Furry Writers' Guild

…so we made you an anthology!

It’s been a long time in the making, but the Tales from the Guild: Blood and Water anthology is finished and off to the printers! We partnered with Fenris Publishing, who took on the hard work of layout, graphic design, and all the hidden steps of bringing a book to market. The amazing cover art is by Chum Basket.

The anthology is literally off to the printers, which means a wait of about a month for copies to be printed and bound, then probably a few more weeks for shipping. With luck Fenris will have copies in hand by August and the book will be available to order through their website or in person at your favorite convention!

We’ll keep you updated on the official release date and when preorders will be available. Thanks to Fenris, JFR Coates who spearheaded the project, the other editors, and of course all the authors!

May was really busy for the guild, with the Cóyotl Award winners announced and guild officer elections! We’re settling into the middle of the year with some thoughts of how we should move ahead with changes to guild membership and also how we can get the word out about the guild to writers who might not know about us yet.

We’ve had some great new book releases over the last several months and I’ve been bad about updating the reading list at the bottom of the monthly newsletters. It’s updated now, so definitely take a look and grab copies of the books you’ve missed! I’ve also been bad about updating the open markets list below. Remember you can always check our Furry Writers’ Market page on the website to find new anthology calls and other open markets for your writing!

Our new VP has started a weekly writing ‘prawmt’ on the Discord server, if you’re looking for fun story prompts. If you hop on over to Sofawolf Academy and make an account (if you don’t already have one) you can watch an interview with me, your reluctant guild president.

Happy Pride Month! I hope your wordcounts soar this month and your troubles dwindle.

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
The Morning After – Deadline June 1, 2025
Plott Hound Deadline June 15, 2025
Neo-Twiny Jam – Deadline July 1, 2025
The Second Hayven Celestia Anthology – Deadline July 15, 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest book releases from our members:
My Remise, by Koda Copeland, Released March 25, 2025
Tales of Scales, by Michael Miele, Released April 2, 2025.
Wind Singer: An Imbrium Novella, by Frances Pauli, Released April 19, 2025
Meeting Dominique, by Royce Day, Released May 1, 2025.
Dragon’s Soul, by J.F.R. Coates, Releasing June 7, 2025.

Voting has concluded in what we think may be the first actual vote needed for officer elections. 51 members voted.

The contested officer position was Markets Manager, with Scribbles Cheetah (incumbent) receiving 62.7% of the vote and Chase Anderson receiving 37.3% of the vote. It was actually a much closer race than it sounds, with the percentage going back and forth repeatedly and at one point standing (for a long time) right at 50/50. Congratulations to Scribbles for continuing as the FWG Markets Manager for 2025-26!

The other half of the ballot regarded expanding the guild’s membership requirements to include written work in other formats/media (i.e. not just novels, short stories, and poetry). Members overwhelmingly voted in favor of this, with 92.2% of the votes. We also received 33 thoughtful responses about the change, both positive and negative. In the coming weeks, guild officers will take all comments into account and discuss how best to implement the change to benefit guild members and potential members. I hope to post our conclusions sometime in June so that members can make comments and suggestions before the change is adopted formally.

Thanks to everyone who voted and commented!

It looks like I’ll be staying on as president for the next year, and I’ll do my best. Flash Kitterson has stepped into the vice president role and is doing a fantastic job already! Resolute will also be staying on as public relations officer and is, as always, doing a great job. Remember that the treasurer and Coyotl Awards chair roles are still vacant, so if you’ve been thinking of volunteering, you don’t need to wait for guild elections next April. Just let us know.

In other news–
For the horror fans among us, check out the Kickstarter for a planned horror anthology, The Deer Is Messed Up, which will be paying pro rates. It’s not a furry anthology but Scribbles checked with the editor and they will consider furry/anthro stories. It needs to meet its goal by June 4 for the anthology to happen, so pre-order your copy through Kickstarter and support small publishers!

I’ll be back next week with the monthly newsletter!

It’s time for FWG members to vote for guild officers! The ballot is live and can be found here:

2025 FWG Elections

You must be a current guild member to vote, so make sure that you provide the correct name and email address so we can match your response against guild membership records. Feel free to email if your contact information has changed and you want to make sure guild records are up-to-date.

In addition to the one contested seat, Markets Manager, the ballot asks for your opinion about broadening the type of works accepted for membership in the guild. There’s also a comment section if you’d like to share your thoughts on this topic.

The ballot will remain open for one week, until May 23, 2025, so don’t put off your decision for too long.

Voting is closed for the Cóyotl Awards. The counting machine has been cleared of shed fur and we have tabulated the totals. Thanks to the Furry Film Burrow for hosting the announcement of winners this year–a venue that we may use for future awards announcements too!

The winners of the 2024 Cóyotl Awards are:

Winner for Best Novel
Far Flung – Utunu

Winner for Best Novella
You Look Lost, Pup – Rob MacWolf

Winner for Best Short Story
“Houses of Stone” – Utunu (in The Heavens Within Our Grasp)

Winner for Best Anthology
The Heavens Within Our Grasp – Furry Historical Fiction Society

Winner for Best Other Work
Voice of Dog – Rob MacWolf

Congratulations to the winners! A big thanks to everyone who worked to bring their work to publication this year. We as a fandom are so lucky to have writers, editors, publishers, and readers who are so generous with their time and talent. Truly, we couldn’t do this without you.

