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It goes without saying perhaps: One of the “casualties” of conventions and conferences being canceled or postponed left and right is vendors who had made big plans to sell product at those events. Here’s one — John Bailey has a new novel out, the first in his Feathers & Flames series, called Dire. “Euraiya is a lazy gryphon, content to let her traps hunt for her. Roving thieves and bullish curs are her only concerns. But after she fails to save her home from a far greater threat, her world erupts into flames. Broken and half dead, she must claw her way to find a place within a new pride that’s poised to exile her with one wrong move. Forced to prove her worth, her warnings are silenced. But with the leaders distracted and a rogue lord poised to take advantage of any weakness, Euraiya must confront them and herself before it’s too late. Can Euraiya save what’s left of her future before the fires rain down again? Dire is the first novel in a new creature fiction fantasy series that pits gryphons against wyverns in a battle for land and survival.” The author was all set to make a book-signing tour of various furry conventions, but now that’s not happening. Find the book over at Amazon, and see if you can help out a creative writer!

image c. 2020 Mythic House

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Remember Dragons Rescue Riders from Dreamworks (which we talked about before)? Well Animation Scoop just let us know about a new 45-minute special on Netflix called Dragons Rescue Riders: Hunt For The Golden Dragon. It’s coming your way on March 27th. “Dak, Leyla, and the Rescue Riders crew brace for their newest adventure when greedy pirates get their hands on a map leading to a precious Golden Dragon’s nest. The young Rescue Riders must race against time to beat the pirates and save the dragon’s egg! Expanding the world of DreamWoks Dragons, the special is executive produced by Emmy-Award winner Jack Thomas (Regular Show, DreamWorks Dragons: Race to the Edge) and co-executive produced by Brian Roberts (DreamWorks VeggieTales). Check out the video preview on YouTube, and look for the special later this month.

image c. 2020 Dreamworks

Long Way Home is Gre7g Luterman’s 5th adventure written in the Hayven Celestia Universe. It’s also his first Hayven Celestia book with an erotic focus. Here’s your big warning that this review discusses adult content only suitable for those 18 and older!With that out of the way, this story follows Jungo, a geroo on the cusp of adulthood still battling with raging hormones who has decided to leave his family farm to take a tour out in space. What looks to be only a two-year adventure quickly turns out to be a 10-year stint. After some shenanigans involving a pirate crew, the trip keeps becoming longer and longer. Despite this book being erotica, Gre7g has once again created a story clearly worth following. All ‘reading it for the plot’ jokes aside, this is truly a great piece of fiction all on its own which expands the Hayven Celestia universe in an interesting way. I wasn’t quite sure if it contained spoilers from Rick Griffin’s stories after Traitors, Thieves and Liars (Finals Days of the White Flower II) as Gre7g does have a mention at the beginning of the book that some canon things may be different between them as they write but just in case the far off ending for that series might have been alluded to in these pages.So does the book keep things hot and spicy despite the well written story? The answer still remains a yes! There’s M/F scenes, M/M scenes, and certainly a big moment with group sex! Did I mention there were zero gravity scenes? Because there’s some really creative zero gravity scenes. All of these are accompanied by gorgeous pieces of art by H. Kyoht Luterman which bring these scenes to life in a wonderful way. Geroo anatomy being different from humans, it was interesting to explore something foreign yet still written in a way to make even a human like me understand why a geroo would be excited over these different parts they might be dealing with. The other species included, the ringel, are a bit more like humans and easier to follow while also having an insatiable appetite for sex. This book captured my imagination so much I read it in a single day while being very happy I could do so in the privacy of my own bedroom for what might be obvious reasons. Gre7g has once again written a phenomenal work of sci-fi, and I hope to see him continue trying his hand at more adult works in the future. I would recommend this to any fan of sci-fi, especially fans of the Hayven Celestia universe, that would enjoy something to fire up their naughtier side.

Ursa Major Awards voting is open through March, vote now for the best creators.

News tips from non-furries are often worthy. They won’t suck you into fandom-gossip, and they’re more likely to use the Dogpatch Press Facebook page than Telegram or Twitter. That’s how I heard from a New Jersey estate liquidator (someone contracted to sell off goods when someone dies or can’t do it themselves). They had binders of furry art, and I had experience in brokerage (my other fursona is a pack rat.) Was there worth in them?

