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Something we recently discovered: The Freelance Familiars series of fantasy novels by Daniel Potter. Here, check out this summary of the first book, Off Leash: “When Thomas Khatt awakens to the magical world following the sudden, violent death of his elderly Archmagus neighbor, he doesn’t get the standard package of awesome power combined with a hero destiny. Nope, he trades his thumbs in for a tail, tawny fur and four feet with a very low co-efficient of friction on linoleum. His destiny as one of three talking mountain lions in the magical world? To be sold at auction and bonded to some pimply faced apprentice for life. Thomas would rather eat dirty kitty litter. Armed only with an impressive set of chompers and buckets of snark, Thomas faces off against a lightning-bolt throwing granny and a sexy union recruiter as he desperately tries hold the threads of his old life together. To stay off the leash he’ll have to take advantage of the chaos caused by the Archmagus’ death and help the local Inquisition solve his murder. A pyromanic squirrel, religious werewolves, and cat-hating cops all add to the chaos as Thomas attempts to become the first Freelance Familiar.” Mr. Potter has already finished two more books in the series, Marking Territory and High Steaks, with a fourth on the way, Rudy and the Warren Warriors. Want more? He also has a separate fantasy series about air pirates fighting dragons. Yes. Needless to say, you should visit his web site!

image c. 2019 fallenkitten.com

Here is a Senior short film made by Victoria Aldis [1] and I gotta say I absolutely love the character design and overall style. I really would love to see a short series with these characters. [1] https://www.instagram.com/vicorish/?hl=en
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Tugs continues his conversation about Furries of Color with guests Hyboran and Watcher!





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Show Notes
Special Thanks

Hyboran, one of our guests
Watcher, one of our guests
Sebastian

Patreon Love
The following people have decided this month’s Fur What It’s Worth is worth actual cash! THANK YOU!
 
Artorias Ichisake and Kit

Rifka, the San Francisco Treat and Baldrik

Lokimutt and Guardian Lion and Dusky and Katchshi

Plus Tier Supporters

Skylos
Snares
Ausi Kat
Chaphogriff

McRib Tier Supporters

Lygris
Roliga

 
Music

Opening Theme: RetroSpecter – Cloud Fields (RetroSpecter Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2018. ©2011-2018 Fur What It’s Worth. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Century Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Space News Music: Fredrik Miller – Orbit. USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Closing Theme: RetroSpecter – Cloud Fields (RetroSpecter Chill Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2018. ©2011-2018 Fur What It’s Worth. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Chill Out Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!) S8 Episode 12: Furries of Color – Part 2 - Tugs continues his conversation about Furries of Color with guests Hyboran and Watcher! - NOW LISTEN! -   Show Notes Special Thanks Hyboran, one of our guests Watcher, one of our guests Sebastian - Patreon L

Here is a trailer for a graphic novel book we managed to pick up at Wondercon this weekend and the art is wonderful. Very Secret of Nimh shoved though Watership down with magic. "In Cottons [1], rabbits and foxes inhabit a world where magic, technology, and art are used as weapons of war. Written by Jim Pascoe, with bold illustrations from Heidi Arnhold. To her neighbors in the Vale of Industry, Bridgebelle is an ordinary rabbit. All day long, she toils at the carrot factory. After a hard day, she returns home to care for her ailing auntie. And whenever she's out, she's watchful of the murderous foxes who prey on her kind. But Bridgebelle is not ordinary―she's a rabbit with talents beyond her own understanding. Using cha, the mysterious fuel that powers her world, she can change everyday objects into thokchas―magical, transforming works of art. Bridgebelle makes thokchas because they're beautiful. But there are those in her world who want to harness her powers and turn her art into a weapon." [1] https://www.amazon.com/Cottons-Secret-Wind-Jim-Pascoe/dp/1250157447
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It’s April! We’re not joking about all the accomplishments that are happening in this post.

