Sangay Glass's Blog

Why Some Kill and Some Care

Some predators play a long game. Wolves, foxes, coyotes, they pair up, raise pups together, and invest in the family they’ve made.

Others? Not so much.

In some species, like lions, leopards, and certain primates new dominant males will kill the offspring that aren’t theirs. Brutal?

Yes. But in their world, it’s strategy. Removing dependent young brings the female back into heat sooner, letting him pass on his own genes instead of raising another male’s.

It’s not “evil.” It’s not “wrong.” It’s biology, wired by millions of years of survival math.

But the thing about predators that hunt as true partners is they’re playing a different game entirely: survival of the pack, not just the individual. That’s why I’ll always have more respect for a pair-bonded wolf than a lone lion with blood on his muzzle.

And before anyone asks—no, humans aren’t exempt from this conversation.

More on real-world wolf conservation with a bit of the supernatural: The Wolfer's Daughter: A Story of Resurrection and Reckoning in the Adirondacks

Set in the remote Adirondacks, where wolves have returned after a century-long absence, The Wolfer's Daughter is a chilling, darkly humorous story rooted in real-world conservation, identity, and the blurry lines between what we love and what we fear in ourselves.

Why Coyote is the Real MVP

What purpose do coyotes serve?
-They keep rodent populations down.
-They clean up roadkill before it gets stinky.
-They eat invasive free-roaming cats. Sorry, not sorry. Native birds approve.
-Thrives everywhere from deep wilderness to downtown.
-Shape-shifts in myth, teaches life lessons, and occasionally saves the day (sometimes on purpose)
-Laughs at your HOA rules .

Verdict: Nature’s problem-solver… and occasional troublemaker.

Happy Tuesday! Stay adaptable!

And read! Love wolves? Love nature? Love Magical realism?

Jess Taylor is dead.

Her body lies rotting in the woods, forgotten by the world. But something older than myth, and more primal than man, has claimed her. And it’s not done yet.

Ten years after surviving a wolf encounter that killed her sister, wildlife biologist Jess returns to the Adirondacks to study a breeding pair that shouldn’t exist. Their presence disrupts everything ecologically, politically, and spiritually.

But when science collides with legend and conservation becomes control, Jess crosses a line she can’t uncross.
And she pays for it with her body and soul.

Now resurrected from the dead, disoriented, and no longer entirely human, Jess faces the betrayals, bribes, and the man who couldn’t save her—or stop her.

Set in the remote Adirondacks, where wolves have returned after a century-long absence, The Wolfer's Daughter is a chilling, darkly humorous story rooted in real-world conservation, identity, and the blurry lines between what we love and what we fear in ourselves.
The Wolfer's Daughter: A Story of Resurrection and Reckoning in the Adirondacks

Goodreads Giveaway

Still running. The Wolfer's Daughter: A Story of Resurrection and Reckoning in the Adirondacks

Magpies Are the Middlemen

There’s a reason I keep an eye on magpies.

They’re not just noisy neighbors with an eye for shiny things. They’re watchers. Messengers. Tricksters. And they’re smart, like mirror-test-passing, multi-tool-using smart. I’ve seen them mimic hawks just to clear a picnic table, then strut over like they own it. Maybe they do.

Magpies don’t just observe the world, they stir it up. They heckle predators. Warn prey. Steal dog fur off the line to line their nests. They’ll even babysit their younger siblings. That’s not chaos. That’s coordination.

In some stories, they’re bad luck. In others, they’re the bridge between worlds. Personally? I think they’re just honest. Noisy, nosy, and necessary.

So when a magpie lands near camp and stares too long, I stare back. I don’t ask what it means. I ask what it knows.

Goodreads Giveaway

Set in the remote Adirondacks, where wolves have returned after a century-long absence, The Wolfer's Daughter is a chilling and sometimes darkly humorous story rooted in real-world conservation, identity, and the blurry lines between what we love and what we fear. The Wolfer's Daughter: A Story of Resurrection and Reckoning in the Adirondacks

Deliverance

Some things aren’t meant to be explained, just carried.
Like secrets folded into bone. Like songs only the wild can hear.

