Evan writes…

Hi Michelle, when I was twelve-or-so years old, I wrote you a letter detailing my favourite characters and asking a few questions. I thought maybe, about fifteen years later, I’d do the same now.

I’ve recently (just this morning) finished reading the entire Wolf Brother series. I read books 1-6 as a child, though stubbornly refused to finish Ghost Hunter as I so desperately didn’t want the series to end. Here I am, now, 27 and somewhat less stubborn, and I’ve come up against something I haven’t felt since I was a kid – a desperate wish that the series wasn’t over! I devoured books when I was younger, but as I grew up, undiagnosed and thus unmedicated ADHD took away my ability to focus on reading for any length of time. I always knew I missed it, but I never realised how deep a hole it had left in my heart until I decided to start re-reading the CoAD as audiobooks.

Rereading the series as an adult has been incredibly refreshing, and exhilarating. I’ve found myself having to pull over on the drive to work and catch my breath at certain parts that have absolutely floored me. The ending of Spirit Walker… the section in Oath Breaker where… The ending of Wolfbane… – I know that gender doesn’t matter much when it comes to crying, but to see myself as a twenty seven-year-old man sobbing…

As someone who lost my father right around the time I finished reading the original series (…) felt raw, painful, uncomfortable – which, of course, is how these things do feel, don’t they?

Aside from gushing, which I hope you’ll pardon me for, I had a few questions – you mention in the author’s note of Wolfbane that the world of the CoAD is based on Scandinavia, which interests me – did you have specific influences for all/most of the clans in terms of their culture that extends past Scandinavia? One could draw relatively understandable comparisons between the Wolf Clan and some Native American tribes, what with their tanned skin and high cheekbones; the Ice Clans have some – I think – quite obvious Inuit influence, as well.

I also wondered, and you may not wish to delve into politics, which is perfectly fine – did you receive any pushback with regard to (…)

To sign off, I simply wanted to express thanks again – for a final time, I promise – for reigniting that fire in me. A really good book, or indeed a good series, can make a world of difference, and as someone who adores writing and hasn’t had the time to delve into it recently, the CoAD have inspired me to finally sit down and start typing away again.

Apologies for the length! May the guardian run/fly/swim and suchforth with you.

Michelle Replies…

Dear Evan, thank you so much for getting in touch. Here’s the reason for the delay: as your original message of 30 April contained some very big spoilers, I couldn’t post it on my website, so when I answered it on 1 May (and I did, at length), I got my agent to email you, rather than posting it in the usual way.  Clearly you never got that email – or  those we re-sent, twice, this week.  So now we’ve gone to some lengths to remove the spoilers from your message – hence this post!

With that out of the way: Thank you so much for your very moving message – and there’s no need to apologise for  its length, either.  I’m so glad that re-visiting Torak’s world has helped re-connect you to reading, and that Ian’s magnificent recordings did the trick.  I was also fascinated to learn which bits you found particularly moving and/or shocking. The scene you mentioned from Oathbreaker was one I found very satisfying to write. That might sound odd, but as a writer it’s great when you realize you can achieve a strong emotional effect in a scene because of feelings which you’ve laboured to depict over several books; in this case, Renn’s love for her bow.

Concerning my influences for the different clans, you’re correct in that the White Foxes are heavily influenced by the Inuit.  And I’ve drawn a lot on the indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest, such as the Haida and the Kwakiutl (more details are in the Author’s Notes at the end of each book, particularly the last three).  And I’ve taken customs, attitudes and beliefs from the San of South Africa, the Ainu of Japan, the Indigenous Australians, and many more. Then I’ve tweaked them to suit the stories.

As for the Dark/Kujai storyline, I’m happy to say that I’ve not received or been aware of any negative pushback.  Instead I’ve had lots of generous comments and thanks from people in the LGBTQ+ community.  Seveal readers have also written rather wistfully to say that they wish they’d known that Dark was gay when they were younger, when Ghost Hunter first came out.  I wish that too, but in case you’re wondering, although I’d always known that Dark was gay (and he was one of the first characters I thought of when I was originally planning the series), I found when I came to write Ghost Hunter that there simply wasn’t room in the story to do this justice; and I didn’t want to trivialise it by simply mentioning it.  So I was delighted when I had the idea for the final three books, because I knew that I could now develop Dark’s arc properly.

I’m going to have to sign off and do some writing now.  Thank you again so much for writing.  I hope you continue to find pleasure and solace in reading – and as for your writing: go for it!  With very best wishes, Michelle