Hey folx! Since I’ve seen some questions about The Voice of Dog, the story-reading podcast (www.thevoice.dog), I’d like to share the current requirements for story submissions:

1) A single-part story under 5000 words, or a two-part story under 10,000 words
2) Any rating, any genre, any topic
3) NO BUMMERS

I leave this to your discretion. While previously TVOD required stories to be “uplifting” I don’t think that needs to be a requirement any more. There’s room to explore more melancholy and regret — but not hopelessness. Not despair.

That's it! If you have a story you think is a good fit, please get in touch with me and tell me about it! I'm khakidoggy on Twitter and Telegram, where I'm most active, and I'd love to hear from you

I’m doing a Writing Clinic this Saturday at 9PM PST, at the #OxfurredComma virtual furry fiction con!

If you submit a story that’s selected for the Clinic, your work will be read and discussed by fellow writers. It’s a GREAT way to learn and hone your skills!
To qualify, you’ll need to (be able to) attend the Clinic on Discord, so I can discuss the story with you. Stories or story-excerpts can be up to 1000 words long, and should stand fairly well on their own. They can be any genre, but should be PG-13

If you’d like a chance to hear your work read and discussed, constructively and positively, please Twitter DM or Telegram me (I’m khakidoggy on both) to let me know you can join (Sat 9PM PST, via Discord voice chat) and share the excerpt with me.

I’m looking forward to it!

For my podcast The Voice Of Dog I'm looking for well-written, uplifting stories by furry writers. To help folks cope with the loneliness and frustration of isolation I'm releasing readings of new stories every day, which is a wonderful challenge — but I need stories to keep going :)

You can find the podcast at http://thevoice.dog/

Writers include Huskyteer, Mary E. Lowd, Kyell Gold, Kandrel, Ryan Campbell, Frances Pauli and a host of others, all of whom contributed one or more stories.

The daily production schedule means the stories must be shorter than 5000 words, they must be grammatically correct and consistent (typos trip me up when I'm reading the story, requiring more editing time) and most importantly, the story must end on a positive note. I want folks to be able to start a story and know that it'll help ease their anxieties, give them a bit of hope, humour or joy to look forward to every day.

Variety is the spice of life! All genres are welcome, adult and all-ages. Some of the stories I've featured are fables and allegories, some are furry reflections of the real world and or the real world itself with some fantastical elements, and it's all great!

I've made a handy-dandy template for story submissions, which includes all the information I'll need to introduce the writer, promote the story when it's posted, and get a feel for what the story is about: https://docs.google.com/document/d/.....it?usp=sharing

If you've got something that fits, you can get in touch with me on Telegram and Twitter, where I'm khakidoggy on both. I look forward to hearing from you and, hopefully, recording a reading of your story :)

Oops it's a podcast now:

thevoice.dog

I’m going to be reading you some neat short stories by some great writers from our li’l community; uplifting and inspiring stories to put a spring in our steps and a wag in our tails.

There’s two stories out already, "Bad Dog!" by Rob Baird and “Counter-Culture" by Televassi , and over the next week you’ll hear stories from Huskyteer, NightEyes DaySpring, Altivo and Toledo.

While I’m able to, and while we’re all stuck inside, I’m going to read you a new story every day — and with the talented writers we have out there in the fandom, I bet it’ll be worth looking forward to :)

I’m Making Something New today.

I’ve missed doing narrations of stories, and I'm staying at home to help slow the spread of COVID-19, so I thought I’d make something to lift folks' spirits.

Like the wartime resistance radio stations of old, to entertain and cheer up folks who are stuck indoors for the foreseeable.

I call it The Voice of Dog and I’ve recorded one by Rob Baird:

https://www.sofurry.com/view/1558053

Share and enjoy :)

- EDIT:

I've done a bunch more, and more are coming, at thevoice.dog!

Hey kids! Coming back from Eurofurence, let’s review some techniques for repelling PCD:

1) Never leave. EF FOREVER.
2) Time travel
3) Stay in touch with your new friends (!!)
4) Photos. PHOTOS! Lots of ‘em: https://flickr.com/photos/alexfvanc.....7710307023817/

Let's get cracking!

