She later moved to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

where she lived for 12 years before going back to England where she currently resides. Besides the ''Warriors'' series, she has also written the book ''

Bloodline Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic informa ...

,'' and its sequel, ''Reckoning''.

Cherith Baldry

Cherith Baldry was the third author brought in to the Erin Hunter team. She was born on 21 January 1947. Holmes invited her to join when they were writing the third book, ''

,'' after seeing her writing style and feeling that it was similar to Kate Cary's.

Tui T. Sutherland

Tui T. Sutherland was born in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in th ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, but currently lives in the United States, which makes her the only non-British author of the series. Her first credit to the Erin Hunter team was the field guide ''Secrets of the Clans''. Sutherland was also an editor of the '' Warriors'' series, until she quit editing to become a full-time writer. She went on to write the novel series '' Wings of Fire''.

Inbali Iserles

Inbali Iserles has written three books so far, the third, fifth and sixth books of the ''Survivors'' series: ''Darkness Falls'', ''The Endless Lake'' and ''Storm of Dogs''. She also publishes animal fantasy novels under her own name, including ''The Tygrine Cat'' and the ''Foxcraft'' trilogy.

Gillian Philip

Gillian Philip is the author of ''The Empty City'' and ''A Hidden Enemy'', the first two books in the ''Survivors'' series. She lives in the northeast Scottish Highlands. Philip has toured the United States twice as the face of the Erin Hunter responsible for ''Survivors''. In addition to ''Survivors'', she has written the ''Rebel Angels'' series (''Firebrand, Bloodstone, Wolfsbane'' and the forthcoming ''Icefall''); the ''Darke Academy'' series, and young adult novels including ''Bad Faith, Crossing The Line'' and ''The Opposite of Amber''. As of July 2020, Philip no longer writes Erin Hunter books.

Clarissa Hutton

Clarissa Hutton is the author of several Warriors books, including ''Thunderstar's Echo'' and the three stories in ''Path of a Warrior''.

Works

'' Warriors''

Warriors: The Prophecies Begin #'' Into the Wild'' (2003) (Kate Cary) #'' Fire and Ice'' (2003) (Cary) #''

'' (2003) (Cherith Baldry) #'' Rising Storm'' (2004) (Cary) #'' A Dangerous Path'' (2004) (Baldry) #''

The Darkest Hour "The Darkest Hour" is a phrase used to refer to an early period of World War II, from approximately mid-1940 to mid-1941. While widely attributed to Winston Churchill, the origins of the phrase are unclear. The phrase The phrase "the darkest ...

'' (2004) (Baldry) Warriors: The New Prophecy #''

Midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours ...

'' (2005) (Baldry) #''

Moonrise Moonrise and moonset are times when the upper limb of the Moon appears above the horizon and disappears below it, respectively. The exact times depend on the lunar phase and declination, as well as the observer's location. As viewed from outsid ...

'' (2005) (Baldry) #''

'' (2005) (Cary) #''

Starlight Starlight is the light emitted by stars. It typically refers to visible electromagnetic radiation from stars other than the Sun, observable from Earth at night, although a component of starlight is observable from Earth during daytime. Sunl ...

'' (2006) (Baldry) #''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this i ...

''(2006) (Baldry) #''

Sunset Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spr ...

'' (2007) (Baldry) Warriors: Power of Three #'' The Sight'' (2007) (Cary) #''Dark River'' (2007) (Cary) #''Outcast'' (2008) (Baldry) #''Eclipse'' (2008) (Cary) #'' Long Shadows'' (2008) (Baldry) #''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

'' (2009) (Baldry) Warriors: Omen of the Stars #''The Fourth Apprentice'' (2009) (Baldry) #''Fading Echoes'' (2010) (Cary) #''Night Whispers'' (2010) (Cary) #''Sign of the Moon'' (2011) (Baldry) #''The Forgotten Warrior'' (2011) (Baldry) #''The Last Hope'' (2012) (Cary) Warriors: Dawn of the Clans #''

The Sun Trail ''The Sun Trail'' is a children's fantasy novel and the first book in Erin Hunter Erin Hunter is a collective pseudonym used by the authors Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Clarissa Hutton, Inbali Iserles, Tui T. Sutherland, and ...