They didn’t smell like money, but I knew they might have at least curiosity value for a handful of sources like Confurence.com, so I broadcast it and tagged them.

I see dates 1985-1999. I wonder if any of these are unavailable or are they photocopies of nothing too uncommon? @Skiltaire_Party @Bengaley @CulturallyFd pic.twitter.com/GD6uClFeuC

— Dogpatch Press (@DogpatchPress) February 13, 2020

Indeed it was just sentimental-value stuff — not even original art, just photocopies — but Jerry Collins tied this to old guard furry fandom. I thought about how scrapbooks of gay culture from pre-1960’s had high curatorial value, and was reminded of a contact with an archive for 8mm home movies that were picked up this way and sometimes licensed for documentaries. I smelled news!

I asked about reaching the family to find out more about the collector, or make sure it was OK to share:

The house had Manga stuff and role play games. Owner was in his 50’s. Unfortunately the estate was handled by an attorney who had no personal knowledge. I do not see any issue with sharing the binder contents. Enjoy.

We arranged mailing to Summercat (news writer, furry historian, and curator of the Furry Library), who received four huge binders. There were copies of parts of 1980’s zines someone liked and kept. A binder of misc anime stuff, a binder of (colloquial) furry anime stuff, and a binder each that looked like a collection of work from artists Jerry Collins and Juan Alfonso. Among the photocopies, there was a hand written artifact.

Chat with the Furluminati of furry news:

A Jerry Collins page courtesy of Summercat.

Summercat: I found this letter circa 1988 and it’s amusing. I was given permission to share this publically. Publicly. I don’t know why I keep adding the extra “al”.

Dralen: Pubically.

Summercat: No need to get crotchety with me.

Dralen: But I love crochet!

Summercat: Yeah but you keep needling us.

Dralen: Just trying to inject a little humor.

Changa Lion: Who is that letter addressed to?

Summercat: The person these came from. Whomever it is, I think they’re deceased.

Patch: This is original fandom ephemera? Got ID for the 2 people?

Summercat: The letter is signed J. Alfonso (I’m talking to him on Twitter). Person who received the letter is… unknown. I did ask Juan if he would be able to remember.

Changa Lion: I do wonder if it is somebody we knew at Confurence.

Patch: This letter is a story itself. It was before most people used email and tweeting, when there was already a full fledged fandom. 1988 furry stuff not on the net = like finding a cool fossil to the kids.

The letter

Hi Kevin!

Thanks for the letter! I’m well and in excellent spirits, I hope you are too! I’m glad the Furry Party was a success! And I’m sorry I’ve never met Noel Tominack, I’ve heard a lot about him (none of it true I hope!)

I work for the post office, so I usually see the letters ASAP – your must have wended its way to another world, I bet! Occasionally it happens, some folk also write my address as “1141” or mistype my zip as 33168. But then you would have got it back “No Such Number.”

Having only heard of it second-hand, I mistook it for prudishness or worse that the bondage scene was “panned”; goes to show you what the real article does. I think you were definitely not prudish! I do tend to go overboard sometimes for some, heck, there are people who think me a demon or worse!! For my drawings, THE thing to realize is, these are FUNNY-ANIMALS, Do Not Take It SERIOUSLY!! Like a Toon in a cartoon, it is a separate ‘reality’. I tend to equate sometimes ‘cuteness’ with ‘sexiness’ — which makes watching those sweet, cute-to-the-max critters on animated cartoons an inspiration. Unfortunately, they’re so restrained by their kiddie format it makes me want to dress ’em up in leather, and then… well, you saw the end result! I’m definitely not offended by your comment.

So it was you! I met at the Furry party! My apologies, I thought it was Rune I met in SD — or was he there too? So many people! By the way “Huihui Lotl” is a dove (and a loose woman in slang) in Nahuatl (Mexican Indian Language). The Sambar in our own Metrozoo was the inspiration — and very nice, friendly doe she was, too! She licked my glasses off! Gottem a bit dirty. I’m glad you like the Wabbit party, but I don’t think I will send pencils again — they xerox badly.