We begin on Day 1. Arriving at the Estrel hotel in Berlin, seeing that giant mirror-wedge gleaming overhead, always feels like coming home! Immediately I ran into old friends I'd missed, and made new ones — including the formidable Hella von Sinnen!

https://flickr.com/photos/alexfvanc.....7710323368061/


Day 2 was a long one; among other activities Blue_Panther and I joined Alectorfencer's panel about her graphic novels Myre and Haunter of Dreams, and our respective contributions to them. Also, I got to spend quality time at the fire pit!

https://flickr.com/photos/alexfvanc.....57710346101862


The Enter The Arena dance contest is always a highlight for me. This year I promised myself I wouldn't swoon over Mangusu and Dexter but then the mongoose shook his tailfeather to Lizzo's "Boys" and the doggo had a cool jacket and OOPS THERE I GO:

https://flickr.com/photos/alexfvanc.....7710334519977/


Day 3, and my paws barely touched the ground! Running my Photo Safari workshop, ALL THE FEELS at the Foxes and Peppers concert and spending hours philosophizing in the Time Tunnel with dear friends <3

https://flickr.com/photos/alexfvanc.....7710364279316/

Since I only attended the core days, the last official day of Eurofurence came quickly. But by that time I already felt like I'd been living in that wonderfully cosy furry colony for months already, like a mirage-island you actually get to live on :)

https://flickr.com/photos/alexfvanc.....7710391536996/


Oh, and let's not forget the other Eurofurence dance contest: Paws on Fire. I love the floor-war format of this dance-off so much, and how hootily the crowd gets involved!

https://flickr.com/photos/alexfvanc.....7710364686932/

And of course the PawPet Show. I once more had the privilege of consulting on the script, even contributing a few lines here and there and, honestly, I think it's the best work I've ever done. #boobietown

https://flickr.com/photos/alexfvanc.....7710390631251/

Anyway! If you're back from #EF25, I hope these bring a smile to your face.

https://flickr.com/photos/alexfvanc.....7710307023817/

I love you all, and I miss you already — see you next year :)

On the photos I made at Eurofurence since I started posting them last week. Bloody hell, bloody hell...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexfvance/sets

Back in the USSR! Last year, the organisers of RusFurrence invited me to snowy Russia in the middle of a (balmy) winter as Guest of Honor, and this year I accompanied their new GoH, Fox Amoore, since I just can't get enough of Russian furries.

Laser tag. Awesome fursuit games. Endless, wonderful room parties, incredible hospitality... it took my breath away. Too many incredible memories and wonderful people to mention, so take a gander at the highlight gallery below and catch a glimpse.

RusFurrence 2014 • Highlights

(photos are annotated with descriptions, for those interested in the saucy details!)

I love you all!

- Khaki

http://baddogbookclub.wordpress.com

Founded by Skip Ruddertail and Toonces, the podcast ran from 2011 to 2012, featuring stories submitted by furry authors, read by furry narrators, and discussed by Skip and Toonces and their occasional guests.

64 episodes in total, discussing 35 stories, including works by K. M. Hirosaki, Not Tube, Pyrostinger and Whyte Yoté, to name but a few, and featuring the voice talents of some fifteen readers including Sparf, Buck Hopper,

And including Yours F. Truly; turns out I contributed a baker's dozen readings. How time doth fly.

Every episode is there represented, and there's a menu that shows episodes by author or narrator as well.

If you contributed a story or a recording to the Book Club, please feel free to link to your page on the site; I'll be keeping the archive up indefinitely if I can and otherwise I'll find an alternative solution again. It took quite a bit of work to rebuild the archive (the original host, Posterous, shut down after being taken over by Twitter) but I think it was worth it.

I miss the Book Club. It was an exciting nexus between furry readers and writers who seldom get to commune over audio.

Please share and enjoy!



- Alex "Khaki" Vance

The unimportant town where I spent my teenage years wasn't a particularly adventure-laced place, which suited my sedentary sensibilities.

The council never licensed a coffeeshop so the kids had to score their weed from one-armed-Achmed-with-a-tattoo-on-his-stump around the back of the butcher's shop at night.

He was a really sweet guy, but he really hammed up the tough guy act so they'd feel a greater sense of mischief and, as I mentioned, adventure.

The closest thing to adventure and mystery we had access to was a bunker a few miles out of town. German-built and situated in a cow pasture surrounded by, in typical Dutch fashion, pointless little canals.

It never evoked much curiosity in me — that said, it also never evoked none. I'd cycle past it on the way to school every day, but it would only be visible once the leaves fell and I just wouldn't think about it in the rich, horizonless month of summer.

