Progress is being made on the Cóyotl Awards, a juried award for furry fiction to be run by the Furry Writers' Guild, with the first winners announced at Rainfurrest 2012 next September.

While some details remain private to guild members, preliminary rules have been published. The award is currently to be presented in General and Mature sections for the best Short Story, Novella (over 7500 words) and Novel (over 40,000 words).

Each member may submit five nominations to each category for works they are uninvolved with to a five-member council, rating them on plot, character, setting and literary merit; the four works with the highest weighted average will be voted on by guild members.

The award was floated as an alternative to the Ursa Majors in June 2010. Extensive debate followed to define 'literary quality' and the recognition or differentiation of mature work.

Anne McCaffrey passed away Monday night in her home from what is reported as a 'massive stroke'. She was 85 years of age.

The creative force behind the Dragonriders of Pern fantasy series and The Ship Who Sang, McCaffrey was the first woman to be awarded a Hugo Award, and to receive the Nebula.

McCaffrey was also the first author to reach the New York Times Bestseller's List with a Sci-Fi title (The White Dragon). She published nearly 100 books, mainly fiction, beginning in 1967.

A remarkable author, McCaffrey prided herself on interaction with her fans. Up until a few weeks ago, she was still answering readers' mail on her website. She was also a frequent face at many sci-fi and fantasy conventions, often invited as the guest of honor.

R.I.P. Anne McCaffrey, 1926 – 2011

Way back in May 2006, I wrote a little piece called “The State of the Furry Zine.”
This is a somewhat informal update to that survey.

No matter what kind of work you create, thought needs to go into where you’ll publish it. Writers have more to consider; each site handles text differently. Print publications still carry a different weight for writing, as do e-books; there’s a quantifiable difference between having your story read as a Fur Affinity post versus on a Kindle. But has the web won?

Anthrocon is requesting submissions for this year's conbook, and is offering a sweepstakes to attract artwork, fiction, photography, and articles for the publication. This year's theme is "The Anthropomorphic Institute Of Magic".

The lucky winner gets a supersponsor membership for 2011, or an upgrade if already a member.

All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. EDT April 23. It is not necessary to submit material to enter the sweepstakes, and there is no limit on the number of entries.

Ever wanted a hand-sewn bat plushie by noted author Edward Gorey? Now's your chance, as Bloomsbury Auctions is running an estate sale. [tip: Higgs Raccoon/OzFurry]

The focus of the auction is fur coats, including a tanuki coat. However, there's a variety of other lots, including the aforementioned bat – a present for illustrator James Marshall, reminiscent of the lead character in The Gilded Bat. There's also a plush Figbash of the kind which accompanied the 26 lettered copies of The Raging Tide, a choose-your-own-adventure-style book by Gorey.

But you'd better get down to the New York auction house at 6 West 48th Street quickly – bidding starts at 11AM Eastern today. (Bids also accepted at Live Auctioneers and the-saleroom.com)

The front cover of Out of Position, which won the award for 'Best Novel' for Kyell Gold, and 'Best Published Illustration' for Blotch

The furry homoerotic fiction writer Kyell Gold is now officially the most acclaimed furry writer ever, having won more Ursa Major Awards than anyone else.

Gold (his fursona, not his real name) won "Best Novel" with Out of Position and "Best Short Fiction" with Drifting. This brings his total number of awards that he has won since their creation to eight, making him the most successful individual in their history, beating previous holder Stan Sakai, creator of Usagi Yojimbo, who has six.

Also, Gold wrote for Heat #6, which won the award for "Best Magazine", and the cover for Out of Position, designed by Blotch, won "Best Published Illustration".

The winners of the 2009 Ursa Major Awards, announced this weekend at FA: United 2010:

• Best Comic Strip: Housepets!, by Rick Griffin
• Best Game: Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, developed by Insomniac Games, published by Sony Computer Entertainment
• Best Graphic Story: Concession, by Immelmann
• Best Magazine: Heat #6, published by Sofawolf Press
• Best Motion Picture: Avatar, from 20th Century Fox, directed by James Cameron
• Best Novel: Out of Position, by Kyell Gold, published by Sofawolf Press
• Best Other Literary Work: Draw Furries: How to Create Anthropomorphic and Fantasy Animals, by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges, published by Impact
• Best Published Illustration: Blotch's cover for Kyell Gold's Out of Position
• Best Short Fiction: "Drifting", by Kyell Gold
• Best Short Subject or Series: The Penguins of Madagascar, produced by DreamWorks Animation for Nickelodeon

Read on for the full list of nominees . . .