Roxy Squirrel’s tunic wouldn’t be difficult, but how would it hold up in flight? I think the dragons also didn’t have skin down to the feet — such as Roxy. Maybe a small pinching of the skin (like an earring post hole) to hold it? Of course, when she wants cover, she also does this.

The Petroglyphs were from Bishop Landa’s simplified alphabet of Maya symbols – and the message is in spanish.

I’m glad you enjoy my drawings, here’s some more!

Your friend,
J. Alfonso

Casual comic/animation style thumbnails.

I think this is about sci-fi con furry parties (before the first ConFurence) and a San Diego location, and how some of Juan‘s art was seen by judgy fans who “looked on furries attending their cons as both intruding and beneath contempt. This view did not improve when the earliest examples of sexualized furry art and stories started to appear at the scene.” Thanks to Summercat for images and handwriting transcription.

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Share news on these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for anything — or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here.

The Adorable Beastling is a new full-color graphic novel, written and illustrated by Jonathan Rosenberg. “The Ugly Duckling but in reverse. Beastlings are fierce and scare for food, but this young group of Beastlings have an oddball who just can’t scare. She was too cute to scare anything. We wonder if she’ll survive. Just like the original fable, this story is about being yourself and being ok with it.” This softcover one-shot is available now from Action Lab.

image c. 2020 Action Lab

We discuss the future of writing. Original air date: Aug 1, 2013 Ep 2 – The Future - We discuss the future of writing. Original air date: Aug 1, 2013

Younger fur fans might not remember What’s Michael? the manga or the successful anime series that followed it — but over the years we’ve talked a LOT about Makoto Kobayashi’s creation: A somewhat lazy pet cat with a very active imagination. Well now the original manga return in a new black & white collection from Dark Horse Press. “True-to-life daily cat scenarios and off-the-wall crazy feline fantasies combine in this epic manga collection! Makoto Kobayashi’s hilarious series returns in a set of oversized collections, starting with our first Fatcat Collection!” Volume 1 is available now — and at more than 500 pages, even the book is fat!

image c. 2020 Dark Horse Press

Our first episode! We discuss what makes a furry story furry. Original Air Date: Jul 19, 2013 Ep 1 – Writing Furry - Our first episode! We discuss what makes a furry story furry. Original Air Date: Jul 19, 2013

Lee Miller, a Colorado furry fan and internet troll who goes by Foxler, is heading to trial for child sex offenses. His April 2019 arrest followed years of allegations of grooming and “neo-nazi-cult-like” activity in his group the Furry Raiders. Miller’s trial is set for May 26, 2020.

In February 2020, the investigation brought new charges for Miller. This followed a December 2019 arrest for his associate Jacob Kovar (known as Sneps or Flare). Kovar was a Furry Raiders admin with a felony record. He got arrested for alleged witness tampering in Miller’s case that was uncovered by Dogpatch Press. Kovar hid that activity as “Dodger”, Head of Security at a Wyoming furry convention that dropped him when the “batshit story” came out.

The Daily Beast has their finger on the pulse.

Third arrest on 3/6/2020

A new arrest puts a third name on public record. (Other source.) It’s a 23 year old man charged with “16-19-103 DENVER: TAMP W. EVID”.

It’s the same charge that Kovar was arrested for around 12/11/2019.  Indictment info hasn’t come in yet, and it doesn’t come with history like Miller and Kovar’s, and this person could have been manipulated to make mistakes, so details will be short. It does tie him to the Furry Raiders and a relationship with Kovar.

The man’s LinkedIn and Facebook pages place him at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he’s published as the author of a linguistics research paper: Furry Culture and an ‘Endearing’ Register. His full paper has a Google Doc that makes an interesting read. A Reddit profile ties it together.

He has furry accounts on Deviantart, Weasyl, Furaffinity, and Twitter. They show Kovar is his boyfriend and used fursona art he made. His Telegram account ties with his bio, and he joined the Furry Raiders just 5 days before Kovar was arrested in December. That doesn’t show much participation or being a habitual criminal or troll, and someone who wrote about personal issues could have been misled. If true, the friendliness of furry fandom could help him get out and help bring Miller to justice.

There’s more that isn’t public. Have more info? Private tips are very helpful so please get in touch to share with protection.

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Share news on these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for anything — or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. 

