Audiobook 003 Alex Vance reads "Thou Shalt Not Kill" by FuzzWolf

Perfection is the unattainable ideal people aspire to- that is, if they have any ambition at all. When it comes to keeping up with the Joneses, you have to have the fastest car, the largest TV, and the most obedient slave. Perfection, Inc. can help you with the last one, at the very least. In this erotic, 18+ tale by the inimitable FuzzWolf, "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (borrowed with the permission of Sofawolf Press, which first published the story in their anthology X).

When Richard's new toy arrives on his door stop it passes all his wildest expectations. The jaguar is built to every specification, he answers immediately to every command, and approaches every task with a relish. But perfection can't last long, as Richard soon finds out.

(Though he doesn't discover that until he's had quite a few opportunities to break the new boy in)

Now, for those of those you are textually challenged - or commuters, you lucky job-having bastards - we have the audiobook available. Be sure to tune in next week when Skip and I discuss the story!

Skip's Pokemon Story Challenge

I have thrown down the gauntlet, my friends, and issued a challenge.

As I'm sure you all know, I read furry porn. A LOT. And As a habitual reader of www.sofurry.com I notice that there are a ton of stories featuring Pokemon, and the sheer number of Pokemon stories has left me with a problem.

I really don't like any of them.

Now before you get up in arms, I feel bad about this! There are so many, and many are very popular, I feel like I should like them. Perhaps the main problem is that apart form catching the anime a few times I really know hardly anything about Pokemon. I don't know a Parasect from a Gangar (thank you Wikipedia), so if you write a Pokemon story that tells me that your protagonist is a Marowak, only more blue, well I have no mental picture at all in my head. It's hard to connect with a story when you have no idea who anyone looks like!

There are other issues to mind you, but I'm not sure I want to give everything away. Suffice it to say, I know crap all about Pokemon, find a way to reach me.

What's it it for you, might you ask? Well besides winning a potential convert, if there is a story that I feel is great and wins me over I am prepared to read your story for an episode of the Bad Dog Book Club. I am further prepared to force Toonces to listen to me tell him why I feel your story is great and why I was wrong about Pokemon the following week!

A little FAQ:
-Your Pokemon can be anthropomorphic or zoomorphic
-Your Pokemon can talk like people or be limited like most Pokemon (Bear in mind i think that generally characters that talk make for more interesting short stories, but if you can pull it off the other way, go for it!)
-I like Porn (we've covered this). I'd REALLY love it if you could do a great Poke-porn short story
-That said non-porn is fine too, but I think writing some great Pokemon porn is the harder challenge, so I'm gently nudging you that way...
-The contest deadline is March 31, 2011

So what do you say authors and Pokemon fans? You up to the challenge? Keep informed on the contest, send in your stories, and check out some great stories at http://baddogbooks.com/bookclub/

Ciao!

Meeting 002: “Double Blind” by Teiran

It's a pleasure to see you! We're so glad to see we didn't scare you away after the first episode. No- no, the stain definitely came out. Really, it- it only took a little club soda. But a little collateral damage is to be expected, I suppose, when you host these sorts of things. Have you read this week's story, Double Blind, by Teiran? It's a pretty keen thriller, those high-tech gizmos always fascinate me.

You might have heard the story as read by the wonderful Alex Vance, as well!

And don't forget to read our next story by the inimitable Fuzzwolf: Thous Shalt Not Kill, already available on our blog.

Text 003 “Thou Shalt not Kill” by FuzzWolf

FuzzWolf has been active in the furry community since 1998.  He started off as a fan, then started writing furry stories, along the way he bought a publishing company, FurPlanet, and in 2008 broke into podcasting with the creation of KnotCast and WhoFurs.

He doesn't do as much writing these days, but is still very involved in furry fiction by publishing and distributing furry-themed books and comics.  You can often find him behind a dealers table at many conventions each year.

You can read his more of his stories at www.FuzzWolf.com or on his gallery at http://www.furaffinity.net/user/fuzzwolf/

Please support writing in the fandom by visiting www.FurPlanet.com and making a purchase or twenty.

Thou Shalt Not Kill was originally published in the anthology X, published by Sofawolf Press.

Download the ebook for your Kindle, Nook, iPad or any other ePUB-capable device.

Audiobook 002 Alex Vance reads "Double Blind" by Teiran

Everybody has a weakness for a good thriller. The characters can be so dynamic and lively because they need to be, to be able to kick down doors and go in guns blazing to get results- or whatever. Point is, heroes certainly aren't slouches. And this week's story, Double Blind by Teiran, which was originally published in Roar 2, has a squad of misfits who maneuver their ways through a technotopic world of corporate espionage and body modification. Each member of the group must adapt to the technological environment in their own way - even a ferret who, born with mystical abilities, must keep all the wires on the outside.

"The body was your connection to the magic," the narrator explains of the ferret, whose natural abilities fill in the gaps where technology doesn't solve the problem. It's hard not to keep this message in mind when considering the team's muscle, a horse who has gone through the assembly line more often than a Hollywood starlet under the knife, and works only to afford to continually upgrade his body. In a world where people are already showing off the Verizon logo in the lefthand corner of their shitty trendy phone, it's easy to see a direct path between ourselves and a future not-so-alternate universe.

You may have already read the story when we posted it on the blog, alongside an ebook you can take with you. If you have, great! We'd love to get your comments on the story - you can post them here, or you can e-mail me at toonces@drivingcat.org. You can even tweet at us. And if you bring up some good points, we probably won't be able to resist reading them at the next meeting.

But if you were waiting for the audiobook - to listen to it in the car, maybe, like your favorite driving cat - we have the wonderful Alex Vance reading for you below. This is the second time Alex Vance has contributed his talents to the book club - though generally he acts as a fixer, wooing every i with a dot, and intimidating the ts into crossing themselves.

