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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

A Glimpse of Anthropomorphic Literature, AnthroAquatic, ed.
Plainfield, CT, Goal Publications, November 2016, trade paperback $10.00 (153 pages).

A Glimpse of Anthropomorphic Literature was originally a three-issue online magazine of 45 to 50 pages each, published in January, March, and August 2016. This small (5 x 0.3 x 8 inches), slim volume collects all three issues into one handy paper edition, minus the advertisements.

The contents are published as they appeared in the magazine issues; mostly a mixture of short stories and reviews. The book’s most serious lack is a combined table of contents. There are 14 short stories and 11 reviews (also an interview with S. Andrew Swann, and an analysis of Felix Salten’s 1923 novel Bambi: A Life in the Woods as an example for the furry writer; both by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt). The reader is forced to hunt through the whole book to find anything.

The short stories are all under ten pages each. Most are whimsical fantasies. Two, “The Mouse Who Was Born a Bear” and “Sheeperfly’s Lullaby”, both by Mary E. Lowd, are on the ALAA’s 2016 Recommended List of furry short fiction of the year worth reading. Notable others include “Catching the Thief” by Amy Fontaine, “Sheets and Covers” by Ocean Tigrox, “The Charitable Pact of a Soft-hearted Fool” by Slip-Wolf, “Beast” by Frances Pauli, and “Promises to Keep” by Renee Carter Hall.

The brevity and whimsicality of the fiction, plus its interruption by so many book reviews, makes A Glimpse of Anthropomorphic Fiction (cover by Aisha Robinson) an intellectual trifle, the literary equivalent of a box of chocolates. Is it worth reading? Very much so, but you will want to read it in short bursts, two or three stories and a review or two at a time, rather than all at once.

This has been a short review of a short book of short stories.

Full disclosure: I am the writer of three of the reviews in it.

-Fred Patten

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The artist Cielo Pinawin is crafter who chrochets fuzzy character dolls, and she sells them on line as CrochetGiftsbyCielo. She specializes in Pokemon characters, but lately she’s branched out into other anime critters and even the Ninja Turtles. All of her creations are hand-made and customized when you order them. Visit her Etsy Store to see what she’s done so far.

image c. 2017 by Cielo Pinawin

New stylish furry video game hit this week from from Infinite Fall. This one is on Steam as I type this. "NIGHT IN THE WOODS is an adventure game focused on exploration, story, and character, featuring dozens of characters to meet and lots to do across a lush, vibrant world."
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Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Last Dance of the Phoenix, by James R. Lane
Raleigh, NC, Lulu Press, August 2016, trade paperback $14.99 (254 pages), Kindle $2.51.

This s-f novel is set in the near future. Thomas Barnes has an Artificial Intelligence in his home, but he also wears a dark blue NRA ball cap, eats at a McDonald’s, drives on Florida’s Highway I-95, drinks Gatorade, and is familiar with the TV program Final Jeopardy.

Two years previously, Earth was discovered by aliens (in flying saucers) and welcomed into the galactic community. The four spacegoing species of aliens that humans meet just happen to look like anthropomorphic foxes, cheetahs, otters, and rabbits.

Convenient? Maybe too convenient? Barnes thinks so.

“No bug-eyed monsters, no giant slugs, spiders, dragons, demons, birds – nothing else. Aliens that didn’t seem so alien after all, apparently guaranteed not to terribly upset ape-based humanity’s rabid xenophobia. To me and a lot of others it just seemed too damned pat. Somebody – or something – had to have engineered all this. Cute.” (p. 10)

Barnes has just returned to Jacksonville, Florida from traveling to the Yularian (fox) home world after having been rejuvenated. This was an experiment. The (expensive) Yularian rejuvenation process is well-known to them, but nobody was sure whether it would work on humans, so they selected Barnes to be their guinea pig. They chose him because he was famous (a very popular science-fiction author whose stories included friendly aliens) and now about to die of old age. He went to their planet in one of their FTL ships, and was returned to Jacksonville’s new spaceport when it seems to be a success.