Sometimes, Furry Book Review tackles what I often call "furry-adjacent literature." The book may not be directed specifically at the furry fandom as a market, but it might still appeal to furries. That is the case with Gregory Kimbrell's short book, The Ceremonial Armor of the Impostor. As the back-cover blurb states, this book is a combination of two sequences of long narrative poems, set respectively in the 16th century, focusing on the mercenary Sous-Terrain, and the 19th century, focusing on an aristocrat hunting down a lion furry.Largely, the work is Gothic surrealist, and its slow yet evocative style proves that. Sous-Terrain's narrative is a lot slower than the aristocrat's, and it felt a lot more cosmological. I found myself struggling to keep up with his plight, and I found myself struggling to care, too. Not much work is put into setting the scene, and the character stays an enigma throughout the book.The aristocrat's narrative however was a lot more involved and had a greater awareness of plot. Not just because of the sexy lion furry but also because of the first-person perspective of the piece and the attention to setting details. I really enjoyed that narrative all on its own. I had a much clearer goal in mind, and I found myself consistently more invested in his story than Sous-Terrain's.I probably would not recommend this book to the average furry. But if you love Gothic lit, this book is definitely up your alley. I ain't lion.

What's going on in your head? What makes your brain tick, and what do you like about macro and micro? What gets your attention and why? We're talking about the psychology of size. Episode 30: "Psychology" (2020-03-09)

More unusual relationships, but now there’s magic in the mix in Mooncakes, a new full-color graphic novel. “Nova Huang is still young, but she’s one of the most powerful witches in New England. She spends her days working in her grandmothers’ spell book shop and her nights hunting down the supernatural. Tam Lang, a genderqueer werewolf, was Nova’s childhood crush. Tam has been wandering from place to place for years until the one fateful night they find themselves back in their hometown… battling a giant horse demon in the woods. Tam turns to Nova for help, and their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.” Written by Suzanne Walker and illustrated by Wendy Xu, Mooncakes is available now from Lion Forge.

image c. 2020 Lion Forge

Okay, so how about monkey and cat this time? That’s the idea of The Lonesome Era, Jon Allen’s new black & white graphic novel from Iron Circus. “Camden is a cat. Camden is also crushing hard on his best buddy and all-around terrible influence, Jeremiah. Young, bored, and trapped in their slowly decomposing Rust Belt town, Camden tamps down his burgeoning feelings for the local ne’er-do-well and allows himself to be dragged along with every awful idea, every hair-brained plan, and every threat to life and limb Jeremiah can come up with. As the dangers of Camden’s risk-taking mount, an even more terrifying confrontation with who he is and what he truly wants looms ever closer. How much longer can this go on?” You’ll find out! Check out this extensive preview too.

image c. 2020 Iron Circus Comics

A long and full episode including a roundup, silly news and fan emails.

This episode is sponsored by Twin Tail Creations. Use coupon codes REDWOLF or BLUEFOX to save 15% on silicone products during checkout.

Download MP3

Link Roundup:

• Great Big Story episode on dragons
• Normie tweets about FTM
• A furry adventure coming to Nintendo Switch
• Mel Magazine: The Fursuit of Happiness
• MFY After Dark twitter
• Fluke interviews Legosi voice actor, Jonah Scott
• Virginia bans conversion therapy
• Good boy doing motion capture
• BBC Studios also starts investing in Pocket Casts
• Audio “testicles” mishap at TFF
• Matt Ebel’s Tweet about the testicles incident
• People 4 Bernie tweets SonicFox clip
• Inkbunny is getting DDoSed but will have new servers soon
• Chlamydia cousin found?

News:

• Coronavirus Passes over House where Chik-fil-a sauce was spread on doors
• Algorithm Created Every Possible Melody so no one could sue copyright anymore
• Amazon Patent to Whip Cargo into Space
• People Threaten to Use Vodka instead of Hand Sanatizer and Tito’s Vodka Responded
• Only a small # of People can cause their ears to Rumble

Emails:

• Otternonymous – “Furcast help! How do I stop being such a salty a-hole?”
• Nate Blueberry – “Hiya!”
• Wolvern – “podcast help”
• Anonymous – “I don’t want to live with my family”

[Live] WerePods

for all things Dragget Show -- www.draggetshow.com support us on Patreon! -- www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow all of our audio podcasts at @the-dragget-show You can also find us on iTunes & wherever you find podcasts! Dragget Show telegram chat: telegram.me/draggetshow #229 - FIRESTREAM! ArE yOu ReAdY fOr TiTs?! - for all things Dragget Show -- www.draggetshow.co…

Have you heard? Rumors are flying around about some kind of contest for votes in the USA. It has a Birdie and a Bi-Den. That sounds furry, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s for the Ursa Major awards for the year’s best in furry movies, art, books, news magazines, and more.

