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