It is my absolute delight to have Voss Foster here today for a stop on the tour of his newest release. He's chosen to feature a character that is near and dear to my heart, I suspect intentionally. Without further ado, I give you Foster's take on Coyote...
The dust flooded through the gateway, but it flowed
around Harlan's invisible barrier, shielding the three of them. Whatever
brought the energy, it now stood just in front of Harlan. Before the dust
cleared, Toby saw the eyes. They glowed, just like any immortal's would. But
these weren't human eyes. Almost no white, a golden-amber iris. The visitor
blinked slowly.
As more dust settled, the silhouette cleared. Tall and
broad, with a sharp, slanting nose. Definitely a man. He waved his head and the
rest of the dust whooshed away. Dark, reddish skin. Native American, by the
look of him. A fringed, leather jacket hugged his muscles, with pants to match.
A beaded band held his waist-length, black hair into a ponytail. He smiled
around at them. "Hello."
Harlan fell back in line with Zerga and Toby. The heat
lifted away, but Madame Zerga's hand flew straight to her mirror. She nodded at
the stranger. "Coyote."
-The Jester Prince
Coyote. As I said a couple days ago, I have a soft spot for
tricksters. And Coyote is among my favorites. I eat him up in just about any
media provided, and I happen to know that my blog hostess for today also feels
quite the love for the Old Man. Coyote, the stealer of fire… and also the
bedmate of many an unwitting woman. Revered, but only from a distance. Feared,
but never to his face. Coyote is pure masculinity, all wrapped up in a glorious
trickster. Plus, you know, he's a coyote. I grew up surrounded by coyotes.
They're cool-looking critters.
I knew, when it came time to play with King Jester's
children, the tricksters, Coyote would be in there. And it was important to me
that his eyes were different, like a coyote's. Since he's King Jester's son, he
has the same blue eyes as all of King Jester's other children. But, to try and
set himself apart from everything else, he mimics the eyes of a coyote.
I needed him to be cool and sexual, but also have some level
of tradition to him. But I knew he couldn't be as anachronistic as all the
other immortals and half-breeds. I aimed for the seventies, a little bit. Or an
updated seventies. Fringe jacket, leather pants, ponytail. On top of that, he
had to be just a little creepy, and have just a little bit of a problem with
Toby.
To find out what's really going on with Coyote, check out
The Jester Prince, book Two of the King Jester Trilogy.
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With the destruction
of Zirkua Fantastic, King Jester, the spirit of discord, has been unleashed
once more upon the Earth. Only Toby, a fresh, untrained immortal, and the other
former members of Zirkua Fantastic dare to stand against his chaos. But their
hold is tenuous, and they are only truly safe from his power within the bounds
of their camp. King Jester grows more powerful and more dangerous with each
passing day. But he's made one mistake. That mistake could be his undoing. He's
stolen Toby's soul mate, Marley. When he discovers Marley's location, Toby
knows what he has to do. He will rescue Marley, even if it means he has to face
King Jester alone.
But the others don't
let him go at it alone. Marley has information about the resistance. They can't
afford to let him stay in King Jester's control. In desperation, the immortals
raise an army to storm the compound. But will it be enough to challenge the
embodiment of chaos himself? All they can do is hope. Hope and put their faith
in love.
EXCERPT:
"No, I just came here to introduce myself."
Zerga grabbed Toby's hand. "We know you, Coyote."
"But he doesn't." He stopped just a hair short of
touching Toby's cheek, close enough that the tiny gust of wind danced across
his ear. "Besides, you need a way to get in contact with me." He made
a deep bow, his ponytail flipping up, the scent of cedar flying with the
movement. "I'm your liaison. If you need to speak with King Jester about
anything, you just tell me." He straightened himself and slipped the
coyote charm from his shoulder. "Now, I just need to figure out who to
give this to." He glanced at Harlan, glanced at Zerga, stared at
Toby. Once he got his eyes fixed, he never looked away, didn't even blink.
"I'm just really not sure who I can trust this with. It's a big
responsibility." He dangled the charm in front of Toby, just out of his
reach. As it hung there, the leather strap it hung from doubled in length.
"Well, it seems like you should have it. Since it's so close." He
slid it over Tobias' head. "Just send a little pulse of energy into that
and I'll be here. Or wherever you happen to call me to."
