Excerpt Tour & Giveaway: Encounter with Old Coyote by Laura Koerber

ENCOUNTERS WITH OLD COYOTE

by

Laura Koerber

Magical Realism
Publication Date: April 26, 2024
Page count: 94 pages

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SYNOPSIS:

"One thing about people—they need to tell stories. They can't stop themselves. Stories all the time. That's how they understand things." So said Coyote to Andrea, shortly after she died. Andrea had never believed in any kind of afterlife or gods, so she was surprised to find herself still somewhat alive, floating in the form of a ghost in the soft, dry desert air of Nevada. She was even more surprised to meet a supernatural being with a coyote's face, antlers, and the supplies for making coffee.

"I don't understand why I'm a ghost," Andrea said.

Coyote set his coffee cup down on the dirt beside his rock. He glanced at Andrea, grimaced, and said, “Okay, I'll try to explain. Since you humans like stories, I'll try to explain that way. I'll tell you some stories.”

So come along with Coyote and Andrea as they share stories about life and death, spiders in the bathroom and how Andrea lost her bra at a truck stop, enemy gods and pottery shards, adventures in vomit, what scientists say about dark matter and the fifth force, and other topics both sublime and ridiculous.

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ENJOY AN EXCERPT:

Badger got up, stretched his back, and announced a need to go pee. Coyote, too, needed to drain off some beer. They headed in opposite directions out into the desert. Their absence created an awkward silence. Fish blinked slowly as if trying to think of something to say and Miss Vulture gazed out over the desert, her shoulders hunched. Finally Andrea broke the silence.    

“You guys been friends for a long time?” she asked. 

“Us?” Miss Vulture gave Fish a sideways look. “I've known Coyote and Badger for just about forever, but...” 

“I'm new,” said the fish. “Like you.” 

“I've only been here,” Andrea stopped, amazed, “since last night. It seems liked so much longer! Years, even!” 

“So why are you a gwost?” Fish asked. 

“I don't know.” Andrea shrugged. The lack of answers wasn't as frustrating or scary as it had been earlier. 

“Usually it's unfinished business,” said Miss Vulture. “Anything on your mind? Anything left undone?” 

“Not really.” Andrea thought about it. “Maybe...I came here to die under the stars because that's the closest thing I have to a religion. And all day I've been trying to ask questions about that. I mean trying to get answers.” 

Miss Vulture laughed and said, “Coyote hasn't been giving answers, has he?” 

“Not really. Well, kind of sometimes.” 

“Beware,” said Fish, “of anyone who says twey know twe answers.”

FROM THE AUTHOR:

I live on an island in the Puget Sound with my husband and my dogs. I am a retired teacher, presently doing in -home care for disabled people while volunteering at a cat rescue

My degree is in art, and Iam a painter, graphic artist, and ceramic sculptor. The writing started about five years ago, a surprise to me and everyone who knows me, since I had never written anything before. To my immense gratitude, my first book, written under the pseudonym Jill Kearney, received outstanding reviews and made the Kirkus Review list of one hundred best indy books of 2015. (Read the Kirkus Review HERE.)

Since then, I have written over 15 books. People seem to like them; I get lots of four- and five-star reviews. My books are a bit unconventional; I mix magical realism with dystopia in many of them. My stories tend to be character-driven and include ghosts and spirits. 

I think I learned to write by reading. I am a voracious omnivore of books.

REVIEW:

4 stars!

Quiet and thoughtful tales of a life well-lived and what comes after. 

Encounters With Old Coyote, a new novella by author Laura Koerber, is the story of a life, the existence of a higher being and afterlife, nature, and our place in all of it. After receiving a diagnosis of cancer, Andrea commits a gentle suicide under the stars in a favorite out-of-the-way campsite, simply expecting oblivion. However, she becomes aware that she is now in an afterlife she never believed existed. As she floats above her lifeless body, Old Coyote, a supernatural spirit dubbed the Trickster, arrives at her remote and final fireside and subtly starts her on her next journey with a story. As Old Coyote explains, “…that’s how people understand things. By telling stories.” 

Andrea does the storytelling, and readers get clear images of the life she’s led over the past 70-plus years. Although seemingly a random collection of memories, each one is a gem depicting a journey taken during her lifetime, some in which she makes an impact on another person or creature and others which impacted her. The stories range from sojourns in the natural world to a dark, eerie dream to a childhood road trip with her family and a bizarre late-night encounter at a suddenly and frightening remote campground. The settings are vividly descriptive, with desert beauty and dusty, dry heat, barely navigable, rocky two-tracks, and colorful yet stark canyonlands. Andrean tries to elicit direct answers from her odd spirit guide with these memories from her life but ultimately ends up with more questions from him. Eventually, acceptance seems to be the key to what comes next. 

I recommend ENCOUNTERS WITH OLD COYOTE to readers who enjoy stories with magical realism.

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