Over the past several weeks, I have been promoting my latest novel, Echo and the White Howl. An animal fiction story set amongst a wolf pack in Alaska, this book is a gripping and thrilling adventure for all ages.

Here is a summary of essential information about the novel, as well as links to articles exploring its different aspects:

Blurb from the back of the book:

When a wolf pack discovers humans lurking near their territory, Echo senses dark times ahead.

Despite the warnings and omens, Aatag, the pack Alpha, refuses to flee… leading to a cruel turn of events that forces Echo into exile, and a quest for revenge that will change the pack forever.

Character introductions

Click here for introductions to some of the main characters.

Excerpts

Tasters of the novel can be read here and here.

Cover

More about the cover design here.

The Writing Process

Click here to read about my experience writing animal fiction.

Influences

Which key texts informed and inspired Echo and the White Howl? Click here for more.

Research

Click here to find out what most fascinated me as I researched wolves, Alaska and so forth.

Themes

What is Echo and the White Howl really about? Click here for more.

Echo and the White Howl is out now. Click here for your Kindle download or paperback copy.

Animal fiction is a notoriously difficult beast. I had never intended to write any, until last summer, when my youngest son begged me for a story about wolves. I initially said no, but then I had an idea that nagged and tickled, and the voices in my head would not be silenced until I had put them on paper.

Writing for my son proved a very good motivator, and despite my trepidation I pushed ahead with what eventually became Echo and the White Howl. It was not an easy novel to write for several reasons. For one thing, one has to make sure the reader suspends disbelief. That means walking the tightrope between assigning human attributes to animal characters to make them relatable, and yet at the same time making sure their knowledge doesn’t exceed their natural awareness. Wolves would have no understand of things like helicopters for instance (in the novel they are referred to as giant flying metal insects).

Turns of phrase can prove problematic. In the first draft, I often caught myself writing things like “Echo couldn’t put his finger on the problem” when he has paws, not fingers. On top of that, I had to decide which facts from my research should be incorporated into my story, and what should be left out. So for example, how a pack hunts, challenges to the Alpha and so forth are all woven into the narrative, whereas the fact that wolves supposedly only see in black and white was ignored. Poetic licence is important, and to have included the latter point would have been as foolish as insisting space battles in Star Wars feature no laser sound effects due to the vacuum of space.

Finally, I made a very conscious decision that this novel would not patronise children. I absolutely cannot bear children’s fiction which talks down to the reader. Whilst Echo and the White Howl is suitable for all ages, it does contain some frightening and upsetting moments. Nor does it skimp on blood and gore in both hunt and fight scenes. I honestly believe none of this material is gratuitous or out of place. Indeed, to have censored or left it out would have been fundamentally dishonest. In the main the novel is a thrilling adventure story with an ultimately reassuring outcome, but the fears, doubts, moments of despair and tragedies experienced by Echo and Saphira on their journey are not glossed over either. I believe this is in keeping with the traditions of the very best animal fiction, in the likes of Watership Down, The Jungle Book and Bambi.

Echo and the White Howl is out now. Click here for your Kindle download or paperback copy.

Whilst I believe my latest novel Echo and the White Howl is an interesting and original work in its own right, I also think it is disingenuous to deny influences. Here then are seven other stories that informed Echo and the White Howl.

Watership Down (Richard Adams) – One of my favourite novels, and the most obvious influence. This tale of rabbits fleeing apocalyptic disaster and standing up against dictatorial oppression (both themes that also appear in my novel) has surprisingly dark, savage undertones, as well as being vivid, gripping and deeply moving. My novel doesn’t skimp on savagery either, as like Adams I don’t believe in patronising children. The notion of the rabbit god Frith is also echoed (see what I did there), with the wolf goddess Akna.

The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling) – Akela and the other wolves in Kipling’s iconic classic are so well-known and well-loved that I almost dismissed the notion of a wolf novel as futile before I’d even started. Akela’s presiding over the wolf council and his recitations of the law of the jungle are very clear influences on the character of Aatag, and how he runs his wolf pack.

The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame) – This classic of animal literature is an undoubted tonal influence on some of the lighter, more whimsical elements in my novel, especially during sequences where Echo tries to persuade an eagle and a bear to help him through trickery.

The Gruffalo (Julia Donaldson) – Nini the racoon is something of a comic relief character in my novel, but his amusing (and successful) attempts at talking his way out of being eaten are akin to that of the mouse in The Gruffalo.

Animal Farm (George Orwell) – Many animal fiction tales owe a debt to Animal Farm, and mine is no different. The tyrannical regime of the pigs proved a key inspiration for the tyrannical regime that appears in my novel. In Animal Farm the regime is meant as an allegory of Soviet Russia, and interestingly, some have read contemporary concerns (specifically Brexit) into “The Union” of my novel. I didn’t intend Echo and the White Howl to be a political allegory, but if people want to read that into it then obviously I cannot stop them.

Bambi (Film) – The “circle of life” narrative that underpins my favourite Walt Disney animated film was a big influence. My novel also features the traumatic death of a parent, as well as a forest fire in the climax.

Twin Peaks (TV series) – The idea of the villain being possessed by an ancient demonic force from the “Dark Realm” may feel like a side-step into outright fantasy or horror, but oddly enough the idea came from Twin Peaks, whereby the killer is possessed by a malevolent spirit from the “Black Lodge”. As my wife said in her (otherwise positive) assessment of Echo and the White Howl, “Not everyone is going to appreciate a left turn into weirdness”. Despite this, the Dark Realm elements simply add to the spiritual backdrop of the novel, along with the White Wolf of Akna, the Black Mountain, the Circle and so on. Besides, I believe mixing dirt-under-the-paw realism with the metaphysical creates a surprisingly potent combination.

Echo and the White Howl is a thrilling animal adventure for all ages, set amongst a pack of wolves in the Alaskan wilderness. Click here for your Kindle download or paperback copy.

Here’s the cover for my new novel, Echo and the White Howl.

I greatly dislike the word “team”. It is the word my children dread to hear at school (“team project”) because it often means they will end up doing all the work whilst others sit and twiddle their thumbs. It is also hurled around endless miserable corporate settings, often as a stick to bash over the heads of employees, implying responsibility beyond what they are paid for (“You’re letting the team down”). Generally I only use the word in a sport related context, and prefer to use other terms elsewhere (“group”, “department”, “squadron” – anything but “team”).

However, I cannot deny that the Echo and the White Howl cover was the product of excellent “teamwork”. My wife Zara and my good friend Yasmine Nuoraho both had a hand in the design, as did I. There were a number of variations (including one with an orange sunset background) but in the end I opted for the colder, blue-grey version which tonally suits the mostly wintery setting.

Set amongst a wolf pack in the vast Alaskan wilderness, Echo and the White Howl is a thrilling animal fiction adventure for all ages.

Here is the blurb from the back of the book:

When a wolf pack discovers humans lurking near their territory, Echo senses dark times ahead.

Despite the warnings and omens, Aatag, the pack Alpha, refuses to flee… leading to a cruel turn of events that forces Echo into exile, and a quest for revenge that will change the pack forever.

Echo and the White Howl is out now, as a download or paperback from Amazon. Click here for your copy.