By Russ Lawrence
Some would say that Michael Hoyt is doggedly determined to protect the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness from any kind of encroachment.
“Wolf-like” determination is closer to the mark.
Hoyt, already the author of a set of guides to hiking the Bitterroots, has now released “Ranger,” a novel for young readers, featuring a young wolf with magical powers.
Hoyt believes that the job of defending wild creatures and wild places will fall to the next generation, and he hopes to reach them via his story of Ranger, a young wolf who must reluctantly face his own destiny.
Ranger has the ability to communicate with other animals, and perhaps possesses other powers he doesn’t even suspect. Ranger’s parents – and the other members of his pack – were killed by a hunter with a virulent hatred of wolves, and an equally passionate desire to rip apart a wilderness landscape for personal gain.
That frames the central conflict in the book, but Ranger’s initial unwillingness to assume a role in defending his adoptive pack’s territory against human encroachment forms one of the subplots.
Telling a story from the perspective of a non-human character is part of Hoyt’s attempt to highlight the importance of empathy for others, especially those unlike ourselves. His hope is that humans will learn to see and appreciate other points of view, to alter our behavior toward each other, and toward other species as well.
His previous experience with the young adult market is limited to having once been an avid member of that market.
“I grew up in a rural environment in northern Indiana,” recalls Hoyt. “If I wasn’t in school, I was outdoors, and when I had to be indoors, I read about the outdoors.”
This story has been ten years in the making, he said, though for much of that time the story was shelved while he focused on other pursuits. When he was actually working on the book, though, he found it consumed him.
“I couldn’t let it go, even when I wasn’t sitting there writing. I was even dreaming about it—I hadn’t expected that,” said Hoyt. “When you get really involved in reading a good book, you lose touch with what’s happening around you, and I found that happening with the writing experience also.”
Part of the problem is getting inside the heads of multiple characters, he explained; another issue is finding the most artful ways in which to manipulate the sentiments of the reader, which is part of what authors do, he said.
The novel was published by Stevensville’s Stoneydale Press, and features cover art that Hoyt chose from images he’d seen on the internet. It wasn’t until he’d already settled on the image that he found out the artist, Elvira Hammarstedt, was a Swedish youngster, roughly the age of his target audience.
Hoyt will be reading from “Ranger,” and talking about his writing process, at Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton on Tuesday, May 19, at 6 p.m. The book is available at Chapter One, through Hoyt’s website, www.bitterrootmountains.com, or via Stoneydale Press. It will soon be available in other valley outlets, and throughout western Montana as well.
Does Hoyt have any sequels planned?
“It wouldn’t take that long to do another one,” he mused. “I have a couple more in my head, it depends on how it’s accepted. If it takes off, and it makes a difference, I’ll do at least another one,” he promised. Any new stories will be announced on the book’s Facebook page, RangerTheWolf.