You can vote HERE during all of March 2020, but don’t wait until it’s too late! VOTE NOW! 

Non-fiction and fursuits aren’t up for awards due to not enough nominations. (You CAN still nominate for the Good Furry Award.) Remember, armies of furry soldiers fought for your freedom to vote without getting told “yiff in hell”. So please do support those who are nominated, whether it’s for art, fiction or news from some fabulously erudite news hound!

Since 2001, these awards have been run with long hours of work by volunteers. They would appreciate any support you can give to defray costs for a website, making and mailing awards, and more.

NOMINEES FOR BEST OF 2019

Best Motion Picture
Live-action or animated feature-length movies.

• Avengers: Endgame (Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo; April 26)
• Frozen 2 (Directed by Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck; November 22)
• Pokémon Detective Pikachu (Directed by Rob Letterman; May 3)
• Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling (Directed by Joe Murray and Cosmo Serguson; August 9)
• Toy Story 4 (Directed by Josh Cooley; June 21)

Best Dramatic Series or Short Work
TV series or one-shots, advertisements or short videos.

• Aggretsuko, Season 2 (Directed by Rarecho)
• Amphibia (Directed by Bert Youn and Derek Kirk Kim)
• Beastars (Directed by Shinichi Matsumi) Episode 1, October 8, 2019 (Japan)
• Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Written and Storyboarded by Phil Ahn, Allison Craig, Nathanael H. Jones, Griffith Kimmins, Alexandria Kwan, Nora Meek, Michael Moloney, Emily Oetzell, Parker Simmons, and Chris Ybarra)
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Season 9 (Directed by Denny Lu, Mike Myhre, and Gillian Comerford)

Best Novel
Written works of 40,000 words or more. Serialized novels qualify only for the year that the final chapter is published.

• Darwin-sensei, Kemono Musume-tachi ga Gakuen de Omochi desu!, by Daisaburo Nonoue
• Fair Trade, by Gre7g Luterman
• Nexus Nine, by Mary E. Lowd
• Off The Mark, by Bernard Doove and Jeff Hartt
• Red Skies, by GS Cole and NC Shapero

Best Short Fiction
Stories less than 40,000 words, poetry, and other short Written works.

• Black Out In Space, by Mary E. Lowd
• Bourbon Jack, by Linnea Capps
• Ecto-Cafe, by Mary E. Lowd
• The Move, by Kristi Brooks
• This Dog For Hire, by Mary E. Lowd, in Jove Deadly’s Lunar Detective Agency

Best Other Literary Work
Story collections, comic collections, graphic novels, non-fiction works, and serialized online stories.

• Fang 10, edited by Kyell Gold and Sparf
• Heat 16, edited by Alopex and Dark End
• Jove Deadly’s Lunar Detective Agency, by Garrett Marco and Mary E. Lowd
• ROAR Volume 10, edited by Mary E. Lowd
• The Rabbit Dies First, edited by Ryan Campbell
• Tri-Galactic Trek, edited by Mary E. Lowd

Best Graphic Story
Includes comic books, and serialized online stories.

• Beastars: Volume 12-16, by Itagaki Paru
• The Dreamkeepers, by David & Liz Lillie
• Lackadaisy, by Tracy J. Butler
• Shine, by Babystar
• Slightly Damned, by Chu

Best Comic Strip
Newspaper-style strips, including those with ongoing arcs.

• Carry On, by Kathy Garrison Kellogg
• Doc Rat, by Jenner
• Freefall, by Mark Stanley
• Friends You Are Stuck With, by Gabe Bold
• Housepets!, by Rick Griffin

Best Magazine
Edited collections of creative and/or informational works by various people, professional or amateur, published in print or online in written, pictorial or audio-visual form.