Sincerely, 

• The staff of the Furry Writers Guild

Note: It came to our attention after voting started that Kyell Gold’s novel Squeak Thief is over 70,000 words. While this word count qualifies it as a novel by the Cóyotl Awards, we chose not to change it while the process was ongoing. Our main concern was to not invalidate the votes already cast. Based on the votes, the change in category would not have changed the winner in either category. While this might seem like a minor issue, we felt that being transparent in this process was the right way to go. Thank you to everyone who nominated and voted.

May has arrived after a very busy April! The Cóyotl Awards have concluded, and we’re working on an announcement venue to reveal the winners within a week or so.

The next big thing is guild officer elections. We have several guild members running for office this year, including one contested seat! That means we’ll have a guild-wide vote in mid-May. Until May 14, candidates will answer questions on the guild’s Discord server, in the “Guild Officer Elections” channel. If you have a question but want to remain anonymous, you can email it to furwritersguild [at] gmail.com and I will post it for you. On May 16, voting will start via online ballot, which I’ll announce here closer to the time. We will most likely make one of our rare guild-wide emails to alert members when voting is live, so this is a very good time to update your email address if you need to.

Convention season is well underway as spring and summer weather brings out furries like weird flowers in the northern hemisphere, and cooling weather in the southern hemisphere allows for suiting without too much risk of heat stroke. I hope you get a chance to attend a convention or furmeet in your area! Even if you can’t, hopefully you’ll get some time off work or school so you can do some writing.

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
The Second Hayven Celestia Anthology – Deadline July 15, 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest book releases from our members:

Space Dragons: Luxorian’s Crew, by Veo Corva. Released November 12th 2024.
Catfish and Other Stories, by K.C. Shaw. Released November 30th 2024.
Wolf Tech 3: The Alphas, by Adam Webster. Released December 10th 2024.
Tales of Scales, by Michael Miele, Released April 2, 2025.
Meeting Dominique, by Royce Day, Released May 1, 2025.

Happy writing!

Kate Shaw

At last, voting begins! We had a lot of nominations this year and as a result, our ballot is a bit larger than usual to make room for those 2024 works with the most nominations.

Guild members can vote using this form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScRdFoobt62L0gSbJBECYDtIcakUTF9lT1qH1_98mBcuf4nmA/viewform?usp=header

Please remember to include the name and email address that we have on file for you in the guild records! Only guild members may vote.

Voting will continue through April 22, 2025. We’ll announce the winners sometime in early May, details to be announced.

Welcome to April! I’m a bit late, but that’s because I’m ridiculously busy and forgot I needed to post.

The most important news right now is a reminder for guild members to nominate their favorite works of 2024 for the Cóyotl Awards! You only have five more days, until April 7, 2025. Feel free to refer to the 2024 Cóyotl Awards reading list to help jog your memory about your favorite reads from last year. It’s a hard decision for sure, since so many amazing books, stories, and other works were published in 2024!

Please use this form to nominate a work published in 2024:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeCX_ImDPbzBmdieS5NuZnaaQ9TkBEdMKeuDVFDwQCaUmaY7g/viewform?usp=sf_link

Voting for the Cóyotl Awards will start on April 8 and continue through April 22.

Our other big news this month is guild officer elections. We’re very short-handed at the moment, so if you’ve ever considered running for an officer position, this is the time. Ordinarily I would direct you to the forums to post if you want to stand for a position, but at the moment the forums are down. Since they don’t see much use these days, we are considering closing the forums instead of trying to bring them back online. This might be something we’ll bring to a vote during elections, but if you have an opinion about the forums one way or another, please weigh in–in the comments here, or on the Discord or Telegram chats.

In any case, if you’d like to stand for an officer position, you can declare your intentions and give a little stump speech on the Discord server. There should be a channel up by tomorrow dedicated to guild elections. If more than one person stands for the same position, we’ll have a guild-wide vote.

This is your guilt trip friendly reminder that the Furry Writers’ Guild can only continue as an institution with the help of its members. We especially need someone with a vision and ideas for the guild’s future, and that someone will not be me. I will not be running for guild president, since I don’t feel I’m the right person for the job. But maybe you are!

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
The Second Hayven Celestia Anthology – Deadline July 15, 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest book releases from our members:

Space Dragons: Luxorian’s Crew, by Veo Corva. Released November 12th 2024.
Catfish and Other Stories, by K.C. Shaw. Released November 30th 2024.
Wolf Tech 3: The Alphas, by Adam Webster. Released December 10th 2024.

Happy writing!

Kate Shaw

Better late than never, the 2024 Cóyotl Awards are open for nominations!

Remember that you need to be a Furry Writers’ Guild member to nominate a work, but the author does not. Please also remember that works nominated must have been first published in 2024. Nominations will run through April 5, 2025.

Feel free to refer to the 2024 Cóyotl Awards reading list to help jog your memory about your favorite reads from last year. It’s a hard decision for sure, since so many amazing books, stories, and other works were published in 2024!

Please use this form to nominate a work published in 2024:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeCX_ImDPbzBmdieS5NuZnaaQ9TkBEdMKeuDVFDwQCaUmaY7g/viewform?usp=sf_link

Welcome to March! That’s all I have to say about that.

The Cóyotl Awards reading list is underway, with a form now attached so authors and readers can suggest qualifying works. Because of the difficulties we’ve had getting the page put together (many thanks to Resolute for his hard work!), nominations for the Cóyotls won’t start until March 15. I’ll post when the nomination form is open. Until then, visit the 2024 Cóyotl Awards Reading List page to find works you might have missed reading last year.

