Meeting 011: “A Non-Biodegradeable Fox” by Not Tube

Okay everybody, we had a good time talking about dongers and hoohahs and what have you, but now it's time to remember that we're all going to die and there's not a damn thing any of us is going to do about it, and if you can't deal with it, just go ahead and go crazy. Why not? It went well enough for Newberg, the aging taxidermist at the heart of this week's story from Not Tube. Inside his head, the chattering of stuffed animals fleshes out the various subsets of a broken man's mind.

We hope you enjoy the podcast! Sure hope it's better than swallowing yourself into the black and endless!

Meeting 010: “Buckets” by Jinxtigr

Jinxtigr serves up a sinful story of high-stakes lust and Skip gets a little emotional about it being our tenth show. Toonces is a little unnerved by the book club's first hetero story, but as always, there is always real estate for diplomatic relations between the breeders and the queers.

We hope you enjoy this week's meeting!

Meeting 009: “Carnal Shock” by Rahne Kallon

Rahne Kallon serves up a generous portion of pulpy goodness for this week's meeting so hot it had Skip driving distracted.  There is a certain playfulness with stereotypes and expectations, and a dalmatian discovers that there's a good reason for foxes to top every once in awhile. Or at least, they're certainly going to have to if we're going to whittle down the number of unsatisfied bottoms in this world.

We hope you enjoy the show, thank you to everyone who sent in their thoughts!

Meeting 008: “Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night” by John "The Gneech" Robey

John "The Gneech" Robey gives us a thrilling mystery to discuss for this week's show. Squash and Stretch, a pair of private dicks low on their luck, find a juicy case when a mink comes into the office, followed close on the heels by a nosy rat. Murder is the question, and the only clue is a lone note referencing a Beatles song- which just so happens to be Skip's favorite band.

We hope you enjoy!

Meeting 007: “Chitchester Gap” by Sedric and "Vignette from the Highway" by Lycanthromancer

We've got a pair of surreal stories to discuss, today. Sedric's "Chitchester Gap" presents a fantasy scenario, a public seduction by a doppelganger minus the goatee. And "Vignette from the Highway" by Lycanthromancer presents a symbolic, even cryptic fragment for the reader to digest and interpret. And also Toonces asks Skip if he can slob his own knob. Tune in for that, too.

We hope you enjoy the show!

Meeting 006: “Stasis” by Alflor

For the first time in the history of the book club, we have a guest host with us this week. Jay1743, as he goes by on FA, joined us in the studio - on the futon in my eight foot by eight foot room on the outskirts of DC - to discuss Alflor's disturbing sci-fi fic "Stasis." The themes of loneliness and isolation in the story were just too great, we had to invite a friend to keep us company.

We hope you enjoy the podcast!

Meeting 005: “On the Bright Beach” by Kandrel

As we continue further through the various meta-layers of fantasy involved with idealized stories about fake things, usually acted out in mediums that alter reality in their own ways, we get to the Bright Beach. It's easy to say that the Bright Beach represents something as basely sci-fi as Second Life. But the way the narrator separates the actions of the fantasy characters from the disembodied entities that control them gives the story that same strange sense of distance.

We hope you enjoy the discussion!

Meeting 004: “One Week” by Whyte Yote

Some of the best stories are simulations of the more sinful desires, and BDSM certainly falls into this category. While Whyte Yote offers up a story that is absent of the bondage or sado-masochistic aspects, he creates a story with a starkly defined dom/sub binary- and does it with a muted, even disaffected touch that enables vivid imagery. Issues of class and race (as far as they can be somehow projected upon furry animal pseudo fantasy-people, or whatever) give the story a special bite, one that can often cause conflict between writer and reader.

And for those who were looking forward to a little bondage: If I don't learn to stop futzing with my hoodie zipper during recording session, you can presume in future recording sessions that my hands are cuffed behind my back.

Meeting 003: “Thou Shalt Not Kill” by FuzzWolf

Maybe it's about time Skip and I come clean about something-

You see, we're- we're robots. We were programmed by Alex Vance to run the book club arm of his furry publishing empire. And while we hope you won't hold our lack of souls against us, it does explain the minor kink in our programming that causes us to identify so well with characters such as Unit JVCS3163- who you possibly know by his slave name- who skirt the line between real and unreal. Especially since that can be a rather potent source of some pretty steamy pulp. Which, as emotionless droids, Skip and I see as intriguing new territory.

If you haven't had a chance to read the story yet, here are the text and the audiobook, including  a free eBook copy you can take with you wherever you go.

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.

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!