Friends, I’m thrilled to announce that my next middle grade novel, A Wolf Called Fire, will be available on February 4th, 2025. The story will be illustrated by the brilliant Mónica Armiño and the luminous cover below was created by Cindy Derby.
For years young readers of A Wolf Called Wander have asked, often plaintively, “but what about Wander’s brother?” “Why did he have to die?” “Where did he go?” It’s a rare gift to find readers so invested in someone who was not even the main character. I know that Wander had to think his brother was gone forever or he would never undertake his great journey. But I couldn’t bear for him to see his brother die, so (against the urging of my editor) I left that part of the story open; I’m so glad I did.
It has been more than ten years since I did the research for A Wolf Called Wander which came out in 2019. We’ve learned a lot about wolves and about wolf pack dynamics in the years since. The character of Fire was inspired by Wolf 8, one of the first wolves brought back to Yellowstone Park 29 years ago. Like Warm, who grew into his adult name Fire, Wolf 8 was the omega of his pack. He was small, not especially handsome, and frequently bullied by his brothers. He grew up to be a wise and compassionate leader, a gifted mentor of pups, and a fierce competitor who never killed a wolf he defeated. Wolf 8 became the patriarch of the largest and most powerful pack in Yellowstone’s history the mighty Druid Peak pack. From that lived example of leadership, I created a young omega who listens well to his mother and learns from hard earned experience the first thing she ever told him: “Big is not the only good thing a wolf can be.”
I hope this story will inspire readers to love the wilderness and to become what ever kind of leader they were meant to be.
Many thanks to my talented and tenacious agent Fiona Kenshole of Transatlantic, the wonderful team at Greenwillow, including my editor Virginia Duncan and art director Sylvie Le’ Floc’h, my critique partners, Nora Ericson and Michael Gettle-Gilmartin, and my patient and supportive family.