My dad had grown up in that town, and one day it occurred to me that he, as a lifelong '80s rocker, must have been much more adventurously inclined than I was when he was my age and I was the horrifying and unimaginable long-term consequence of his teenaged evening dreams.

So rather than bike five miles outside of town and cross a tiny fence in daylight and carefully vault a soggy little moat into a cowpatty-peppered mirror-flat Teletubbyland to explore the bunker, I could just ask him, right?

"So Dad," says I, pouring myself a glass of milk while he rolls a joint at the table with the exact right amount of spit, and ask him about the bunker. Dad lights up, takes a drag, considering the many dimensions of the question and the fractal facets of the answer, exhales and answers.

He answers with one word.

One word.

With that word he cures me of, and rationally satisfies, my tiny smidge of curiosity. With that one word he explains that if I discover anything at all in that prefab concrete pothole, it'll be multi-used condoms and syringes and if I'm really, really lucky I'll meet some of the smelly unwashed hairies who come to the bunker to reuse and recycle them.

All that, with one word.

"So Dad," says I, pouring myself a glass of milk while he rolls a joint at the table with the exact right amount of spit. "What's in that bunker outside of town?"

Dad lights up, takes a drag, considering the many dimensions of the question and the fractal facets of the answer, exhales and answers.

"AIDS."

Last week Mitch de la Guardia proposed a little audio project for Buck Hopper’s Furry Basketball Association: a post-game catch-up conversation between John Stoat and his former teammate and fellow Britisher Ambrose Slade.

I’ve missed playing Stoat and I’ve long admired Mitch’s vocal work, so I really couldn’t say ‘yes’ fast enough. He put together an excellent overview of the games and teams (since he’s actually involved in the FBA’s games, while I just show up and slur into the microphone when B-Hop tells me to) which I totally failed to memorise. We riffed some insults back and forth over chat, and then we launched into a recording.

No script, just some bullet-points. The beauty of experience is that it lends you the confidence you need to extemporise like this, especially when coupled with an equally skilled performer. Sure, it’s going to be a little rough and it’ll need some editing to tighten up the tempo (Mitch did a pretty spectacular job trimming the rambling narrative down to a half-hour story) but you’ll get the kind of spontaneity that’s very tough to fake.

The original post is here:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9214909/

If you like it, be sure to leave a comment :)

Highlight gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexfv.....th/7940127244/

Where to begin? So many mojitos. Such fabulous company.

I was stalked by a sexy Finn, and plied with drinks by three Russians trying to pry Maranathan secrets from me.

I hung with staunch sartorialists from Security and found myself elevated to the stratosphere by music both rough and mellow. Fiddle, axe, and even a keytar. Cheetah made an excellent souffleur when Alexander James Adams forgot his lines.

A hat I bought in San Fransisco and gave away to a friend whose head it suited much better made its way to Fox Amoore and onto the stage.

Yes, some of the events were delayed. Yup. And the panels I gave weren't the best I'd ever given – but a lot of fun was had regardless.

I loved every second, and I miss everyone deeply. Next year, fuzzies!

Expanded galleries:
Portraits – http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexfv.....7631427826456/
Fursuits off-duty – http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexfv.....7631427697802/
Fursuit Parade – http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexfv.....7631427521246/
Concerts & Dances – http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexfv.....7631427344426/

At this year’s Eurofurence I’ll be giving three panels on the topics of Photography (Thursday 4PM), Voice Acting (Friday 2PM) and Writing (Saturday 2PM).

I’m very excited to announce that this year, I’ll be hosting these panels in larger panel rooms than the last two years. While I certainly appreciate addressing a standing room-only crowd, the panels I gave in previous years were often quite uncomfortable, and I really didn’t like that some attendees had to leave simply because they couldn’t get a seat.

So… I hope to see you all there!


The Photographer’s Eye
Thursday 30 August, 4 PM • Salon “Nürnberg” - Panel Room 4

Good photos can be taken with any equipment. The trick is toknow your equipment and how to use it. In this session we’ll discuss thephotographic attitude. Rather than discussing broad topics like exposure and composition, we’ll discuss how you can train your eye to find good light, depth and texture, how to put your models at ease, and some simple post-processing techniques.


Voice Acting Workshop
Friday 31 August, 2 PM • Salon “Stuttgar” - Panel Room 1

Microphone technique (and how to deal with moistmuzzle), character expression, and how to handle unwieldy dialogue: veteran voice actors Khaki and Shay share their experience and invite the audience to try to record a scene on the spot. Non-native English speakers are welcome!


