Michelle Paver's Blog, page 33

Wolf boy

Cassie writes…

Hi! Just wanted to say a huge thankyou for you chronicles of ancient darkness series. My 8 yr old son is reading wolf boy at the moment and he can not put it down! He tells me it's even better than Harry Potter.
He has a lot of troubles at school so it is so lovely to see the joy that reading your book brings him. Thankyou!
Cassie.

Michelle Replies…

Dear Cassie, that’s absolutely brilliant to hear, I’m so glad!  I had trouble at school when I was about ten (I was bullied), and reading became my lifeline.  I don’t know what kind of trouble your son is having, but I really hope it resolves soon – and that he continues to enjoy the Wolf Brother stories.  There are eight more after the first one!

Thanks again for getting in touch.  Best wishes, Michelle

Chronicles of Ancient Darkness

Timothy writes…

Hello Michelle,
I grew up on the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness book series and it was my favourite book series by far, one of the best parts of my childhood. I was wondering whether there was a complete special edition for all nine of the books, as I want to keep them in my collection and get them signed by you at some point. My original copy was accidentally destroyed recently by my parents in a move to university and I'm just wondering where I could get the collectors edition.

Michelle Replies…

Dear Timothy, I’m delighted that you’ve enjoyed the books so much, and also glad that you’ve managed to catch up with the last three books in the series!  I’m afraid there isn’t a collector’s edition or any edition of all nine books together, because the final three have a different publisher from the first six; and publishers aren’t great at collaborating on these things. If that changes in the future, I will of course announce it on my website.  In the meantime, though, I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with what’s available.  Although I should say that Head of Zeus, who publish the final three books in the series, have done a gorgeous job of making them look like the originals, because they’ve used the original artists, Geoff Taylor and John Fordham.

Hope this helps.  With very best wishes, Michelle

Writing to Michelle paver for a school project

Haylee writes…

Dear Miss Pavar,

My name is Haylee Barnhardt, I live in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. I am 11 years old, I have a dog and two parakeets. I LOVE wolves, I want a pet wolf when I’m older, my favorite book of yours is wolf brother. That’s the book I’m on I haven’t red all your books yet. My favorite book genres are animal, Adventure,and mystery. And you have all those combined and I’m also writing a book with all ‘em combined, but don’t worry I’m not copying you.

Do plan on writing any other books? What’s your favorite book you’ve wrote? Do you get a lot of fan mail? Do you have any pets? Do you have a pet wolf, I thought when I looked you up you were holding a wolf pup? By the way I’m writing to you for a school project. A couple more questions, Do Renn and Torak end getting together? Do Renn and wolf stay with Torak throughout all the books? We’re did you get the idea to write a book and we’re did you get the the information and idea to write the book?

I really like how you made the enemy a bear. I hope Renn and Torak are mates in the other books. You should make a movie it would be AWESOME.

Well by for now. You don’t have to write back but I would Appreciate it if you did. I hope I wasn’t bothering you have a great day.

Michelle Replies…

Dear Haylee, thanks for your message, and I’m so glad that you are enjoying Wolf Brother. It’s also great that you like wolves so much.   I’m sure you’ll understand that I can’t answer all your questions, because if I did, lots of other readers would want me to help them with their homework!  However you’ll find the answers to lots of your questions either here, where I’ve answered them for other readers, or on my website www.wolfbrother.com.  In particular, if you go into the Cave there, you’ll find something all about how I came to write Wolf Brother.  As for what happens in the stories, I shall leave that for you to find out…

The best of luck with writing your own book, I hope you have fun with it.  And thanks for getting in touch, Best wishes, Michelle

Biggest fan

Andrew writes…

Hello, my name is Andrew foster & I absolutely love your books. I read wolf brother in 4th grade and was hooked ever since. I’m 29 now and still reading them but now I get to read them to my own 2 sons. The way you make it easy for the reader to picture what they’re reading is incredible. I just wanted to thank you and express to you how much your books impacted my life. They brought me into a different world that I could get lost into for a few hours and Put the real world to the side. I think everyone could use that from time to time. Thank you for your amazing writing and I hope you know your books changed my life and I could never thank you enough
-Andrew Foster

Michelle Replies…

Dear Andrew, What a marvellous message for a writer to receive! I’m  really pleased that you have found it easy to be able to picture what’s happening in my stories – not least because that’s not an easy thing to achieve when one is writing, and it has always taken me dozens of drafts.  I also find it particularly moving that you are now (or perhaps will be soon) reading the stories to your own sons.   Somehow that puts me in mind of Fin-Kedinn telling the clan stories around the long-fire.

