Wolf Brother

Ask Michelle Anything

Chris writes…

Why did you write Wolf Brother?

(From Brodie, aged 9)

Michelle Replies…

Dear Brodie,  The short answer to your question is that I wrote Wolf Brother because one day I had an idea for a story set in a forest about a boy, a girl, a wolf, and a huge bear.  At the time I didn’t know where the idea came from, but I knew it would be a really good story and that I had to write it.  It was only after I’d written Wolf Brother, when people kept asking why I wrote it, that I realised it came from all sorts of things that had happened to me in my life,  going right back to childhood – as well as a very scary encounter with a real bear in a forest in California.  You can find more about that on my website wolfbrother.com: you go into the “cave”  and click on “why I wrote Wolf Brother”.  But I hope this answer will do for now.  Thanks for getting in touch, with very best wishes, Michelle


Upcoming Live Events With Michelle

Incredible… Inspiring… In Person!

Only 51 days to grab your ticket!

Wimbledon Book Festival

October 17, 2025
Festival patron and Sunday Times bestselling author Michelle Paver will talk about her latest supernatural fiction in this live recording with Always Take Notes, a podcast for and about writers and writing.

Michelle will discuss her incredible career, from finding inspiration for Wolf Brother on Wimbledon Common to her latest novel Rainforest, which weaves Mayan culture with themes of obsession, gender and rebirth.

Only 54 days to grab your ticket!

The Witching Hour with Bridget Collins, Michelle Paver and Laura Shepherd-Robinson – Waterstones Canterbury

October 20, 2025

Join Bridget Collins, Michelle Paver and Laura Sheperd-Robinson as they discuss their stories in a brand new collection of ghostly tales called The Witching Hour.

In this dazzling collection of original haunted tales, thirteen bestselling and much-loved authors bring the old superstition of the witching hour to new and vivid life.
Transporting you from the smog of London to the freezing mists of Svalbard, from an Irish town riddled with rumour to a sinister English boarding school, these thirteen stories will serve as your spine tingling companion to the long hours of winter.
So curl up, light a candle, and wait for the clock to strike . . .
Only 59 days to grab your ticket!

Yeovil Literary Festival

October 25, 2025

An experience like no other. From a writer like no other...

Successfully published as an adult author, the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness (“Wolf Brother”) were her first books for younger readers, followed by her brilliant 5-part series set in the bronze age, Gods and Warriors. On the adult side, her first ghost story, Dark Matter, was a UK bestseller and won massive praise from reviewers and readers alike, as did her second ghost story, Thin Air.

Oxford Literary Festival 2026

March 29, 2026

The Oxford Literary Festival takes place in venues across central Oxford, such as Blackwell's bookshop, the Bodleian Library, the Sheldonian Theatre, the Weston Library, and Oxford colleges such as Christ Church and Worcester College. The festival includes international authors, journalists, intellectuals, historians, and poets.