A Visit with the Warriors' Chief Two-Leg!

Yesterday afternoon we drove up to Manchester, VT to meet Erin Hunter, the author of the Warriors series. We didn't tell Phoebe where we were going, so it was a big surprise. She got a seat in the front row and asked three questions. Hunter read the Prologue from her newest Warriors book, answered a bunch of questions, and then signed copies. I was impressed by the number of kids--although Phoebe was the youngest--and by the piles of books they were all toting around.

What we learned from Ms. Hunter--

-First of all, there is no Erin Hunter. Well, technically, there are four Erins. We met Victoria Holmes, who is the primary "Erin." She comes up with all the storylines and wrote the first books.

-Victoria is British. She studied English at Oxford. She's actually more of a dog person and is allergic to cats! She was asked to write a story about cats for kids and came up with one book--then that one turned into six, and now there are dozens of books! She's also been translated into 28 languages. She was in Germany before coming to the US.

-The Seekers series came about because the publisher wanted something with a new animal. They suggested dogs (too much like cats in peoples' minds), horses (too skittish--they won't stay and fight), and dolphins (they all look the same). Victoria is the one who came up with bears--although she's never seen one in the wild, she said writing these books gave her the chance to watch a lot of the Discovery Channel!

-There will be at least one more Warriors series after the current one, Omen of the Stars, is concluded. She said it will be something like a prehistory of the Clans.

Phoebe happened to lose a tooth at school yesterday as well, and was sporting it around her neck in her tooth necklace, which is what they give the kids at school to store their tooth in. Erin/Victoria thought that was "disgusting," but dedicated the book she signed to "Phoebe and her tooth."

David took a lot of pictures, and I imagine they will be appearing on Facebook soon!

On May 5th, Rick Riordan, of the Percy Jackson books, will be appearing at the store. Phoebe was quite excited to hear that, so I guess we'll be making another trip to VT in a few weeks! Maybe this time I can get some outlet shopping in!