If you’re feeling frustrated at the delays we’ve had getting the Cóyotl Awards underway, perhaps you would like to volunteer to be next year’s Cóyotl Awards Chair! Guild officer elections start next month and we really need some fresh meat helpful volunteers.

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Plott Hound Magazine – Deadline March 15, 2025
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
The Second Hayven Celestia Anthology – Deadline July 15, 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest book releases from our members:

Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Released October 2nd 2024.
Space Dragons: Luxorian’s Crew, by Veo Corva. Released November 12th 2024.
Catfish and Other Stories, by K.C. Shaw. Released November 30th 2024.
Wolf Tech 3: The Alphas, by Adam Webster. Released December 10th 2024.

Happy writing!

Kate Shaw

How did January pass so quickly and yet last for 87 agonizing days? I meant to post about the Cóyotl Awards a few weeks ago but it completely slipped my mind.

If you’re a guild member with qualifying work published in 2024, or if you’re a guild member who read a qualifying work published in 2024 and want to make sure everyone else reads it, we’re compiling a recommended reading list before we open for nominations. I haven’t set up a submission form, so the best way to suggest work is to email us or use the promote work form linked in the sidebar to the right. Please make sure to indicate that you’re recommending works for the Cóyotls! Recommendations will be compiled in a new post at https://coyotlawards.com/ so you can find works you missed during the year.

Official Cóyotl Award nominations will start on March 1 and voting will start around April 1 (or as soon after that as we can get the nominations verified and organized into a ballot). This is a reminder that we are seeking a guild member who would like to take over the vacant Cóyotl Award Chair position. Guild officer elections will also occur in April.

If you’re having a hard time lately, remember that honing your craft as a writer is a valid and healthy way to cope with world events. No one can write the way you do. Your art is unique, just like you are, and it’s important to the world. You are important to the world! Anyone who implies otherwise has no soul.

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
The Second Hayven Celestia Anthology – Deadline July 15, 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Plott Hound Magazine will be opening for short story submissions on March 1, 2025

Please also check out the latest book releases from our members:

Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Released October 2nd 2024.
Space Dragons: Luxorian’s Crew, by Veo Corva. Released November 12th 2024.
Catfish and Other Stories, by K.C. Shaw. Released November 30th 2024.
Wolf Tech 3: The Alphas, by Adam Webster. Released December 10th 2024.

Happy writing!

Kate Shaw

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season whatever you celebrate, and if you don’t celebrate anything, I hope you got a few days off work where you could rest and recharge.

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel fiercely hopeful for 2025. We’re heading for a lot of change, but as we all know, transformations can be difficult but ultimately positive. We just have to stay strong, stick together, and protect the most vulnerable among us.

The guild has dropped Twitter/X completely, since that platform no longer feels appropriate for the furry writing community. While our Telegram and Discord are most active, we have moved to Bluesky and it seems like a pretty good place at the moment. If you’re a guild member who has also joined Bluesky, and the guild account hasn’t followed you back, feel free to drop an email or message to let us know your handle. This is also a good time to update your contact information if your email has changed or if there’s anything else we should update in the guild membership records. Don’t forget to update your available works too! There’s a link to the right that you can fill out.

I used to never set new year resolutions (except one in 2011 that I still keep, to floss my teeth every day. Yay healthy teeth and gums!), but these days I like the idea that the new year is a reset button. If I decide to make a change in my life that others will notice–the way I dress, my hairstyle, pronouns used, etc.–people are more likely to accept this change as normal right after the new year. Sometimes the hardest part of being one’s true self is worrying about what others will think. That’s truer today than it has been in my entire lifetime, unfortunately.

So, what are some of your resolutions for 2025? I have plans to change jobs later this year and move to another state to go back to school in fall, which has me really excited (and scared)! Along the way I want to finish the three writing projects I’ve been working on, including the novella I started in October.

As for guild stuff, we have lots coming up! We still don’t have the firm publication date for the Blood & Water anthology, except that it should be verrrrry soon, but we definitely have the Cóyotl Awards coming up! Later this month I’ll post the dates for nominations and voting, along with the link for the pre-nomination phase: the recommended reading list! That’s specifically for 2024 works that are eligible, and it’s a great way to find works that you missed last year.

We also have guild elections coming up in April, but if you’ve been considering stepping up to an officer position, we can really use your help sooner than that. Three officer positions are currently vacant: vice president, treasurer, and Cóyotl Awards Chair. I am acting president but would really like to step down to treasurer instead. While I’m pretty good at the back-end details of updating the website and so forth, I don’t feel I’m the right person to lead the guild. We need someone with vision and enthusiasm who can devote time to the position and not (as a totally random example) neglect social media to sew fursuits to fund her upcoming move and tuition.

Whatever your writing goals for the new year, the Furry Writers’ Guild will be there to support you!

Check out the Kickstarter campaign for a new pro-paying furry/furry-adjacent story market, Plott Hound Magazine!

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
The Second Hayven Celestia Anthology – Deadline July 15, 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest book releases from our members:

Shadow Sun, by Jess E. Owen. Released August 30th, 2024.
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Released October 2nd 2024.
Space Dragons: Luxorian’s Crew, by Veo Corva. Released November 12th 2024.
Catfish and Other Stories, by K.C. Shaw. Released November 30th 2024.
Wolf Tech 3: The Alphas, by Adam Webster. Released December 10th 2024.

