Suzie Gilbert's Blog

March 2021 I was a speaker for the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association's first online conference.

November 2020 I was the Keynote Speaker for the New York State Wildlife Rehabilitation Council's first online conference.

Environment for the Americas Migratory Bird Day Book Club features “Unflappable” by Suzie Gilbert! Register here to join readers on a wild ride Thursday, July 16th!

It would be an honor if you and your book club selected Unflappable to read and discuss. Here are some conversation starters and some basic information.

Discussion Questions

When did the story hook you? Was it right away, or did it take time?

Which appealed to you more, the plot or the characters? How did you feel about the episodic structure of the book?

How did you feel about Luna? Could you relate to a character willing to risk so much for an animal?

Could Luna have handed the situation with Mars differently?

The novel is a story of liberation, both for Mars the eagle, but also for Luna. How did she change over the course of the novel? And did that change how her character resonated with you?

Did you have any sympathy for Luna’s husband Adam?

Did you find Warren's footloose ways engaging or objectionable?

How might the story have been different if Ned had been more socially adept?

Is this your first time reading about the world of wildlife rehabilitation? If so, what did you think of it? If not, did it change or reinforce what you already knew?

Who was your favorite peripheral rehabber character?

Gunderman and the rehabbers are both into protecting wildlife, yet he feels they consider him the enemy. Can you think of other examples where people on the same side of an issue become polarized?

Which scenes did you find the most compelling?

Do you have a favorite quote from the book? Or something that made you laugh out loud?

If you could ask the author one question, what would it be?

Have you read any other books by this author? How do they compare to Unflappable?

Into which genre would you place Unflappable?

What did you think of the ending? And, can you see the story continuing?

If Unflappable were made into a movie, who would you cast in the lead roles?

The author has commented that she wrote this book to tell a really entertaining story and to engage readers in the work of wildlife rehabilitation. Was she successful on both fronts? Do you think a novel works as a vehicle for her mission?

It would be an honor if you and your book club selected Unflappable to read and discuss. Here are some conversation starters and some basic information about me and the book. If you are discussing Unflappable —let me know by tagging the hashtag #UnflappableBook or drop me a line.

Discussion Questions

When did the story hook you? Was it right away, or did it take time?

Which appealed to you more, the plot or the characters? How did you feel about the episodic structure of the book?

How did you feel about Luna? Could you relate to a character willing to risk so much for an animal?

Could Luna have handed the situation with Mars differently?

The novel is a story of liberation, both for Mars the eagle, but also for Luna. How did she change over the course of the novel? And did that change how her character resonated with you?

Did you have any sympathy for Luna’s husband Adam?

Did you find Warren's footloose ways engaging or objectionable?

How might the story have been different if Ned had been more socially adept?

Is this your first time reading about the world of wildlife rehabilitation? If so, what did you think of it? If not, did it change or reinforce what you already knew?

Who was your favorite peripheral rehabber character?

Gunderman and the rehabbers are both into protecting wildlife, yet he feels they consider him the enemy. Can you think of other examples where people on the same side of an issue become polarized?

Which scenes did you find the most compelling?

Do you have a favorite quote from the book? Or something that made you laugh out loud?

If you could ask the author one question, what would it be?

Have you read any other books by this author? How do they compare to Unflappable?

Into which genre would you place Unflappable?

What did you think of the ending? And, can you see the story continuing?

If Unflappable were made into a movie, who would you cast in the lead roles?

The author has commented that she wrote this book to tell a really entertaining story and to engage readers in the work of wildlife rehabilitation. Was she successful on both fronts? Do you think a novel works as a vehicle for her mission?

This gorgeous Red-shouldered hawk flew through one of the ten-foot wide loading doors and into the building, and couldn’t manage to find her way out. Or perhaps she didn’t want to; it was last February in upstate New York, a foot of snow was piled outside, and Home Depot was a balmy 60 degrees. At one point eight wildlife rehabilitators fanned out through the building, all of us armed with long-handled nets, crates, elbow-length leather gloves, and a toe-snare hawk trap, which looks like a small wire cage and contains two live mice. The hawk soared gracefully and unobtainably over our heads, while we received varied responses from shoppers.

