The Silver Coyote's Stories
These stories are the main reason this web site exists.
Most of my stories are written around a central character by the name of Joe Latrans. Joe and his wife Annie appear in several stories here and elsewhere. These stories with Annie and Joe are not necessarily canon to each other, but common themes run through all of them. Whatever universe Annie and Joe find themselves in, they are the same loving couple.
Each of my stories is briefly described below with a link to the story or a table of contents. Use the links here to jump to that description:
including Fire, Gee Too, Nine, Pot O' Gold, The Big Tornado, and The Needs of The Many.
Additionally there are some Character Bios here.
Last chapter posted 3 January 2011
The world of commercial aviation can be a glamorous place, a wonderful profession captained by uniformed furs who wear the stripes of experience on the sleeves of their jackets and on the epaulettes of their uniform shirts, furs who exhibit the muted swagger of those who command the horizon. Theirs is the responsibility of transporting untold thousands of furs from all walks of life, from the mundane to the exotic, across the globe aboard the latest sleek, sexy, multi-billion dollar aircraft that whisk these furs between continents while they indulge themselves in the finest epicurean repast and conversation with their fellow passengers. Flight crews are proud to serve with these captains aboard aircraft which utilize the very latest in technological advancements to usher hundreds of souls at a time on worldly adventure in complete safety and comfort. Junior officers long to emulate these grizzled yet polished captains in every manner and experience. The senior pilots approach deity in the eyes of their crews and passengers as they recount tales of foreign lands and their roles in history while adding hours to logbooks that already contain thousands, casually and effectively making the planet just a little bit smaller every day.
If there is a bright spot in the center of this aviation industry, Joe Latrans is too far removed from it to see it. Joe flies on the backside of commercial aviation, far from the glamour and glory of the polished Boeing and Airbus transports. Joe is one of The Breed: Canis Aer Cargus - he's an Air Freight Dog. No fancy uniforms for he and his crew, no state-of-the-art aircraft in which to ply his trade. No glamorous or exotic passengers to greet at the end of a flight. No junior officers wanting to be just like him, envying his absent trappings of exalted position.
Joe flies an aging military transport for Intermountain Charter, a commercial air cargo operation based in Ohio. A Lockheed C-130 known as The Bitch, sometimes spoken lovingly, occasionally with exasperation, and once in a great while with hatred, is Joe's "office." The airworthiness of The Bitch and Joe's life are intertwined and sometimes inseparable as together they ply the byways of aviation, hauling anything, anywhere, at any time, as long as it's legal and as long as Joe's employer sees the cash first.
It may not be glamorous, but it is an adventure! Come, join the crew …
A bit of history is in order. The first four chapters of The B Team are a short piece of "speculative
fiction" based on scenes in Zig Zag The Story, © James Bruner. In plain
english, the first four chapters were originally supposed to be some fan
fiction for ZZ Studios, but they never made it as such. They are based on
events which occurred in chapters 54 and 63 of Mr. Bruner's epic, wherein the characters of James and Zig fly
down to Knoxville for a visit with James' family. As it wound up none of my
story involves the characters of Zig Zag or James directly, nor is it meant to
be canon to Zig Zag the Story. But as you may see, the characters of James and Zig do play a
small part in the telling of the story.
This was my first "made for furry" story, written in the anthro genre from the outset. I had sort of let this story drop after the aborted fan fic, I wasn't really sure what to do with it after finishing "Aftermath". I had a nebulous
story line floating around between my ears, but had not put paws to keyboard to
continue with it until I began a lengthy e-mail conversation with Tigermark about his aviation-related story. In a few short messages of encouragement Tigermark managed to light my muse's
fire, which in turn kept me up late for several nights. The end result was "A
Glowing Opportunity" and "The Rematch", which in turn have become a springboard
into more aviation oriented furry fun. Stay tuned!
My friend Tigermark has contributed greatly to the general storyline of
The B Team. I could not have produced this story without his constant
analysis, encouragement, and sense of humor. His characters and hardware appear
in this story with permission and are copyrighted. Thanks, T!