Happy writing!

Kate Shaw

Well, here we are at the closing of another year. I hardly know what to say after the events of November. We will get through the next few years just as we’ve weathered other storms, and we will do so with heads high, hearts open, and teeth bared if necessary.

One exciting thing is the imminent publication of the guild’s latest anthology, Tales from the Guild: Blood and Water, published through Fenris. The original plan was for a release at Midwest FurFest, but the publishing process is a slow one with lots of moving parts. Currently the cover art is being finished, so it’s close, but the publication date has had to be moved back a little.

What are your writing goals for 2025? If you’re not feeling great about the future, writing can be an escape–a way to live temporarily in a world where you control every detail. It’s also a beacon to declare that art (and the artist’s soul) will always triumph.

Along with the new year comes awards season, so if there are recently-published books on your to-read pile, this is a good time to bump them to the top. If you have recently-published works, this is also a good time to send in updates for your guild member profile and the suggested reading lists. If you have a book coming out soon, let us know so we can list it in future posts. Make it easy for potential readers to find what you’ve written!

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
The Second Hayven Celestia Anthology – Deadline July 15, 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest book releases from our members:

Shadow Sun, by Jess E. Owen. Released August 30th, 2024.
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Released October 2nd 2024.
Space Dragons: Luxorian’s Crew, by Veo Corva. Released November 12th 2024.
Catfish and Other Stories, by K.C. Shaw. Released November 30th 2024.
Wolf Tech 3: The Alphas, by Adam Webster. Release date December 10th 2024.

Happy writing!

Kate Shaw

Furry Book Month has drawn to a close for another year. Hopefully everyone who wanted a copy of the 2024 book bundle had a chance to download it.

For those of us who participated in the first Furry Novel Jam, congratulations! Even if you only wrote a handful of words in October, those were words you hadn’t written before. I didn’t finish my novella, but I wrote over 15,000 words total and feel really good about my progress. The Furry Novel Jam doesn’t have to end if you don’t want it to end!

Awards season is coming up fast, so if there are recently-published books on your to-read pile, this is a good time to bump them to the top. If you have recently-published works, this is also a good time to send in updates for your guild member profile and the suggested reading lists. If you have a book coming out soon, let us know so we can list it in future posts. Make it easy for potential readers to find what you’ve written!

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Paw Anthology: Volume 2 – Deadline November 21st 2024
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
The Second Hayven Celestia Anthology – Deadline July 15, 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest releases from our members:

Shadow Sun, by Jess E. Owen. Released August 30th
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Released October 2nd 2024.

Happy writing!

Kate Shaw

Happy furry book month! My laptop decided to celebrate by bluescreening on September 30, so while I have managed to get it up and running again, it’s unfortunately delayed the book bundle release by a day or two.

Edited to add: Many thanks to JFR Coates, who stepped up and got the book bundle put together last night. It’s now available for purchase on Gumroad! There are two versions of the bundle, one with only books suitable for a general audience and one with those books and the 18+ books. The price works out to only $1 per book in the bundle, plus an extra $1 that goes to the guild to help with our recurring expenses. That’s a fantastic price for so many amazing books!

In the meantime, you can write your own book during our first Furry Novel Jam! The rules are simple: work out a writing goal that you feel you can accomplish during October, and start writing. You can begin a brand new project, finish a project you’ve been stuck on, or jump from project to project. As long as you get some words down during October, you win the novel jam and deserve accolades and possibly a cake.

We have some fun novel jam activities going on in the Telegram chat and Discord server, including word sprints, challenges, and a certain amount of complaining (all part of the writing life). Come join us!

We’re still looking for guild members who are interested in an officer position. We’ll be holding elections in April as usual, but if you’d like to help out sooner, just let one of the officers know. Duties are generally modest and the other officers (mostly) don’t bite.

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Paw Anthology: Volume 2 – Deadline November 21st 2024
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Beyond Their Pale – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest releases from our members.
Squeak Thief, by Kyell Gold. Released July 2024.
The Heavens Within Our Grasp, edited by Maddison Scott-Clary, featuring stories by multiple FWG Members. Released July 1st 2024.
Far Flung, by Utunu. Released July 3rd 2024.
The Eternal Party, by DarkEnd. Released July 4th 2024.
Therianthropic Dreams, by NightEyes DaySpring. Released July 15th 2024.
Return of the Queen, by Shaun M. McGrath. Released July 31st.
Shadow Sun, by Jess E. Owen. Released August 30th
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Available for pre-orders. Released October 2nd 2024.

Happy writing!

Kate Shaw

October is Furry Book Month, and we’re only a few weeks away! We have a few fun things going on next month to celebrate, including another book bundle!

We are taking submissions for both a general audiences and an 18+ book bundle until Sept. 26, 2024. To submit your novel for consideration, please keep the following qualifications in mind:

The author must be a member of the Furry Writers’ Guild.
The story must be self-published.
The story must be a novel.
The story must be a stand-alone or first in a series (no sequels).
The story must be furry.
The story cannot have been included in a previous bundle.

The bundles will be available on Gumroad for pay-what-you-want (minimum price of $10), with proceeds split evenly between all contributing authors and the FWG. Please get your entries in before September 26th, since we want the bundle to go live on October 1st. We would like to include around ten novels per bundle. Since we want to showcase as wide a variety of writers as possible, we are more likely to choose submissions by authors who have not been featured in a previous bundle.

