Get Your 2012 Coyote Calendar

When I decided that a coyote would play a strong role in my contemporary fantasy Sarabande , I needed to find a good source of information about them. Unfortunately, most people see them as pests. Just as unfortunately, coyotes and human neighborhoods don't mix well a lot of the time. But, we go too far, I think, with our fear and distrust of coyotes and wolves.

Fortunately, I found a loving source of coyote information through Shreve Stockton's story about raising a coyote (ultimately named "Charlie") in her 2008 book The Daily Coyote .  Publishers Weekly said, in part, "This moving account of writer/photographer Stockton's first year with her pet coyote, Charlie, expands on her popular blog, the Daily Coyote, but newcomers and the authors many fans will find that this memoir offers a complete—if not yet completed—story about love and life in a small Wyoming town. On a cross-country move from San Francisco to New York City in 2005, Stockton fell in love with the beauty of Wyomings Bighorn Mountains and decided to settle there."

I enjoyed the book as well as e-mailed updates from her blog. Shreve also provided some great answers to my questions about what it was like to be up close with a coyote. Now, since the coyote in my novel is a totem animal as well as a real (maybe) four-legged critter in Glacier National Park, I may not have translated her advice into a realistic coyote like Charlie.

While writing the novel, I was inspired by the coyote photographs on her website. Now, as I move into my "talking about the novel" phase, I can continue to be inspired by her 2012 Calendar. Thanks, Shreve, and may your work help all of us achieve a better understanding of all the Charlies out there.

--Malcolm