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1. Tell us about your most recent project (written or published). What inspired it?

If the focus is only on those that were actually completed and published, I’d have to go back a whole year to the first anthology, Tales From the Guild: Music to Your Ears. There have been more recently written things but they were so short, I’m hesitant to call them “projects”. I’d be more comfortable with “drafts”.

Anyway, that one (“Echoes from the Consort Box”) was inspired by an image of a confrontation that didn’t actually make its way into that story; the story that was published is, if anything, a prequel to what I was really starting on; it’s still in progress.

In a wider sense, the big project I’m working on now is to write a textbook for a class I’ve taught several times. I’d guess that almost nobody will actually read it and even fewer people really want to hear about that, it’s Linear Algebra. I doubt I’ll make any money off of it; the book will be more of a photocopied loose-leaf packet that I hand out to students at the beginning of the semester.

2. What’s your writing process like? Are you a “pantser,” an outliner, or something in between?

What’s a “pantser”? Like, “by the seat of your pants”? I guess I’m like that. I mentioned an image before; most of what I do is inspired by an image. This isn’t the .jpg or .gif type!   It’s one that comes when I’m either thinking of nothing in particular; hear (or mishear!) something, or think “Now how would this unfold if it were in a furry world instead of this one?” Try it: if I say “That’s not the way cake is supposed to look” and you imagine a cake, and something’s wrong with it. What, precisely, is the matter? Who made it? A lot of things can snap into place as if they came from somewhere else; you just write about it as you go.

3. What’s your favorite kind of story to write?

My favorite kind of story to write is one that I don’t think I’ll have to finish!

4. Which character from your work do you most identify with, and why?

That’d have to be Hauke von Friedrichs, the cockatrice (or basilisk, if you speak German) professor. He dates back to a very primitive time in my writing career: he’s my alter ego, my self-insertion into the furry world. As I started writing more and more, he got left out more and more, but I’ve got a soft spot for him.

5. Which authors or books have most influenced your work?

The single most influential author on me I can name is Lynda Barry. I suppose Harvey Pekar should be mentioned as well. I have a lot of authors whose work I admire and that I love to read, but I find myself stealing from those two when I turn around and try to write something.

6. What’s the last book you read that you really loved?

If I interpret this as the latest book I’ve read that has left a good impression, that would be City by Clifford Simak. It’s the book I’ve read most recently that has stuck with me. I’m a little surprised that I had never heard other people in the fur fandom talk about it. Structurally it was appealing to me since it’s several short works bound together with one theme (I think to myself “I could do that!” as I look over the very short pieces I’ve done). Simak’s stories are told as myths and legends by dogs about the mythical human race.

 

7. Besides writing, how do you like to spend your free time?

I put in a few hours at the county jail as a volunteer; I knit things and I’m trying to pick up crochet but for some reason that’s not going as well. Lately I’ve been spending too much time on my iPad raising dragons and other things (Dragonvale and Brave Frontier really sucked me in).

8. Advice for other writers?

Write a lot; write more than I do, at least.

9. Where can readers find your work?

A lot of my work is at FurAffinity. A smaller collection is at both DeviantArt and SoFurry. I do try to put disclaimers and warnings on the pieces that need them. If I do come out with something longer that gets published, hints of it probably show up at one of those places.

10. What’s your favorite thing about the furry fandom?

It seems that a lot of fandoms settle in a phase where it’s all about dressing up and costuming; sometimes it’s not even about making them, but buying them. Look at Star Trek: it seems like you aren’t really a Trekker nowadays if you don’t have a Starfleet uniform or dress as a Klingon (and speak a little of it!). Furry fandom is turning into that now: in some circles, you aren’t a furry if you don’t have a fursuit. In the words of Smashmouth, “Fashion is smashin’ the true meaning of it”.

But there are still quite a few interesting people who are creating things, whether that be writing, drawing, or creating the suits. As long as that contingent is still going strong, the fandom will remain an interesting set of people.