Barnes is supposed to have the Yularian elderly doctor who supervised his rejuvenation come to Earth with him, to spend three months making sure his rejuvenation remains successful. Instead he is met by L’raan, a pretty (if you like foxes) young vixen who is one of Dr. N’looma’s graduate students. A last-minute family emergency has prevented Dr. N’looma from coming to Earth, and L’raan has been chosen to replace her. Barnes quickly figures out that all the other Yularians on the project refused to come to Earth, and L’raan, the juniormost, was stuck with it. She also seems to be horribly sick. The two are assured by the Yularian embassy that it’s the affects of FTL travel and that she’ll recover in a couple of days. Barnes suspects that she’s been poisoned – and that whoever is trying to kill her will also kill him to make it look like the rejuvenation process went wrong.

What follows is a James Bond scenario with Barnes as the invincible agent and L’raan as the beautiful (but furry) girl whom he protects.

“‘The first thing is, what information you know about me isn’t all that wrong,’ I stated, ‘but there are a few key elements missing.’

‘Like me,’ Art said, smiling. ‘Tom’s novels are quite popular with a lot of scientists and government officials, and over the years he made a number of, shall we say, ‘influential’ friends and contacts in some fairly important agencies, including those agencies that don’t have publicly-known names. After your people contacted humanity and eventually made us the rejuvenation offer, some of us in a few of those agencies feared that something unpleasant might be in the plans before all of this was over.’” (pgs. 71-72)

Barnes has been a secret agent for the U.S. government all along. It’s also how he could recognize that L’raan had been poisoned instead of just being sick. He deduces that her poisoners are other foxes in the nearby Yularian embassy, so he’s prepared when his home is attacked at night by alien assassin drones. L’raan, who feels betrayed by her own people, confirms that they are Yularian military technology. Barnes calls in Art Goldman and his military research team; they report what’s happening to the U.S. government; and Barnes and L’raan are invited to help the government investigate what’s going on.

A comic inconvenience is that the Yularian scientists enhanced and altered Barnes’ sense of smell when they rejuvenated him. L’raan happens to be going through one of her periods of heat. Normally this wouldn’t be noticed by humans except as a slightly increased vulpine muskiness. But to Barnes, L’raan may look sexy (if you’re into foxes) but she stinks to high heaven!

Are the assassins who are after Barnes and L’raan from the Yularian government, or from a faction within it that their government is innocent of? Or have some of the local Yularians sold out to either the Dralorians (otters), the Eelon (cheetahs), or the Ar’kaa (rabbits)? Is it an anti-human secret society that is against just Barnes and the Yularians who work with him, or do the villains have a larger and more ominous goal?

“‘Ambassador D’naad,’ I began, ‘my friends here and I, along with certain high-ranking governmental and military officials here on Earth, are convinced that this…campaign…against us is not the work of one person, or even a small group of people. What we first thought to be a possible political ploy or power struggle is now, we feel, something more akin to a move toward genocide, of who and by whom we don’t yet know. […] But I can tell you with certainty that we need your help. Hopefully we still have time to defuse the situation, but that time is no doubt growing short, and we’re certain it will eventually run out.’” (p. 133)

As matters grow more dramatic, Tom and representatives of all four aliens are invited as guests to the Paws’N’Claws furry convention, and are publicly attacked there by the mysterious enemy who doesn’t care how many fursuiters are collateral victims.

Who is the enemy of the humans? The foxes? The cheetahs? The otters? The rabbits? Or – something else?

Last Dance of the Phoenix (cover by Eugene Arenhaus) is a blend of current military technology (Art calls an Army AH-64A Apache battle helicopter to land on Tom’s lawn) and futuristic alien science (the spaceships, the FTL drive, the rejuvenation process, the Yularian interstellar videophone). It feels like there’s a bit of Mary Sue here – “James R. Lane is a retired Florida photojournalist” and obviously a s-f writer, who is probably ripe for rejuvenation – but on the whole, this is a (slightly wordy) clever near-future espionage-action thriller featuring a young-again hero that furry fans will really identify with, and villains whose identities you are almost guaranteed to not guess in advance.

