The Red Crow

The Red Crow
R L McNulty
Micron pen & colored pencil

The first puppet I ever made was a sock puppet that I happily dubbed a red crow. I loved that little bird. My mom gently suggested that maybe it was a cardinal or some other red bird, but I insisted that it was a crow.

Years later, while researching Chinese myths for a play I was writing, I came across the stories of the three-legged red crow that inhabits the sun. Further research into ornithology showed that there are indeed red relatives of the crow in Southeast Asia.

Naturally, I had to write a Dragon's Eye mystery about the red crows/ravens (the Chinese do not distinguish between the two in their myths). "Nine Fallen Suns" is the result -- a response to one of those myths that just ended badly for the crows.

Here is a drawing that bears a striking resemblance to my first puppet. I'll be out this weekend looking for the right red sock. If anyone has a good one, let me know!

[Update: For pictures of the final puppet, visit this album at on the Dragon's Eye Facebook page.