Naginn writes...

Hiya Michelle, I’ve written 4 times before and your unfortunately not rid of me yet
I hope your having a good day week and month (Torak’s birthday soon)
I have multiple short questions which I’m putting together

APOLOGIES FOR SPELLING

1. How long did it take you to write your first book
2. Have you seen the Disney movie brother bear? (The uncanny Native American version of Wolf Brother)
3. What helps you write?
4. (From a friend) what does eoastra look like under her mask ?
5. Can torak read?
6. Does Fin kedinn consider Renn, Hord, Torak and Dark his children?
7. (In outcast Renn said her mother identity was hers to share and only Finn and Saunn knew)
So did Hord think Renn was only his half sister or did he also know?

Thank you in advance for this reply
Hope you have a great month!
From Sam

Michelle Replies...

Hello, Sam, thanks for your enthusiasm. Here are the answers to your questions:

1. It took me about a year to write Wolf Brother: about three months' research, then 4-5 months writing the first draft, and the rest re-writing it.  That sounds a lot, and I'm sure it doesn't take you a year to read it, but writing is very hard work!  (Also Wolf Brother wasn't actually my first book, but it's the one I thought you'd be most interested in, as it's the first in the series.)

2) No, I haven't seen Brother Bear.

3) Writing is all about concentration, so I write in a room where there's no access to the internet, my phone is on silent, and I'm in silence, with a view of trees.  And if I get stuck, a short walk in the woods near my house always helps.

4) It's up to the reader to imagine what Eostra looks like under her mask; all I will tell you is that it isn't good!

5) No, Torak can't read, because (as far as we know) alphabets hadn't been invented 6,000 years ago in his part of the world, which is northern Scandinavia.  However his people do use certain signs - marked on stones or trees - to communicate.  Although this isn't writing.

6) Yes, in a way, Fin-Kedinn does feel for Renn, Hord, Torak and Dark as his children.

7) Hord and Renn are brother and sister, not half-siblings.  As to whether he also knew about their mother's identity, I leave that to the reader's imagination; although if Saeunn told Renn, she would probably have told Hord too, don't you think?  (And thank you for NOT including a spoiler about Renn's mother in your question.)

Well that's all I've got time for, as I have to go and do some writing. And please don't be disappointed if you don't get a reply to any further questions you might send, as I need time to reply to other readers too.  May the guardian run with you!  With best wishes, Michelle

Gillian writes...

I've just listened to your ghost story ,'Dark Matters' on Radio4Extra .I thought it was truly amazing so I felt terrified by the end .I wonder what else have you written. I'm a fiction writer based in Cardiff .I like the gothic stye which I try to capture in my own writing. Kind regards, Gillian

Michelle Replies...

Dear Gillian, I'm so glad that you enjoyed Dark Matter on  Radio4 Extra!  Since Dark Matter, I've also written another ghost story, Thin Air, and a Gothic novel, Wakenhyrst.  My next ghost story, Rainforest, comes out next year.  Thanks for getting in touch, and I hope your own writing goes from strength to strength!  With best wishes, Michelle

Alejandro writes...

Hi Michelle ! I'm a reader and fan of your series "Chronicles of the Ancient Darkness" from Spain and I recently read your two last novels of that series, "Viper's Daughter" and "Skin Taker" ❤️❤️❤️ Do you by chance know whether the last one ("Wolfbane") will be published in Spanish by Salamandra, which is the official publisher in Spain? 🙏🏼

Michelle Replies...

Dear Alejandro, I'm so sorry for the delay in answering your question.  I contacted my publishers the day I got your message, and they then contacted Salamandra, to make sure we had the correct answer.  We've only just heard back from Salamandra, and I'm afraid the news isn't good.  They've decided not to publish Wolfbane.  What a pity.  But there's nothing I can do.  So if you want to find out how things end, I'm afraid you'll need to get a copy of the English edition.  So sorry I can't give better news. With very best wishes, Michelle

Julia writes...

Hello Michelle ,
I wanted to write to you of how such an amazing author you are! Most of all , I love your Wolf brother series , there so entertaining and enjoyable to read.I also really hope you write more books about Renn ,Torak and of course Wolf I saw your message with someone else that you won't be writing anymore books about Chronicles of ancient darkness , but please!!! You have to , your such an amazing writer!! I keep re-reading your books because of how good they are and I just never get bored! Please Michelle think about this . I also had an idea about what the book could be about ! Like for example: Renn and Toraks ' child gets spirit walker abilities?? Or even that a Demon/ Tokoroth steals their child.( These are just some ideas !)But please I'm on my knees! You have to write more wolf brother books there just so good!!
I really hope you read my message and that you think about this ! ❤️
Julia-

Michelle Replies...

Dear Julia, thank you so much for your heartfelt and expressive message!  You really do seem to love the Wolf Brother series, and I'm delighted about that. You also have some interesting ideas about what might happen to Torak and Renn in the future.  However, I'm afraid that what I've said in answer to other questions like yours remains the same: I'm afraid I'vve no plans to write another sequel, so the nine existing books  - ending with Wolf Bane - complete the series.  You see, I feel that I've developed the characters and taken them to adulthood, and it's now for them to take their stories forwards in my readers' imaginations.  I'm sorry if this is hard to bear, but I'm also pretty sure that you wouldn't want me to write further books that sort of fizzled out, which is what might happen were I to try.  Thank you again for getting in touch.  And since you are already a skilled re-reader, I'd like to wish you many happy hours with Torak, Renn and Wolf in the Forest!  With very best wishes, Michelle

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