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to get in touch.  With very best wishes, Michelle

Primary school class loving your novel.

Dale writes…

Good afternoon,
My name is Dale Innes and I am a primary school teacher. We are currently studying wolf brother as our class novel and the children are loving it. The opportunity Arouse to purchase new books for our schools reading scheme and wolf brother was top of my list. I have taught literacy through your novels in previous schools and I love how this novel grips the children’s imagination and interest in reading.

I was wondering if you would be able to answer some of the children’s questions? We are completing an author study on you and the children love having the opportunity to ask you questions. =)

1. How did you come up with the ideas for characters in wolf brother?
2. What inspired you to write wolf brother? Do you have a favourite chapter?
3. What is your favourite book of both your own writing and of other authors books?
4. What inspired you to get into writing novels?
5. How did you feel when your published book becomes popular?
6. How long does writing a book take?
7. Did you enjoy writing as a child?
8. Do you plan on continuing to add to the wolf brother sequel of novels?
9. Do you have anything on your desk whilst writing to inspire you?
10. Does writing books require a lot of motivation to keep going if you get writers block?

Thank you for your time and for writing such interesting novels.

King regards,
Dale Innes and Primary 5/6 I

Michelle Replies…

Dear Dale,

Many thanks for your message, and I’m so glad that the children are enjoying my stories.  They’ve asked lots of questions, and as I’ve already answered some of them for other readers or on my website, I won’t repeat myself, but here goes:

Qu 2 – What inspired me to write Wolf Brother? – Please see wolfbrother.com, go to the Cave, then click on “Why I wrote Wolf Brother”, for the full story.

Qu 8 – Will there be more in the series after Wolf Bane? The short answer is “no”.  For a fuller answer, please see my recent answers on this website to Josiah and also Lilya.

Qus 2 & 3 – I don’t really have favourite chapters, or books that I’ve written, or read. (Or if I do, they keep changing!)

Qu6 – How long does writing a book take?  It depends on how long the book is, but not as much as you might think.  For instance, Wolf Brother is a shortish book, but it took just as long to write as some of my adult stories which were twice as long.  I’m quite a slow writer, and the books I write always seem to need lots of research – both in libraries and in the wild.  I also like to plan my stories very carefully, although these plans are only a guide, and I always change them a lot as I’m writing the story.  Lastly, I re-write a lot, cutting out the boring bits, making the story clearer, that sort of thing.  This is crucial.  For Wolf Brother I went through about 30-40 drafts.  So to answer your question, most of my books take about a year to write; and sometimes as much as 18 months.

Qu 1 -Some of the characters share traits with myself (Renn is rather critical, as am I, and Torak is a loner, as I am) – or with people I know.  However mostly they are themselves, as they walk into my imagination.  And they often surprise me while I’m writing, by doing something (in my imagination, I mean), which I didn’t expect.  But that’s good, it means they’re coming alive.

Qu 7 – Yes, I always loved writing as a child, and I wrote my first story when I was five.  It was called “Ebany the Mouse Goddess” (my spelling wasn’t great), and it was about a mouse goddess who rescued her people from a glacier which was threatening to squash their village.  At school I went on writing, and I loved it. I think this was because when you write, you can make anything happen.  You’re in control.  And I enjoyed using my imagination.

Qu 9 – I don’t really get inspiration from the things on my desk, but I do have a few small objects that I like to look at and pick up when I ‘m thinking. One I particularly like is a small swimming seal about the size of my thumb.  It’s beautifully carved from reindeer antler and very realistic, with its front flippers pressed against its flanks, as seals do when they swim.  It was carved by a Chukchi artist and I bought it from him on a windy beach in Chukotka, eastern Siberia, when I was there on a research trip for Viper’s Daughter, the seventh book in the Wolf Brother series. I love it.

Well that’s all I’ve got time for, but I hope the children enjoy these answers – and continue to enjoy my books. Thanks for getting in touch.

Best wishes, Michelle

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’re incredible:)

India writes…

Just a quick comment to say thank you for all the worlds that you've shown me:)

I adored the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness as a child and when I read them now feel just as immersed in Torak's world. I don't know another series that is so wonderfully rich and well researched!

