Kyell Gold's Blog, page 10

On the RainFurrest Post-Mortem

If you haven’t gone and read the former RF chair’s post-mortem on how RainFurrest 2016 got cancelled, head over and do that now. It’s worth a read, and I think it’s something the fandom should remember for a while.

A few thoughts I have, in no particular order:

– Kristi does a good job of not trying to focus blame on any one person or group of people, even where the situation would make it easy.

– People sometimes complain about conventions’ draconian security measures, especially at AnthroCon, but when you don’t enforce your security, you become “the place where people get away with stuff.” And eventually someone has to be accountable for that. Yes, sometimes the security people go too far, but I’d rather live with a couple annoyances than lose a convention.

– I’m sorry to see RainFurrest go. I’m hopeful that some other conventions will step up their writing tracks now, seeing how successful RainFurrest was with it. Midwest Furfest is already doing that; I’ve heard from a couple others that they’d like to expand their writing track as well. Furry Fiesta is hoping to do more writing panels, a few this year and more next. And of course, I hope to see RainFurrest back within a couple years.

– I hope people reading this understand how hard a convention staff works year-round. These were extreme circumstances, of course, but every convention spends months in advance planning, and the staff are all volunteers, working the convention duties around their day jobs. To those of us who show up on Thursday or Friday and hang out with our friends for a few days, it seems effortless, but a huge amount of work goes into every convention. Next time you attend one, thank the staff for all their hard work, because far too few people do that.

– This is by no means solely a “furry problem.” Just last week, someone wrote a plea to congoers to stop destroying hotels. Furry cons were not the subject. Some of the particulars in this case were furry (inappropriate behavior in the headless lounge) but people do this at every kind of convention. We don’t have to. Be respectful of the hotel and the convention. Let’s make furry cons better than the norm.

– If you do break something at a hotel, don’t freak out. Accidents happen, people get drunk, whatever. Go find a staff person (con or hotel) and take responsibility for it.

Black Angel Book Cover!

Black Angel has a book cover, and now you can see it! By the talented :iconrukis:, of course, as are all the interiors.

It’ll be available at TFF and for pre-order pretty soon here…watch this space for details.

(And of course all the release dates in various formats are in the place where all those things are.)

Finished Over Time? Want more?

Some of you may know about my Patreon where I’m serializing Love Match, a story about a jackal from Africa who comes to the U.S. at 14 to learn to play tennis and ends up discovering that he’s gay (because of course) and dealing with all the pitfalls of being a professional tennis player.

There is also a higher tier (starting at $20/month) where you get an extra bonus story each month. For 2016, what I’ve decided to do is serialize the book that’s previewed at the end of Over Time (please don’t mention what it’s about on a public forum as that is a minor spoiler for Over Time). So if you want to see more before the book is released (probably sometime in 2017 if I had to guesstimate but who knows, honestly? I have three other book projects I’m working on this year), sign up anytime in February and you will get mailed an installment each month.

Also, Love Match has illustrations by Rukis and you’ll get to read that as well!

Over Time E-book on Bad Dog Books NOW

I’m delighted to announce that Over Time is now available as an e-book exclusively from Bad Dog Books. As is usual for all my releases since a couple years ago, I’ll have it on the other major retailers on March 1.

And a reminder: all my publication dates are kept more or less up to date on my website at http://www.kyellgold.com/pubdates.html. If you wonder where you might be expected to find this, well, it is listed in my FAQ along with the answers to a lot of other questions that, you know, I get Frequently Asked. In addition, I have a mailing list that updates once a month with all the things I’m working on!

Also as a bonus note: I can’t help you with payment information or updates to e-books or anything like that from the retailers, nor can I sell you the print-bound books that my publishers sell. Please address those questions to the retailer in question.

Bonus bonus note: The audiobook is still in process. I will of course announce when it is available.

Jerseys Update

Okay, the Firebirds jerseys were given out at FC for those who ordered pickup. A few of you who initially ordered pickup and didn’t come have contacted me; there are a few left and if I don’t hear from you, I’ll contact you in the next day or so.

For those of you waiting, I apologize. I’ve been slammed with the workshop and convention, so I ordered a bunch of flat rate boxes about two weeks ago thinking that at the latest they’d be here a little after the con. They still haven’t shown up. I wasn’t sure if the post offices would have enough boxes but I’ll try that, and we’ll get them out to  you soon. When they ship you’ll get an e-mail about it.

Thanks for your patience! They’ll be worth waiting for.

