Who is Erin Hunter?
BY Vicky Holmes, the first of all the Erins
The first Erin
As many fans know, Erin Hunter is not one person, but a team of story writers, authors and editors who work together to create the series you love. The Warriors series was the brainchild of Vicky Holmes, an editor based in London. She created the world of Warriors in response to a request from publisher HarperCollins, who wanted a series about feral cats.
As she puts it, “I must confess I wasn’t very keen at first because I don’t read fantasy and although I love all animals… I’m more of a dog person. But once I started working with the characters, I realized I could give them human issues… Once I stopped thinking of the series as ‘fantasy’ and just let the characters take me where they wanted, everything got much easier, and the stories started to tell themselves.”
About Vicky
Vicky’s journey began when, as a young girl, she was ushered into the headteacher’s office for assumed plagiarism. She expected to find herself in trouble – but when the headteacher found out the work was truly hers, he instead told her, “I think you are going to be a writer.” Growing up on a farm surrounded by animals, Vicky continued to pursue her love of writing throughout her youth.
She eventually studied English at the University of Oxford. After completing her education, she worked with horses for a year before becoming an English teacher, then moved on to become an editor at Working Partners in London.
In 2003, she became the main editor of Warriors. However, in 2017, Vicky was diagnosed with cancer, and she has since stepped back from Warriors to focus on her health. Vicky has never been averse to writing tragedy into the Warriors series, or sending cats to their gruesome ends, sometimes to the dismay of her editors and writers – not to mention her readers! Her preference for dogs and horses makes it easier to send her feline characters to a sticky end when the plot demands.
After a long day of writing, she likes to enjoy good food (especially chocolate), or ride her horse, Nick.
At what age did you start writing, and what drew you to it?
At school, I was always “the girl who could write stories”. When I was seven, I wrote a story called The Witch and The Windmill, about a witch who lived in a windmill. My classmates were handed back their marked work, but not me. Instead, my teacher Mrs Morgan told me I had to go and see the headteacher, a fearsome man called Mr Campbell. Quaking, I trotted to his office, where he asked me if I had copied my story from anywhere. I said that I hadn’t, and he said, In that case, I think you are going to be a writer! I have loved reading for as long as I can remember, so stories have always been an essential part of my life. Reading them, writing them, dreaming them up as I ride my horse and do housework…
Describe a typical writing day? Do you have any rituals, habits, good luck totems, etc.?
Writing is my job, so I start first thing in the morning, stop for lunch, and finish in the afternoon. There’s no time for rituals or good luck charms! I just have to get on with it! If a story is proving very tricky, I abandon my desk and go for a walk, do the hoovering, or go grocery shopping, just to change the scene and free up my imagination.
How do you most like to reward yourself after a long day’s work?
Delicious food (I love chocolate especially!) and riding my horse. I love the fact that I work from home, so if it’s a lovely day I can sneak off early!
Which scene, or book, are you most proud of having written/worked on?
Bluestar’s Prophecy is my greatest achievement, and I’m always delighted when fans say that’s their favourite too. But I also like Tigerstar’s death scene in The Darkest Hour.
What genre of book would WARRIORS fans be most surprised to learn you (not so) secretly love?
I don’t think anyone would be surprised to know that I don’t like romance, and much prefer dark, spooky thrillers and crime stories! I’m far more comfortable with twists and upsets than happy endings, much to my editor’s dismay on more than one occasion.
The other Erins
While Vicky wrote the plots for the books, she recruited two fantastic writers to flesh out the stories, Kate Cary and Cherith Baldry. Vicky knew Kate and Cherith from her work as an editor; they were both hugely talented, and big fans of cats. Kate and Cherith each brought a lot to the series, and while Kate stepped back from Warriors in 2024, Cherith still writes the Warriors novels and Super Editions to this day.
Upon publication, the Warriors series was a huge success! And as demand for the stories has grown, so has the team of writers and editors who work on it. A story team was created to help Vicky write up the plotlines of the books, and edit the manuscripts when they came in. And new writers like Tui Sutherland and Clarissa Hutton—both of whom once edited Warriors at HarperCollins!—have come on board to write some of the novellas and nonfiction titles. Since Kate stepped back from working on Warriors, Clarissa has become one of the main authors working on the series
In 2017, Vicky took a step back from the series for health reasons. The story team now consists of five editors who come up with the story arcs and write detailed outlines for what happens in each of the books. Clarissa and/or Cherith then write up the manuscript, and it passes back through the story team for an edit, and then on to the editors at HarperCollins. Once each editor is satisfied with the story, it goes to a copyeditor, who makes sure all of the details are correct—and then it is published and goes out to the fans!