Please fill out this form to submit:
https://forms.gle/rbGk3FVz4Pj2zpkX6

In other Furry Book Month news, it’s time to sharpen your typing claws because we’re launching the first Furry Novel Jam! This is similar to the November novel writing challenge that most of us have heard of. Instead of November, we’ll be writing throughout October–hopefully without as many distractions from holidays, school deadlines, etc.

The rules are pretty simple. Set a writing goal for October, and on Oct. 1, start! You can cheer on your fellow writers on the Discord server, arrange word sprints and mini competitions, and basically just have fun. It’s easy to lose the joy of writing amid the pressures we put on ourselves, and it can also be hard to make time to write. Sometimes turning the solitary, cerebral practice of writing into a ridiculous race with a bunch of likeminded people can help you regain both joy and discipline.

My planned novella is outlined (uh, mostly). What are you planning to write?

Well, here we are. It’s September, the start of a new season and a new chapter in FWG’s history as our previous long-serving president, JFR (Jaye) Coates has stepped down and I am officially the new president. My name is Kate Shaw (writing usually as K.C. Shaw), and I’ve been in the background as vice president for several years now. I don’t post much so you might not know me, but I love everything the guild stands for and I’m proud to have helped Jaye bring so many important changes about since 2021. I hope I can continue her stellar work going forward.

Jaye will still be around, of course, as a guild member, moderator on various platforms, and editor of the forthcoming Tales from the Guild: Blood and Water anthology. We’ll miss her as president, but we’re all excited to see her writing and publishing adventures continue.

That said, we are now down several guild officers. If you’ve ever considered helping out, we currently need a treasurer and vice president. Feel free to contact me or any other guild officer if you’d like to step up, although we will also be holding officer elections as usual in April of 2025.

I’m delighted that my first “official” act as president is to congratulate guild member Edi Álvarez for doing so well in the International Latino Book Awards! His novel Virtus Draconis was a finalist for Best Fantasy Novel and won honorable mention for Best First Book. It’s available in both Spanish and English editions. His book Como una Fiera also won honorable mention for Most Inspirational Young Adult Book. Congratulations!

Here are the current open markets for your short stories:
Paw Anthology: Volume 2 – Deadline November 21st 2024
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Beyond Their Pale – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest releases from our members.
Squeak Thief, by Kyell Gold. Released July 2024.
The Heavens Within Our Grasp, edited by Maddison Scott-Clary, featuring stories by multiple FWG Members. Released July 1st 2024.
Far Flung, by Utunu. Released July 3rd 2024.
The Eternal Party, by DarkEnd. Released July 4th 2024.
Therianthropic Dreams, by NightEyes DaySpring. Released July 15th 2024.
Return of the Queen, by Shaun M. McGrath. Released July 31st.
Shadow Sun, by Jess E. Owen. Available for pre-orders. Released August 30th
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Available for pre-orders. Released October 2nd 2024.

Many thanks to Jaye for her hard work over the years. I’ll do my best to ensure a seamless transition.

Kate Shaw

Ever since I stepped up to president in 2021, I have been proud to lead the Furry Writers Guild. It has been an absolute joy to see the talent and passion amongst the writing community.

Sadly, all things must come to an end. I have decided to step down as president of the guild effective immediately.

I have not achieved all I wanted for the guild, but I truly believe I have left it in a better place than I began. Every president has left their mark in expanding and evolving the guild, and I am happy with what I achieved. I have simply come to realise that I no longer have the time and energy to devote to running the guild in the way that it deserves.

For that reason, I will be stepping down. My VP K.C. Shaw will be stepping up to fulfil the rest of the current term, with a decision to be made in April next year to continue or to initiate an election. Over the next few days and weeks, I will be assisting Kate to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible.

You will still be able to find me around the Telegram and Discord as always – I’ll be sticking around to help moderate the chats, though our wonderful members always make it so easy by never having any drama to police!

It has been an honour and privilege leading the guild these past three and a bit years. Thank you everyone for entrusting me with the presidency.

But! This is still a blog post, and that means there are markets to share! Check these out if you have a short story within you.
F/F Non Erotic Anthology – Deadline August 31st 2024
Isekai Me! – Deadline August 31st 2024
Paw Anthology: Volume 2 – Deadline November 21st 2024
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Beyond Their Pale – Deadline When Full

Please also check out the latest releases from our members.
Squeak Thief, by Kyell Gold. Released July 2024.
The Heavens Within Our Grasp, edited by Maddison Scott-Clary, featuring stories by multiple FWG Members. Released July 1st 2024.
Far Flung, by Utunu. Released July 3rd 2024.
The Eternal Party, by DarkEnd. Released July 4th 2024.
Therianthropic Dreams, by NightEyes DaySpring. Released July 15th 2024.
Return of the Queen, by Shaun M. McGrath. Released July 31st.
Shadow Sun, by Jess E. Owen. Available for pre-orders. Released August 30th
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Available for pre-orders. Released October 2nd 2024.

There might be one more monthly blog from me, depending on how the transition goes with Kate. If there is, I will see you then.

If not, I leave you in the very capable hands of Kate.

Thank you everyone.
Stay safe and happy writing.
J.F.R. Coates

July in Disability Pride month, and for this, we discussed disability in furry fiction with Anastasia Spinet, who was happy to answer some questions about how her disability has affected her life and her writing, including her debut novel Quicksilver.

For those who don’t know you, can you introduce yourself and your work?

