Kazka preps 'Bronies' story anthology for mid-June release
Kazka Press, best known for their flash fiction, is publishing Bronies: For the Love of Ponies – an anthology of short stories inspired by My Little Pony fandom.
The anthology – which is definitely not for kids – is edited by L. Lambert Lawson, and includes work by several well-known writers, including Kij Johnson's Nebula-winning "Ponies".
Furry fans may be most familiar with Michael H. Payne, writing guest of honor for the first Further Confusion, who won the Ursa Major Award in 2002 for his short story, "Familiars", and was featured in Best in Show. Michael won fame among bronies for his fan novel Half the Day is Night.
Kazka promises to have online pre-ordering for the $13.99+s&h paperback up soon. The e-Book ($9.99) is planned for June 20. Illustrations are by Galen Dara.
Samples:?"The Extinctionists"?-?"Warden of the Valley"?-?"How Bacon Saved the Pony Express"
Juliet & Romeo. Catherine & Heathcliff. Padme & Anakin. Ennis Del Mar & Jack Twist. Cloud & Aerith. Tragic, star-crossed love. But not all love has to be forbidden. Join Kazka Press as we explore the ties that bind together ponies and those who love them.
About the author
GreenReaper (Laurence Parry) — read stories — contact (login required)a developer, editor and Kai Norn from London, United Kingdom, interested in wikis and computers
Small fuzzy creature who likes cheese & carrots. Founder of WikiFur, lead admin of Inkbunny, and Editor-in-Chief of Flayrah.
Comments
Does it contain Cupcakes?
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
"Warden of the Valley" uses 'the swirl of frosting on top of a cupcake' as a simile, if that counts.
Ah, innocence. If it did count, we'd all be happier. It's actually an exceptionally horrific story that, luckily, isn't included. In fact, the title seems rather misleading; "brony" may or may not be specific to Friendship is Magic, but it is certainly more associated with that generation while, just from briefly scanning the three samples, the stories seem inspired more by older generations, and I don't recognize any of the titles (not that I have everything memorized) as being inspired by FiM.
Pinkie Pie is the second best pony.
So, I read it on RG's recommendation (better watch out, we're gonna start liking each other again), and, God, yes, that is actually a pretty decent little horror story.
I mean, I guess you kind of have to be the one guy who in the theater desperately trying not to sound too creepy laughing at the final moments of Cabin in the Woods (I'm sorry, but that stuff is supposed to be funny; I was the only one who got the joke!), but that is some straight up good grue, there. I have seriously been hoping for, like, a week now for an opportunity to say "These jokes are getting bladder!" in conversation, but alas, that is a hard phrase to get out there. The completely innocuous setting just brings it home ("all the ponies in Ponyville were happy" is the new "it was a dark and stormy night"); I love how the story goes out of its way to explain this is not happening because of anything anyone did, good, bad, indifferent, whatever, but because a NUMBER WAS UP, and when your NUMBER IS UP, well, your NUMBER IS UP.
Pink is the new black!
That's terrible!
It's a disturbing story but it's totally believable. I've also seen a music video for it (using a modified version of the Portal 2 song) which is awesome. There's also a song (or all the songs of a fan album stuck together) telling the story. Not counting the number of pics and spin off stories it's had such an effect on the (MLP) fandom. Plus it makes Pinkie cool.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Actually, I should've saved my Pinkie Pie/Baby Firefly comparison for here.
Take the link provided:
To Kij Johnson's story "Ponies" or to Rance Denton's "The Extinctionists," and you'll find as grimdark a couple stories as you're likely to read this week. The one I've got in the collection is much happier: it's got dancing crows and ev'rything... :)
Mike
I am confused by the statement that Michael H. Payne "won the predecessor to the Ursa Major Awards for his short story, "Familiars"". "Familiars" won the Ursa Major Award in 2002 in the Best Short Fiction category. It was the second year that the Award was presented; the 2001 winner was "Beneath the Crystal Sea" by Brock Hoagland. What "predecessor to the Ursa Major Awards" do you mean?
Fred Patten
This was due to my misreading of Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association which I thought (for some reason) meant that the awards had not been called the Ursa Major Awards until 2004. I have corrected it.
I see in Flayrah's own archive that while the Award's creators originally decided not to give them a brief name, that had changed by January 2002 - perhaps because the only suggestion in a comment to the first post was for "the Yiffies". ;-)
The initial fan reaction in 2001 to letting fandom select the "popular" name for the Anthropomorphic Literature & Arts of the Year Awards indicated that they would probably get saddled with a name for some fan-favorite Furry character. The Felix Awards or the Kimba Awards or the Pogo Awards or the Animaniacs Awards, or something similar. We (the ConFurence's Awards Committee, which later became the ALAA) realized that this would create a couple of potential problems.
One, that it would imply that we were supporting a claim that whichever character the Awards were named after was the favorite character of Furry fandom. We did not want the awards to get involved in a "my favorite Furry character is more popular than your favorite Furry character" debate.
Two, and more importantly, these were all the names of copyrighted characters. Technically, we would be required to contact the copyright holder -- the animation studio, or newspaper syndicate, or cartoonist, or cartoonist's estate -- for permission to name the awards after that character. We might get charged an unaffordable licensing fee. We might get refused permission. Even if we used the name without permission, gambling that the awards were so small that they would not be noticed (which was contrary to our hope that the awards would grow until they were meaningful), there was the risk that we might get a cease and desist order from some legal department in the future, forcing us to change the established name of the awards.
It seemed safer and simpler to create an original, non-copyrighted popular name from the beginning.
Fred Patten
>implying John De Lance's documentary will not outshine this
What was the author hoping for?
As someone who's involved:
With both the documentary and this collection, I like to think that each shines in its own way... :)
Mike
Yes, but... inspired by fandom? You get inspired by content, not people who like it.
Furries struggle with that; bronies are similar for different reasons. Bronies are spoonfed b.s. about how great they are by the show's creatives, while furries are just stupid about that.
Your posts just keep getting 5 star ratings.
Personally:
I find inspiration everywhere. My story in this anthology, for instance, was inspired by some wheelchair-bound folks I met back in the early 1990s when I was working at the local public library, by a big black cat I got to know walking back and forth between my house and the bus stop at about that same time, and by message board posts I've seen here and there the past year from folks who say watching this little pony program has started them taking steps toward bettering their lives.
So, yes, content, as you say. But people--and cats--have content to 'em as well.
Mike Again
5 star post.
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