"Thank you, Coyote." Harlan stomped one foot
forward. "Now go."
He thwacked the back of his hand on his forehead, tossed
himself back from the waist up. "Alas, I'm too weak. I'm just a mere
half-breed. Traveling so far at such a speed drained me."
Harlan scoffed. "Then get King Jester to infuse
some."
"I wouldn't dream of that. He's far too busy."
Zerga swooped around to the front, hot anger radiating from
her body. "Then take some of my energy."
Coyote jumped back, laughing. "Now, now, I can't
do that. If I walk out of here with some of your power, that would be a very
clear breach of the oath King Jester made, wouldn't it?" Clucking his
tongue, he shook his head. "No, I can't do that."
"Is there a problem?" Dart skidded through the
entrance, swinging his tiny weight in a semicircle around Coyote, stopping next
to Harlan. He flipped the gold coin high above his head as he spoke.
"What's he doing here?"
"Just dealing with some business." Coyote pushed
them all aside, worked his way toward the fire pit, a rough hole dug into the
ground and filled with wood. Toby and the others stayed half a step behind him
the whole way, until Coyote sat. Then every eye turned to Harlan. After a few
seconds, Harlan sat. The others followed suit. Coyote clapped.
"Wonderful." He flung fire into the tinder piled in the pit. "I
hope you don't mind feeding me. I can't sustain myself on willpower like the
rest of you."
"You want us to feed you?" Zerga sighed, her eyes
gleaming even more than usual. "I wouldn't think that wise. If you eat our
food, couldn't that put King Jester in danger? The oath?"
Coyote's whole body shifted. He sat taller, clenched his
jaw. His eyes brightened, flashing the same blue as King Jester's for a split
second. "I suppose it could." He stood. "I'll go hunting, then,
and bring back my own dinner." He slipped away from the fire. As he moved
farther from the flames, his body changed again. It melted, flowing into a
loping, red-gray coyote. He glanced back, winked, and leapt over the fence,
higher than any coyote should have been able to. Or anyone so "low"
on power.
TOUR STOPS:
Wednesday, August 13th: Voss Foster: Demon Hunting and Tenth Dimensional Physics (http://vossfoster.blogspot.com)
Thursday, August 14th: Siana Wineland: Siana's Place (http://www.sianawineland.com/)
Friday, August 15th: S.Evan Townsend: Writing Thoughts (http://blog.sevantownsend.com/)
Saturday, August 16th: Iyana Jenna: Iyana Jenna (http://iyanajenna.com/)
Sunday, August 17th: TR Goodman: trgoodman.net (http://www.trgoodman.net)
Monday, August 18th: T. Strange: T.Strange (http://tqstrange.blogspot.com/)
Tuesday, August 19th: Frances Pauli: Speculative Friction (http://francespauli.blogspot.com)
Wednesday, August 20th: Jennifer Willis: Jennifer Willis (http://jennifer-willis.com/)
Thursday, August 21st: Cathy Hird: Open One More (http://openonemore.com/)
Friday, August 22nd: J.J. DiBenedetto: Writing Dreams (http://writingdreams.net/)
TOUR STOPS:
Wednesday, August 13th: Voss Foster: Demon Hunting and Tenth Dimensional Physics (http://vossfoster.blogspot.com)
Thursday, August 14th: Siana Wineland: Siana's Place (http://www.sianawineland.com/)
Friday, August 15th: S.Evan Townsend: Writing Thoughts (http://blog.sevantownsend.com/)
Saturday, August 16th: Iyana Jenna: Iyana Jenna (http://iyanajenna.com/)
Sunday, August 17th: TR Goodman: trgoodman.net (http://www.trgoodman.net)
Monday, August 18th: T. Strange: T.Strange (http://tqstrange.blogspot.com/)
Tuesday, August 19th: Frances Pauli: Speculative Friction (http://francespauli.blogspot.com)
Wednesday, August 20th: Jennifer Willis: Jennifer Willis (http://jennifer-willis.com/)
Thursday, August 21st: Cathy Hird: Open One More (http://openonemore.com/)
Friday, August 22nd: J.J. DiBenedetto: Writing Dreams (http://writingdreams.net/)