Authors I Love
I do a great deal of reading in the science fiction and fantasy realm. Some of my favorites are Robert Heinlein, Jane Lindskold, Andre Norton, Jack Chalker and many others. However, this blog is about my writing and my writing is anthropomorphic (anthro or furry) oriented. So I thought it best to give you folks an introduction to two excellent anthro writers as well as one extraordinary artist.
The first writer, and one I have known for years is VixyyFox. She has the ability to tell a story that I would give my left arm for. No, that’s not really true. Without my left arm I’d have a hell of a time writing so I wouldn’t do that! However, I greatly envy her ability to tell a good story and I honestly hope to be as good a storyteller as she is one day.
What makes Vixyy’s anthropomorphic stories so good? It’s her characters. They possess a combination of innocence and sophistication wrapped in a totally believable skin. Some of those skins are covered with fur and others are not. Vixyy’s stories also wrap themselves around you gently, believably and suspend disbelief. You will believe they exist whether they’re in a gypsy’s horse drawn wagon or flying a WWII bomber. This is no exaggeration. Her stories open a doorway into another realm you will love to enter and, honestly, regret leaving. If you want to check out her stories you can purchase her book at Rabbit Valley.
The other author I have come to like greatly is Renee Carter Hall. I have not known Renee long but I have read several of her anthropomorphic stories. Her characters are also covered with fur and also possess a childlike innocence. Renee’s stories are filled with wonderful good humor. In all of the stories I’ve read by Ms. Hall she creates a world that’s a wonderful blend of anthro and human. They exist together so naturally you believe it’s completely possible. After reading one of Renee’s stories you would not think twice about driving down a suburban street and seeing a couple of young raccoons selling lemon-aid or a small pink dragon named Dinkums sticking his head out of a backpack a youngster is walking down the street wearing. You’d not even be amazed at a very large dragon watching water aerobics through a skylight at a recreation center. I’m serious. Renee is another great writer and storyteller of anthropomorphics and one you really should read. You can find Renee’s books on her website at www.ReneeCarterHall.com and I believe she’ll soon also be listed on Amazon.
Now, I know some of you have a problem understanding anthropomorphic, or furry, concepts. That’s understandable because it’s not as popular as say, space science fiction, time travel or any number of other genres. However, you’ve known it all your life. If you think about the cartoon characters you loved as a child, Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Tweety Bird, Foghorn Leghorn and all the others, every single one of them is an anthropomorphic character. Taking it more mainstream, many of you have certainly heard of and read the author Anne McCaffrey of Dragonrider fame. While not advertised this way, all of her dragon characters are anthropomorphic. So, as you can see, you may not have heard of what I’m writing but you are very familiar with the characters I, and other writers like Vixyy and Renee bring to reality.
But one of the best ways to understand what we write about and the characters we hope to paint in your mind is to look at some of the characters themselves. You can see one of my characters, Dr. Richard O’Brian on this page. However, there is one artist that I feel stands head and shoulders above any other when it comes to anthropomorphic art. Her name is Dark Natasha. I know some of Dark Natasha’s characters have served as inspiration for some of Vixyy’s stories. Take a look at the extrodinary artwork and tell me you don’t want to know more about these characters. Tell me you don’t wonder where that necklace came from, what that staff is used for, or what that fur was thinking at the exact moment Dark Natasha captured and set down the image.
That’s what Vixyy, Renee Carter Hall and I write about. It’s the world we peer into from time to time and it’s the world we enjoy sharing with you.
Very useful and informative article, Gene. Thank you. I found it surprisingly difficult to find ‘anthropomorphic authors/writers’ on Google. It took a bit of searching, and even then, your blog is the only one I came across. Why do us anthropomorphic authors not have our own community, specifically?
You list Vixyy, Hall, and yourself as anthropomorphic authors, and I’ll be sure to check all three of you out at some point. Do not leave out all of the other anthropomorphic authors, however. I don’t know who or where, but there must be more out there spread across the vast expanse of the Internet.
My own work, “Savagery,”–the first to be published which happens to be anthropomorphic in nature–is set for a Spring 2012 release. I’ll check out yours when I can and purchase if I’m able.
Thank you for sharing and spreading awareness of anthropomorphic authors.
–C A Withey
CAWithey.blogspot.com
If you have not heard of it you should check out a web site called FurAffinity (www.FurAffinity.net> I hesitate to mention the site because many of the advertisement and much of the artwork there is adult in nature. Not that I’m a prude, I’m not, but I cannot tell who will read my stories and whether or not they WILL be offended so I tend not to mention the site on this blog. You will find excellent authors there. You’ll also find some that are truly horrible. I guess that’s just like anyplace else. *laughs* Check out the stories by Vixyy at http://www.furaffinity.net/user/vixyyfox/ I have never read a story by Vixyy that I didn’t like. She’s a great writer.