“Judging from the way JM has used fandom and canon, he seems to be implying that furry cannot be a fan of its own creations. But even as we grow on our own work, rather than "outside" sources we might want to ask why we can't be fans of our own creations.”
An interesting question is, at what point did Furry fandom start creating its own literature? Mainstream novels like Olaf Stapledon’s “Sirius” (1944), George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” (1945), and Richard Adams’ “Watership Down” (1972) were largely responsible for the creation of Furry fandom, and they continue to be influential today; but there are enough short fiction and novels published within the fandom now by Furry specialty publishers like FurPlanet Productions, Rabbit Valley Comics, and Sofawolf Press, and self-published by Furry authors on CreateSpace and Lulu.com, that a Furry fan could spend all his or her free time just reading Furry fiction -- being a fan of our own creations.
When did this transition begin? In the late 1990s. Arguably the first Furry fiction was short stories and serialized novels published in fanzines like “FurVersion” and “Yarf!”, and APAs like “Rowrbrazzle”, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Some notable examples are “Rat’s Reputation” by Michael Payne in “Furversion” #16, May 1989, “A Gift of Fire, A Gift of Blood” by Watts Martin in “Yarf!” ##5-8, July-November 1990, and “Fangs of K’aath” by Paul Kidd in “Rowrbrazzle” in the early 1990s. Yet the earliest that Furry literature became generally available was with the creation of the first Furry specialty publishers and their books, with catalogues published on the Internet: “A Whisper of Wings” by Paul Kidd (Vision Books, October 1999) and the collected “Fangs of K’aath” (United Publications, April 2000). Today such Furry publishers as FurPlanet and Sofawolf have novels, anthologies, and short fiction collections that have been available for almost ten years, and that are easily purchased over the Internet; while Amazon.com makes dozens of Furry books available in trade paperback and Kindle editions – “Life’s Dream” by Bernard Doove (CreateSpace, December 2007), and “Striking the Root” by Kris Schnee (CreateSpace, December 2012), to name just two.
“Judging from the way JM has used fandom and canon, he seems to be implying that furry cannot be a fan of its own creations. But even as we grow on our own work, rather than "outside" sources we might want to ask why we can't be fans of our own creations.”
An interesting question is, at what point did Furry fandom start creating its own literature? Mainstream novels like Olaf Stapledon’s “Sirius” (1944), George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” (1945), and Richard Adams’ “Watership Down” (1972) were largely responsible for the creation of Furry fandom, and they continue to be influential today; but there are enough short fiction and novels published within the fandom now by Furry specialty publishers like FurPlanet Productions, Rabbit Valley Comics, and Sofawolf Press, and self-published by Furry authors on CreateSpace and Lulu.com, that a Furry fan could spend all his or her free time just reading Furry fiction -- being a fan of our own creations.
When did this transition begin? In the late 1990s. Arguably the first Furry fiction was short stories and serialized novels published in fanzines like “FurVersion” and “Yarf!”, and APAs like “Rowrbrazzle”, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Some notable examples are “Rat’s Reputation” by Michael Payne in “Furversion” #16, May 1989, “A Gift of Fire, A Gift of Blood” by Watts Martin in “Yarf!” ##5-8, July-November 1990, and “Fangs of K’aath” by Paul Kidd in “Rowrbrazzle” in the early 1990s. Yet the earliest that Furry literature became generally available was with the creation of the first Furry specialty publishers and their books, with catalogues published on the Internet: “A Whisper of Wings” by Paul Kidd (Vision Books, October 1999) and the collected “Fangs of K’aath” (United Publications, April 2000). Today such Furry publishers as FurPlanet and Sofawolf have novels, anthologies, and short fiction collections that have been available for almost ten years, and that are easily purchased over the Internet; while Amazon.com makes dozens of Furry books available in trade paperback and Kindle editions – “Life’s Dream” by Bernard Doove (CreateSpace, December 2007), and “Striking the Root” by Kris Schnee (CreateSpace, December 2012), to name just two.
Fred Patten