• Dogpatch Press, edited by Patch Packrat
• Flayrah, edited by GreenReaper, Sonious, and Dronon
• Up Fur Review, podcast by Jaden Drackus, TJ Minde, and Mog K. Moogle
• Virginity Clan, YouTube videos
• Zooscape, edited by Mary E. Lowd

Best Published Illustration
Illustrations for books, magazines, convention program books, cover art for such, coffee-table portfolios.

• Idess, Jove Deadly’s Lunar Detective Agency book cover
• Moth Monarch, Furnal Equinox 2019 T-shirt design
• Moth Monarch, Surf Pacific Anthrocon 2019 banner and conbook art
• Silfoe, Off The Mark book cover
• Teagan Gavet, Tri-Galactic Trek book cover

Best Game
Computer or console games, role-playing games, board games.

• Blacksad: Under The Skin
• Kingdom Hearts III
• Pokémon: Sword and Shield
• Untitled Goose Game
• Winds of Change

Best Website
Online collections of art, stories, and other creative and/or informational works. Includes galleries, story archives, directories, blogs, and personal sites.

• e621.net
• Fur Affinity
• Inkbunny
• Newgrounds
• WikiFur

A preview for next year… this is a good bet to get lots of love. We can’t say too much yet, but it’s likely to be in furry news much sooner than that.

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Share news on these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for anything — or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. 

Hey All, Here is an episode from kaar to fill in for this week! Enjoy Kaar Solo 08 - Sharking tuesday!

please support us on Patreon! -- www.patreon.com/thedraggetshow http://www.youtube.com/draggetshow http://www.twitch.tv/draggetshow for all things Dragget Show -- www.draggetshow.com Dragget MD #6: Zuckin' Passion - please support us on Patreon! -- www.patreon.com/…

It’s February, and in honor of Black History Month we have been featuring some of the black authors that are members of the Furry Writers’ Guild. Today will be our last feature for the month, and we will be sharing an interview done with Jakebe T. Lope! He has had stories featured in Breaking the Ice: Stories from New Tibet, Historimorphs, and New Fables. Without further ado, let’s get to the interview.

—

FWG: Tell the guild and our readers a bit about yourself.

Jakebe: My name is Jakebe T. Lope, though I’ve gone by others in my day. I’ve been in the furry fandom since 1996, so I’m pretty sure that makes me a greymuzzle! I’m a long-time writer and blogger — my blog “From the Writing Desk” is a collection of personal essays about the writing process, my journey with mental health, the furry fandom, Afrofuturism, Buddhism, and politics. Currently, I’m writing serialized erotic fiction through Patreon under The Jackalope Serial Company.

FWG: What is your favorite work that you have written?

Jakebe: I’m really happy with “Nightswimming”, the short story I wrote for Breaking The Ice. It was my first published short story, and I really tried to stretch myself to capture the feeling of isolation within New Tibet and what would make anyone want to stay on that frozen hellhole.

I think the writing that means the most to me, though, are the essays I’ve written about mental health on From The Writing Desk. I come from a background with a serious stigma attached to mental health issues, and it means a lot to me to be open and honest about it, and help others who might be struggling with similar issues.

FWG: What do you think makes a good story?

Jakebe: I think any good story has to end with its reader feeling better about the world they’re living in. Even the stories designed to make us uncomfortable are guides for us to pay attention and work with that discomfort so we’re better able to deal with it on the other side. That doesn’t mean a story can’t just be dumb fun, but even light entertainment needs to leave us with the feeling that the world is a rad place, or it could be if we worked for what we believe in. 

It’s really hard to do this without browbeating an audience with some message. I think you need to be honest, fearless, and compassionate in order to achieve it. The best writing fosters that sense of instant, empathetic connection.

FWG: How long have you been in the guild, and what changes have you seen with regards to how writing is handled since joining?

Jakebe: Oh man, I’ve been in the guild for a while — so long I can’t remember when I’ve joined. I think writing has been largely democratized since I’ve joined, and it’s wonderful to see so many new perspectives popping up across the fandom, with so many interesting expressions of what brings us to it. It’s been really encouraging to see.

At the same time, I worry that there’s been a breakdown of the writing community because we’ve stopped listening to each other and become much more ego-driven. In my experience, there’s been less of a willingness to help one another with our craft and the realities of the market. I’d really like to see us return to a spirit of collaboration, guidance, and respect for the craft.