'' (2013) (Baldry) #'' Thunder Rising'' (2013) (Baldry) #''The First Battle'' (2014) (Cary) #''The Blazing Star'' (2014) (Baldry) #''A Forest Divided'' (2015) (Cary) #''Path of Stars'' (2015) (Cary) Warriors: A Vision of Shadows #''The Apprentice's Quest'' (2016) (Baldry) #''Thunder and Shadow'' (2016) (Cary) #''Shattered Sky'' (2017) (Baldry) #''Darkest Night'' (2017) (Cary) #''River of Fire'' (2018) (Baldry) #''The Raging Storm'' (2018) (Cary) Warriors: The Broken Code #''Lost Stars'' (2019) (Baldry) #''The Silent Thaw'' (2019) (Tui T. Sutherland) #''Veil of Shadows'' (2020) (Baldry) #''Darkness Within'' (2020) (Cary) #''The Place of No Stars'' (2021) (Baldry) #''A Light in the Mist'' (2021) (Cary) Warriors: A Starless Clan #''River'' (2022) (Baldry) #''Sky'' (2022) #''Shadow'' (2023) Graystripe's Adventure #'' The Lost Warrior'' (2007) (Dan Jolley) #'' Warrior's Refuge'' (2007) (Jolley) #'' Warrior's Return'' (2008) (Jolley) The Rise of Scourge #''

The Rise of Scourge ''The Rise of Scourge'' is an original English-language manga written by Erin Hunter and Dan Jolley, and illustrated by Bettina Kurkoski as part of the ''Warriors'' series. ''The Rise of Scourge'' is a stand-alone manga that details the rise to ...

'' (2008) (Jolley) Tigerstar and Sasha #''Into the Woods'' (2008) (Jolley) #''Escape from the Forest'' (2009) (Jolley) #''Return to the Clans'' (2009) (Jolley) Ravenpaw's Path #'' Shattered Peace'' (2009) (Jolley) #''

A Clan in Need ''A Clan in Need'' is one of three entries in a spin-off original English-language manga series based on the Warriors novel series. The book was published by Tokyopop on 23 March 2010 and drawn by James L. Barry under the pen name Erin Hunter ...

'' (2010) (Jolley) #''

The Heart of a Warrior ''The Heart of a Warrior'' is the third book in the ''Ravenpaw's Path'' series of original English-language manga. It focuses on Firestar's promise to get rid of the rogues that are living in Ravenpaw and Barley's barn. The book came out on 3 Au ...

'' (2010) (Jolley) SkyClan and the Stranger #''The Rescue'' (2011) (Jolley) #''Beyond the Code'' (2011) (Jolley) #''After the Flood'' (2012) (Jolley) A Shadow in RiverClan #''A Shadow in RiverClan'' (2020) (Jolley) Winds of Change #''Winds of Change'' (2021) (Jolley) Exile from ShadowClan #''Exile from ShadowClan'' (2022) (Jolley) A Thief In ThunderClan #''A Thief In ThunderClan'' (2023) (Jolley) Super Editions #'' Firestar's Quest'' (2007) (Baldry) #'' Bluestar's Prophecy'' (2009) (Cary) #''

SkyClan's Destiny ''SkyClan's Destiny'' is a children's fantasy novel, the third super edition in the ''Warriors'' series. It was written by Cherith Baldry under the pen name of Erin Hunter. Victoria Holmes Victoria "Vicky" Holmes is an English author. She is ...

