Coin-Operated Press FurZine issue is out!

Coin-Operated Press FurZine issue is out!

https://coinoperatedpress.bigcartel.com/

FurZine is 20+ pages of Furry art, photos, poetry & prose! 

My short story, “Fall Season” & 2 of my illustrations from my ongoing cat sword & sorcery series!

[Print] 

FurZine - £6.00 - £7.00

https://coinoperatedpress.bigcartel.com/product/furzine-1 

[Digital] 

PDF - FurZine - £3.00  

https://coinoperatedpress.bigcartel.com/product/pdf-furzine

South Afrifur Pawdcast interviewed me on 6/24

"Watership Down" author, Richard Adams, dead at 96

I just learned that author Richard Adams passed away today at 96.

Lee Gambin 3/23/16

Before cable, a lot of special cartoon films and animations would be on regular TV channels. It's how I got to see a lot of these stories before they were put on VHS and later migrated to cable companies' channels. When I was about six or seven, I caught "Watership Down" one evening. With its Genesis-like 'In the beginning'-type introduction, I was immediately pulled into the very brutal story about a group of rabbits leaving their warren to journey where there would be plenty of food, space, and resources where they could breed and live in peace.

reddit.com/r/thewarren/

These rabbits had a society, they had culture - their oral history was expansive - and they had spiritual beliefs - the sun was Lord to them - and they had lore and legends - Elahrairah was their Adam and the one that made them fall from grace. However, he was still revered and considered responsible for giving the rabbit race their cunning, skills, and physical capabilities.

watershipdown.wikia.com/wiki/Violet

Early in the animation, it got quite violent and visceral, with Fiver, the runt of the group but also a prophet, experiencing horrific visions that compelled the small group of protagonists on their quest. One of my siblings, I am the youngest, came into the living room and asked in horror what kind of bloody cartoon was I watching. I begged them not to change the channel and for the rest of the program, my belly on the rug, twirling my feet in the air, I was enraptured.

Goodreads.com

When I learned "Watership Down" was a book, I kept in mind I would read it when I had a chance. That chance came when I was in community college and usually hung out in the English department, chatting with my Creative Writing professor and some of the other faculty that knew me. One day, while wandering in the department's lobby, I chanced on a table of books. An office worker said I could take as many as I wanted. She explained that every couple of months, faculty members will cull through their office libraries and bring their findings to the lobby for anyone popping up to take what they could. Lo, there was a copy of "Watership Down"! I immediately looked at how many pages (it's a hefty novel) and grabbed it. When I got home, I couldn't put the story down. It had, of course, more details and subplots that the film could not include. It was still as brutal but with the psychological impact of the reader's imagination. To use a cliche', it 'fired my imagination'. I had already decided I wanted to write fantasy when in high school after getting the "Death Gate" trilogy from my sister as a Xmas gift. Reading 'Watership' validated for me to continue to write in the Furry genre!

RIP Richard Adams. We will miss you but your characters, Elahrairah, the Black Rabbit of Elil, Hazel-Rah, Fiver, and Bigwig will continue to live on as will you, in our hearts. :(

R.I.P. Martin H. Greenberg... Editor Extraordinaire

[Blogger's note: in this article, Here There Be Links! Click, if you dare]

Just learned tonight on Twitter that an editor I hold responsible for increasing and cementing my interest in the short story had died *three years ago*!

Martin H. Greenberg was his name, and if you were like me, in the 1990s on up, into speculative fiction AND a lover of the short story, you probably read any of his countless anthologies. That is, by himself or in a collaboration.

For instance, his "Cat Fantastic" series that he co-edited with one of my favorite authors Andre Norton.

I discovered the Cat Fantastic books in 11th grade when our high school had a book fair. I have been drawn to cats all my life. I often read cat-themed books, such as Andre Norton's "Breed To Come" and Tad Williams' "Tailchaser's Song" and that pretty much set me up.

Fast forward nine years later, and I published my first short story.

What does becoming a short story author have to do with Martin H. Greenberg? Well, school, especially in middle and high, English classes encouraged and commanded that the student read a variety of writing styles, the only way to be well-read in such a short time as a semester meant reading an English textbook anthology.

We have all read them, regardless of when we attended school. It is usually the thickest text we have in our book bag, and it will have samples of Shakespeare to Henry James to Virginia Woolf to James Joyce to Phyllis Wheatley. Yet, these stories could either touch us, enlighten us, or fill us with boredom.

The anthology is usually how many readers are introduced to new writers or get re-acquainted with old writers.

So, by the time I found that fateful book at my high school's book fair, I was already inundated by a public school system that had trained me to do much of my reading through short stories and by a variety of them, according to each anthology's theme.

There is a debt to be paid. One that I can never give to Mr. Martin H. Greenberg. I did not have a chance to speak with him, nor had I ever the inkling to communicate with him. What I did was keep buying the anthologies he edited.

Cat Fantastic II introduced me to many of the authors I now read, and to the further possibilities that exist within speculative fiction. I believe reading this anthology and others in the Cat Fantastic series made me a better reader, helped to mold me into a discriminating reader, and inspired me to become a writer and a better one at that.

So Thank You, Mr. Greenberg. I owe you much.

"It's Slash."

          So says my niece about my titular character.
I devoted an entire blog post about my canine crime boss on July 18, 2012. My oldest niece has lived with many of my stories since we were little, so she was constructively critical as I explained how a beloved bedtime tale had evolved since she last lived with us.
After I told her which key elements had been changed, updates, and the illustrations that accompanied the novel draft, my niece stopped me with the statement: "You need to make Stacey prettier."

It rendered me speechless. I fumbled with an explanation that the character was young and unfortunately dressed frumpy, and would, as story progress, learn to dress better, or more fashionable.

My niece wasn't having any of it: as she read romance books, she was fed-up that one person in the couple never looked up to the standards of the more attractive partner.

I took what she said, and realized how good it was that I hadn't made this a graphic novel or illustrated story. Slash has inspired, provoked jealousy, and more than one person has shown their displeasure at my female protagonist put next to my gang leader. It's been suggested that I 'bump off', or, in some way, compensate the idea that, by Slash's good looks, even his partner must add up! This niece once told me to stop drawing the character in brown suits, which I since added as a subplot!
Slash Castellano continues to infiltrate people's imagination, long before this story became a full novel. It excites me that there will be fans of this guy and other characters long before this hopefully sees publication!

Project Looking Glass - by Mark Anthony Tierno

Project Looking Glass - a teaser but still a fun read! Author is expanding it to a series! Can't wait!