 

Guild Newsroom

If you missed them, check out our recent spotlights on members Frances Pauli and Leilani Wilson! If you have a recent or upcoming release, or a project you really want to talk about (and you haven’t been a Member Spotlight before, message our Bat Veep, @tralekast on Twitter), to be considered).

Attention, all members on Twitter! When making posts about your writing, be sure to use the hashtag #furrywriting so that we can keep up with your work and share it with the world!

 

Member Highlights

Some highlights from last month, as featured from our FWG Member News section on the forums:

• Michael H. Payne‘s poem “The Protest: Ant Work Ethic”, which appeared in vol. 3 of Civilized Beasts, has been nominated for a Rhysling Award, which are given out annually by the SFPA.
• James L. Steele has released Dangerous Experiments, the second book in his Archeon Series.
• Madison Keller‘s short story, “The Widehorn Herd”, has been accepted to ROAR vol. 10. Also related to that anthology, Madison will be the new editor of ROAR moving forward.
• Jaden Drackus has had a story accepted to “Foxers or Friefs”, and anthology to be published by Armoured Fox Press. They’ve also been accepted to attend RAWR in June.
• Miriam “Camio” Curzon has a paper that will getting published through the new LGBT magazine at Brown University. They’ve also been accepted to attend RAWR in June.
• Alison “Cybera” Cybe has had stories accepted in the “Even Furries Hate Nazis” and “Movie Monsters” anthologies. They’ve also been interviewed by AwooNews for their series, “Realms of Valeron”. Lastly, they’ve been selected to edit a new anthology by Thurston Howl Publications, “Trans-fur-mation: Tales from Transgender Furry Voices”. See our Marketplace section for details.
• S. Park has had two short stories accepted—one to the “Even Furries Hate Nazis” anthology, as well as another into the “Burnt Fur” anthology from Blood Bound Books.

 

Our usual reminder to all our member that have had something exciting happen in the past month not featured here: be sure to keep up with your FWG Member News thread on the forums! Not only is this how we get our information, but these threads are able to be viewed by any person logged into the forums. Share your achievements with the rest of the writing community!

 

The Marketplace

For those of you looking to submit, keep an eye on the open markets on our website. For those of you who just forget, The Marketplace is your reminder for all things open for submissions!

Short Story Markets:

Publisher Title Theme Deadline Pay Zooscape  Zooscape Zine General furry Fiction Ongoing $0.06/word (maximum $60) Thurston Howl Publications Trick or Treat: A Furry BDSM Anthology Furry erotica featuring BDSM May 1st One copy of the anthology (non-paying) Thurston Howl Publications The Haunted Den: Furry Ghost Stories Furry ghost stories June 1st One copy of the anthology (non-paying) Thurston Howl Publications Give Yourself a Hand Furry erotica featuring masturbation June 15th $0.0050/word plus one copy of the anthology Thurston Howl Publications Pawradiso: The Ten Spheres of Furry Heaven furry stories based around the spheres of Heaven (in reference to Paradiso) July 15th One copy of the anthology (non-paying) Furplanet The Reclamation Project Furry stories in a shared, post-cataclysmic future August 31st $0.0050/word plus one copy of the anthology Thurston Howl Publications Trans-fur-mation Furry stories with strong trans pride themes November 1st $20.00 plus one copy of the anthology

FANG Vol. 10 will be updated on our paying markets page shortly, once the theme has been announced. We can tell you, however, that submissions will open on May 1st, 2019.

 

Novel Markets:

• Thurston Howl Publications is open to novel/novella submissions, with no planned date for submissions to close.

 

Special Events and Announcements

While most of these are the same announcements as last month, we feel that they are still relevant and should be repeated.

Goal Publications/Fanged Fiction has announced that they will be opening for novel/novella/Pocket Shot submissions on July 1st, 2019. Look forward to that!