RAWR Wrap

First of all: In addition to the rest of my FC schedule, I’m going to be reading from “Black Angel” at the FWG reading, Santa Clara room, 5 pm Friday. Come by and hear me and four other FWG authors! Otherwise I look forward to seeing y’all in the dealer’s room at the Sofawolf table. I got my gold pens all ready!

Okay, so RAWR, the first residential furry writers’ workshop, ended today. We had five students ranging in age and experience from “newish” to “almost greymuzzles” and a variety of experience in furry writing and publishing. Ryan Campbell, author of God of Clay, member of my writing group, and fellow Clarion workshop alumnus was my co-instructor, and the ever-helpful serval Chandra al-Alkani was our facilitator who kept everything running smoothly.

The week went about as well as we could have hoped. Our students worked hard on their own stories, worked just as hard on critiquing their classmates, surprised and delighted us,  and had nervous breakdowns (almost) over italics. We bonded over the Magic Trash Can, watched Labyrinth in honor of David Bowie and then The Incredibles when we found out Chandra hadn’t seen it, talked writing and furry and publishing, and walked to Starbucks about a dozen times. We (being the instructors and the board of RAWR) feel like we’ve started something that’s going to last. We’re planning to do it again (time and place TBA) and you will hear more about it from me and hopefully from the board, alumni, and other folks involved in the months to come.

I’m really proud of everyone involved: students, instructors, board. Everyone worked hard on this first workshop and made it possible and desirable for us to keep doing this. Ryan and I know firsthand how valuable these kinds of workshops can be, not only to help people improve their writing, but to build the kind of community that can keep helping people improve. The furry fandom is young, its writing community even more so, and it hasn’t had a workshop like this to help its writers along. Now, finally, it does, and with luck it will have one for years to come.

Further Confusion Schedule

Four days away! Here’s where I’ll be during Further Confusion 2016. When I am not at these places, I’ll likely be at or around the Sofawolf Press table in the dealer’s den during dealer’s den hours. After that, who knows?

All of these except the Over Time release party are in the Santa Clara room of the Hilton.

Thursday, January 14

7:00pm

‘Over Time’ Release Party (Marriott, Almaden room). Come in your coolest costume and maybe you’ll get a prize! Bring books and get them signed! If you pre-ordered a book for FC, pick it up here! I will do a reading from the book! There will be food and a bar!

Friday, January 15

11:00am

Telling a New Story. What cool new things can we do with furry fiction?

3:00pm

Write Now! Bring your computer or a notebook and get started on that short story!

Saturday, January 16

1:00pm

Furry Writing Workshop: Year One. This year we held RAWR, the first residential writing workshop for the furry fandom. Come listen to the organizers talk about how it came about, how it went, and what’s in its future.

10:00pm

Adult Furry Fiction [18+]. Knotty knotty! (This is me, Rukis, and Not Tube, so you know it’ll be good.)

Sunday, January 17

11:00am

Brainstorming in Real Time. I have no idea what this is about but I figure we’ll work it out when we get there.

10:00pm

Unsheathed Live [18+]. K.M., Not Tube, and I reprise our popular intermittent podcast. No manatees.

Want a Copy of Over Time Signed?

Or want to pick it up at the Further Confusion release party? You have one more day to pre-order it through Sofawolf! Hardcovers will be signed and numbered, softcovers will just be signed.

Again, you will not be able to buy the book at the Thursday night release party. The only way to have it Thursday night is to pre-order it. Otherwise you’ll be able to buy it starting Friday morning in the dealers den at FC, and online at Sofawolf soon after that.

(Full release info including e-book release dates is, as always, at http://www.kyellgold.com/pubdates.html .)

A Christmas Wish

It’s been a little hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year. Mostly it’s because I’ve been busier than usual, with a new dog and a bunch of deadlines hitting me around the end of the month, so I haven’t had time to settle down and really think about the season. But now the day itself is here, and even though I’m still working (that book won’t proof itself), it finally seems real.

So hey! Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, happy solstice, or happy day-off-in-the-middle-of-winter to all of you. Whatever holiday you celebrate, the secular tradition of this time of year is a pretty neat “let’s remember the special people in our lives and be nice to everyone” feeling. I like that we have a holiday about that.

I have a wish for all of you this year. I wish that sometime in 2016, when you really need it, someone will be Christmas-season nice to you, do you a special favor, make you feel joyful, lift your spirits, help you out, whatever you need. I’m lucky enough to have a great support network, but not everyone is, and regardless, at one time or another we all need a little Christmas spirit.

Have a great week, everyone. 2016 is gonna be awesome.

Over Time Cover

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18588...