How to Trick Your Audience into Thinking your Story is Good
Saturday 1 September, 2 PM • Salon “Stuttgar” - Panel Room 1

Readers have desires and expectations that may be very different from your ambitions as a writer. Before you can decide whether you want to please your audience, it’s important to know how to. In thissession, we’ll discuss how a writer can impress, manipulate, and appease his or her readers – and how to avoid making a bad impression.

So the seasons change and as always I feel a sudden and intense desire to reinvent myself. Sometimes that means replacing my wardrobe, or getting a radical haircut. I’m too frugal and conservative for either of those, so here’s something else.

Rebranding. Renaming. Introducing Khaki Dog, the mover-and-shaker formerly known as Alex Vance.

I’ve taken myself way too seriously for way too long. I’ve worked to build a name and a reputation but more and more I find myself declining opportunities or resisting new ideas because of what that might say about me. Nuts, right?

We’re in this freaky fandom to have fun, and to be silly. That’s what I’ve always loved about it. So I’m going to be silly. To hell with my page rank or brand confusion or what the fuck ever.

I am Khaki Dog. Pleased to meet you all over again :)

- KFD

It took the aunt of one friend, the mother of another, and now Steve Jobs.

Bad Dog Books will donate half its earnings for the last quarter to cancer research and care, and I'm adding half my royalties for Heathen City over the same period to sweeten the deal.

Fuck cancer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayTfPv6Gs5g

At EF 2011 in Magdeburg, the third of three panels I held was on the topic of Voice Acting.

We started off with a quick presentation on vocal technique, mic technique, posture and performance, then invited some volunteers to try their hand at performing a short script written for the occasion.

I had the pleasure of being accompanied by Shay, whom I'd invited as Special Guest. He was still reeling from the rather successful premiere of Bitter Lake the previous night, which I'm sure contributed to the fact that the panel was standing room only.

At the end of the panel, Shay and I took some rather excellent questions from the audience and to finish it off, did our own run-through of the script.

Thanks to all who came!

But when the train came near to Wormit Bay,
Boreas he did loud and angry bray,
And shook the central girders of the Bridge of Tay
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.


The son of a weaver, William McGonagall is remembered these days (by far too few) as one of Britain's worst poets. Even during his lifetime he was engaged to give readings of his work for audiences who delighted in his terrible poetry the way sci-fi nerds make a game of The Eye of Argon.

And yes, his poems are terrible. Some only grudgingly rhyme (even in his Dundee accent), all are bereft of linguistic sophistication, and on those occasions where he's moved to actually try his hand at metaphor or at least non-literal imagery the result is a plodding disaster. Universally, his poems' meter defies human scansion.

But I plumb love this guy.

Just as the terrible opera singer Florence Foster Jenkins, whose absolute lack of musical facility, sensitivity to tone, breath control or emotive delivery couldn't deter her from renting concert halls and selling tickets to very select groups of friends, McGonagall just wouldn't quit. And the literary world is just a little richer thanks to his tenacity.

As a struggling weaver of 52, with a snapper for a daughter to make life just a little more inconvenient, he discovered himself to be a poet.

"seemed to feel a strange kind of feeling stealing over [him], and remained so for about five minutes. A flame, as Lord Byron said, seemed to kindle up [his] entire frame, along with a strong desire to write poetry."
Until his death just after the turn of the 20th century (in his birthplace near Edinburgh, rather than Dundee where he'd spent his life) he was mocked, disparaged, rejected and sometimes rather cruelly pranked. He sought his fortune first in London and then New York, returning from both with empty pockets, but his chin held high.

The pinnacle of his career as a poet came when he hired out his services to a local circus, where he earned fifteen shillings a night for reading his terrible poetry while the audience were permitted to throw food at him. And this suited him fine. When the local magistrates shut down these disorderly events he wrote a public protest (of course, in verse) and this more than anything illustrates why I love this old coot.

He was indomitable.

Any writer who plucks up the courage to share their work or submit it for publication faces the very real risk of rejection. We're gradually hardened against it, but every fresh "no" chips away just a tiny little bit on our confidence.

And then here there is William McGonagall, who was genuinely terrible, and received gentle rejections, cease-and-dissist missives, open mockery and utter rage from publishers and audience alike, and he simply never quit.