Another fur that has been a great friend and an invaluable help with The B Team is Mike Regan, proprietor of The Raccoon's Bookshelf. Starting in the fall of 2006, The Old Gray Raccoon began publishing chapters of The B Team in pdf format at The Bookshelf. In January 2008 Mike helped me set up my own forum at Planet Furry. Click here for The B Team thread at PF. There is also a thread for The B Team at the forum for The Raccoon's Bookshelf at Fur Haven. Comments at either are appreciated.
Last chapter posted 12 July 2011
Precious Cargo started life as a real world story, something I was writing purely for my own amusement and which I never expected to show to anyone. It is a work of fiction
set in the near future, focusing on the life and times of the central
character, Joe Latrans. As it begins Precious Cargo is rooted in my own life's experiences, but then slowly diverges from that into a more intriguing and challenging story.
The story starts with the reader tagging along as Joe and Annie conclude a vacation in the southwestern United States and return to their home to Orange County, California. As we get to know Annie and Joe we begin to learn a bit about their past together and about their three children, their jobs, and their lives in southern California. Moving into the second book we begin to learn a bit more about Joe's past before Annie, and how it will come to affect his future, and that of his family.
I started writing Precious Cargo in 2002. Somewhere around Chapter 7 or 8 of the story I was encouraged by friends to consider "changing universes", as it were, and develop
this as a story in the anthropomorphic genre. I was reluctant at first, but was
prevailed upon, and ... well, here it is. This is an ongoing story, as it
progresses more characters evolve and sub plots develop. Bear with me, I'm
putting more of myself into this than the other stuff here at The Range, so
it evolves a little more slowly. This story has grown well beyond my original expectations, and I'm guessing I'll be working on it for quite some time to come.
Nothing in particular inspired me to write this story, but then again on the other paw life inspired me to write this story. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy crafting it.
In January 2008 Mike Regan (of Raccoon's Bookshelf fame) helped me set up my own forum at Planet Furry. Click here for the Precious Cargo thread.
Character Bios
Information on the principle characters from both of my stories. This list is by
no means complete, and will be updated as the bios for other characters are
finished. The data herein does not necessarily apply to the story called "A Little
Nothing", although my character of Joe Latrans in that story is patterned very much after the Joe Latrans in my stories..
Joe Latrans
Annie Latrans
Last updated 17 June 2008
Frank Turner is a truck driver, plying his trade in the high desert country in that part of the United States known as "the four corners", where the states of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico meet. While he is approaching what most furs would consider retirement age, Frank is too much in love with life on the road to consider slowing down and settling down. He has never married, and his tractor is his home. One evening, as a desert rain shower approaches, Frank meets someone who alters the course of his life in a most significant and unusual way.
The story opens on the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona. As a boy I spent much time in the Dinetah and made friends with several Navajo. I hope that I have portrayed their culture and history in a way that is pleasing to them. Ya 'at 'eeh, ak'is.
This is a very old story of mine which I have revived and finally decided to write. In one form or another this concept has been in my head since I was in high school. (That was so long ago that math is required to describe the timeframe.) It is a work in progress. See if you can figure out what it's all about.
Last updated 30 December 2008
A different Joe Latrans appears in this story, patterned very much after the one in Precious Cargo, although at ALN's inception there was no canon between the stories. This is an interesting and evolving little tale that is being crafted "on the
fly" by four different authors: myself, Aramis, Joan, and Tigermark. The original short story, what is now the opening section, was first crafted by Aramis Dagaz in the fall of 2003. ALN is full of magic and intrigue, not to
mention some familiar-sounding characters. It's an interesting experiment in
continuity and flexibility on the part of each of us. Be sure and read the
foreword before launching in to it.
