Sarah writes…

Hi Michelle,

We are a Year 5 and 6 class from New Brancepeth Primary Academy in Durham. We have just finished reading Wolf Brother and we wanted to tell you how much we loved reading it! We especially loved hearing some of the story from Wolf's perspective as well as Torak's and the cliffhangers definitely left us on the edge of our seats.

We would love it if you could answer some of our questions:
– Who or what inspired you to write the story?
– Where did you get the idea from for the bear to be a demon?
– Do you have any pets?

We would love it if you had the chance to reply.
Many thanks,
Miss Hodgson and Year 5/6 at New Brancepeth Primary School

Michelle Replies…

Hello, Ms Hodgson and everyone in Year 5/6! I’m delighted that you’ve enjoyed Wolf Brother so much, and I’m very glad that you liked the passages from Wolf’s point of view, as they were among my favourite parts to write.  As for your questions: 1) The idea for Wolf Brother came  to me in bits and pieces over many years.  I describe how this happened on my website, wolfbrother.com (you’ll find it if you go into the cave section and click on “Why I Wrote Wolf Brother”).  In brief, though, the main sources were my lifelong love of wolves (I wanted one as a child), and an extremely scary encounter with a large black bear and her cub which I had while I was hiking in the wilds of California.

(2) You know, I can’t really recall why I made the bear demonic, but I’m sure it stemmed from how terrified I’d felt when I’d met that bear.  Also, the bear is the strongest creature in Torak’s world, which makes it a really serious threat.  I should, though, point out that in fact the bear is not in itself a demon, it’s only possessed by a demon.  And because of that, I even came to feel rather sorry for it; the bear, I mean, not the demon!

(3) Finally, it may surprise you to learn that I don’t have any pets.  If I did have one, I’d love a dog, preferably a border collie or a German Shepherd – both of which are fairly similar to wolves in overall appearence and cleverness.  However as I’m very busy writing, as well as looking after an elderly relative, I don’t have enough time to give a dog the attention and walks it would need, so I don’t think it would be fair to keep one.  That might change in the future, though.  Who knows?

Thank you so much for asking such interesting questions, and if this reaches you before the end of term, I hope you all have a lovely, peaceful Christmas and New Year holiday.  May the guardian run with you!  With best wishes, Michelle

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