What We're Reading

The book club has just finished discussing "Thou Shalt Not Kill" by FuzzWolf, and now the book club is reading "One Week" by Whyte Yote.

--  The text of out next story is available on our blog.

-- An audiobook will be available 14 Marc.

-- The podcast of the text, as well as our next selection for the book club, will be available Monday, 21 March

Thanks for checking out the book club!

Meeting 001: “Sanguine & Clockwork” by K. M. Hirosaki

Thank you so much for stopping by! Not everyone's arrived, yet- but I've still yet to get all the cheeses onto all the crackers, and- you brought a bottle of wine with you, right? Good- good. This is going to be fun, I think. I've always wanted to start a book club. I'm glad I finally found Skip and had someone organized enough to actually pull the thing off!

We wanted to start the show off on the right foot, so Skip and I dug into the Bad Dog Books archive and pulled out this entry from FANG 3 by K.M. Hirosaki, "Sanguine and Clockwork." Written to fit the anthology's theme of erotic fantasy, the story commits to a fantastic process of developing the relationship of two characters - Florian, a wizard, and Rentell, a Lord - to tell the story of a third character - Vico, an artificial fox crafted through sorcery and responding only and immediately to direct commands.

You can read the story right here on the Book Club website, where you'll also find links to the story on FurAffinity and SoFurry so you can share your thoughts with the author directly.

For all the people who can't read while driving like I can (though that might explain why I'm always driving over all those cliffs) we also have an audio book read by our very own Alex Vance.

Next episode, we'll be discussing Double Blind by Teiran from ROAR Volume 2. You can read it here and leave comments – we might just discuss your thoughts or questions on air in our next meeting.

Thanks again for coming to this week's book club!

Text 002 "Double Blind" by Teiran

The text for the upcoming meeting of the book club was originally published in ROAR Vol. 2 by Bad Dog Books in 2010.

The "rag tag gang" of criminals in this sci-fi thriller have let technology overwhelm them to astonishing degrees - from the horse who has become more chrome than flesh to the ferret whose body has remained unmodified to preserve its magical essence. Their game - theft - has been around long since before electrification.

Download the ebook for your Kindle, Nook, iPad or any other ePUB-capable device.

Why, hello!

Hey! You're the first one here. It's so nice to see you, come right in, but- but take those muddy shoes off, first. I don't mean to impose, it's just- well- we just got this rug cleaned, it cost a fortune. We had no idea it would come to so much. We went to this guy we see in these cheesy commercials during Caps games- Hadeed! You've seen them, too? Oh my God- that's crazy. You realize afterward- How does a rug cleaner afford to buy ad space during the Caps game? You realize it right around when the bill comes.

But anyway- sit down, please. We've got some cheese crackers, and slices of sausage, and I just got these chips in the mail- Hartley's, you ever heard of them? They only sell them around the little towns I grew up in, and I'd just die without them.

Oh, and did you read the story? You know, we were reading K.M. Hirosaki's "Sanguine & Clockwork." Don't be self-conscious if you didn't- you have plenty of time to page through it, and even if you only want to listen, no one's gonna press you. Just enjoy yourself. It's a great story, though, the fantasy stuff always gets me, and I just loved when that undead fox, Vico- I won't bug you with it just yet, you should be getting comfortable.

You must know Skip and the work he's done editing for Bad Dog Books, since I don't think we've met. I'm Toonces. I'm a writer, and I have no trouble considering myself a writer because only a true talent could be so unaccomplished. Skip's still getting a few things ready in the back. In fact, I'm going to go back and help. There's still so much to do! Don't be afraid to introduce yourself if anyone comes, and if you don't have a copy of  "Sanguine and Clockwork," you can have one of ours. Don't thank us, it's a great story but we've got plenty, we want to give them away.

Oh, and one last thing- yes- yes, you can just hand it over right here. That's a nice bottle of wine. So glad you didn't forget.

Anyway, make yourself right at home. Our house is your house. And thanks for coming to the first meeting of our book club!

Audiobook 001 Alex Vance reads "Sanguine and Clockwork" by K. M. Hirosaki

This week's story asks its readers to consider the consciousness of an autonomous body.

Florian, the sorcerer at the heart of the story, is a seemingly more insecure Dr. Frankenstein.

And Vico, his mindless, obedient laboratory servant warrants the same sympathy Frankenstein's monster demanded.

Our very own Alex Vance read this story for us this week, so that those of you with bad eyes or morning commutes or whatever can make sure to get in on the book club.

We hope you enjoy the story as much as you enjoy Alex's smooth European accent!

busy, busy, busy

Well, I'm talking to nobody right now. I can practically hear the internet echo. If you're seeing this, you're probably one of only a few people. The blog is still a little disjointed, with patches of content missing like a half-conceived modernist painting. But it's a constructive environment, an environment of a project in process. It's a nice feeling, of having things come up out of nothing, as if you don't even notice the work you're putting into it.

But I do know that people are going to see this eventually so I feel as if I ought to at least explain who we are. I'm Toonces - I live in the future state of New Columbia, and my friend who you'll be hearing with me is Skip, a fellow situated just a few miles out. I'll be handling the bulk of the blog-side stuff - making sure you all have the stories to read for the next meeting, gathering up your reactions for us to work into the show - and Skip will carry me on the technical nonsense I could never understand.

In the dark echo of the internet I'm posting into now, you won't see this, but in the future you will see - along with our baptismal meeting of the book club - a post telling you where to read our next selection.

Thanks - and oh yeah- just don't ever forget to bring a bottle of wine!

-Toonces