I’m very excited to have Stacey Cochran as a guest blogger today. He is not only a very excellent and entertaining author, but has proven himself a true friend and helper to the indie writing community with his website and blog posts, as well as his writer-centric Ustream show, Book Chatter. I heartily encourage both readers and writers alike to comment and/or ask questions freely in the comments section below. – RJK

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by Stacey Cochran

 CLAWS 2 is the second in a series featuring wildlife biologist Dr. Angie Rippard. Each book in the series sees Angie in a different setting, battling greedy real estate developers while fighting for the rights of endangered wildlife. Each book features a different animal at the heart of its story and a different set of political circumstances surrounding that animal. CLAWS 2 features grizzly bears. 

The real-life story of grizzly bears in southwest Colorado had all but come to an end in 1979, when bow-hunter Ed Wiseman presumably killed the last one while defending himself with a hand-held arrow. This story is well documented, and you can find out all about it by Googling “Ed Wiseman Grizzly Bear.”

 However, in recent years, several credible sightings have suggested that grizzlies may be migrating south of Wyoming into the Aspen/Snowmass region of Colorado and possibly as far south as Durango and Telluride. If a stable population exists there, it’d be one of the most endangered sub-species of large mammals in the United States.

 The main reason I researched and wrote this novel was because I wanted to learn more about what a delicate population would mean to Colorado and Wildlife Services in the state, and I wanted to create a topic that people could read about and discuss. The reality is that with strong conservation efforts the last forty years, grizzlies have finally started to thrive in Wyoming and so it is likely that some bears may be migrating south.

 During the next six weeks or so, I will be hitting the digital “road” to spread the word and ask folks to buy the eBook and write a review at Amazon or goodreads.com

 I also need Kindle-friendly folks to host me on my tour. July is getting pretty full, but I haven’t begun to schedule many stops yet in August.

 If you’ve got a blog and would like to host me on my Blog Tour to promote CLAWS 2, drop me a comment and I’ll get in touch with you. I’ll be checking on comments and any questions y’all might have throughout the next few days, so please feel free to post.

 Thanks so much, R.J., for giving me the opportunity to guest blog at your place during my blog tour for CLAWS 2. I humbled and honored.  And thanks, folks, for reading my guest blog post today!

Stacey Cochran was born in the Carolinas, where his family traces its roots to the mid 1800s. In 1998 he was selected as a finalist in the Dell Magazines undergraduate fiction competition, and he made his first professional short story sale to CutBank in 2001. In 2004, he was selected as a finalist in the St. Martin’s Press/PWA Best First Private Eye Novel Contest. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife Dr. Susan K. Miller-Cochran and their son Sam, and he teaches writing at North Carolina State University. His books include The Colorado Sequence, Amber Page, CLAWS, and CLAWS 2.