Recently read Dark Matter and Thin Air and have rarely been more unsettled by books. I love them! Same feelings as reading Daphne Du Maurier's horrors.

So yeah, just wanted to say thank you and I hope you're well

Michelle Replies…

Dear India,

What a truly lovely message to receive on a cloud, windy and rainy Monday morning!  I’m delighted that you enjoyed the Wolf Brother books as  a child, and it’s great that you’ve since graduated to my adult Gothic stories. I find that very encouraging as I battle to find enough time to finish my fourth Gothic story (after Wakenhyrst, that is).  It’s set in a rainforest, and has been bleating for my attention over the past few weeks, as I’ve been busy dealing with stuff concerning my elderly Ma.

Thanks again for getting in touch.  Stay well, and happy reading!

Best wishes, Michelle

How To Survive A Stone-Age Winter

A freezing day in Arctic Norway, and I’m wearing the wrong clothes. I’m shivering as I ride through the snowy forest and my fingers are so cold I can hardly grip the reins. I think to myself: If this was the Stone Age and my hands were too frozen to make a fire, I’d die. So, how did people back then keep warm?

I needed to know this because I was researching the first of my Wolf Brother stories, which are set 6,000 years ago in northern Scandinavia. As I couldn’t ask real Stone Age people how they survived, I was doing the next best thing, camping in the Finnish forest and visiting Sami reindeer-herders, who still live in traditional ways.

Back In Time

My stories are adventures about a boy, a girl and a wolf. Torak and Renn are hunter-gatherers, and maybe you know what that means — but let’s think about it for a minute. Imagine you are a hunter-gatherer, alone in a snowy forest on a cold winter’s day. Everything you need for survival — clothes, food, shelter, weapons —you’ve got to find or make from what’s around you.

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t last very long. Yet the people of the Mesolithic period (from around 12,000 years ago until between 9,000 and 4,000 years ago) did. They had no metal or even the wheel but they knew all about the natural world on which their lives depended. Since they didn’t write things down, it can be hard to know exactly what they did but there are some ways of peeling back history to take a look.

Into The Woods

In the Mesolithic period, the whole of Europe was one vast forest, apart from the far north where it was too cold for trees to grow. People lived in small groups of between around15 and 100, either in one settlement or moving camp now and then. In spring, they might head up the rivers after salmon, catching them in nets of woven tree bark and smoking them to save for later. In summer, they might camp on the coast to fish, collect sea birds’ eggs and hunt seals and whales. In autumn, they might shelter from storms in the forest, gathering berries and nuts. They’d hunt many animals, including bear, boar, deer and horses. There are three main ways in which scientists can work out our ancestors’ diets. The first relates to evolutionary changes to brains and jaws. These suggest that, when compared to primates (the group of animals that includes apes and monkeys),humans have eaten meat for a long time. Measuring the chemical composition of prehistoric bones also suggests a heavy reliance on meat. Archaeological evidence (objects buried underground that reveal signs of past human life) is the third method but itis harder to analyse, mostly because plant material and meat rot away over time.

A Day As A Stone Age Child

You live with your extended family in one big shelter. Maybe it’s a tent covered in reindeer skins or a pit dwelling dug into the ground with a turf roof over a layer of birch bark.

Outside it’s freezing but inside a log fire keeps you snug, or if you live on the treeless tundra, there’s a slab of smouldering whale or seal blubber(fat). Wherever you live, everyone sleeps together on a platform covered with warm furs of bears, foxes and deer.

After dressing, and chewing a scrap of dried cod, you crawl outside to help pull in the fishing lines from the ice holes cut in the frozen river. Then you head off with a hunting party. This is how you learn, by watching the grown-ups in action.

The Sun hasn’t risen for months, so you find your way by moonlight and the green glow of the northern lights (dazzling displays of light caused by activity on the Sun). Pine-tar torches are avoided while hunting because they stop your eyes adjusting to the gloom.

Out In The Snow

It’s so cold that your breath crackles in your nose, but you’re snugly dressed. Your underclothes are eider-duck hide with the feathers against your skin. Your leggings and parka are reindeer fur and your hood is fringed with wolverine fur, which doesn’t get clogged up with frozen breath. Your mittens are also reindeer fur, with slits in the palms so you can slip out your fingers to tie knots. Your socks are felted dog fur; your boots waterproof seal hide. If it’s sleety, you’ve got waterproof over-clothes of fish skin or gut skin (made from the intestines of seals or whales).