Australian publisher Jaffa Books has announced that they will be closing their doors at the end of 2019. Thank you to Jay for all you’ve done with it, and we hope this gives you a chance to work more on your writing!

ROAR editor Mary E. Lowd has announced that, after finishing up the current volume, she will be handing the reigns off to Madison Keller. Thank you Mary for doing such a great job with the anthology, and we look forward to seeing what Madison brings to the table.

FANG editor Ashe Valisca has decided to hand the project to Sparf, who will be assisted by Kyell Gold. Thank you, Ashe, for your hard work with this series, and we wish the best of luck to the new editors.

 

Wrap-up

Our forums are open to all writers, not just full members of the FWG. Check them out here and join in on the conversation. While you’re there, check out how to join our Slack and Telegram channels. Before joining any of these, though, we ask that you please read up on our Code of Conduct! With all the negative going around in the world these days, both furry and non-furry, we want to make sure the guild feels like a safe place to all its participants, free of threats and hate speech.

We have two weekly chats, called our Coffeehouse Chats! Our first one is Tuesday at 7:00pm EST in our Slack channel, and our other is Thursdays at Noon EST on our forums in the shoutbox on the main page. Both of these chats feature writers talking about writing, usually with a central topic. As with the above, these chats are open to both members and non-members, though you must be registered for the forums.

Another new project we found out about thanks to Animation World Network: “Jessy and Nessy is a 40 x 11’ mixed-media preschool series about Jessy, an innately curious little girl and her best friend, Nessy, a five-and-a-half-thousand year old sea monster, with a penchant for pickles… At the heart of the show is Jessy; an inquisitive, fun loving, spectacle wearing six-year-old, who happens to see the world a little differently through her magical glasses, or as Jessy calls them — her ‘Inspectacles’. They allow Jessy to see and talk to all types of animated characters, including Nessy, who lives in a fountain in Cara Park opposite Jessy’s apartment building. Together this unlikely duo explore life’s curiosities like why birds fly south, why things don’t fall up instead of down and even why some people snore? Jessy and Nessy reveal how all these seemingly everyday curiosities have fantastical answers — leading the home viewer to explore their own curiosities and to find the extraordinary in the ordinary.” Look for the new show later this year on Amazon Prime Video.

image c. 2019 JAM Media

A chill week somehow resulted in a packed & upbeat episode.

Download MP3

Link Roundup:

• Telegram’s new privacy of “deleting messages”
• Frank Sinatra style Still Alive
• Daniel Radcliffe REALLY LIKES WOLVES
• J.T. interviews Ash Coyote on AwooNews
• The Fandom – EP2 Suits (Furry Documentary)
• Japanese Service Creates Wearable Super Realistic Replicas Of Your Pet’s Head
• Kerfluffle 13 – Seas the Day!
• ThaiTails Convention 2019
• Charlie the sea otter celebrates record 22 year birthday.
• Sexual Orientation Laws in the world from ILGA

News:

• Beto O’Rourke falsely called a furry by NRCC after Democrat opens bid for Presidency
• Energy Drink Banned After Reports Of Dangerously Prolonged Erections
• Irish villagers complain Viagra plant fumes have men and dogs walking around with ‘hard-ons’
• Viral Twitter Hoax Tricks People Into Deleting Their Accounts
• Ottawa ‘Goosebuster’ pilot wishes he could start bullying birds before June
• Australian Court Rules Farting At Someone May Not Be Bullying
• Man’s Mobile Phone Protects Him From Arrow Attack
• Judge Orders Man Not To Drink Pepsi While On Probation
• Man Forced To Shorten Fence Gets Revenge With Naked Mannequins
• The share of Americans not having sex has reached a record high
• Scientists uncovering birds nest arms race and how each side fights back