About Kate
Though she didn’t get her start as a writer until her twenties, Kate’s love of cats was established from an early age when her father gave her a kitten when she was six. Since then, there have always been cats in her life. Her current companion is a tabby named Flower who likes to keep Kate company while she writes.
Kate studied the history of witchcraft, madness, and women at the Royal Holloway College and earned her master’s degree at London University. She began her writing career while living in the woods of Scotland. After 12 years in Scotland, she moved back to England with her son, Josh. In 2003, she sent a sample of her writing to a company called Working Partners, and was selected to write for a new series about feral cats.
Through writing Into the Wild, Kate became the first Erin to bring the world of Warriors to life on the page. She continued on to write books such as The Sight, Fading Echoes, and The First Battle. Her proudest achievements in Warriors are Bluestar’s Prophecy and the last chapter of Path of Stars. Writing Warriors has taught her about the fascinating interactions between animals, and taught her to imagine the world that they explore outside the bounds of their home.
At what age did you start writing, and what drew you to it?
I’ve always loved writing stories but until I was in my 20s I did most of it in my head. (Writing words was strictly for schoolwork.) I’d spend hours lost in my imagination, designing long complex plots and visualising scenes, reworking the action and dialogue until they felt just right, but it never occurred to me to write them down. I never felt the need to share my stories with other people. I’d scribbled occasional stories as a very young child into tiny notebooks, but mainly because tiny notebooks are cute. The truth is, for the early part of my life, it seemed unnecessary to slow down my imagination by stopping to write my thoughts onto paper.
Describe a typical writing day? Do you have any rituals, habits, good luck totems, etc.?
I would love to have rituals, habit and totems – they’d be a useful shortcut to Getting Things Done– but for me there is no Typical Writing Day. Writing is like sailing and, just as wind and waves are always different, so moods and energy ebb and flow. So I adjust my schedule to make the most of the writing weather. On rare, magical days, I wake at 5.30 AM and I’m at the kitchen table, writing by six. I am so pleased with myself that I promise I will do the same every day. But the next morning finds me following breadcrumbs through the Internet until half the morning is wasted.
How do you most like to reward yourself after a long day’s work?
Sleep.
Which scene, or book, are you most proud of having written/worked on?
I love Bluestar’s Prophecy. I remember sitting on the floor in my living room, my laptop resting on the sofa, burning through chapters, absolutely in love with the characters and the story. I remember too, writing the final scene of Path of Stars. Everything just came together. It’s a rare moment in any book but in this scene, as with so many scenes in Bluestar’s Prophecy, the character and story unfolded effortlessly. I only had to guide the words onto the page.
What genre of book would WARRIORS fans be most surprised to learn you (not so) secretly love?
I never stick with one genre. There are too many literary worlds to explore – whole centuries, cultures and continents I’ve not set foot in. I buy books on a whim, inspired by something I’ve read or seen or, more usually, heard on the radio, and read whatever’s next on my bookshelf. The last book I read was Mrs Dalloway (again), I’m just getting started on The Corrections (finally) while the collected letters of L.M. Montgomery (love, love, love Emily of New Moon – any book which starts with the heroine hiding under the kitchen table is my kind of book) is waiting for me next.
About Cherith
Cherith was introduced to the love of cats, and the love of stories, that would lead to her career as an Erin Hunter on the farm where she grew up. The cats that lived there and hunted mice in the house and barn were her childhood companions. Her interest in writing was inspired by the stories her grandfather told, which he built on with new tales day after day.
Cherith studied at Manchester University and then St. Anne’s College in Oxford. She went on to work as a teacher and lecturer alongside her husband, Peter Baldry, at the University of Sierra Leone in Africa, before eventually returning to the UK. She and Peter had two sons, Will and Adam, before Peter died some years later.
In 2003, Cherith was chosen as one of two women to write under the pen name Erin Hunter for the Warriors series, and she has been writing for it ever since.
Cherith’s work on the Warriors series includes titles such as Midnight, The Sun Trail, River of Fire, and the very first super edition, Firestar’s Quest. One of her proudest achievements was writing the scenes with Brightspirit in Long Shadows, as the character was created to honor American fan Emmy Cherry, who sadly lost her life in a tornado.
