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Patrick Rao
Ms. Reed
Acc Eng/Read
4 April 2012
Erin Hunter
Erin Hunter is an excellent writer. She is most famous for writing the Warriors series.
Many people think that Erin Hunter is one person, but the name is a pseudonym for four
different authors. The authors are Victoria Holmes, Tui Sutherland, Kate Cary and Cherith
Baldry (Hunter, Erin “Erin Hunter”).
Victoria Holmes was born on a farm in England. She lived there for most of her
childhood. There, she learned to ride horses and ponies at a very young age. When she was
two, she could already read and write extremely well. She started reading many children’s
books. Because she enjoyed reading so much, she started writing her own books. When she
was older, Holmes moved to Oxfordshire where she attended Oxford University. There, she
received a degree in English (“Erin Hunter Biography”).
Tui Sutherland was born in Venezuela. She was named after a noisy bird that lives in
New Zealand. Her family then moved to Paraguay. Following that, they moved Florida, then
to the Dominican Republic, before settling in New York. In New York, she attended high
school, then college. In 2009, she was on the popular TV show Jeopardy!, where she
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became a two-day champion, winning a total of $46,200. Following that, she proceeded to
write a series of books called Avatars, which followed the lives of several teenagers that
(“Erin Hunter”). travel back in time. Then she wrote a series of Pirates of the Caribbean spin
offs, called the Brethren Court, under the name Rod Kidd. However, none of these were
very successful (“Erin Hunter”).
Cherith Baldry was born in the United Kingdom, on December 4, 1967. One
interesting fact is that she was born in a storm. When she was young, she worked with cats.
She spent her childhood reading books, but was more interested in art. This is the probable
reason for getting a degree in art, instead of a degree in literature, even though she was an
Arthurian scholar (“Erin Hunter Biography”).
Kate Cary was born in England as well. She was born on November 4, 1967(“Erin
Hunter”). Cary has loved animals since she was a child, but started to adore cats at age six.
When she was young, she became interested in mythology. She also has an art degree
(“Erin Hunter Biography”).
Erin Hunter was not always four people. Victoria Holmes thought of the idea of a
series of books about cats (“Erin Hunter”). Holmes was an accomplished editor but not a
talented writer, though. Many of her previous series had failed. So, Holmes enlisted the
help of Kate Cary. Together, they wrote the first three books. During the writing of the third
book, they were joined by the writer Cherith Baldry. Sometime later, Tui Sutherland
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finished the Erin Hunter quartet. Before Erin Hunter was formed, most of the authors had
written other books. Tui Sutherland and Victoria Holmes had written several, and Kate Cary
wrote a book called Bloodline about a nineteen year old who served in World War One
(“Erin Hunter”).
While writing the Warriors series, the different authors have different roles. Victoria
Holmes creates the storyline, and edits most of the work. Kate Cary writes most of the
parts that have a lot of descriptive language. When battle scenes have to be written,
Cherith Baldry normally writes them. This explains why she was not included in many books
in the second series, because most of them are about the cats traveling to a new home. Tui
Sutherland does not write any of the story books. She writes the field guides and
contributes to the Seekers series (Hunter, Erin “Erin Hunter”).
Most of the Warriors books have gotten good reviews. Two examples are the ALA
Booklist saying, “A suspenseful adventure story that urges readers onward.” Also,
Publishers Weekly says, “Certain to please any young reader who has ever wondered what
dreams of grandeur may haunt the family cat” (“Erin Hunter”).
The authors that make up Erin Hunter have many hobbies. Victoria Holmes rides
horses in the summer and the spring, and walks her dog, Missy. Cherith Baldry has a great
interest in astrology, stone circles, and ancient forms of worship. Kate Cary has a fascination
with animal interaction, and enjoys long walks in the woods for inspiration. Also, most of
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the authors adopt rescue animals from shelters, and spend time caring for them (“Erin
Hunter Biography”).In the series, Cherith Baldry has written the most books. She has
written fourteen books, while Victoria Holmes has only written one. Kate Cary has
contributed to ten. Tui Sutherland has written four (“Erin Hunter”).
In conclusion, Erin Hunter is really four people. Her first six books were excellent,
and I found them very enjoyable. In the second series,the plot is confusing, because it is
from the viewpoint of too many cats. Many people do not mind this, because many of her
books continue to be best sellers. It is my opinion, that having four inputs makes Erin
Hunter a better author than just one individual. Because of this, there is a lot of depth to
this entertaining series.
Work Cited
“Erin Hunter Biography.”Bookbrowse.com.Web. 1 April, 2012.
<http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/1365/erinhunter>
“Erin Hunter.”FantasticFiction.com. Web. 1 April, 2012.
<http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/erin-hunter/>
“Erin Hunter.” Warrior cats.com.Web. 1 April, 2012
<http://www.warriorcats.com/warriorshell.html >
Hunter, Erin. “Erin Hunter.”Warriors.com. Harper Collins. Web. 1 April, 2012.
<http://www.warriors.com/erinhunter.html>