[Live] The Great Flaccid

IDW Publishing have an interesting new take on a very famous anthropomorphic story. They talk about it over at Bleeding Cool: “IDW will be publishing a gender-swapped adaptation of H.G. Wells‘ The Island Of Dr Moreau by IDW founder Ted Adams and Locke & Key co-creator Gabriel Rodriguez. Protaginist Edward Prendick is now Ellen Prendick, as the comic book will be told Promethea-style in double page spreads… The Island of Doctor Moreau, an 1896 science fiction novel by H. G. Wells tells the story of a shipwrecked man rescued by a passing boat who is left on the island home of Doctor Moreau, a mad scientist who creates human-like hybrid beings from animals via vivisection. The novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature. Wells himself described it as ‘an exercise in youthful blasphemy’. And it is handily in the public domain.” This new version mini-series is due out in July.

image c. 2019 IDW Publishing

David Attenborough narrates this Stop Motion commercial based on The Wind In The Willows for the Wildlife Trusts [1]. Who else to promote the British Nature reserves than Badger? And yes this has Stephen Fry as Badger and Catherine Tate as Ratty ... Seriously, I want this full on Attenborough Wind In The Willows right away! If you are not up on Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts was founded in 1912 by Charles Rothschild [2] and is currently a movement made up of around 46 Wildlife Trusts: independent charities trying to preserve wildlife. You can find out their history here: [3] [1] https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Rothschild [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wildlife_Trusts
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Cretaceous is a new full-color graphic novel written and illustrated by Tadd Galusha and coming soon from Oni Press. “When a Tyrannosaurus Rex is separated from its family unit, it embarks on a harrowing journey to reunite with them before the raw, real dangers of the Cretaceous Era separate them for good. This heart-wrenching story takes to the skies and dives into the sea—and explores everywhere in between—in this research-based, fictional account.” Want more? Go check out the detailed preview over at SyFy Wire.

image c. 2019 Oni Press

Who knew there were pet bats that can't fly? I can understand why he would be nervous.
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On the cusp of her first novel release, we get a chance to sit down with Leilani Wilson and talk about her writing.

 

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

Symphony of Shifting Tides has been cooking for a long time! Like, a decade! It was originally going to be a video game. I’m actually glad it ended up being a book instead, though. The story ultimately works much, much better this way!

My inspirations come from strange places. I’ll freely admit that basically none of the inspirations were literary for me—at least at the outset. I grew up playing a lot of classic JRPGs, and the way that they told stories changed drastically over the span of about 15-20 years. I always found it interesting the way that the genre’s stories got stranger and stranger as time went on. The stark difference between Dragon Quest (1) and say, Kingdom Hearts (as a series) is very big. The worldbuilding is often very finely crafted in some of these longer series that share a world. The amount of planning these scenario writers do is ridiculous.

I think there are expectations when it comes to the genre about what the games contain, but often those preconceptions point towards the much older games that were about simple good and evil. Anymore, things have become a lot more complex and nuanced. These are the same stories that inspired Undertale and Deltarune, after all.

Some of these stories have a lot to say about religion, politics and philosophy, as well as non-linear storytelling. Stuff like in the Xenoblade series, and its predecessors Xenogears and Xenosaga. Then there’s behemoths like Suikoden and Trails in the Sky! Those are all the types that inspired me. I tried to hit the sweet spot between ridiculous amounts of lore like those, and more straight-forward stories like in Grandia or Wild Arms.

What’s your writing process like? Are you a “pantser,” an outliner, or something in between? How do you find that this helps and/or hurts your writing style?

I’m almost entirely a pantser. My process is completely sideways, though. With Symphony of Shifting Tides in particular, I actually composed the soundtrack to the book first. I wanted to let the music guide the story, and what that created was actually a huge mess. Don’t know if I’d recommend that creation process!

That said, it did make for a bit of an entertainingly unorthodox trajectory for the story and its characters. I used the music for all my locations and major plot points, and pantsed the gaps. It’s a bumpy ride for the first draft, and at times will lead to spots where you know your destination but have no idea about how on earth you’re going to get there. It definitely has some drawbacks, but it feels like reading the story while writing it.