I’ve walked far. Farther than most would, chasing something I couldn’t name. But I’ve learned I wasn’t chasing anything at all. I was delivering.

The pup is a promise. Not to me, but through me.

My role isn’t to claim it or keep it. My role is to whisper its promise into the right ears. To speak the language of scent and stillness until the message is understood.

It's with hope that I breathe out the word: coexistence.

Because life will continue, changed but deterred.

There’s power in what survives. Even more in what chooses to keep going.

So I walk. And when the wind shifts, I listen. Waiting for the next whisper.

Set in the remote Adirondacks, where wolves have returned after a century-long absence, The Wolfer's Daughter is a chilling and darkly humorous story rooted in real-world conservation, identity, and the blurry lines between what we love and what we fear.

The Wolfer's Daughter: A Story of Resurrection and Reckoning in the Adirondacks

Smoky, the Wolves, and the Quiet Power of Being There

Did you know the first recorded therapy dog in wartime wasn’t a big shepherd or lab? It was Smoky, a four-pound Yorkshire Terrier who served in World War II.

She ran telegraph wire through tiny tunnels. Comforted wounded soldiers in hospital beds. She never trained for it, just did it because she was there. Because she understood something we still struggle with: presence is powerful.

I think about that sometimes, when I’m out here, living wild. I don’t get to pet the wolves I study. I don’t need to. What they teach me isn’t through touch, it’s through example.

They show me how to live in the moment. How to listen more than speak. How to be still when words fail, and to move with purpose when they don’t.

It’s funny, people say I study wolves. But really? They’re the ones giving the lessons. And without ever meaning to, they remind me how to be human.

They are the mirror to our souls and the echoes of our pasts.

Set in the remote Adirondacks, where wolves have returned after a century-long absence, “The Wolfer’s Daughter” is a chilling and darkly humorous story rooted in real-world conservation, identity, and the blurry lines between what we love and what we fear.

Two ways to get a free copy.
Free on KU
Goodreads Giveaway until August 17
The Paperback is now available! The Wolfer's Daughter: A Story of Resurrection and Reckoning in the Adirondacks

Neurodiverse Main Characters, and Why I Keep Writing Them

If something feels off kilter, don’t rush to set it straight. Our minds adapt in time. It’s only natural.

I’ve always written characters who live a little sideways from the world, who second-guess their reactions, misread the room, or pull back just when they’re supposed to lean in. I didn’t call it neurodivergence at first. I just wrote people who felt familiar, quietly different.

Jess and Tucker, the leads in The Wolfer’s Daughter, are both on the spectrum.

You may not catch it right away, especially with Jess. She uses humor to deflect in awkward moments. She thinks one thing and says another. She’s observational, intense, and tries hard to stay two steps ahead in conversations that don’t come easy. Because for her, most conversations never reach her lips. That’s how she keeps up. That’s how she survives.

Tucker’s differences show more clearly. He repeats motions, and if they feel right in his mouth, words echo. He asks for clarity instead of pretending he understood the first time. He’s brilliant, literal, loyal, and sometimes misses the social “script.” But that’s part of why Jess trusts him. He doesn’t hide how his mind works, and that makes her feel less alone.

I didn’t write them to teach a lesson. I wrote them because I know people like them. I am people like them. I live in a world that sometimes feels too bright, too fast, too full of noise. And I know the relief of finding someone who doesn’t expect you to mask.

Writing neurodiverse characters matters. Not because they’re flawless or tragic or quirky. but because they show up in stories as full, complex humans. People who love, grieve, screw up, and grow. People who deserve to be at the center of the narrative, not the edge.

So yes, my stories will always have room for the offbeat thinkers, the ones who feel too much, the ones who shut down before they say something they can’t take back. They’re not broken. They’re not “inspirational.” They’re just…real.

Bite Me: Otter vs. Wolf

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of sticking your hand too close to an otter’s mouth (I don’t recommend it), you’ll know something most people don’t: those fuzzy river goblins pack serious dental hardware.

But how do they stack up against the apex predator everyone loves to fear, Canis lupus, the gray wolf?

Let’s take a bite out of the science.