Maybe his worldview was a bit skewed. Modern students of his work suspect he may have had Asperger's Syndrome. Who's to say.

Not only did he take rejections in stride, he apparently read them with rose-tinted glasses (with an anti-glare coating made of concentrated optimism). He wrote to Queen Victoria, hoping to secure her patronage, and was tremendously encouraged by the rejection letter he received from a functionary because he took "Thank you for your interest" as a great compliment to his talents. When an obviously fake letter from representatives of King Thibaw Min of Burma told him that he had been knighted in absentia he took it at face value and proclaimed himself a Sir from then until his death in penury.

Very, very few of us can hope to suffer such persistent insults to our talents, such frequent requests for us to please, please stop writing. Sure, we may not ever be satisfied with the size or the responsiveness of our audience, and we may water down our whiskey with manly tears when we receive another "thanks, but no" letter from a publisher.

"Sir William Topaz McGonagall, Knight of the White Elephant, Burmah", a weaver's son and a Dundee boy, should be an example to us all: if you believe in yourself, honestly and sincerely, then you'll live and die proud and happy -- and the world's barbs be damned.

- Alex.

Full text of the Tay Bridge Disaster here: http://www.taynet.co.uk/users/mcgon/disaster.htm

Selected bibliography here: http://www.taynet.co.uk/users/mcgon/

EDIT: It was brought to my attention that doing a one-hour timeframe wasn't fair to Americans who are at this time at work or school. Fine. I'm tacking on 23 hours and the story will be selected tomorrow around this time!

ANOTHER EDIT: Here is the e-mail address: alexfvance+deareditor@gmail.com :)

So, I was recently reminded that I'm an editor. I've delegated most of the duties I used to perform for Bad Dog Books, for instance to the excellent Buck Turner, editor of ROAR and the double whammy Graveyard Greg and Skip Ruddertail who oversee FANG these days.

In the last few weeks I was asked to look over a script or two and provide notes, and I realized that I'd forgotten how nice it is to be able to use such experience and insight as I have to help people improve their work.

So. Today I will edit one story, by one of you. Let's say a maximum of 7000 words. No need to go crazy, right? Porn is fine.

There's no contest. I'm going to pick one at random from what I receive, but there is one rule:

The notes I provide will be made public.

So, send your story to this e-mail address, or tweet me the link of your story (and include the #deareditor hashtag for good measure).

Commentary will be critical but fair, constructive and to the point.

All clear? Send it.


--
Alex F. Vance

I hadn't even finished typing congratulatory tweets to some of the winners of the 2010 Ursa Major Awards when its mailing list spasmed with outrage and criticism.

"It's a popularity contest!" some screamed. "It reflects sordidly on our precious community!" some groaned, ever so saucily. "Rutabagas are SO vegetables!" other lied, defiantly.

It's clear that Change Is Needed. But of what sort? There'd be even more whining about a juried system, and to ask the popular folks who are often voted the winners to recuse themselves from consideration would invalidate the achievement of winning. Thankfully I am a genius of unparalleled insight, and I have for you the solution:

The Non SequiFur awards.

Voting? Nay! Jury? Nay! These outmoded selection methods have proved themselves to be lightning-rods for bitching and moaning. In the NSFA, there are no arbitrary categories, nor are winners selected by consensus or Leviathan authority. Instead, the winners, and the qualities for which they won, are chosen by YOU.

"Best costume design: The Furry Basketball Association Podcast"

"First review of both Pokemon Black -and- White posted on SoFurry by Google Ranking: www.sofurry.com/page/244840 "

"Best website design with a caramel-colored background for a furry commercial site: www.FurPlanet.com";

Decide your own categories and make sure that the people you find deserving get that ultimate prize: their very own Non SequiFur Award. It's time for YOUR voice to be heard.

So... Who do you think should win?

- Alex F. Vance

What started as a neat little idea for a fun evening reading and discussing stories turned into quite a fantastic evening with a healthy crowd of listeners and participants.

Altivo Overo, Buck Hopper of the Furry Basketball Association and Skip Ruddertail of Bad Dog Books became impromptu co-hosts of the online equivalent of a very productive writing panel, where we read and discussed seven story samples sent to me from writers across the world — as far away as Jakarta, Indonesia. And with one exception (he didn't have Skype, alas!) we got to converse with all of them.