What’s your favorite kind of story to write?

I like stories about people dealing with their emotions. I love a good setting and I love complex world-building, but I can’t enjoy it without the characters. I like to write about characters who would be side-characters in any other story. I like to focus on people who aren’t heroes. Morally gray stuff is typically my jam.

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

When it comes to Symphony of Shifting Tides, there’s a lot of me in all five of the characters who end up sticking together (eventually). I’d have to say I probably I identify with Cecelia and Verse the most.

Cecelia is very much how I was when I was her age, and Verse grapples with depression and anxiety the way myself and many others do. None of these characters have the normal dispositions of ‘heroes’ I guess, but that’s honestly their appeal to me. All of them are doing the best they can to get by, and so are all of us.

 

Which authors or books have most influenced your work?

It’ll sound cliché, but George R.R. Martin made me want to actually try my hand at writing. Around the time I was realizing that making a game wasn’t going to work out, I was reading his work. One thing lead to another, and that was that. I wouldn’t say my writing resembles his in any way, shape, or form, but he’s who inspired me to start.

 

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

Queen of Arts by Frances Pauli! The characters in it are really well-written, and that’s what made me fall in love with it. I ended up genuinely wanting them to do well and be happy, which is a sign of really well done characters!

 

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

I try to keep busy with anything I can get my hands on. Currently, that’s a circle track car, and working on various video game soundtracks and albums.

 

Advice for other writers?

Write. Don’t continually revise your first chapter over and over again. Don’t get stuck in the trap of worldbuilding and never writing. Don’t just make settings, make characters. Don’t talk about writing, just write. Everything will absolutely fall into place in the long run. Trust yourself.

 

Where can readers find your work?

Symphony of Shifting Tides is for sale through Goal Publications! The rest of the series will eventually be available through Goal as well, as well as the albums that accompany each book!

 

What’s your favorite thing about the furry fandom? Why write furry?

I guess I’ve always loved animal characters from a young age. I like the idea of using these types of characters to tell stories for adults and not just children. I think there’s so much that can be done with furry characters! Whether you’re using their type of animal to talk about the personality type of a character, or as an allegory for something much larger, I think it’s an important tool most writers don’t consider.

There’s a lot to be said for the differences between us and our animal counterparts. Through furry literature, we can find the commonplace between all living creatures. Plus, let’s face it. Animals are (almost always) adorable and really cool in general. Humans can be both things, too, but not as often.

The fandom is a very welcoming and friendly place, and I’ve felt at home in and around it since I first started meeting other furries! As soon as I found out there were a lot of other furry authors, I jumped in headfirst!

A new anime (Beastars) [1] that's coming to Netflix and Fuji TV from Toho animation. This is based off a rather Manga [2] that looks to be the rather dark anime version of Zootopia. "A world where carnivores and herbivores coexist. While meat is considered a felony, a "food-and-death case" occurs in which students are slaughtered at the high school, Cherryton Academy, a boarding school. In the swirling school of anxiety, Legoshi, the idiot of the theater club, the gray wolf, was living quietly against the "big body" and the "sharp fangs. However, encounter with a small rabbit girl student Haru shakes the heart of such Legoshi. "Are you in love with her? Is it your appetite?" What he really met, it was his own instinct-" [1] https://bst-anime.com/ [2] https://www.akitashoten.co.jp/works/beastars/
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This is a song with the same four chords
I use most of the time
When I’ve got something on my mind
And I don’t want to squander the moment
Trying to come up with a better way
To say what I want to say

John Darnielle

Max Dlabick (pronounced duh-lay-bick as his website helpfully points out! )is the self described “queer, trans” artists behind the frenetic slice of life web comic loonacy that is Andre and Karl. Centred around the eponymous pair, a musician and artist respectively along with their friends including budding actress and Andre’s partner Kim, musician Jack and the unemployed fancy rat Clinton among others,Following their day today exploits in life, work, love and the pairs constantly un-named and re-named band.

