Erin Hunter is a famous author of lots of books—especially famous for the Warrior, Survivor and Seeker series. Erin Hunter is not a real person, in fact it is a pen name used by several different authors who wrote under the tutelage and guidance of Editor Victoria Holmes. Among the authors under the Erin Hunter pen names are: Tui Sutherland, Gillian Philip, Cherith Baldry and Kate Cary.
Victoria Holmes was tasked by publishing house HarperCollins to create a feral cat fantasy series, this was in 2003. But, Vicky—as Victoria Holmes is fondly called by friends, was not that happy to write on said subject as she is not a huge fan of fantasy. So, Vicky created the storyline and Kate Cary was brought in to create the details of the book. Vicky went on with the editing and supervising tasks of details and scenes of the Warriors series. The next best thing that happened was when Cherith Baldry joined the team of writers during the Forest of Secrets—which is the third installment for the Warriors series. The fourth author to join the team was Tui Sutherland; this was after she wrote the first field guide for warriors.
How the Pseudonym Came To Be
A pseudonym came to being because of the following reasons: One, if the authors chose that their names all be published in the books, then the book would be found on different places within the library which would be hard for readers to find especially with the outlook of creating many series. And secondly, the makers of the book were looking to place their warrior series next to Brian Jacques’ Redwall series of books because during that time, it was the closest series of book which had the same plot as warriors. Thus, they needed a surname that can easily be found closed to Jacques and thus the surname Hunter was formulated. Everyone agreed that it was a great choice, aside from being close to Jacques’ surname; it had the perfect quality of connoting a cat’s hunting instincts. Then the name Erin was voted, which is Vicky Holmes’ favorite character names. The name Erin also invokes a strong persona and not the girly type.
Getting to Know the Authors
Victoria Holmes
Victoria “Vicky” Holmes was born on July 7, 1974 and grew up in an England farm. She has great horsemanship skills and by two years old, she already knows how to ride a horse. Growing up, she loved to read books and even started writing and creating fiction stories as well. She graduated from the prestigious University of Oxford majoring in English. Her interest in history and tradition has been inspired by the old and wonderful architecture of her university. Moving to London, Vicky began a career as an editor for a children’s book. Her favorite past times are: spending time with her beloved pet dog, Missy, and traveling around the English countryside.
HarperCollins publishing house asked Vicky to write a fantasy book series on cats in 2003, which led to her creating the ideas and the consistent voice of the New York Times Bestselling Warriors books. Holmes is the primary contributor to the ideas and storybook outline. She also ensures that, although the books are written in detail by different writers, the consistent voice of Erin Hunter is tangible within all series of the books.
Gillian Philip
As of this writing, Gillian Philip was the last addition to the team of Erin Hunter writers and was foremost the writer behind the Survivors series. Gillian currently resides in the beautiful North East portion of the Scottish Highlands and living contentedly with her husband and two kids. She has a houseful of pets and has promised to stay away from getting another one—a promise that she has a hard time keeping. So their houseful of pet consists of stick insects, fishes, three chickens, a hamster, two cats and three dogs. The first two book she has written under Erin Hunter are the ‘A Hidden Enemy’ and ‘The Empty City’ which are the first two series of Survivors.
Tui Sutherland
Tui Sutherland is best known for being the only non-British writer under the Erin Hunter team of writers. She was born in Caracas, Valenzuela on July 31, 1978. She was in fact an editor for HarperCollins under the Warrior series, but quit her post when Vicky approached her to join the writing team. As the cliché goes, after that, the rest was history. One of her first contributions was the Secret of the Clans under the Warrior series and The Quest Begins under the survivor series.
Cherith Baldry
Cherith Baldry is among the contributing writers under the pen name of Erin Hunter. She is born in Lancaster, England on January 21, 1947. Growing up in a farm and working with house cats has proven to be a great source of experience for Baldry especially when it comes to writing for the Warriors, plus the fact that she has an extensive experience as a fantasy fiction writer. Baldry went to St. Anne’s College, Oxford and Manchester University. After graduating from college, she pursued a career as a lecturer and a teacher.
She got married to a scientist named Peter Baldry and they have two sons namely, Adam and Will. After a time, Cherith eventually gave up her teaching and lecturing position in order to pursue a career as a writer—full time.
Presently, Cherith is living in Reigate, England along with her beloved pet cats Sorrel and Bramble, from whom two characters in the Warrior books were named and inspired after—Sorreltail aand Brambleclaw.
Cherith was the third author to join the Erin Hunter team of writers. Holmes found in her a writing style that is quite alike Kate Cary’s and was asked to join to write the Forest of Secrets—which is the third installment of the Warriors. Cherith is ultimately credited with many books under the Warrior series, especially since Cary only wrote twelve of them.
Kate Cary
Kate Cary was the first official writer that Vicky Holmes invited to write the first book of the Warrior series which is the ‘Into The Wild’ and quickly followed by ‘Fire and Ice.’ Kate Cary was born in England on November 4, 1967 and began writing as early as four years old. She studied History at the London University in Surrey and began her writing career creating activity and ‘how-to’ books before landing a writing career under the Warriors series which catapulted her to fame.
I really appreciate knowing the published order, as well as the chronological order of series, so thank you. Also, thank you for the author information. In this case, I have a student reading from the Warrior Series, and he will be very interested in knowing the “secret” behind it’s author. Very interesting!
10/10 For this site in general
I have a very very large book collection that is always growing; and this website has always helped me keep up with new books from my favourite authors. The best thing is that this site always keeps up to date with all authors and the books they release
I’m so happy I found this site!!! I started reading the series in 2003 and got through the first 3 sets with others along the way and now my husband has started reading them and like me hasn’t been able to put them down. we are both in our seventies and love cats and books LOL!! Thank you for the books and this site.
Barbara and Glenn
P.S. Now I know where to pick up the story!!! LOL
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I love this website. It’s so helpful.
Thanks for taking the time to post that Shani. Much appreciated 🙂 Cheers
I really appreciate knowing the published order, as well as the chronological order of series, so thank you. Also, thank you for the author information. In this case, I have a student reading from the Warrior Series, and he will be very interested in knowing the “secret” behind it’s author. Very interesting!
10/10 For this site in general
I have a very very large book collection that is always growing; and this website has always helped me keep up with new books from my favourite authors. The best thing is that this site always keeps up to date with all authors and the books they release
Thank you for the feedback Mackenna that is much appreciated 🙂
wow I only have the first book done!?!?! wow…
WELP I’M OFF TO BUY MORE BOOKS!
I’m so happy I found this site!!! I started reading the series in 2003 and got through the first 3 sets with others along the way and now my husband has started reading them and like me hasn’t been able to put them down. we are both in our seventies and love cats and books LOL!! Thank you for the books and this site.
Barbara and Glenn
P.S. Now I know where to pick up the story!!! LOL
You’re welcome Barbara 🙂 Thanks for saying that glad we can be of help!
Lol ! didn’t know how many different books there are!! Going to have to get more bookshelves!
love this site
sometimes i have no idea what books are in the series and this helps so much
thank you
You’re welcome 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to comment. Much appreciated.