Hi! I typically go by “Emp” in online and fandom spaces, but my penname is Anastasia Spinet. I’ve always loved anthropomorphic characters, but I officially started labelling myself as a “furry” around 2002 when I discovered the term on Neopets. I’m a vet tech by trade, and when I’m not writing or wrangling saucy cats, I can be found hanging in the woods, talking to crows, reading books, or gaming. I’m pretty much the stereotypical “woodsy, witchy introvert” type. I’m here for disability month because I have a super rare disability called Holt-Oram Syndrome (AKA, “hand-heart syndrome”) that impacts pretty much every facet of my life. It’s a chromosomal mutation that impedes the development of the limbs and heart in utero. For me, that means a deformed left hand, a pacemaker, and severe chronic fatigue. I often joke that X-Men lied to me as a kid, because being a mutant cyborg in the real world is rather tedious lol.

I published my first official paid piece when I was 17, where a short I wrote appeared as an in-game readable book item for a super obscure (and dearly missed) online pet sim called NeuroGalaxy. As an adult, I’ve been published in a handful of anthologies since 2019, and this year I published my first novel, an anthropomorphic cyberpunk adventure called Quicksilver. Usually my work has a supernatural or folkloric slant to it, but Quicksilver is unique among my pieces in that it’s cyberpunk, and I drew on my own real-world experiences with technology, disability, and my fears over loss of bodily autonomy as a means of flavoring the narrative and its themes.

How do you believe your disability has shaped your work?

It is absolutely a major reason why I enjoy furry fiction, in addition to other forms of SF/F that feature non-human (ie: alien, monster, robot, etc) protagonists. My bread and butter is protagonists who aren’t physically human. I was very isolated in my formative years due to my hand deformity. Starting around 6 years old, when I began attending public school, I had to deal with a lot of “don’t be her friend! If you touch her, your hands will look like that too!” I was not old enough to correctly articulate the negative emotions I felt from dealing with that five days a week for several hours every day, so I fell into a world of vivid escapism and started creating my own stories – typically involving cats — from a very early age. I also loved animals, largely because they would still interact with me and love me with all their hearts no matter how I looked. A lot of my dissatisfaction with my body and the fears I felt from emergency medical intervention (which I am super grateful for it, but as a kid you don’t fully understand why they are sticking needles in you or busting open your sternum, and that terror stays forever) was poured into the character Jet, who I created when I was still in grade school to help me deal with these emotions.

Additionally, there are certain clusters of tropes that I strongly enjoy writing (and reading) because they have parallels to my own experiences, but are removed enough that I can enjoy the escapism aspect of the story. A lot of furry novels and series that I’m quick to recommend to others also utilise a lot of these tropes. I especially love a protagonist who is born with a trait they never would have chosen to posses, and I enjoy seeing protagonists like that learn to grow, change, and navigate their own unique reality. Both Tammy and Jet from Quicksilver fall under this trope, and I used my own emotions towards my body and my life to color certain aspects of their experiences, especially in regards to medical experimentation, self-hatred, and a sense of isolation from their own communities. I’m very focused on emotions when it comes to writing, because I feel that emotions are what connects us and makes us human. You might not be able to understand how it feels to have a deformity or a hunk of metal powering your heart, but I think we have all felt isolated or persecuted at some point in our lives, and I think exploring those feelings through entertaining fiction can help open discussions and build bridges with people who we might otherwise see ourselves as having little in common with.

How do you feel the wider furry community is handling people with a disability? What do you think needs to be done to improve things?

I’d argue it’s a mixed bag, but, a lot of that has to do with just how vastly diverse disabilities as a whole are. Like, even though we are both ‘disabled’, I have a very different set of needs than my friend with cerebral palsy. Even within the Holt-Oram community, the severity of the disability occurs on a wide spectrum, and “accessibility” for us is not a one size fits all by any means. Overall, however, I find most “geek” communities are somewhat better than average concerning things like accessibility, at least in terms of my experience. For example, because of my HOS, I have a very bad heart. I currently have a pacemaker, but it looks like I may need even more “borg parts” or possibly a transplant in the near future. Currently, if I’m left standing up for too long (for me that’s 30 minutes+) I can become very ill from a lack of blood flow to my brain, so being able to sit for a bit is something I legitimately need. I can say that within the sphere of “geekdom” is the one place where I have never received any direct flack for this, and I’m super grateful for that.

The biggest thing that does bother me in geek spaces, however, is getting treated a bit like a zoo animal, or like I’m part of some special club. I’m not “special” – I’m sick, and it sucks, but I’m a survivor and I want to live and engage in my hobbies for as long as I can. I ultimately just want to be treated with respect as a human being. It’s a tough thing to describe to people who haven’t been on the receiving end of the behaviour, but sometimes you will get this specific tone or attitude where you can tell they are trying to be “inclusive” but they’re trying so hard that they’re actually coming across as condescending and rude. I think the solution for this is for group leaders (be it a con, meet, etc) to learn to actively listen to those of us who request disability accommodation. If someone makes a request for accommodation and you feel that’s something you can provide, don’t make a big deal over it; just do it. I can only speak for myself, but, for me, when weird groveling behaviour gets involved after I disclose I’m disabled, it feels a lot like mockery and often leaves me feeling ashamed for asking for something as simple as a chair. I asked for a chair, not a circle of worshippers. White it’s definitely preferable to naked bigotry, I do feel like it’s still an inappropriate way to treat people, especially if you want us to feel comfortable at an event. It’s good to recognise when someone is disabled, but it’s not so good to treat them like that disability is the only thing that defines them.