Over three hours, with ABSOLUTELY ZERO technical issues, all totally unrelated to my beloved Mac platform and wholly to blame on Ustream, Skype and the temperamental concoction of apps and services I had to use to be able to talk to people. I've just spent ten hours cutting it together and making everyone seem far more clever, awake and attractive than we were at the time, all for your enjoyment.

For your enjoyment: http://www.alexfvance.com/recording.....ream-writing-c

First we had Altivo Overo, who brought us a delightful sample of his work "Blue on Blue", which can be found here: http://www.furrag.com/viewstory.php?sid=590

Then a pi-rat story (rats who are pirates!) from PS Lion, a fellow European who burned the midnight oil with me.

Next was Buck Hopper, with an awesome interior monologue from his namesake in the FBA: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5241802

Cybercoyote couldn't join us, unfortunately, so Buck Hopper, Altivo, Skip Ruddertail and I could say horrible things behind his back about his story, "The Last Flight of the Midnight Express".

Tango, AKA Rebelsheart, seems to be an anime fan whose tale of converging universes seemed particularly upsetting to my fragile recording setup, and most of the Zero Technical Issues occurred here. But that's okay! It just means you get to hear it explained three times in a row: http://tango.livejournal.com/640211.html

And all the way from the beautiful island of Java, Sulartenem gives us a story with waterscooters and fish, and critically reviews the three words of Bahasa Indonesia I can say, but don't understand.

Last but by no means least, Don Iago AKA Siphedious teaches me how to pronounce his name and closes the session with a noir stream-of-consciousness that Buck rightly described as a 'crackling read'.

I'd like to thank all the authors who sent in their work, everyone who listened in and my impromptu co-hosts.

And for those who asked whether I'd do this again in future: absolutely. It was too much fun not to. Keep an eye out!

Meanwhile: please enjoy.

- Alex Vance

At the end of last year, just as an experiment, I tried out Ustream and spent an evening exploring its functions and features with a few folks who happened to drop by. It was a rather fun and productive experience, and I thought it might be nice to use the service to do a bit of a writing clinic sometime.

No time like the present, eh? I think this upcoming Saturday is a good time to give it a whirl. 4PM, Pacific Standard Time (which will be 1 AM on Sunday for us in continental Europe). 

A sit-down with Alex Vance over Ustream where I'll answer questions on writing, editing, publishing and whatever else comes up. Consider it an impromptu sort of min-panel, held entirely online, where you can join from the comfort of your home.

If you're a writer, please send me a one-page sample of your work. Time allowing, I'll read it on air and try to give you some quick tips on technique, and discuss the snippet with the attendees and yourself. You can send me your sample at alexfvance@gmail.com.

You can see and RSVP via the link below, and on the day itself that link should also take you to the live stream.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/alexfvance#events
I hope to see you there!

- Alex Vance

A few months ago, one of my Unpaid Interns at Bad Dog Books told me his friend had a neat idea about a podcast that might be cool to do under the aegis of BDB. I sensed immediately that their only intention was to abscond with hard-earned publishing funds in order to fuel their out-of-control canned tuna habits, but I played along.

"Sure," I said. "Hand over all creative control and obey my every whim, and we'll talk."

We negotiated from there.

They prepared a very good pitch document which suitably impressed me, and after we talked some more they went off to record a pilot episode. The recording quality was naturally dreadful, but the content impressed. Their banter was lively, their subject engaging and there was a clear passion that was hard to ignore. I was hooked. I was excited. I had just administered BDB's end-of-quarter earnings.

I bought them some decent recording equipment. A proper first episode was recorded, and in a few days, you'll get to hear it.

Why the delay? You'll understand when I tell you what the podcast is all about.

The Bad Dog Book Club is a biweekly podcast where Skip Ruddertail and Toonces critically and chitteringly discuss a furry fiction story. Naughty, nice, or otherwise. At the end of each episode they announce the next episode's story, and we put it online so the audience can read it and leave their own thoughts and comments. And for those who don't like reading (I curse you a thousandfold, you uncultured pigs) we release an audiobook version of the story narrated by a Celebrity Guest Reader in the intervening week.

The first episode, which is coming in a few days, is about a story by K. M. Hirosaki called "Sanguine and Clockwork", which previously appeared in FANG Vol. 3, published (obviously) by Bad Dog Books. While it's nominally gay erotica, it's a bittersweet and thought-provoking fantasy story that deals with concepts of free will, sentience, class bigotry and the extremes to which our own cowardice can drive us.