The Outdoor Guys would spot our nets, grin, and crack, “Catch any stripers yet?” The Indoor Types would visibly flinch and assume hunted expressions. The ones I still can’t categorize ignored us completely, as if people walking around with nets and leather gloves were something they encountered all the time. The Curmudgeons glared at us and heaved disgusted sighs, as if we were just one more piece of hell their sorry lives were forcing upon them. There were a few, though, who instantly brightened, eyes wide, and asked, “Hey! What are you lookin’ for?”

The employees couldn’t have been nicer. They named her Elvis, as they wanted to be able to say, “Elvis has left the building.” They kept one of our crates, and promised to call us should they somehow succeed in catching her when we weren’t around. They strapped us into their mechanical lifts so we could set the trap on their very top shelf, then repeated it before we left (we couldn’t leave the trap overnight, as the hawk’s toes could break if they became entangled and we weren’t there to free her). Worried about her food intake, we took to coming every other day and surreptitiously leaving defrosted mice on the top shelf.

A week later she flew into the garden center and knocked herself cold against the window. An employee quickly put her into the crate and called my co-hawk hunter Erin Baker, who in turn, called me. Before we could get there, however, the hawk regained consciousness, and a new manager took her outside and let her go. Elvis had left the building, but not in a good way.

We found her 15 feet up a nearby tree, woozy from her concussion and shivering in the 20 degree cold. Luckily, we didn’t have to go far to find a ladder. We struggled through a vicious patch of pricker-covered vines, carrying a crate, gloves, towel, and a Home Depot ladder, both of us cursing the cold and raked bloody by the vines. I climbed up, grabbed the hawk, and handed her down to Erin, who put her in the crate.

I kept her until spring, then Erin let her go at Teatown Lake Reservation, an 834-acre nature center in Ossining, NY. The release was attended by a small group of Home Depot employees, several fellow hawk-catchers, and a local reporter. The following day Elvis was seen in a tree overlooking the lake, munching on a vole. All’s well that ends well – even for the two hawk-trap mice, borrowed from a pet store. “They’ve been traumatized,” said Erin, even though, to a casual observer, they showed no apparent signs of distress. “Poor little things – they’d better come home with me.”

Photo of Elvis as well as of Erin Baker, Environmental Educator and Animal Care Supervisor at Teatown (www.teatown.org), about to release her, both by Elissa Schilmeister.

This #ThrowbackThursday article is cross-posted from my original blog.

I am so grateful to the people who have taken the time, during these admittedly uncertain and isolated days, to read and write about Unflappable. I hope it will take readers on a grand adventure filled with humor, thrills, and passion.

Johannes E. Riutta made me laugh out loud when he called it “the first book ever to be included in The Well-Read Naturalist that anyone ever described as ‘sexy.’” A full review is on the way!

Amy Bouwer of NetGalley called it, “The adventure you didn’t know you needed. Hope and hilarity resonate through this marvelous, crazy story of love and escape.”

Barb Gorges at the Wyoming Tribune called it a “very entertaining novel.”

My old friends interviewed me at 10,000 Birds.

Unflappable was included in the Monday Malarkey at Bookfoolery.

And I was interviewed by my local paper, the Highland Current.

Thank you all for reading Unflappable!

Not to be indelicate, but some people feed their kids all kinds of crap.

Take this young crow here, who doesn’t look destined for stardom. He fell from his nest and was taken home by a passerby, who thought he was kinda cute and decided to take him home and become his mother. But eventually he started making a big mess and looking a little moth-eaten, so she finally felt it might be time to contact a wildlife rehabilitator.

“You’ve had him for two weeks?” I asked. “What have you been feeding him?”

“Bread and milk,” she replied. “Sometimes a little chicken.” Responding to the scary look on my face, she added defensively, “That’s what I read on the internet.”

It boggles the minds of wildlife rehabilitators that this bread-and-milk thing still exists. Let’s be logical: birds don’t have mammary glands, nor are beaks conducive to stealth nursing from cows, goats, dogs, or whatever lactating mammal happens to be passing by. Plus … I mean, seriously … nestling birds can’t fly, which is why they’re in the nest, so they wouldn’t be able to get to the mammal in the first place. We can twist our brains into pretzels trying to follow the logic here, and it does us no good.

Bad diets result in poor feathering, severe calcium deficiencies, and birds who look like the one above. A young owl or hawk fed bread and milk will die fairly quickly. If you squirt any kind of liquid down a bird’s throat you’ll probably drown him, or at least give him a good case of pneumonia. So the best thing to do when faced with a cute little orphaned birdie is to hand him over to a wildlife rehabilitator, who will fill him full of good food, vitamins, make sure he has company of his own kind (see left) and eventually get him back into the wild, where he belongs.