FWG: What does Black History mean to you?

Jakebe: Black history is American history. What my ancestors went through is the shadow side of the version of America we see in our history books and civics classes. A lot of us are shocked about what we’re seeing rising out of our fellow Americans in the current political landscape, but if we pay attention to the history of black Americans and the experiences of other Americans of color, we’d know that these attitudes have been around as long as the Constitution. This IS who we are; we’re just being forced to reckon with it.

At the same time, Black history helps me realize that resilience, perseverance, joy, and a commitment to working for my ideals are all a part of my story. My ancestors passed down amazing values and lessons to me, and it’s a privilege to get to be able to carry those stories and spread them as well as I can.

FWG: Do you feel that your Blackness has affected your writing?

Jakaebe: Absolutely. As a black man in America, you have to make peace with the fact that almost nothing you see is going to be from your perspective. The heroes we grow up watching and wanting to be like don’t necessarily look like us. I grew up queer and nerdy in the inner-city, so I’ve had a really difficult relationship with my Blackness because I’ve never felt accepted by my community. That feeling of being rejected by the dominant culture and my birth culture, of feeling alone and forced to make your own way, it’s always going to be a part of my work. I’m always reacting to that weird tension, of needing to belong but also realizing I never really have, and it shows in my writing. I’m still looking for my tribe.

FWG: Do you feel like the issues that affect the outside world affect your writing within the fandom or not?

Jakebe: They absolutely do. Since I’ve become more politically active I consider it a pretty core part of my job as a writer to find ways to express my perspective to a fandom audience that is largely white. It’s tough, when everyone in the community feels like they’re the underdogs in some way, to have a discussion about privilege or the blind spots they create. Furry literature can be a great way of exploring these sensitive topics in ways that folks are more likely to engage with.

FWG: Do you have favorite Black authors and has their literature affected your writing in the fandom?

Jakebe: YES. Ta-Nehesi Coates is my jam right now; he’s a fellow Baltimore native, and his personal essays have been a North Star for me in so many ways. He’s been killing it on Black Panther, too. 

Octavia Butler has been writing amazing sci-fi and fantasy from a racial lens, and I hope to be able to achieve her level of insight and sensitivity some day. Kindred is such an amazing book. It really shakes your image of American slavery, what it would be like to endure that, and what you would do to combat the forces that shaped it.

There’s three-time Hugo Award winner N.K. Jemisin; there’s Nnedi Okorafor, who also won the Hugo Award for her novella Binti; there’s Daniel Jose Older, who is killing it with urban fantasy through an Afro-Latino lens; there’s Samuel “Chip” Delaney, the great old sci-fi Grandmaster who paved the way for all of us in the game right now. 

It’s a really great time for Afrofuturist writers, and there are so many exciting stories being told that really break out of the traditional sci-fi and fantasy tropes.

FWG: If you could convince everyone to read a single book, what would it be?

Jakebe: I feel weird hyping this book after talking about so many excellent black writers, but if you haven’t read The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle it is really a singular work. It’s both an homage to really great epic fantasy and a deconstruction of it; at the end of the novel, even though everyone has achieved what they set out to do each character is fundamentally changed in a way that makes them — and the world — so much more complicated. It’s a staggering, heartbreaking novel, and I love it so much. Most people only know the movie, but the book is better by an order of magnitude and Beagle deserves so much more recognition than he’s gotten.

FWG: Any last words for our readers and guild members?

Jakebe: In order to be an excellent writer, we have to spend so much more time listening and observing others. Listening and absorbing other people without judgement is an overlooked skill, and I think the time is ripe for writers who can present an honest understanding of others without dehumanizing or dismissing them. In so many ways, our separation between each other is an illusion. Our reality is connection. 

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You can find Jakebe’s writing on his blog From The Writing Desk and on his Patreon for serialized erotic fiction. You can also find him on Twitter both at @jakebe and @serialjackalope; as well as on Mastodon @jakebe@awoo.space. We hope you found this interview exciting and informative. We hope to continue these features next February for Black History Month as well as find other ways to feature black authors in the guild. If you have suggestions for how this might be done, please contact our public relations officer here. Until next time, may your words flow like water.