She has two cats, Bramble and Sorrel, who have made appearances in the books as Brambleclaw and Sorreltail. Though Sorrel has passed away, Bramble and her new cat Tansy continue to keep Cherith company as she writes her books.
At what age did you start writing, and what drew you to it?
I started writing at a very early age, around five. My grandfather told amazing stories, and would add a new episode every day. So I grew up thinking that making up stories was something that people naturally did. It took me a long time to realise that this is not so.
Describe a typical writing day? Do you have any rituals, habits, good luck totems, etc.?
When I have a deadline I write most days from around nine to five. I don’t have any rituals, though when I’m coming to a tricky bit I water the plants, run the washing machine, make a shopping list, anything to convince myself that I’m spending my time productively without actually writing. I don’t have any good luck charms, but sooner or later the cats will turn up to help, either by sitting on my lap (Bramble) or walking across the keyboard (Tansy).
How do you most like to reward yourself after a long day’s work?
If I’m not going out I like to have a nice dinner, watch TV and knit. My favourite TV programmes for relaxing are classic mysteries like Poirot and Morse.
Which scene, or book, are you most proud of having written/worked on?
I’m most proud of the Brightspirit scenes in Long Shadows, written in memory of our American fan, Emmy Cherry, who died with her parents in a tornado. I’m proud that I was chosen to write this, and proud that Emmy’s grandparents thought that what I’d written was worthy of her.
What genre of book would WARRIORS fans be most surprised to learn you (not so) secretly love?
Apart from science fiction and fantasy, I love reading classic whodunits of the kind that Agatha Christie wrote. I don’t know that our fans would be surprised, because there are mystery elements in some of the Warriors books. I’ve also started to write mysteries; my first one came out just recently.
About Clarissa
Clarissa first became part of the world of Warriors as an editor at HarperCollins Publishers in the US, helping to bring into print the world Vicky, Kate, and Cherith had created. When she left HarperCollins and joined Working Partners as an editor, she became even more enmeshed with the Warriors cats as she became part of the story team there. At the same time, her own writing was beginning to be published, both under various pseudonyms as a ghost writer, and under the name Clare Hutton.
When Vicky Holmes stepped away from Warriors so that she could take care of her health, Clarissa started writing some of the Warriors novellas and bonus chapters, and was delighted to be able to illuminate some of the untold stories from the world of the novels.
Clarissa loves both cats and dogs, and grew up being bossed around by a pair of ancient cats. She currently lives in a no-pets-allowed apartment, but hopes to soon again have animals in her life. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.
At what age did you start writing, and what drew you to it?
I’ve always been a reader, and I’ve always told myself stories when I don’t have a book in my hand. Even when I was tiny, I continued the adventures of my favorite TV shows or books as I was going to sleep, or made up stories that were entirely my own. I didn’t really start writing them down until high school, when I realized how satisfying it was to get my stories down on paper.
Describe a typical writing day? Do you have any rituals, habits, good luck totems, etc.?
It’s easiest for me to write at night, when I’ve finished my day job and the house is quiet. I seem to get a real burst of creativity and focus when I should be sleeping! If I’m pressed on a deadline, I can write all day with breaks, but I have to force myself into it. I’ll set a timer for an hour or so and tell myself firmly that I absolutely have to write for that time, and when the timer goes off, I’m allowed to take a break and exercise or have a quick snack. And then it’s back to the timer!
How do you most like to reward yourself after a long day’s work?
I really love baking, so I’ll often make muffins or cookies with my daughter when I want to unwind. Or sometimes I just lie on the couch and watch TV—I love anything with supernatural elements!
Which scene, or book, are you most proud of having written/worked on?
Dawn of the Clans was the first warrior arc that I was involved in plotting every step of the way, just after I came to work at Working Partners, so I’ll always have a special love for it. Because of that, my favorite novellas that I’ve written are Thunderstar’s Echo and Shadowstar’s Life, where I got to go back to these early cats.
What genre of book would WARRIORS fans be most surprised to learn you (not so) secretly love?
I love mysteries, fantasy, and horror novels.
New series
The Erin Hunter team has gone on to develop new series for Erin: Bravelands, Survivors, and Seekers. While the story team and writers are slightly different for each series, the process of creating the books—and the dedication to the natural world and showing animals’ interior thoughts—remain the same. The Warriors team adores the cats, and takes our responsibility to keep the series exciting and satisfying to the fans very seriously. We hope that you enjoy the books as much as we enjoy working on them!