The rescuer’s role doesn’t have to end abruptly, however. If you are drawn to wildlife, hand the critter to the rehabber and ask if s/he needs a volunteer. If you’re rewarded with a blinding smile, you might end up entering the world of wildlife in a way beneficial to all three of you – you, the rehabber, and the wildlife.

The crow in the first photo, BTW, received good food, megavitamins, and three crow buddies, underwent a feather makeover, and now lives happily with his adopted family somewhere in the woods behind my house.

This #ThrowbackThursday post is crossposted from my original blog.

There I was, striding through the beautiful January woods, obsessing about all the bad things that had ever happened to me, vowing bloody vengeance on my enemies, plotting the downfall of civilization – you know, the usual – when suddenly I heard wingbeats.

Of all the music in the world, my ears are the most finely tuned to wingbeats. Since I’ve had quite a bit of experience with birds hurtling either toward or past my face, I can usually gauge the size of the bird, how far away it is, and how fast it’s traveling without actually having to see it. This one sounded like it was quite sizeable, going at a good clip, and about a micromillimeter away from my ear.

In a flash, I came up with two options. Either: 1) the Higher Power, fed up with my interior diatribe, had sent someone down to fetch me for a consultation; 2) the resident goshawk, who on several occasions had tried to behead me for treading too close to her nest, had seized the opportunity for an off-season ambush.

I glanced to the side just in time to see a Pileated woodpecker soar over my shoulder, do the woodpecker dip, and disappear into the woods. I don’t know if it was male or female, as I only saw a brilliant blur of red, black and white, and then its back as it flew away. But it had been right there, right next to me.

My jaw dropped, and was quickly replaced by a huge grin; I probably shouted, “Oh, wow!” or something equally clever. I looked around and spotted an old dead hemlock, riddled with holes. This amazing bird must have been on the tree right in front of me as I walked down the trail, and I was too preoccupied to notice. People – well, birders, at least – tend to fall to their knees at the sight of these creatures, and I just walked on by. What a bonehead, the woodpecker must have thought. I’d better teach her a lesson.

My mind cleared, the mayhem fell away. The woods are filled with wonder.

Last week I met an incredible group of women, and one was really good at making up  fortunes, like the ones in fortune cookies. So in honor of them, I will give it a try.

Appreciate the beauty of life before it collides with your face.

This #ThrowbackThursday article is cross-posted from my original blog.

Photo credit by Gary Fairhead.

Before books are actually published, NetGalley offers electronic galleys to "professional readers" such as reviewers, booksellers, bloggers, and librarians. They review both self-published books and books from publishing houses. Here are a few for Unflappable:

“I literally cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book. Unflappable is everything you could want in a novel - witty, hilarious, heartfelt, passionate about its cause, and so very magical. Suzie Gilbert is a modern great in the making.”

Nikki Fier, Bookie’s Bookstores (Chicago)

“Unflappable was fun, fast-paced, and hilarious. I mean come on, road trip, crazy husband, loyal friends, flirting, and an eagle. What more could I ask for? I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend.”

Sarah Homan, reviewer

“I loved every page of UNFLAPPABLE by author Suzie Gilbert! Luna is a warrior in the fight to succeed in getting the bonded pair of eagles to safety. While reading this book I laughed, shed a tear or two, and cheered for the heroes!”

Diane Lochala, book blogger

“This is a thoroughly enjoyable read about Luna Burke, a young woman trying to save herself and a pair of beloved Bald Eagles. While at times laugh-out-loud funny, this touching novel hinted at deeper issues and had me reading late into the night to find out what would happen next.”

Kimberly McDaniel, reviewer

“This book was so captivating and enthralling. This story was hilarious and suspenseful, will captivate you from page one.”

Amber Villanueva, reviewer

“This book is unique and fresh. I was charmed from the start, it will engross you, it is witty, full of lovely realistic characters, fast paced and great writing. What a wonderful read, left me smiling which we really need at the moment.”

Tara Keating, reviewer

“This book isn’t like anything I’ve read before. It was both far-fetched and totally believable.”

Lisa Melanson, Indigo Books, Toronto