We have been working on this "round-robin" since then, and in one way or another it has caused several other interesting stories of a similar nature to be written. At the top of that list is A Little Something, written by our dear Filly. In this story the "Three Amigos" find themselves with an opportunity for introspection and a re-examination of their own faith during a time of unrest in medieval Denmark. ALS is posted at Tigermark's web site.
In response to the Filly's wonderful creation I penned (perhaps that should be pawed... I used a keyboard) a little epilogue to her story called Nine Millimeters and a Million Miles. I wrote it for her in the fall of 2005 as a "thank you" to her for her patience and compassion during those long IM and e-mail discussions we shared about faith, in which I tended to rant and rave and run my canine mouth at her. By way of furthering our discussions in the context of the story, she almost immediately replied with a couple of follow-up stories in response to my follow-up. They are:
These are posted here at The Range with her permission and to my great delight. I suspect that ALS and it's spin-offs may shortly evolve into another ALN-style round robin, as our Filly is planning on making the ALN effort a foursome. <winks> Welcome aboard, dear!
Way before all that, shortly after Easter of 2004, I wrote a ditty called A Little Less. Some background should help put it in context. This was mostly written as a poke in the ribs to our friend and co-conspirator Aramis Dagaz, the tabby who comprises one third of the "Three Amigos". The first thing I wanted to razz Aramis about was the fact that when he had first written the first chapter of ALN, he had given my character of Joe a vixen wife by the name of "Vicki". Well, this was obviously patterned after my real life wife, whom I always refer to as The Fox, but who actually goes by the name of Vicky. I certainly didn't have a problem with "Vicki" in ALN, but it was a significant change from my tendency to keep Joe and Annie together in all my stories, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to have some fun with it at Aramis' expense. As it turns out, following some in-depth conversation with Aramis regarding the overall ALN storyline, "Vicki" was re-cast as "Annie".
My other reason to poke fun at my feline friend was that A Little Nothing had come around to him for his turn at it again, and Tigermark and I were patiently waiting for him to come up with the next chapter. And waiting...
In a very similar vein I wrote Musings Upon The Sierra in the spring of 2005, immediately after returning home from another vacation in the Owens Valley of central California, the area that has perhaps inspired the backdrop for the entire ALN story. Musings was just something I threw together based on ALN as it was at that time (waiting for Aramis to bestow part XIII upon us), but is not canon to the story. Well... at least not yet.
In January 2008 Mike Regan (of Raccoon's Bookshelf fame) helped me set up my own forum at Planet Furry. Click here for the A Little Nothing thread.
Started 21 June 2006
With a tip of my old leather hat to Aramis and his opening paragraph of the entire ALN project, I offer this bit of Latrans family history. This story is in it's infancy. It is, perhaps, in the time-honored tradition of the best Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, but so what? Siéntate y lee. ¡Diviértete, amigos!
Other Interesting Things
Posted 21 November 2003
A small tribute to the men and women who fight the wildland fires here in
southern California, based on the southern California firestorms of 2003. Most recently updated with fire information 6 February
2004.
Posted 8 June 2008
Alternate Biblical history based on John 10:16.
Posted 10 September 2003
My first, sorry attempt at something approaching poetry, or at least lyrical
writing. This little bit of whimsy has nothing to do with the rest of the stories
here, and in fact is totally unrelated to anything else on this site. What's
it about? What's it mean? Think you know? Drop me a line, tell me what you
think!
Posted 20 July 2009
A slightly different spin on the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Written at the same time ALN was being crafted by the amigos, this amusing little story borrows the characters without being canon to ALN or anything else I've written. It's just a bit of fun that for some inexplicable reason waited almost three years to see the light of day.
Posted 05 February 2004
My daughter's first story! It's even furry!
Posted 20 July 2009
An incomplete story about Hurricane Katrina. I may finish this story someday, but stalled owing to the sheer magnitude of the subject. I have tons of reference material, some of it very first-person in nature, but since September 2005 have not been able to do the story justice. So here is what I have so far. As I said, this is incomplete, so be forewarned: it'll leave you feeling unfulfilled.
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