November 14, 2019

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Dear Watty Wolves Community,

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I'm here for the same reason you all are. I love wolves.

The first thing I want to say is, WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE???? A WERE community??? With a focus on wolves???? Am I in heaven???????

Secondly, I hardly ever write like that. Please don't judge me quite yet. I'm just completely and totally ecstatic and am more than willing to dive right into the deep end of this community.

As with the other two authors who have written letters, my love of wolves started before I can remember. My first stuffed toy was a wolf from Yellowstone National Park named Nolf. Yes. I was a creative child. I still have Nolf; he lives on my bed and will be going to college with me. He inspired my very first stories.

I would lie in bed at night, and sometimes move around, and play out stories until I couldn't keep my eyes open or I got caught. I can still remember some of those stories. Wolzly was the main character in every one and Nolf was always the antihero. (I have a thing for antiheroes, as you'll clearly see if you read some of my work, Alliance of Wolves specifically.)

After years of playing with Wolzly, I had a new character. Drew Hawthorne. My inspiration was the series Wereworld by Curtis Jobling. Those are some good books. Drew was a werewolf, a gladiator, a revolutionist, a broken man with a bloodstained grin. And I loved him.

Now he's the main character in Alliance of Wolves, his personality almost the same as I first imagined him. He was my first werewolf and my favorite, the beginning of where I am now.

The idea of werewolves satisfied my obsession with fantasy, wolves, and complex characters all in one. And complex... that's how I view them. Dangerous creatures, with glowing eyes and flashing teeth and claws that tear and maul. But they're beautiful too. And these creatures, they have another side besides the one so many horror novels present. A wolf without a pack is no wolf at all, just a monster and a lonely soul.

Relationship dynamics have always fascinated me, and pack dynamics are no exception. The Alphas, leaders, warriors, the best of the best; literally the top dog. But a leader doesn't just shout orders, they come alongside their followers and lead them by example. Dominants, submissives, omegas; I wanted more than what I had read about them. So I wrote it.

And one type of werewolf wasn't enough for me. There are different species of wolves, so why limit yourself to one species of werewolf? Oh, the dynamics you can get into then. The way species differ from each in more than appearance; their histories, their traditions, their little quirks that define them. Werewolves aren't just a type of creature to me, they're a world of their own. That's what I've always tried to show through my work. The complexity of werewolves, even in day to day life.

And werewolves and packs aren't just a story either. They're an image of what all communities should be. Loyal. Strong. Persevering. Filled with people who know how to lead, to take initiative, and people who know how to support and follow. There should always be people who will make the hard choices, the right choices, even if others aren't happy about it. But above all, there should be a bond in any community, one built through hardship and love.

There's one werewolf trope that shows up more than any other, and when it's done well, it's my favorite. That of mates. Souls predestined to intertwined, people who are made to bolster each other's strengths and make up for their weaknesses. And when I see the hundreds upon thousands of books that all focus on mates, I always decide to push away the initial disgusted thought of 'cliche'. Things are cliche for a reason. We all want someone to love us. We all want to find that perfect person. We all want that happy ending. And sometimes reading about star-crossed lovers is the only love we think we'll see. The concept of mates plays to our deepest desire for love, and as an author I can make it play out again and again and again.

(Okay, by now you're probably thinking that I'm a romance writer. I'm actually not. Yes, I do incorporate romance themes into many of my books, but it's not the main focus.)

There's one other thing I love about werewolves.

Their sheer, unbridled wildness.

There are the werewolves with that soft, summer wild; the ones of sunlight and winding paths through the golden woods. And then there are the werewolves with a dark wild. The ones with razor grins and dark eyes, that send shivers up your spine but you want to move closer anyways. Why does the wild captivate us so? Is it because we long for it? The complete freedom with no responsibilities or consequences? Have we been kept in unnatural systems for too long?

Maybe. Maybe not. But no matter the reason, we long for that taste of wildness; and werewolves provide it. How many of us have felt that temptation to run through the forests, the night, just to feel the rushing wind and see your surroundings sweep past you? Werewolf characters let us run with them.

I could go on and on about werewolves, the wild, and everything behind it; but that's not what this letter is for. And again, I just have to say, I'm glad I've found a community of fellow WERE lovers. I'm glad I've found my pack.

With much love and hope for the future, your fellow author and self-proclaimed Timber Wolf,

Gail Auctor
TheBlueShoeSkidoo

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🎶 Song: The HU "Wolf Totem" 🎶