• Buy on Lulu
• Buy on Amazon

– Fred Patten

And the winner for the longest comic book title we’ve found recently goes to… Space Parasaurolophus, a full-color science fiction comic written, illustrated, and self-published by Leonardo Pertuzzatti. That very hadrasaur was captured by an alien race called the Lev’rram and given both sentience and an arsenal of fancy gadgets. All of which our hero uses to try and defend the Earth from the Werthams: A much more evil alien race, who wiped out the dinosaurs and now have their eyes set on humanity. Visit the creator’s web site to find out more.

image c. 2017 by Leo

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Bonus video for today! Have a Rock Dog music video. OMFG! So Cute! [1] [1] https://furry.today/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Untitled-1-13.jpg
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Hello Everyone!

We open this week's show with a discussion on STIs in New York City. Over the past three decades STIs have been on the rise while funding has remained stagnant. We look at factors as to why and ask the ultimate question: why is sexual health not considered to be recession proof?

Our main topic is on handling arguments at conventions. We discuss the common arguments, causes for arguments, and ways to avoid arguing with loved ones at conventions. We also approach the topic of former lovers, jilted exes, and friends who might have issues with you and how to handle confrontation (or even break ups) while at one of the most public of venues we as a fandom encounter.

We close out this week's show with a question on how to handle rejection. In a search for Mister Right, how can you handle being told no repeatedly or being matched with guys that just are not compatible? Should the expectations be adjusted, or is it perhaps too narrow a net is being cast? We discuss realism, optimism, and pessimism and how to appropriately set expectations.

For more information, including a list of topics, see our Show Notes for this episode.

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 059 Handling Arguments at Conventions - Why is NYC so riddled with STIs? What is the best way to yell at someone at a convention? How do you inspire optimism in dating when enthusiasm dies? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction

I hope the Oscars don't ignore this one.
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Thanks to Changa Lion over at Furry.Today, we discovered the return of Teddy Ruxpin, the animatronic talking-bear story-telling sensation from the 1980’s. [See what we mean?] This latest version [distributed by Wicked Cool Toys] features a newly-designed Teddy with LCD animated eyes, plus Bluetooth connecting the bear to interactive read-along stories for laptops and other devices. Check out the newest advertisement on YouTube to see what all the fuss is about.

image c. 2017 Wicked Cool Toys

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Cracking remix Gromit!
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February 2017’s Book of the Month is Dogs of War, edited by Fred Patten.

Men have made war for gold, for land, and to put others in chains for millennia. No invention or philosophy has changed that, not gunpowder, not airplanes, not democracy, or even splitting the atom. Whatever the era, whatever the weapon, man has made war on his neighbors. The nature of conflict never changes, because human nature has not changed.

But how might that change if it were no longer just humanity going to war—if animal instincts, strengths and skill were to join the battlefield?

Dogs of War is an anthology exploring what warfare looks like when the combatants are no longer fully human. It contains twenty-three stories about how war changes when those who do the fighting have changed, and how much it stays just the same.

Dogs of War contains the following short stories:

• “Nosy and Wolf,” Ken MacGregor
• “After Their Kind,” Taylor Harbin
• “Succession,” Devin Hallsworth
• “Two If By Sea,” Field T. Mouse
• “The Queens’ Confederate Space Marines,” Elizabeth McCoy
• “The Loving Children,” Bill McCormick
• “Strike, But Hear Me,” Jefferson P. Swycaffer
• “End of Ages,” BanWynn Oakshadow
• “Shells On the Beach,” Tom Mullins
• “Cross of Valor Reception for the Raccoon, Tanner Williams, Declassified Transcript,” John Kulp
• “Last Man Standing,” Frances Pauli
• “Hunter’s Fall,” Angela Oliver
• “Old Regimes,” Gullwulf
• “The Shrine War,” Alan Loewen
• “The Monster in the Mist,” Madison Keller
• “Wolves in Winter,” Searska GreyRaven
• “The Third Variety,” Rob Baird
• “The Best and Worst of Worlds,” Mary E. Lowd
• “Tooth, Claw and Fang,” Stephen Coghlan
• “Sacrifice,” J.N. Wolfe
• “War of Attrition,” Lisa Timpf
• “Fathers to Sons,” MikasiWolf
• “Hoodies and Horses,” Michael D. Winkle

Dogs of War is available now in print from FurPlanet.

Thanks to Howl, of Thurston Howl Publications, for his guest post. I’m told it was approved by Kyell.  Enjoy.

