The artist known as Alector Fencer has begun a new full-color graphic novel series called Myre (pronounced ME-reh). And she’s actively seeking some crowd-funding help to bring it into being. In the artist’s own words, “Since the beginning of this year I have been working tirelessly on writing and drawing out the story and the characters, resulting in a big collection of stories, scripts and tons of paintings/sketches and drawings. Over the past years I have collected many paintings of characters of the storyline, including Myre and her dragon mount Varug. Despite all the planning, there were many things coming in between and dragging me away from this very big and heartfelt dream of mine. The dream of sharing a world with you which had been captured in my head for so long.” To find out more about the story and the world it takes place in, visit Alector Fencer’s Indiegogo campaign page. In addition to a lot of the usual swag for helping out, some contributors will be treated to a special audio play created by the famous 2 the Ranting Gryphon, set in the Myre universe.

image c. 2014 by Alector Fencer

Every now and then I find a work of furry art that is amazing. Such is the two-part audio drama entitled Porcupine Passions. The story started as a spin off explaining some back-story details of The Beach Bears saga (interview), but became much more.

Porcupine Passions I (10 episodes, about 10 minutes each) tells Bobby’s story as he struggles with his feelings of deep friendship for his friend Dipper. I could feel Bobby’s genuine feelings as I listened. The Beach Bears musical group had formed, and Dipper had stumbled into some serious heartache. As loyal friends do, Bobby comes to Dipper’s aid. Sounds simple; but the story is told with such genuine emotion, it’s anything but.

Porcupine Passions II (37 episodes, about 10 minutes each) precedes The Beach Bears saga and defines the friendship between Bobby and Dipper, which is tested when Bobby must move away and both their lives change in ways neither expected. Both grow and realize how special their friendship really is, as do the listeners.

A new art form is being developed in the furry fandom. It is like a soap opera in that a central cast of characters tells story arcs in chapters within a larger consistent setting. When one story arc is over, another begins. But unlike a soap opera, at the end of each chapter or episode is a covered song or parody song that relates to the chapter or episode. Each chapter averages eight minutes long. The production is titled The Beach Bears.

After listening to the a few chapters, I wanted to know more of the story, and more about how this exciting work came to exist. The Beach Bears was created and is produced by Max DeGroot. Mr. DeGroot was kind enough to grant me an interview to satisfy my curiosity.

TG: Could you tell us a little about yourself?

MDG: Well I have been active in the Furry Fandom for many years as a furry convention chair, a puppeteer, and a musician. One of my current labors of love is an audio drama series titled The Beach Bears.

TG: I have listened to The Beach Bears and I must say it is a very unique and entertaining format that has me hooked. How did you come up with the concept?

Jeff Goode is back in action in the Furry fandom again. Jeff, who is known for his series Jake Long: American Dragon and his anthro play The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, is coming out with a new play for the fandom. Fursona Non Grata will be offered as a radio play and will premiere to the fandom at Wild Nights in Oklahoma’s Robber’s Cave State Park, April 25-29 2013.

On Wednesday, March 24th, TrekWars: The Furry Conflict will officially release it's first installment of fully scored, effects mixed and voiced pieces of Audio Theater pieces based on the written storyline of The Furry Conflict. It's the result of over a year of work by many talented voice and sound artists, and will be available at that time for download from audio.furryconflict.com. Be sure to have your speakers up and working for the big day!

The BBC has announced that they're going to air the last three books in the five part HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy as radio plays! Further information below.

Jerry Beck's CARTOON RESEARCH website reports on "Ferretina", a theatrical animated musical feature in production from the A&A studio in Toronto. Beck says that it looks like it is designed to appeal to Furry fans, but that "this has the smell of impending doom about it". Read more about it on CARTOON RESEARCH.