Crucially, your clothes are loose. Tight clothes cut your blood flow, which can make you cold. I think prehistoric people had enough of an understanding of the human body to know this. Arctic winters bring blizzards and avalanches but tracking is much easier in snow, and it’s easier to get around too — frozen rivers make good roads.

Your father’s dogsled has runners of whale jawbones, Criss-crossed with antlers and tied together with animal sinew. It’s pulled by dogs harnessed with ropes of tough walrus hide. You can make snowshoes from bendy branches for walking on deep snow and skis of polished bone. On your skis’ undersides, you’ve stuck seal hide with the fur pointing backwards: this grips the snow when you’re skiing uphill and makes you go faster when heading down.

You carry your own flint knife and what you need to start a fire: a tinder pouch and a smouldering chunk of bracket fungus, rolled in birch bark and stoppered with moss. You carry a waterskin too, and know not to eat snow because it blisters your mouth.

That’s The Spirit

Your uncle has trapped a reindeer in a pit! After killing it swiftly, he thanks its spirit and offers a tuft of its hair to the forest. Your people believe that everything has a spirit — animals, rivers, rocks, trees, even the wind — and you must be respectful because nature is unpredictable. You respect all creatures: bears for strength; reindeer for their ability to withstand cold; the wolf for its hunting and its devotion to its cubs. Back at camp, you help to skin the reindeer and scrape its hide clean. Tomorrow you’ll start turning it into leather by rubbing its inner side with the animal’s mashed brains. Maybe the carcass is put in a food pit for later, or maybe it’ll be eaten tonight. You must use every part of the animal, though. Waste anything and you risk angering the spirits and causing famine (a shortage of food), according to your beliefs.

Supper Time

Hungry, you brush snow off your clothes and crawl into the shelter. You might eat a rich stew of reindeer fat, liver and blood; or smoked salmon spread with fish eggs. On the tundra, you eat raw seal blubber mashed with dried crowberries, or a slab of raw whale skin -I love this, it’s chewy and sweet, too.
Afterwards you sit twisting cords out of young willow shoots, while the shaman (a person believed to contact spirits) plays his bird-bone flute toward off demons. Soon it’ll be time to greet the return of the Sun with a feast. That’s chaotically fun, because everything is back-to-front: people wear clothes inside-out, dogs are allowed in the shelters and children order grown-ups about.

You’re looking forward to that as you fall asleep, cosy and warm, under the bearskins…

How Do I Know?

There are lots of ways to find out how people survived in the distant past. Take the trick of carrying a chunk of smouldering fungus, for example. Some people today still do it, so we know it works, and archaeologists found a chunk of fungus wrapped in bark on the 5,000-year-oldbody of a hunter, nicknamed Oetzi. He had been preserved in ice for all that time. As for what Stone Age people believed, we have to guess, mostly from the art they left on rocks. We also look at more recent hunter-gatherers, and I’ve used my imagination. Your Stone Age ancestors were highly skilled survivors who knew all about the natural world. Think about that the next time you’re out in a forest on a cold winter’s day. If they hadn’t been so brilliant at surviving, none of us would be here.

I must of cried for an hour straight

Lily aya writes…

when I entered 5th grade (now at the end of 6th) I started reading your
book series; the ancient chronicles of darkness. I almost immediately
fell in love with Torak, Renn, Dark, Wolf and all the others. I know
there's a incredibly small chance that this will do anything. ( I assume
your very busy with others books.) but, only halfway into the last book,
I realized I would have to say goodbye to Torak and Renn. I must of
cried for an hour straight. the point is, if you have free time, it
would mean the world to me if you continued the book series. but, if
that isn't something you can do, thank you for the overpowering
happiness you brought me. You ended wolfbane fantasticly so its probably
not writers block but if you did continue the book series, the next plot
could be that Renn gets pregnant, just an idea. thank you for writing
the book series, and if you dont write another book, thats completly ok.
i wish i had the words to explain who grateful I am for it. ( sorry for
my bad grammer)
ily