Tooth Type: Precision vs. Power

Wolves have what you’d expect from a meat-specialized predator: long canines for puncturing, sharp carnassials for shearing flesh, and a bone-cracking back molar. Their dental formula (that’s science-speak for tooth arrangement) is built for dismantling large ungulates-deer, elk, even bison.

Otters, meanwhile, are seafood specialists. Those rounded molars? Made for crushing. Shellfish, clams, even small turtles are no match for an otter’s grip. Think nutcracker meets bear trap, dipped in cute.

So: wolves slice and tear. Otters crush and splinter.

Bite Force: Numbers Don’t Lie

Wolf bite force: ~ 400 PSI (pounds per square inch) A Rottweiler: ~328 PSI

Otter bite force: ~ 80–100 PSI (river otters), but concentrated in a much smaller jaw, pound for pound, still nasty.

Here’s the trick: wolves are power biters. They grab, hold, and don’t let go. Otters are finesse biters. They know exactly where to bite to get that crab leg open or sever a spinal cord.

One’s a can-opener. The other’s a nutcracker with surgical precision.

Behavioral Bite Risk

Wolves can bite, but generally don’t. They avoid humans like the plague unless sick, starving, or cornered.

Otters, however, have been known to chase down dogs, tourists, and the occasional kayak. Territorial, underestimated, and armed with needle teeth and attitude.

Ask any wildlife rehabber who they’d rather hand-feed. (Spoiler: not the otter.)

Final Verdict?

If you’re up against a wolf, it’ll likely warn you, posture, and give you time to back away. An otter? No promises.

The wolf’s bite can kill. The otter’s bite will send you to the ER asking why you lost a chunk of your finger to something that weighs 20 pounds.

So who wins the tooth-off?

Depends what you’re chewing through:

Deer femur? Wolf.
Mussels in a half shell? Otter.
Unattended camp sandwich? Tie

Want more science, sass, and teeth? Stay tuned for: “Moose vs. Minivan: Which Leaves a Bigger Dent?”

[book:The Wolfer's Daughter: A Story of Resurrection and Reckoning in the Adirondacks> PreRelease Freebies!

Set in the remote Adirondacks, where wolves have returned after a century-long absence, “The Wolfer’s Daughter” is a chilling and darkly humorous story rooted in real-world conservation, identity, and the blurry lines between what we love and what we fear.

Three ways to get a free copy.

It's free on all digital platforms until midnight 7-27.
Free on KU
Goodreads Giveaway until August 17

The paperback comes out July 31st!

New Release Giveaway!

Goodreads Giveaway ! Now until August 17th

What happens when science meets myth… and loses?

The Wolfer’s Daughter is coming—and you could be one of the first to read it for free. Enter the Goodreads giveaway this July for your chance to win a copy of this darkly thrilling novel rooted in real-world wolf conservation and ancient folklore.

Jess Taylor is dead. But death is only the beginning.

Set deep in the Adirondacks, where wolves have retuned after a century-long absence, this haunting, twisty story explores identity, power, and what it really means to protect the wild. If you love wolves, dark humor, or books where the wilderness bitesback—don’t miss it.

📚 Enter the giveaway now and follow to get updates when the book drops! The Wolfer's Daughter: A Story of Resurrection and Reckoning in the Adirondacks

New Release! The Wolfer's Daughter

Jess Taylor is dead.

Her body lies rotting in the woods, forgotten by the world. But something older than myth, and more primal than man, has claimed her. And it’s not done yet.

Ten years after surviving a wolf encounter that killed her sister, wildlife biologist Jess returns to the Adirondacks to study a breeding pair that shouldn’t exist. Their presence disrupts everything ecologically, politically, and spiritually.

But when science collides with legend and conservation becomes control, Jess crosses a line she can’t uncross.
And she pays for it with her body and soul.

Now resurrected, disoriented, and no longer entirely human, Jess faces the betrayals, bribes, and the man who couldn’t save her—or stop her.

Set in the remote Adirondacks, where wolves have returned after a century-long absence, The Wolfer's Daughter is a chilling, darkly humorous story rooted in real-world conservation, identity, and the blurry lines between what we love and what we fear in ourselves.

Free on all digital platforms today until midnight 7-27, hoping for reviews. The Wolfer's Daughter: A Story of Resurrection and Reckoning in the Adirondacks