'' (2010) (Baldry) #''Crookedstar's Promise'' (2011) (Cary) #'' Yellowfang's Secret'' (2012) (Baldry) #''Tallstar's Revenge'' (2013) (Cary) #''Bramblestar's Storm'' (2014) (Baldry) #''Moth Flight's Vision'' (2015) (Cary) #''Hawkwing's Journey'' (2016) (Baldry) #''Tigerheart's Shadow'' (2017) (Cary) #''Crowfeather's Trial'' (2018) (Baldry) #''Squirrelflight's Hope'' (2019) (Cary) #''Graystripe's Vow'' (2020) (Baldry) #''Leopardstar's Honor'' (2021) (Cary) #''Onestar's Confession'' (2022) #''Riverstar's Home'' (2023) Field guides #''Secrets of the Clans'' (2007) (Sutherland) #'' Cats of the Clans'' (2008) (Victoria Holmes) #'' Code of the Clans'' (2009) (Sutherland) #''Battles of the Clans'' (2010) (Sutherland) #''Enter the Clans'' (2012) (Bind-up of ''Secrets of the Clans'' and ''Code of the Clans'') #''The Warriors Guide'' (2012) #''Warriors: The Ultimate Guide'' (2013) (Holmes) Novellas #''Hollyleaf's Story'' (2012) (Holmes) #''Mistystar's Omen'' (2012) (Holmes) #''Cloudstar's Journey'' (2013) (Holmes) #''The Untold Stories'' (2013) (Bind-up of ''Hollyleaf's Story'', ''Mistystar's Omen'' and ''Cloudstar's Journey'') #''Tigerclaw's Fury'' (2014) (Holmes) #''Leafpool's Wish'' (2014) (Holmes) #''Dovewing's Silence'' (2014) (Holmes) #''Tales from the Clans'' (2014) (Bind-up of ''Tigerclaw's Fury'', ''Leafpool's Wish'' and ''Dovewing's Silence'') #''Mapleshade's Vengeance'' (2015) (Holmes) #''Goosefeather's Curse'' (2015) (Holmes) #''Ravenpaw's Farewell'' (2016) (Holmes) #''Shadows of the Clans'' (2016) (Bind-up of ''Mapleshade's Vengeance'', ''Goosefeather's Curse'' and ''Ravenpaw's Farewell'') #''Spottedleaf's Heart'' (2017) (Holmes) #''Pinestar's Choice'' (2017) (Holmes) #''Thunderstar's Echo'' (2017) (Hutton) #''Legends of the Clans'' (2017) (Bind-up of ''Spottedleaf's Heart'', ''Pinestar's Choice'' and ''Thunderstar's Echo'') #''Redtail's Debt'' (2019) (Hutton) #''Tawnypelt's Clan'' (2019) (Hutton) #''Shadowstar's Life'' (2019) (Hutton) #''Path of a Warrior'' (2019) (Bind-up of ''Redtail's Debt'', ''Tawnypelt's Clan'' and ''Shadowstar's Life'') (Hutton) #''Pebbleshine's Kits'' (2020) (Baldry) #''Tree's Roots'' (2020) #''Mothwing's Secret'' (2020) #''A Warrior's Spirit'' (2020) (Bind-up of ''Pebbleshine's Kits'', ''Tree's Roots'' and ''Mothwing's Secret'') #''Daisy's Kin'' (2021) (Cherith) #''Blackfoot's Reckoning'' (2021) #''Spotfur's Rebellion'' (2021) #''A Warrior's Choice'' (2021) (Bind-up of ''Daisy's Kin'', ''Blackfoot's Reckoning'' and ''Spotfur's Rebellion'') Short stories #''Spottedleaf's Honest Answer'' (2008) (Holmes) #''The Clans Decide'' (2009) (Holmes) #''After Sunset: The Right Choice?'' (2011) (Holmes) #''The Elders' Concern'' (2011) (Holmes) Plays #''After Sunset: We Need to Talk'' (2007) (Holmes) #''Beyond the Code: Brightspirit's Mercy'' (2009) (Baldry)