Michelle Replies…

Dear Lilya,

Many thanks for your lovely message, and for your question.  You are not alone in wanting me to write another Wolf Brother book!  However I’m afraid that as you’ve probably guessed, the answer is no, I have no plans to write any more books in the series.  I give my reasons in full in a reply to a message from another reader, Josiah, back in early February; you might like to take a look at what I said to him.  But briefly, I feel that I’ve dealt with the emotional aftermath of the first six books, and that I’ve given Torak, Renn and Wolf a good send-off  and started them on their adult lives. Maybe that will involve children for Torak and Renn, as you indicated – or maybe not.  It ‘s now up to readers to take the stories further in their imaginations. Another reason was that  I wanted to end the series on a high note, and I’m extremely proud of how WOLF BANE has turned out, so I think it’s best to leave it there.  You’re also right that I am currently writing another book, this time a grown-up ghost story set in a tropical rainforest.

Thanks for being so understanding  and perceptive about my not writing any more of the books you love.  And perhaps a spot of re-reading might help?

With very best wishes, Michelle

 

 

 

Resources For Teachers & Educators

Michelle and her publishers are pleased to presetn you with some fabulous reading and teaching aids, prepared by educationalists for use in a wide variety of learning environments. Simply click on the pack graphic to download.
Please note: these teaching resources may contain spoilers!  Only download and use once you’ve read the relevant book!

SKIN TAKER TEACHING RESOURCES contains pages of helpful, relevant and ready-made professional material for teachers to use without further preparation, including writing style and structure, themes and stepping-off points for further work (Stone Age, clothing, food, territory, natural disasters, beliefs, community and leadership).

THE VIPER’S DAUGHTER ACTIVITY PACK is a 23-page activity pack for children on and around the themes in Viper’s Daughter, created by a professional educator. Includes quizzes, puzzles, jumping-off points for artwork and 3-dimensional creative design, nature notes, and more.

VIPER’S DAUGHTER NOTES FOR READERS. Designed for direct use by readers, this 27-page comprehensive guide will provoke further activities across a wide range of topics, including writing style, use of language, characters and drama, nature, loyalty and friendship, and much more.

“WOLF BROTHER’S WILDWOODS” – A teaching resource produced by Forestry Commission Scotland to support teachers who are reading Wolf Brother with their classes. Particulaely, suitable for outdoor learning, this resource gives suggestions as to how pupils of today can develop their understanding of woodland, and aims to make today’s children feel more at home in a woodland environment.

WOLFBANE TEACHER’S RESOURCES features a wealth of sections ranging from writing style to the Mesolithic setting and environment, and creates a huge number of activity and discussion nodes about food, shelter, tools and tool making, respect for the natural world, kinship and clans, friendship and relationships… and much more. Plus resources for further reading and research. Everything you need to fire young imaginations!

 

READING TO YOUR CHILDREN

Michelle receives a steady stream of enquiries from teachers and educators regarding the reading of the WOLF BROTHER books to their classes, either live in-person or remotely over the internet.  Please rest assured that, as long as the conditions below are met, there is no need to request special permission to read these books to your children.

1) The reading should not be for profit, i.e. you must not charge for it;

2) The reading should be the same as would normally be done in a physical classroom situation, i.e. to a closed group of pupils or students. This means that you cannot broadcast it over the internet to the general public (e.g. as a YouTube recording or podcast), but reading to a private user group such as a Zoom call with your students is perfectly fine.

Rip @ rek

Gareth writes…

Dear Michelle

I am a great fan of your books!

I have got one question though,and that is…
What does the sign of the hand look like?
Also,
Where did you get the inspiration for the name, Torak?
I absolutely love your books,
Gareth,

Michelle Replies…

Dear Gareth,

I’m so glad you like my books!  I don’t have enough technological skill to draw the sign of the hand for you, but it looks pretty much like the one shown in the illustration at the start of Chapter 19 of WOLF BROTHER.  In fact, that illustration is based on a sign on a rock which dates from around Torak’s time; I gave a photocopy to the artist, Geoff Taylor, to show him what I had in mind.

As to Torak’s name, I made it up, taking inspiration from various old European languages, particularly Old Norse, in Torak’s case, and trying out various permutations until I found one that sounded and felt right for his character.  I thought I’d invented his name completely, so I was a bit surprised when, after I’d written WOLF BROTHER and was in Greenland researching SPIRIT WALKER, an Inuit girl told me that it means “perfect” in her language.  I thought that was quite spooky, but she just said calmly that it was probably because I was Inuit in a previous life.

With best wishes, Michelle