Ekaterina Sedia, editor of werewolf anthology Running with the Pack, is putting together a sequel under the title Bewere the Night. [tip: Astolpho]

Stories should be of a "general urban fantasy vein" and must deal with were-creatures. Originals (5 cent/word) and reprints (1 cent) of 1,000 to 7,500 words are acceptable. Submissions must be in by December 2010 for a May 2011 release.

Michael Bard (aka "Morgan"), noted furry author on the TSA-Talk mailing list and the fiction-website Shifti (user page), fursuiter, and staffer at Toronto's Furnal Equinox, has suffered devastating brain damage as the result of an aneurysm, stroke, or other yet-to-determined brain circulatory disorder last Friday, March 12.

He was at work at the time, and wasn't found for approximately four hours. As of today, March 15, he was disconnected from life support but continues to breathe on his own. The prognosis, however, remains poor.

I was last with Michael as recently as last Monday — he was suffering from the flu, but was very happy with how well Furnal Equinox's first con had gone and pleased to be with friends.

Shifti is keeping a news page updated with the latest, best info available as a public service. Comments are also welcome.

Editor's note: Michael also pens the column "Through the Looking Glass" [older issues] for Anthro, maintains the Tales from the Blind Pig archive, and was co-editor of TSAT.

SoFurry is running an adult short story contest. The topic is endangered animals — specifically, tigers, rhinos and giant pandas.

Entries must prominently feature at least one of the selected species in a sexual situation, and preferably all three.

One story of roughly 2500 to 10,000 words may be entered per person; it must be submitted to the site with the keyword EnSpContest by March 20. The winner will receive a box of Austrian "Mirabell Mozardkugel" (chocolate and marzipan balls) from site admin Toumal.

The site previously ran a Valentine's Day competition, accepting tame and adult artwork in black, white, and red. The winning work was by Cyran.

Anthrocon is offering two Supersponsorship-level memberships for 2010 for "artwork, fiction, photography, and articles" in the G-to-PG-13 range.

One membership is for visual work, while another is for writings. Multiple submissions may be made in each category. All well-formatted and released entries will count for the drawing; publication preference may go to those on the theme of "Modern Stone-Age Furries."

Sponsorship drawings are a popular way to drum up con book content, while offering creative fans who can't afford the cost of sponsorship a taste of privilege.

Bad Dog Books has released five new books: FANG Volume 3, ROAR Volume 1, White Crusade by Ben Goodridge, The Hero by Teiran, and El Burrito de los Muertos by André Blaireau.
These will debut during Anthrocon '07 and are available from BDB directly and from FurPlanet for $19.95 each. At Anthrocon they will be available from the FurNation table, where a book-signing will also be organized with all three novel authors in attendance.

The 2005 callendar year has seen the emergence of a new venue for furry/anthro/transformation writers to get their works recognized. The WatchingStone AnthroStory Contest is in it's third season and is getting better each go around. This season's judging began on December 21, 2005 and is slated to continue until January 21, 2006. All readers are encouraged to send in their ballots and vote for their favorite entry.

More information on how to vote is available here at http://www.watchingstone.com/vote.html .

More information on the contest is available on the main contest page at http://www.watchingstone.com/contest.html .

DNA Press Publishes "Dragons: Lexicon Triumvirate" by Kenneth C. Eng on March 20th, which Coincides with the Show Dragons on the Discovery Channel - Animal Planet

Nartea Publishing, a division of DNA Press (www.dnapress.com), announced that the book “Dragons: Lexicon Triumvirate” (ISBN 0-9748765-0-X) has been shipped to bookstores. The publication of this book coincides with the much-anticipated show Dragons on the Discovery Channel – Animal Planet (http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/dragons/dragons.html) to be seen on March 20th. The book features technologically advanced dragons battling one another in the Middle Ages, and contains fantastic fight sequences that span across time and space with an array of amazing weaponry. Philosophy is intrinsic to this writing.