''
Seekers The Seekers, or Legatine-Arians as they were sometimes known, were an English dissenting group that emerged around the 1620s, probably inspired by the preaching of three brothers – Walter, Thomas, and Bartholomew Legate. Seekers considered all ...
''

''Seekers: The Original Series'' #''The Quest Begins'' (2008) (Sutherland) #''

Great Bear Lake Great Bear Lake ( den, Sahtú; french: Grand lac de l'Ours) is a lake in the boreal forest of Canada. It is the largest lake entirely in Canada (Lake Superior and Lake Huron are larger but straddle the Canada–US border), the fourth-largest ...

'' (2009) (Baldry) #''Smoke Mountain'' (2009) (Sutherland) #''The Last Wilderness'' (2010) (Baldry) #''Fire in the Sky'' (2010) (Sutherland) #''Spirits in the Stars'' (2011) (Baldry) ''Seekers: Return to the Wild'' #''Island of Shadows'' (2012) (Baldry) #''The Melting Sea'' (2012) (Sutherland) #''River of Lost Bears'' (2013) (Baldry) #''Forest of Wolves'' (2014) (Baldry) #''The Burning Horizon'' (2015) (Baldry) #''The Longest Day'' (2016) (Baldry) Manga #''Toklo's Story'' (2010) #''Kallik's Adventure'' (2011) #''Lusa's Tale'' (cancelled)

'' Survivors''

''Survivors: The Original Series'' #''The Empty City'' (2012) (Gillian Philip) #''A Hidden Enemy'' (2013) (Philip) #''Darkness Falls'' (2013) (Inbali Iserles) #''The Broken Path'' (2014) (Philip) #''The Endless Lake'' (2014) (Iserles) #''Storm of Dogs'' (2015) (Iserles) ''Survivors: The Gathering Darkness'' #''A Pack Divided'' (2015) (Philip) #''Dead of Night'' (2016) (Rosie Best) #''Into the Shadows'' (2017) #''Red Moon Rising'' (2017) #''The Exile's Journey'' (2018) #''The Final Battle'' (2019) Novellas #''Alpha's Tale'' (2014) (Phillip) #''Sweet's Journey'' (2015) (Philip) #''Moon's Choice'' (2015) (Philip) #''Tales from the Packs'' (2015) (Bind-up of ''Alpha's Tale'', ''Sweet's Journey'', and ''Moon's Choice'')

''Bravelands''

''Bravelands'' #''Broken Pride'' (2017) (Philip) #''Code of Honor'' (2018) (Philip) #''Blood and Bone'' (2018) #''Shifting Shadows'' (2019) #''The Spirit Eaters'' (2020) #''Oathkeeper'' (2020) ''Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongues'' # ''Shadows on the Mountain'' (2021) # ''The Venom Spreads'' (2022) # ''Blood on the Plains'' (2022) ''Bravelands: Thunder on the Plains'' # ''The Shattered Horn'' (2023)

''Bamboo Kingdom''

# ''Creatures of the Flood'' (2021) #''River of Secrets'' (2022) #''Journey to the Dragon Mountain'' (2023)

Book development

In ''Warriors'', ''Seekers'' and ''Bravelands'', a specific order is followed. First, Holmes, the editor, sends in the preliminary script and outline to Cary, Baldry 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, she sends it to HarperCollins for publication. For the ''Survivors'' series, there is a different approach taken. The whole team gets together and creates a detailed story outline and develops the characters together. Then, the writing itself is done by a single author, who is allowed to change something significant about the plot or characters if they feel that a certain character would not act a specific way.

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. Erin Hunter books are all told in a third person limited narrative, though the focal point character changes from series to series, book to book, and sometimes from chapter to chapter.

References

External links

Warriors
(official) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Erin British children's writers Warriors (novel series) Fantasy shared pseudonyms Pseudonymous women writers