Artists and authors, be in the book Furry Nation – January 6 deadline!
by Patch O'Furr
Here’s a special announcement from Joe Strike. Joe’s a writer and reporter about animation for the New York Daily News and Animation World Network. His website shows work with TV cartoons you may know. He’s a first-wave furry “greymuzzle.” And he talks like a velvet alligator on the phone.
Joe has an incredibly exciting book coming out. He’s putting the story of furry fandom in print from an established publisher. He wants your help.
I want to tell your story in Furry Nation.
I’m in the final stages of writing Furry Nation, the first book to chart the birth and growth of furry fandom and its relation to the anthropomorphic instinct that’s been part of civilization from prehistoric cave paintings of animal people and animal-headed Egyptian gods to the modern day. Furry Nation will be published fall 2017 by Cleis Press. To learn more visit www.furrynation.com
Furry Nation will include a handful of profiles of furry artists, published authors and craftspeople. (Furry sculptures, clothing, accessories, etc.) If you’d like to be in the book, please contact me by December 26 at info[at]furrynation[dot]com. I want to hear about your work, your first interest in anthro characters, and how you found the fandom; please include links to your work. (Sorry fursuiters but that section of the book has already been written.)
Thanx much!
– Joe Strike
Write to info[at]furrynation[dot]com, by January 6.
Personally, I have been urging the creation of a coffee table furry book for years – from the history and graphics, to fursuit fashion photography. Like the kind of beautiful but info-packed bibles that Taschen is known for. (I even outlined such a book – but what a big project that is!)
Now I’m delighted to hear that Joe has a contract with Cleis Press to publish Furry Nation in fall 2017. Cleis has an eminent 36-year history as “the largest independent sexuality publishing company in the United States.” Don’t get too mad about being grouped with erotica; emphasize independent. It’s a chance-taking, open-minded platform that can do justice to an alternative subculture. They explain on LinkedIn:
Cleis Press publishes provocative, intelligent books across genres. Whether literary fiction, human rights, mystery, romance, erotica, LGBTQ studies, pulp fiction, or memoir, you know that if it’s outside the ordinary, it’s Cleis Press.
Don’t overlook more cool books! Dogpatch Press’s own star guest poster, Fred Patten, has Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989-2015 from McFarland Press. (That’s an academic/reference publisher where you’d find the book in a library. So you might consider Joe’s the “first” as a narrative history on the shelf at an indie or alternative bookstore.)
Fred’s Publishing for Furries article helps to show how special these are in the publishing world. Until now, there’s been almost nothing at book stores. Whatever you’re looking for in a furry book, these are extremely cool happenings.
And I can’t wait to see more. Grubbs Grizzzly (of Ask Papabear) has The Furry Book on the way, too.
Book by Grubbs, cover by Charleston Rat
The Art of Moana, by Jessica Julius and Maggie Malone. Preface by John Lasseter. Foreword by Ron Clements and John Musker.
“Our world is one rich with diversity and culture, but how would civilized animals change that?”
“Ghost Ship” was the name of the warehouse in the inner city of Oakland, California. I’ve often visited the neighborhood under the booming overhead trestle of the BART train. The warehouse was zoned for business, but harbored a live/work space that was built under the radar of building inspectors. It was funded by parties and rent from people living in RV’s parked there. It was home for a collective of artists and musicians from the cultural underground of the San Francisco Bay area. Many were pushed out of previous homes by pressure of rising rents. These most expensive costs in the country are making a crisis for culture.
Wishing Season: Holiday Tales of Whimsy and Wonder, by Renee Carter Hall
(Patch O’Furr:) Furries love plush like a fat kid loves cake. My friends do, anyways. That’s how I met Amy Brown, a non-furry crafter who specializes in plush objects on Etsy. I heard that she enjoyed commissions for fursuit props. It makes me happy when furries make friends like that! Amy mentioned weirder commissions, and that made me invite her to tell some juicy stories. (Mmm… carrot juice for everybunny).
The Right to Arm Bears, by Gordon R. Dickson