Few authors have captivated the mainstream furry audience as famously as Kyell Gold. From his 2004 short story publication, “The Prisoner’s Release” to his upcoming novella, The Time He Desires (Dec 2016), Gold’s works have been award-winning pieces of fiction that have even attracted the attention of non-furry readers. Throughout the past twelve years, Gold has gone through a multitude of genres and such unique characters. Below, I hope to detail many of his milestones over the past almost-decade as well as provide a primer on Gold’s work.

Gold’s debut to fiction was his Renaissance-era novel series set in the fictional universe of Argaea. While it technically started with his “The Prisoner’s Release,” which was published in Heat #1, it later became a novel series, starting with Volle (2005). The series follows a red fox, titularly named Volle, as he undergoes a spy mission, pretending to be a lord of a small area participating in negotiations in the kingdom’s political mecca. The catch is that Volle is a hypersexual fox who struggles to keep his sex life separate from his political life, neither of which allow him to use his true identity. This series is a prime example of how Gold can meld genres. In this case, historical fiction meets homosexual furry erotic romance in a way that is both believable and evocative. The Argaea series has received stellar reviews and widespread reception. So far, the Argaea series includes the following titles: Volle, Pendant of Fortune (2006), The Prisoner’s Release and Other Stories (2007), Shadows of the Father (2010), and Weasel Presents (2011). While not all of these stories follow Volle, they are all set in the same universe. All except for Weasel Presents (which was published by Furplanet Productions) were published by Sofawolf Press, with Sara Palmer being the primary illustrator for most of these.

The next milestone in Gold’s career has been his young adult furry novel Waterways (2008). Based on a previous short story he had written, the novel follows a young otter who has grown up in a conservative, religious household, only to find out in his teens that he is attracted to a male fox from a different school. Although this is a coming-out tale, it’s anything but unoriginal. Gold breaks the story down into three parts: coming out to oneself, coming out to family, and coming out to the general public. The otter Kory deals with tremendous intersectionalities throughout his journey: homelessness, poverty, religious differences, physical abuse, and, of course, relationship trouble. Quite different from that Argaea series, Waterways is set in an entirely modern context, and it deals with current social issues. In this book, Gold makes very strong political and social claims, setting him apart as a very polemical writer, and not just an entertaining one. This sets him apart from other LGBT fiction writers, as he demonstrates he is able to be completely serious with his fiction, using a gay couple to reflect on current issues through their connections with others who are suffering, rather than making the gay couple a symbol for all current issues. This novel was his debut to modern fiction in the fandom, and I know I have taught this book twice: once in a college composition class, and once as a guest lecturer at Middle Tennessee State University for an LGBT literature course—and yes, the book was required for purchase at the university bookstore.

However, Gold’s biggest claim to fame was his next novel series, set in the Forester Universe. The first book, Out of Position (2009), follows football athlete Devlin Miski and his unintentional romance with English major Lee Farrel. While Dev struggles to fight his homosexual feelings toward Lee, the fox Lee tries to advocate for equal rights, often at a risk to Dev’s career. Yet, the two complement each other and help each other to grow, both in their professions and in their personal lives. This series concluded early in 2016 with the book Over Time, the fifth installment. This time, Gold’s secondary genre is sports fiction. And many furries, myself included, despite our aversion to sports, have found ourselves enraptured by the species-based intricacies of Gold’s football. We stand in the crowd, cheering with Lee. We root for our own athletes. Still on sale sporadically, but I have seen athletic jerseys for sale based on Gold’s fictional teams. If Waterways showed Gold’s political side, this series shows his activist side. Personally, I have read most of the major award-winning mainstream LGBT fiction, and none of it has captured the political situation of LGBT people and potential solutions as thoughtfully and as evocatively as Gold has in this series.

His last major milestone has been his Dangerous Spirits series, which started with the 2012 book Green Fairy. This series is much more experimental, emulating the shifting voices and perspectives in postmodernist novel Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. This series starts with the 1901 Moulin Rouge, as well as modern times. The books progress into the late 1800s Russia and the early 20th century in New Orleans. This series is not as erotic or as adult as his earlier works, yet it still deals heavily with LGBT contemporary issues and ways to deal with them. Like his other works, it creates a very believable world that is a safe space for LGBT readers, letting them know they are not alone and that it’s important to keep fighting.