 

Check out Mark “Prof Hauke” N’s member bio here!

it's been about a year since i "accepted" myself as being a furry now, about a year since i first started being active here.

while i had been sniffing at this for longer than just the last year, but it was rarely more than just a quick look in incogneto mode even here on /r/furry. why? i was ashamed of the idea of being a furry, i had known the artwork (community made even) for years, untill i figured out it was a subculture, and a hobby or even a lifestyle for some. and then i got a little ashamed of it all,

why? the stigma, mostly, and while i adored the works of the fandom, i was but looking at it through a spyglass. but then something happened, i hit a rough spot in life, nothing major, a recently aquainted friend shunned me. over a little confrontation, i tried making it up to him again but alas no, i was torn, with rage and sorrow.

over the following weekend my head was a mishmash of emotions, rage, hate, sorrow and disgust, and for the first time i came here, without it being under lock and key, and i began talking with some of you people, mostly in comments, and it helped me, all the bad emotions were purged from me, as if a mental transformation had happened, i accepted myself as a furry, and a part of this fandom, and i was happy, just generally happy, and when i got my tail and began wearing that my happiness grew ever larger. to the point of people asking why the hell i was so happy all the time, regardless of the situation.

and for that i thank you. after that i have been through a lot of ups and downs, but i knew that whenever i got sad or angry, i had somewhere to go where just seeing the friendlynes and artwork on here made me feel better.

i have seen a few changes to the subreddit, a little drama (no where near as bad as i had feared) people being cheered up after life problems, the awesome and the cute of art, stories and fursuits.

and you know what, i am kinda glad that i didn't join untill i was 18. (i could have been younger with kind of the same result) for i have experienced that a lot of the things i liked when i was a young teenager, unless i like it before i got to there, i'm not really into anymore.

and a word of advice to all you people "coming out" as a furry, in reality there is only one person you need to come out to, and that's yourself, once you do that, things will go by themselves, people might slowly figure it out, or not. you don't have to come out to your parents, by "coming out" to people you make it seem worse than it is to them atleast. if you want to go to a con and you have the money left over to do so, (and you can do it safely of course) parents will usually understand that you have hobbies that you want to attend to, whether it be sports, model railways or the furry fandom.

tldr: thank you guys for a great year, you've helped me a lot, and i am looking forwards to another great fluffy year.

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Isn’t she loooooovely? Isn’t sheeeee 2014? We’re giiiving out aaawaards! So keep your eeeeaaaarballs listening!  That’s right, it’s the furballd awards for 2014…nearly a whole month past the deadline for these things! But who says we don’t eventually deliver!  As we the world collectively says “Meh” to the year gone past, we talk about the things that made us happy, made us sad and made us so angry the we all kicked our cats into the nearest fireplace. RIP Mittens (2013~2014).

If you want to give us your opinion on our awards or maybe want to give us your own 2014 awards, send it to us at furballdletters@gmail.com.

Bye for now, but not forever!

This week’s song is “S-Tier” by Flexstyle and OA.  You can find the song on OCRemix here: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03068

In the News…

Russia bans Trans people from driving: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30735673

The worlds saddest mascot: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/01/alabama-hockey-mascot-fan-fiction

John Oliver’s Salmon Cannon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9qA8c-E_oA

 

Episode 81 – Furballd Awards 2014 - Isn't she loooooovely? Isn't sheeeee 2014? We're giiiving out aaawaards! So keep your eeeeaaaarballs listening!  That's right, it's the furballd awards for 2014...nearly a whole month past the deadline for these things!

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Author: Sonious League of Geeks‘ flagship game shows a great deal of promise as it goes out to early access. Armello is a video game which bases itself in board game principals where four heros, a wolf, rat, rabbit and bear, compete for their clans to secure the throne for themselves. The goal is to […]

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Wondering if any of you know how to growl like a dog or wolf and if you would tell me how you do it or direct me to somewhere that I can learn to do so.

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Did you find out that your best friend was a furry 10 years in? How did that happen? Or did you MAKE them furry? (MWAHAHA)

Tell us your story!

Also, obligatory "Hi I'm new!" statement. I've been lurking for quite a bit so I already know like most of you hehe

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I'm trying to find some art to use as reference of an orange and yellow character, doesn't matter what species or anything. If you can think of one you know/like, tossing me a link to a FA page or something would be great.

I'm just looking for some suggestions, so I'll be taking this thread down after getting a couple.

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