What does the inclusion of disability in fiction mean to you?

When it specifically comes to fictional characters, this is probably a bit of a spicy take but, to me personally, I’m fairly indifferent. I’m very happy that disabled folks who are into that kind of thing can more easily find the type of narratives they are looking for in this day and age but, for me, I engage in sci-fi and fantasy as a means to escape the painful reality of my life. I used to be a very athletic person in my youth, and losing those abilities in my late 20’s and 30’s has been hard for me, especially knowing that it’s only going to get worse as I age. I use fiction to live vicariously through the characters. This is why Tammy and Jet have cool animal and cyborg powers rather than deformed limbs and catastrophic cardiovascular failure. When it comes to SF/F specifically, I’m more engaged with metaphorical and allegorical explorations of the emotions that surround disability, rather than the disability itself. That’s not to say I don’t like seeing disabled characters in fiction (I do) but you’ll rarely see me picking up a book solely because the protagonist is disabled, as I can find a way to project onto pretty much any character if they are well developed enough.

Where inclusion in fiction does strongly matter to me is the publication of fiction by talented authors who have a disability. I like supporting and reading the perspectives from other authors who are disabled, regardless of whether or not they include their specific disability in their work. That gives me a tangible sense of community, and gives me a means to support others who have also struggled due to physical characteristics that they can not change and did not choose. Talented disabled voices can be brushed under the rug due to our unique struggles with physical health, and I want to hear and support those voices by purchasing, reading, and/or discussing their work. At the end of the day, fictional characters are not real, and, when it comes to disability, I’m more concerned with the work and life experiences of the real disabled human beings behind the words than I am with directly “seeing myself” through a figment.

Do you see a difference between stories written by authors with a disability and authors without, when it comes to writing characters with disabilities?

Generally I do find “own voices” narratives often have a certain undercurrent of authenticity that narratives simply written by allies often lack. This is something I’ve noticed across the board for a large swath of fiction centered on minority characters, by minority writers. There are some experiences that you can’t fully understand unless you have lived them, even if you can find deep empathy for the situation. For example, I found the character AO from Nnedi Okorafor’s novel Noor relatable to a degree that I can only describe as haunting.

This isn’t always the rule though, as, talented writers can (and frequently do!) create wonderful characters whose struggles are outside the scope of the author’s own experiences. For example, a disabled character I adore is Samson Harker from David Marusek’s cyberpunk-esque novel, Counting Heads. As far as I know, Marusek does not have any sort of degenerative disease (nanite-induced or otherwise) but the character of Simon, his struggles with a failing body, his musings about death, etc strongly resonated with me. Likewise, Anne McCaffrey Brainship series feels like the ultimate wish-fulfilment fantasy for me because, oh, what I would do to trade my failing human husk vessel for a badass spaceship body lmao. This veers out of written fiction and into film territory but, Toph from Avatar the Last Airbender is also an excellent example of a well-written character whose creators lack her specific disability.

What do you think is the most important thing for a writer to do when considering how to write characters with a disability?

My best advice is is to always remember the humanity of your character. Their personhood should always come first before their disability status. What do they do, what do they like? Hobbies? What were they like as a kid? What are their core values? There are a myriad of questions to ask, but what I mean by all this is that their only defining trait should never be “they are disabled”. When I think of Toph, the first words I think of to describe her are “disabled” or “blind”, I think of how tough and pragmatic she is, and how I deeply related to her because of those traits. Her disability is important to her character and adds incredible nuance to her as a person, but it’s not her defining trait. If the most interesting thing about your character is their disability, then you may want to rethink how you are writing them. Characters like that, who often exist purely to signal the creator’s inclusive politics, are often how you accidentally fall into dehumanisation and offensive tropes, even if you mean well. There is a certain level of condescending preachiness that comes with stories created for the sole purpose of signalling the author’s/publisher’s politics, and it can come across as not just offensive, but downright dehumanising when you, the disabled person in the audience, are keenly aware that you are only seeing yourself included because the author wants to look like the paragon of virtue, rather than because they actually, truly desire telling an interesting story about someone with a disability. Even if I might appreciate the sentiment, the execution is often lacking, and the execution is the most important aspect of telling a story. Being disabled isn’t inherently political; it just is. I’d rather read something entertaining than something preachy, and when someone like me is specifically the subject of the preachiness, it comes back to feeling like a zoo animal or, worse, an attraction at a carnival side show.

A big tip I have on how to avoid falling into the above trap is that I highly recommend listening to people. Active listening goes a long way in building bridges. If you don’t have that disability yourself, go find people who do, and listen to how they feel about their situation. And, yes, that should include even those whose feelings towards their situation you might disagree with. I’d argue the latter is important even if you are a disabled person creating an “own voices” story, as there can often be quite a diversity of ideas and experiences from within your own little sphere. (For example, there are some disability advocates who absolutely hate McCaffrey’s Brainships. I completely disagree with them, but their perspectives are still interesting and worthy of respect, even if I, personally, see things differently.) If you don’t know anyone who has a disability similar to what you’re writing about, biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs exist and are a wealth of interesting and important information regarding the human experience.

Are there any common failings you see amongst furry fiction?