Over the past twelve years, Gold has written numerous other pieces as well, including In the Doghouse of Justice (2011) and The Silver Circle (2012). Gold also edited a 2009 anthology based on the Ten Commandments, aptly called X. Along with multiple short stories in Heat and Fang, he also had an essay published in the 2015 nonfiction study on furries, Furries Among Us. In this, he wrote about his views on furry erotica: where it has been, where it is, and how it will likely continue. His other nonfiction includes a comic, drawn by Keovi, in Erika Moen’s Oh Joy Sex Toy; and a piece on the furry fandom in Uncanny Magazine in 2016.

I have had the opportunity to work with Gold on numerous occasions: from an interview I conducted for my class lecture to editing his essay for Furries Among Us. And I have always been delighted with his attention to the craft of writing and his dedication to the furry fandom. He has been an influential figure in the furry writing community as a driving force for slice-of-life fiction and using furry fiction to make social commentary. Now that we are in the start of a second decade since his first major publication, I am confident that I speak for the furry community in general when I say that we look forward to the next ten years of Gold’s fiction. He has inspired both readers and writers.

Ever onward, fellow furs.

– Howl

Another recent black & white discovery is the first issue of The Thunder Frog, from the folks at (wait for it) Thunder Frog Studios. More specifically that would be writer Woody Arnold and illustrator Tayson Martindale. “Theo had his life all planned out. Everything made sense. He would grow up, get married, raise a family, inherit the family farm and grow old watching his grandchildren enjoy a good life. And then he found the most powerful weapon in history… A peaceful day in the country is shattered when a battle erupts in the back-fields of a farm. What happens next will change the world forever.” Of course you can read all about it at the Thunder Frog Comics web site.

image c. 2017 Thunder Frog Studios

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Dear Papabear,

I'm hoping you could shed some light on a personal issue I've been having for some time now. I've been involved with the fandom for nearly 12 years and the people and community have been a key part of my life through the most critical stages so far. This is how I came across your page actually, and I feel like If I can trust anyone's opinion it would be another fur's. 

My problem is that I feel very disconnected from others, especially furs, and this problem has been getting worse over the course of about 3 years. More specifically I feel as though I can't seem to connect with anyone and my previous relationships (both platonic and otherwise) have grown stagnant and faded. I've fallen away from those I used to associate with and there honestly hasn't been much effort on my part to prevent it. There is a constant turmoil inside me of a want for romantic/social satisfaction/acceptance and my lack of motivation to achieve it. I feel exhausted just trying to maintain a basic level of conversation with those I genuinely care about. It's important to note that this is in every aspect of my life and not limited to those associated with the fandom. Recently this has become even more of a burden as most of my social connection has been through the fandom. The need to be a part of something is still there even if I don't have the energy to deal with it. I've tried to become more active by attending con's and connecting more through social media. The issue however seems to be me as I can't form any new friendships or bonds. 

Now I know this is not really a critical issue, and through the course of time shouldn't continue but the mental aspect of being completely out of touch with everything and everyone has been taking a toll. I'm beginning to feel more and more out of place and what I can only guess is anxiety seems to be getting the better of me. So all that being said I guess I'm asking if you have any advice for me to fix myself. Are there any key behaviors that are commonly associated with driving people away that I may be engaging in without realizing it? I appreciate any and all advice you are willing to give. 

Ludovic Rannulfus
 
* * *
 
Dear Ludovic,
 
Thank you for your letter. I have some questions, if you don't mind, about your background first.
 

1. Do you suffer from any form of autism or other social anxiety problems?
2. Did something happen three years ago or so that might have had an influence on you in a negative way? Some personal turmoil?
3. You say in the same letter that you haven't been making much effort lately to keep contacts, and then later you say that you have been making more effort to attend cons and meets. Which is it? More or less?
4. Do you have a good relationship with family members? Coworkers?
5. Have you had any conflicts with your friends that have put you off in any way?

 
Thank you. I look forward to your reply.
 
