Who is DocCoyote?

Who is DocCoyote?

I am a fifty year old native of the Southwest who generally thinks and lives outside the box. I have published a few articles on various topics but am very focused now on writing some novels.

After years of being stuck in jobs which took so much of my time and energy I was not able to write the words and ideas which were percolating in my head. Now that I have some time they are pouring forth. I know I need to practice, practice and practice some more while learning all I can about the craft. It takes a lot of determination to push a story through to its end without skipping around too much and not just starting every story that had been living in my head. It takes a lot of nerve for me to post the things I am writing when I know they are not yet everything I wanted them to be and fully polished but I need and appreciate the support and criticism I get from all of you.

Having grown up in rural New Mexico and having lived most of my life in the Rockies, I draw from that life to write what I know, although I fear that Westerns are not a genre which will lend itself to ready publication and large sales. One of my grandfathers was a rancher and a true cowboy and I grew up among ranches and ranchers and worked on my grandfather’s ranch whenever we visited him. His father was a ranch hand on the huge Matador Ranch with its headquarters in northwestern Texas and later a saloon owner in early Dallas. My other grandfather and father were sawmillers and loggers, so I spent even more time working in that industry and spending time with the rough characters who also did that kind of work. Later in my life, I lived and worked for a few years in Key West, gaining valuable life experience and perspectives from a very different culture. I am interested to see how this mix will manifest itself in my writing.

I love music of all kinds, starting with the old corny cowboy songs and country music, but gained a great appreciation of classical music from my grandmother who was a violinist and gospel music from my mother who was a church choir director. Being a child of the sixties and seventies, I also love classic rock and folk music. Being someone who values eclecticism and tries hard to keep up with the times, I also enjoy more modern rock and even some punk and hip-hop and blues of all kinds. Music has always been an important part of my life.

I have always enjoyed reading anything I could get my hands on. During my teenage years, I exclusively read science fiction. Later I leaned more toward mysteries and crime novels as well as the writings of such novelists as Clive Cussler, James Michener and Hemingway. I love poetry. I admit to lacking the patience to sit down and read the classics, but enjoyed using them to make long daily commutes more entertaining by listening to recordings of them.

I have a large family and a crazy household. Most of my five children are grown and out on their own now, but my household still bears a strong resemblance to something from a Heinlein novel.

Please take time, if you will, to read, review and critique the writings in my portfolio, especially

Medicine Wheel  (18+) A metaphysical Western novel. #1074545 by DocCoyote

, which is the main novel I am working on now.