The biggest hurdle I’ve faced in furry fiction has been the structure of awards and how the biggest one (Ursas) often rewards quantity over quality, especially in terms of written fiction. My opinions on whether quantity even warrants an award aside, quantity can be a very difficult bar for disabled people to meet, but especially for those with progressive illnesses like mine. In the past four weeks, I have had a doctor’s visit of some sort almost every day, except the weekend. That’s exhausting. I do not have the time or energy to be a literature mill, so I have to pick and choose which stories I feel are strong enough to warrant completion. For this reason, I’m confident that my stories are good and worthy of recognition, but that’s a tough thing to achieve when quantity seems to be rewarded above all else. I know rewards do not make the writer, but it can leave you feeling quite sour when you know you’re work will rarely be on a ballot because you couldn’t make dozens of pieces in a year due to your physical condition. Part of the reason these rewards exist is to build community, and the latter can really leave you feeling like you’re being shut out of the community. I would love for the showrunners of the UMA to be more open to making adjustments to how nominations are run. I’ve seen many interesting discussions regarding this (hence why I wish the Ursas would be more open to discussing this matter with the community at large, because it’s clearly a discussion the community wants) but my personal quick fix would be to simply limit nominations so that a single person can only have one work nominated per category. This would open the door for a larger variety of voices to be showcased, while also maintaining a way for those who are more prolific to secure multiple nominations if they are varied in their work, which they typically are.

On the flip side, in terms of including real disabled people in anthologies or publishing their work, I think furry is often a cut above the norm, and I really appreciate that. From my experience, this rings true for most indie writing and publishing circles. I attribute a lot of that to the fact that there is a bigger focus on the artistic side of things rather than maximising mainstream marketability or, worse, appeasing the insensible sensibilities of the suits. I can think of talented furry authors with disabilities off the top of my head without much effort, and I’ve always found that super awesome. Furry writing is a very small, very niche thing, and the fact that I don’t have to wrack my brains to think of talented disabled authors, despite the relatively small size of the community, is a massive plus. I can think of way bigger, older hobby communities that should, in theory, have recognisable disabled voices in their midst, but they don’t. So, I really feel like furry, and the indie publishing world as a whole, does a really great job at including diverse voices and narratives.

What book featuring characters with a disability and/or written by an author with a disability would you most recommend to people?

For furry authors with disabilities, I recommend checking out the works by the late (and dearly missed) K.C. Alpinus (my favorites by her are “The Night the Stars Fell” from Dogs of War II: Aftermath, and the anthology she edited called SOAR) and the short stories by former Guild president, Linnea “LiteralGrill” Capps (“The Glow” from The Electric Sewer is a major favorite of mine).

For non-furry, anything by the aforementioned Nnedi Okorafor is a solid bet. Noor is my favourite, but the Binti series is also excellent.

Additionally, like I said before, while I understand the criticism of them, I personally adore the Brainship series (including the ones not written by McCaffrey) and I definitely recommend it if you’re like me and you’ve frequently entertained “brain in a jar” fantasies regarding yourself.

And, finally, where can we find your works?

You can find my shorts in SPECIES: Otters, BREEDS: Wildcats, and The Haunted Den, all of which can be purchased via Amazon. Currently, Quicksilver can only be purchased from the publisher’s website. Right now I’m editing my very first anthology for Armoured Fox Press themed around lesbian romance, and I’m super excited to show off the authors and stories I’ve selected. (It is still open until the end of August, if anyone reading this would be interested in submitting!)

I will be selling signed copies of all my currently published books at the New Age of Heroes convention in Springfield, MA this coming November, so if you are in the New England area then, please do drop by and say hello!

Apologies for the delay and brevity on the blog this month – end of June and start of July is one of the busiest parts of the year for me during my day-to-day stuff, so I haven’t had the chance to get much prepared for this post.

It’s fair to say, we loved seeing the sharing of so much LGBT+ positive work last month, and we’re very happy for that to continue – this community is a celebration of diversity, and that’s isn’t limited to a single month. Pride may be over, but the furry community will never stop being queer.

There are a couple of anthology deadlines coming up soon – one at the start of August and one towards the end. If you’re eyeing up these submission windows, then you’re running short of time to get your stories polished!

Furry Femdom Erotica – Deadline August 1st 2024
F/F Non Erotic Anthology – Deadline August 31st 2024
Isekai Me! – Deadline August 31st 2024
Spirit of the Wolf – Deadline March 31st 2025
Indecent Exposure – Deadline When Full
This Is Halloween – Deadline When Full
Children Of The Night – Deadline When Full
Furry/Lovecraftian/Erotic/University Themed Anthology – Deadline When Full
Beyond Their Pale – Deadline When Full

Anthrocon always sees a lot of new books coming out, and this year has been no different!

Sun Runner, by Frances Pauli. Released May 30th.
Squeak Thief, by Kyell Gold. Released July 2024.
The Heavens Within Our Grasp, edited by Maddison Scott-Clary, featuring stories by multiple FWG Members. Released July 1st 2024.
Far Flung, by Utunu. Released July 3rd 2024.
The Eternal Party, by DarkEnd. Released July 4th 2024.
Therianthropic Dreams, by NightEyes DaySpring. Available for pre-orders. Released July 15th 2024.
Legend of Ahya: Broken Empires, by Matthew Colvath. Available for pre-orders. Released October 2nd 2024.

I hope to have a lot more for you next month, with hopefully a bit more time to put aside for some guild plans.

Until then. Stay safe and happy writing.
J.F.R. Coates