Papabear
 
* * *
 
Dear Papa Bear, 
 
Thank you for responding,
 
I appreciate you taking the time to address my letter. In regards to your first question, I believe I might have some form of moderate social anxiety. I've always been a very reserved and shy person. When I was younger, I would often get nervous around people I didn't know. A lot of progress was made through my teenage years though and up until I started having my current issues it wasn't much of a problem. 
 
As far as personal turmoil, I did experience a non-life-threatening gunshot wound injury roughly around the time frame this started that left me with limited use of my left hand and arm for approximately 8 months. (This was the result of negligence and happened in a controlled environment.) I've since regained about 90% use. The biggest issue I can pull from that experience was it caused me to start having anxiety attacks. Over time, though, this has gotten significantly better and has become pretty rare. 
 
I apologize for not giving more clarity about my lack of effort. The easiest way for me to say it is I just stopped trying to connect with people who were close to me and gave up those friendships. Over a about a 3 year span, I've gradually stopped communicating with people. I've started to lose a sense of connection with people in my life. Things like going out with friends has become more of a chore than something to look forward too. I want to have a social life and enjoy the company of others but now I just feel exhausted trying to start a conversation. It's incredibly confusing to me because I want to have people to cherish in my life but at the same time I feel like I don't have the energy to deal with them. I can't really say why, either. It's not a conscious decision so much as it is a sudden realization.

Life started feeling like a haze somewhere around the time I started going back to work. This was the time that everything seemed to change. Once I got back into the swing of working and dealing with everyday life, I would often forget to talk to people and wouldn't realize it until several weeks had passed. It was odd because it's like I would just forget they existed. I started to really notice that I had distanced myself after It became apparent that many individuals were no longer trying to contact me and I hadn't seen or heard from them in months. I did try to reach out to them but the conversations are typically very dull now and don't get very personal. I don't believe they have much interest in renewing our friendship. (I basically cut them out of my life, so I don't blame them). I've tried to start over by attending cons and utilizing social media more frequently in an effort to motivate myself. So far, this method has failed and I'm at a standstill. 
 
I don't have much of a relationship with my family to be honest. I don't know most of my extended family and I rarely talk to my parents or sister. This is not due to a falling out, we've just never been very close. As for coworkers, I enjoy the people I work with and there have not been any major issues. Any disagreements have always been solved just by talking through it.
 
There haven't been any conflicts that would have put a strain on my friendships that I know of. Before I fell away from everyone, things were actually going very smoothly.
 
Ludovic

* * *
 
Hi, Ludovic,
 
Hmm, well, sounds like the gunshot injury occurred at a firing range? Not sure why you still seem to be holding back information on this and are being coy about it. I’m not here to judge you; you can just tell me what happened straight up. This is important because, apparently, your troubles began around the time of the gun accident (perhaps exacerbated by the new job, but since you get along with your coworkers, I’d guess work is not the problem).

My guess at this point, and given the information that I have, is that something happened at that gun range, something that shook your trust in other people (unless this was self-inflicted, but it doesn’t sound like it). I am squinting my eyes between the lines and guessing that someone you trusted very well accidentally shot you, and even though you are recovering from the injury this has caused you great physical and emotional pain.

I don’t feel you are being honest with yourself that this event is all in the past and you’re over it. I really don’t think you are, and because you are suppressing something, it has to get out somehow; with you, the way it is getting out is by affecting your ability to socialize—trust—others. You become disinterested in really trying because whatever happened to you is blocking your ability to relate to others.

If I am right about this, the way to handle it is to face whatever happened at the gun range and deal with it. This means talking openly and honestly to the person who hurt you. You probably don’t feel you can do this because you feel the person didn’t mean to shoot you—and I would believe that to be true, as well. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be upset about what happened; it doesn’t mean you can’t be upset at the person who did this. You can say, “I forgive you,” but you still need to have the catharsis of releasing all the pent-up anger and hurt inside you.

Again, if I am right, it would be a good idea to find a qualified counselor to help guide you through this process.

