The American writer, screenwriter and producer Katherine Laski is famous for his books about owls in the fantasy genre "Nightguards". The author has received the National Prize for European Literature and the American Association of Librarians Prize.
Based on the world famous night watch saga in the United States, Zach Snyder made an animated 3D film. It was first released on screens in early autumn 2010. The writer herself took part in writing the script.
Study time
Katherine Laski's biography began in 1944. The future celebrity was born in Indianapolis on June 24 in the family of a businessman. Martha, her sister, is 5 years older than her. The girls' ancestors moved to America from Eastern Europe.
Katie listened with enthusiasm to stories about how difficult it was for her grandparents in learning a new language and customs. The future writer was also surprised that the children quickly learned the knowledge from relatives. Laski much later stated with regret that the family skills to do everything in a superlative degree did not extend to her.
The girl grew up as an ordinary child. She attended a local school. Relations with teachers did not work out. Therefore, Catherine did not like to study. But together with her friend Carol, she gladly arranged a variety of adventures to compensate for the rather boring reality, in their opinion.
After completing the school course, Laski decided to continue her education at the University of Michigan. She chose to study English literature. The student was especially fascinated by the Victorian era and romantic poetry. To the amazement of the parents, who in the depths of their souls recognized the youngest daughter as lazy in the field of study, she became an excellent student. The girl adored English, which she studied with great diligence.
The road to the cause of life
After graduating from university, Laski began her career as a journalist in a fashion magazine. However, this work quickly bored the talented graduate. Teaching became a new role for the future writer. She helped Lasky to establish a personal life. Thanks to teaching, the girl met her future spouse. She and Chris Knight soon became husband and wife.
The first child appeared in the family, the son of Max. After 5 years, Katherine became the mother of her daughter Meribe. Katherine decided to create a book for children shortly after the birth of her first child.
The new field of activity was fully approved by Laska's mother. She strongly supported her daughter's desire to create literary works.
Owls have long been admired by the writer. She perfectly studied the features of their behavior and one of her plans was to write a book about them. Instead of drawings, it was supposed to use photographs of birds taken by her husband. But the task turned out to be not easy: the heroes of the future story were too secretive.
The husband suggested not to despair and write a work about the characters she invented. The result was a whole series in the fantasy genre "Nightguards". The books were published from 2003 to 2008. There were 15 of them in total. Then 3 more appeared, the series "Bears of the North" and "Wolves from the Far-Far Country" were written. All heroes lived in the world already described earlier.
Famous series
Laski said in an interview that she tried to keep the behavior of owls the same as in reality. But at the same time, her characters were able to talk, read, write, carry weapons and even be creative. To make it believable, Katherine explored many areas. During the preparation for work, she understood the peculiarities of owl vision, hearing, and their family way of life.
It took about 4 months to write the first book. Catherine thought through each character, the main storylines. The original series consisted of 6 books. But the result was a much larger number. First published an essay in the publishing house "Scholastic", specializing in educational materials and books for children and parents.
In the foreword in the final part, the writer said that she was ending the series, since logically the story of the heroes came to an end. But in 2013 the sequel "The Birth of a Legend" was released. The book told about the past of the teacher of the Great Tree.
In 2007 and 2010, fans were given the opportunity to read The Great Tree Guide and The Lost Tales of Ga'Huul. The authorship belonged to the wife of the son of the author of the famous series Katherine Huang.
In Legends, which have been published separately, the main thought is the need to draw lessons from the stories of the past. In the prologue and epilogue, the author shows that, according to the will of the mentor, the protagonist and his friends read a collection of legends.
Otulissa, one of the most learned owls in the world, became the narrator on behalf of whom the story is being told. She reveals previously unknown stories, the order of life of wise birds, the main holidays, tells about the further fate of some heroes. The second guide supplemented the biographies and appearance of the characters.
Owl saga
The very same series was a story about the adventures of intelligent birds living on the planet after the disappearance of people from it. The main character Soren has a difficult path ahead from a naive little chick to a wise king of the five kingdoms.
During the test, the heroes face numerous adventures, training as the Night Guardians, fighting for justice, confronting their antagonists, the Pure. From the seventh book, Sorin's nephew Corin joined the main characters.
With the development of the plot, the enemies become more serious. An army of ordinary owls turns into mysterious hagsmars, bringing darkness to the whole world. The climax of the story is the massive battle with evil in the last book.
Catherine is currently in charge of a large house in Cambridge where she lives with her family. Together with her husband, she loves to go to sea.