Some of you have read it already (I bless you a thousandfold, you smart, attractive people) but those of you who haven't can do so now, so you'll know what Skip and Toonces are talking about — and so you'll get to enjoy a damn fine, rollicking tale in the process. For those of you who don't like reading (curse you pigs), but do like listening, I've recorded an audiobook version for you.

The site is here: http://www.baddogbooks.com/bookclub

Even though I'm involved in this only as a fixer, I'm very excited about Toonces and Skip's project. See, there's already a dearth of discourse about furry fiction, and when people do leave meaningful comments on a story they're either a simple statement of opinion, or they're a comment directed at the author.

What's missing is the singular delight of discussing a story with somebody else who's read it.

That's what the Bad Dog Book Club aims to do. The boys want you to read the story, and discuss it on the Book Club pages or send them e-mails about it so they can discuss your thoughts as well as theirs on the air. They want to rekindle the pleasure of collective reading, which is a notoriously solitary affair, and make it into a fun community activity.

And sure, there are already podcasts for furry writers (I'm a fan of Unsheathed), for furry society, news and fun (Knotcast, Unfurled, in no particular order) and even a Furry Basketball Association (any Stoat fans out there?). But the Book Club is for an audience that actually doesn't get nearly as much attention as it should:

Readers.

I'm totally behind this. I've put my money where my mouth is; I've bought them equipment, I've built them a website, I've helped them with technology, technique and I will now promote the living daylights out of them.

Have a look, have a listen. Subscribe to the podcast and you'll automatically get it when we post in in a few days, or keep an eye on myself or baddogbookclub on Twitter for the announcement.

And let us know what you think!

- Alex

All right, guys! Time for Alex Vance's Annual Free Shit Giveaway Contest. SantaVance is in town!

This year I've got ten free Evernote Premium accounts to give away. If you don't know what it is, go look at www.Evernote.com: an awesome note-taking and syncing service that allows you to collect, organize, search and synchronize notes, photos and files across a range of computers, devices an the web.

The contest: Christmas Fiction Friction.

Take a movie, novel, comic, song, ballet - whatever, as long as it has a story - and shoehorn Christmas into it.

Violently.

Painfully.

What would your favorite book be called if it took place on the North Pole with elves instead of lawyers? What would you see on your least favorite movie's poster if the hero were a jolly fat man and not some busty spy chick?

Be creative, inventive, push the limits of the rules and show me the depraved depths of your diseased imagination.

You'll need to provide both a title and a tagline or synopsis, but if you really want to show off, I won't hold it against you!

To help me keep track of all the entries, twitter users will need to tag your tweets with #SantaVance. Especially if your submission spans multiple tweets!

The contest will run for 24 hours from the exact minute of this here posting, so put on your Thinking Thong and win a prize!

- Alex S. Vance

Lookie here, lookie here!

 rahne completed and published the audio play for Rukis' comic 'Cruelty' a few hours ago. The guy scripted, edited, directed, and foleyed the thing himself, with slick backing music from the likes of  foxamoore and others.

I was one of the voice actors, taking care of a few side characters, and had a blast playing them.

I'm really impressed with the final product. All the actors did a good job and Rahne really did fantastic work cutting the performances together and making the scenes come to life through painstakingly constructed soundscapes.

I've been there, I know how hard it is. I'm seriously impressed.

Check it out for yourself here:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4876431 Note that this is only a sample; there's a link to the full version, generously hosted by FurPlanet in there as well!

What do you think?

Hey folks!

I cut together the other two panels from waaay back in 2008, in the strange land of California.

Further Confusion 2008 was my first con experience despite being a ten-year veteran of the fandom by then. I'd booked a quartet of panels, the first of which was only partly recorded (The Fundamental Story), the second wasn't recorded at all, and the fourth was rather modestly attended because it was planned on a day that most everyone had already gone home.

Nonetheless it was great fun, and it's taken me far, far too long to put these online. These are Narrative Techniques, a meaty session where we tackled subjects like suspense/surpris, tragedy, sentimentality and that terrifying tool called The Joke, and secondly Meet The Editors, where I was flanked by Quentin 'Cubist' Long of ANTHRO fame and Ben Goodridge, who had then just taken on the mantle of editorship for Bad Dog Books.

They're all too big to post here, so I've put them online on my super-secret personal website.

http://www.alexfvance.com/tag/fc2008

Share and enjoy!