Let me know,
Papabear
​
* * *

Dear Papa Bear,

I've thought a lot about what you've said, and a lot of it does ring true. I'm trying to look at my actions and thoughts now through a different perspective. It's true I didn't want to give details about the incident for a number of reasons, but I can't ask for advise if i'm not willing to tell you the problem. The injury did occur from a friend, it was a complete accident and I know this so I don't like mentioning it. It is difficult for me to go into detail because the whole situation at the time left me feeling vulnerable in a sense. This was a routine trip to a shooting complex and my friend who I'll just call "Fred" was a regular shooter there with me. The golden rule of safe shooting is knowing where your weapon is pointed at all times, well Fred just so happened to forget that rule when his weapon had a malfunction and failed to fire. The slide was locked on a live round and he couldn't unload it, so he turned around keeping the weapon pointed straight out from him which left the barrel aligned with me. He was trying to ask me to hand him a tool to fix the problem, but before he could finish the weapon discharged and sent a bullet through the top of my left hand up into my wrist. 

Ever since then when I've talked to Fred we just kind of brush of the whole situation, we never really talked about it. I really just try to avoid thinking about it because there isn't anything I can do to fix it. I don't know if whats going on now is related to that, but I do see your point and I probably should address it with him. It was a scary situation and I've never felt that helpless before so I really don't like bringing it up. 

* * *

Hi, Ludovic,

I understand your reticence, and we both recognize "Fred" didn't mean to hurt you and this was an accident. Even so, you have not emotionally resolved the hurt from this incident, and I truly believe that by pushing those emotions inside you it is now affecting your ability to trust other friends. This might not seem logical, but it is psychologically valid. As you know, I'm not a trained counselor, so I don't know the best way to go about helping you resolve your feelings so you may truly forgive Fred and regain your trust to form friendships and maintain the ones you have, but I think we've really found the problem here and if you talk to a counselor about it who is trained to help you in such matters, I think it will go a long way to helping you.

Hugs,
​Papabear

Teddy Ruxpin is back and with a new technology makeover will we see a new series? The new iteration is by Wicked Cool Toys. [1] Here is their official commercial (Non-Embedable): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1tEaFt7omU [2] [1] http://wickedcooltoys.com/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1tEaFt7omU
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Thanks to Howl, of Thurston Howl Publications, for his review.

Fred Patten asked me to review this book, and I was genuinely excited for the volume. It is incredibly rare to receive a strong nonfiction book relating to the furry fandom, and this is no exception.

In a nutshell, the book is an encyclopedia of all the furry fandom conventions, their details, their histories, and the people that have made the conventions happen. For a researcher, this is invaluable in measuring statistical data on convention attendance, themes, charity donations, etc. For the random furry, this could be a great primer (or travel guide) on which cons to attend (or avoid). The style of the book is mostly informative with some humor thrown in as well. I am quite glad to have this book on my shelf, and the “furword” by Dr. Gerbasi is delightful authentication for the book as well.

My greatest qualms with the book are more along the lines of production. For such a small reference book (marketed toward furries, no less), the cost is absurdly high at $40.00 US dollars. I understand there are a few color pages in the middle of the book, but those illustrations hardly make the book worth that cost. The cover itself looks shoddy as well, as if it were designed as a MS word page with public domain furry art. In fact, the way the text blurs on the front, I had thought Dr. Gerbasi was the author of the book, as that font stood out from the title more than the author font did.

I know these complaints are trivial. After all, they are hardly complaints against Patten. But as a whole, I must review the book as a finished product, not just the text itself.

However, my review on Amazon gave the book four stars out of five, and I truly recommend this to anyone who wants to research furry cons or is interested in a good primer on the subject.

The publisher has requested the following information be included with this review:

Publisher: McFarland – www.mcfarlandpub.com – 800-253-2187

– Howl

Interesting discovery from the Long Beach Comic Expo: Doc Yeti Fuk’son — Yeti Detective. Yes that’s the title! It’s a black & white on-line comic that’s now available as a traditional comic too. “Doc Yeti Fuk’son, yeti detective, has the goddamn world at his feet. He’s taking down punks, cleaning up the streets, and making killer puns. The only thing hotter than his career is his wife. Or… it was. Two years later, Doc lives alone, punlessly powering through MacGyver, tapioca, and brown liquor. But his sister JD Yeti Fuk’son is on the case! She brings him a murder both gruesome and topical to drag Doc back into action. Something for him to take… personally.” Doc Yeti is written by Allison Solano and illustrated by Sean Morgan. The official web site will tell you all about it.

image c. 2017 by Sean Morgan

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