Max’s creation is a webcomic that has a rough and ready, DIY zine aesthetic that perfectly compliments it’s subject matter,giving more a strong sense of capturing a time and place,more concerned with  locking a sense of place, person or feeling onto the pager rather than technical accuracy, which his gorgeous illustration work is the lush polar opposite of! Immediacy is key here and they have a fevered, frantic “this literally just happened!” feel to them that gives them a sense of urgency.

Early strips are super sketchy and a little more in your face and snarky, but quite early in it feels like Max discovered a strong and confident voice with the later strips gradually starting to show off the introspection and self questioning lives of the characters that has become the strongest part of a comic with queer identity baked right into it’s core. As they grown and develop the comic hits it’s stride with Max seemingly more comfortable talking about the subjects he want’s to address or explore, such sexuality or gender identity. The latter shown through our lead feline Andre finding it difficult to understand himself often with the exasperated sigh of “gender stuff”.

These strips are self deprecating funny and unafraid to poke some light mocking in the direction of his characters and just how complicated it can be not just navigating the world today, but yourself. Raw, rough and very funny Karl and Andre is a perfect snapshot of a group of friends each trying to find themselves, and connecting with those around them.

Max’s artwork lives over at his personal art site while Andre and Karl can be read here and supported over at Patreon.

 

 

Today we have our returning guest, author, fursuiter and novelist Archantael, to discuss discourse and argue about arguments. Catch Archantael on Twitter! https://twitter.com/phoenixtheblade Find us on Twitter: @South-Afrifur, https://twitter.com/southafrifur, on Tumblr, http://south-afrifur.tumblr.com/, and on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/southafrifur Also, for more local news, check out the Zafur forums! http://forum.zafur.co.za/

Short student film produced at Malaysian based The One Academy [1] and the god statue is right to be worried as cats do tend to knock things off tables. "One day GUAN GONG ( God statue ) finds a cat sleeping on his altar. He tries to shoo the cat away but the cat ends up dirtying his censer. God statue gets angry and the chaotic fight begins!" [1] https://toa.edu.my/
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Tugs is joined by guests Hyboran and Watcher to discuss how being a person of color in society and the Furry Fandom is more than meets the eye. Catch Part 2 next week!





NOW LISTEN!

 
Show Notes
Special Thanks

Hyboran, one of our guests
Watcher, one of our guests
Sebastian

Patreon Love
The following people have decided this month’s Fur What It’s Worth is worth actual cash! THANK YOU!
 
Artorias Ichisake and Kit

Rifka, the San Francisco Treat and Baldrik

Lokimutt and Guardian Lion and Dusky and Katchshi

Plus Tier Supporters

Skylos
Snares
Ausi Kat
Chaphogriff

McRib Tier Supporters

Lygris
Roliga

 
Music

Opening Theme: RetroSpecter – Cloud Fields (RetroSpecter Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2018. ©2011-2018 Fur What It’s Worth. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Century Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Space News Music: Fredrik Miller – Orbit. USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Bumper 1:  Mystery Skulls – Ghost. USA: Warner Bros Records, 2011. Used with permission.
Fifty Sheds of Grey: Kevin MacLeod – Spy Glass. Licensed under Creative Commons: by Attribution 3.0. Visit Incompetech for more.
Patreon: The Tudor Concert – Inflammatus. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0.
Closing Theme: RetroSpecter – Cloud Fields (RetroSpecter Chill Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2018. ©2011-2018 Fur What It’s Worth. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Chill Out Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!) S8 Episode 11: Furries of Color – Part 1 - Tugs is joined by guests Hyboran and Watcher to discuss how being a person of color in society and the Furry Fandom is more than meets the eye. Catch Part 2 next week! - NOW LISTEN! -   Show Notes Special Thanks