The Muses were the Greek personification of the nine arts and sciences revered by the ancients and when a person hears their call, they can be cruel taskmasters with velvet whips. When I heard their call on my life many years ago, I also discovered the muses were fickle. All my life I wanted to be called a writer and when I started writing in earnest, all I collected were rejection slips, some of them cruel and all of them daunting. Still, the muses’ call could not be denied.
Having been introduced to furry fandom, first through the online art of T. Jordan “Greywolf” Peacock and then through Antarctic Press’ Furrlough, I finally found myself at the Internet home of Pawprints Fanzine. At that time, submitting stories was robotic. I would submit a story, get a rejection slip, submit another, get a rejection slip. Having never considered submitting to a fanzine and heady with the potential worlds of furry fandom, I submitted a story that had been inspired by Greywolf’s unicorn maidens, and waited for the rejection.
It didn’t come.
Instead, Conrad “Lynx” Wong sent me an e-mail letter of acceptance and a note on areas that needed some serious rewriting.
The psychological impact of that acceptance was unbelievable. Since then, many authors have told me of the metamorphosis a writer undergoes after their first acceptance. Pawprints Fanzine helped me to make the psychological leap from writer-wannabe to published author. Suddenly doors opened that had previously been closed and because of that first acceptance, I have had other acceptances as well as a poem published and this summer, iUniverse Press will release my first book, a children’s fantasy novella. PawPrints has since published another two of my stories and Coventry House will most likely be in the final edition.
Not only did PawPrints usher me into the world of writing, but it also introduced me to like-minded furry fans who saw beyond the fanboys to what really constituted furry art and literature. Lynx taught me important lessons on grammar and story structure through his dead-on critiques of my submissions. I was also introduced to Greywolf who will be illustrating my children’s book as well as opened the door to friendships with Steven “Stauros” Crane, XianJaguar, Megan Giles, and others.
At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I never thought I would grieve over the peaceful demise of a small press magazine. To me PawPrints still represents the best of furry fandom’s heart, which is why of all the muses, if PawPrints had its own guardian angel, I would say it was Thalia, the muse of joy.
Furry fandom has no lack of creative intelligence, but unlike PawPrint’s co-editors, too few have the courage to make their dream a reality. It is my sincere wish that Lynx and Greywolf prosper at whatever they lay their minds and hands to, but I will still miss their child dearly.
The Muses were the Greek personification of the nine arts and sciences revered by the ancients and when a person hears their call, they can be cruel taskmasters with velvet whips. When I heard their call on my life many years ago, I also discovered the muses were fickle. All my life I wanted to be called a writer and when I started writing in earnest, all I collected were rejection slips, some of them cruel and all of them daunting. Still, the muses’ call could not be denied.
Having been introduced to furry fandom, first through the online art of T. Jordan “Greywolf” Peacock and then through Antarctic Press’ Furrlough, I finally found myself at the Internet home of Pawprints Fanzine. At that time, submitting stories was robotic. I would submit a story, get a rejection slip, submit another, get a rejection slip. Having never considered submitting to a fanzine and heady with the potential worlds of furry fandom, I submitted a story that had been inspired by Greywolf’s unicorn maidens, and waited for the rejection.
It didn’t come.
Instead, Conrad “Lynx” Wong sent me an e-mail letter of acceptance and a note on areas that needed some serious rewriting.
The psychological impact of that acceptance was unbelievable. Since then, many authors have told me of the metamorphosis a writer undergoes after their first acceptance. Pawprints Fanzine helped me to make the psychological leap from writer-wannabe to published author. Suddenly doors opened that had previously been closed and because of that first acceptance, I have had other acceptances as well as a poem published and this summer, iUniverse Press will release my first book, a children’s fantasy novella. PawPrints has since published another two of my stories and Coventry House will most likely be in the final edition.
Not only did PawPrints usher me into the world of writing, but it also introduced me to like-minded furry fans who saw beyond the fanboys to what really constituted furry art and literature. Lynx taught me important lessons on grammar and story structure through his dead-on critiques of my submissions. I was also introduced to Greywolf who will be illustrating my children’s book as well as opened the door to friendships with Steven “Stauros” Crane, XianJaguar, Megan Giles, and others.
At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I never thought I would grieve over the peaceful demise of a small press magazine. To me PawPrints still represents the best of furry fandom’s heart, which is why of all the muses, if PawPrints had its own guardian angel, I would say it was Thalia, the muse of joy.
Furry fandom has no lack of creative intelligence, but unlike PawPrint’s co-editors, too few have the courage to make their dream a reality. It is my sincere wish that Lynx and Greywolf prosper at whatever they lay their minds and hands to, but I will still miss their child dearly.
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Rev. Boxer @ Gettysburg, PA >
(aka C. Alan Loewen)
http://www.angelfire.com/pa/cloewen