It goes without saying perhaps: One of the “casualties” of conventions and conferences being canceled or postponed left and right is vendors who had made big plans to sell product at those events. Here’s one — John Bailey has a new novel out, the first in his Feathers & Flames series, called Dire. “Euraiya is a lazy gryphon, content to let her traps hunt for her. Roving thieves and bullish curs are her only concerns. But after she fails to save her home from a far greater threat, her world erupts into flames. Broken and half dead, she must claw her way to find a place within a new pride that’s poised to exile her with one wrong move. Forced to prove her worth, her warnings are silenced. But with the leaders distracted and a rogue lord poised to take advantage of any weakness, Euraiya must confront them and herself before it’s too late. Can Euraiya save what’s left of her future before the fires rain down again? Dire is the first novel in a new creature fiction fantasy series that pits gryphons against wyverns in a battle for land and survival.” The author was all set to make a book-signing tour of various furry conventions, but now that’s not happening. Find the book over at Amazon, and see if you can help out a creative writer!
Fantasy
Little Dragons to the Rescue
Remember Dragons Rescue Riders from Dreamworks (which we talked about before)? Well Animation Scoop just let us know about a new 45-minute special on Netflix called Dragons Rescue Riders: Hunt For The Golden Dragon. It’s coming your way on March 27th. “Dak, Leyla, and the Rescue Riders crew brace for their newest adventure when greedy pirates get their hands on a map leading to a precious Golden Dragon’s nest. The young Rescue Riders must race against time to beat the pirates and save the dragon’s egg! Expanding the world of DreamWoks Dragons, the special is executive produced by Emmy-Award winner Jack Thomas (Regular Show, DreamWorks Dragons: Race to the Edge) and co-executive produced by Brian Roberts (DreamWorks VeggieTales). Check out the video preview on YouTube, and look for the special later this month.
Awww… One Not-Scary Little Monster
The Adorable Beastling is a new full-color graphic novel, written and illustrated by Jonathan Rosenberg. “The Ugly Duckling but in reverse. Beastlings are fierce and scare for food, but this young group of Beastlings have an oddball who just can’t scare. She was too cute to scare anything. We wonder if she’ll survive. Just like the original fable, this story is about being yourself and being ok with it.” This softcover one-shot is available now from Action Lab.
The Witch and the Wolf
More unusual relationships, but now there’s magic in the mix in Mooncakes, a new full-color graphic novel. “Nova Huang is still young, but she’s one of the most powerful witches in New England. She spends her days working in her grandmothers’ spell book shop and her nights hunting down the supernatural. Tam Lang, a genderqueer werewolf, was Nova’s childhood crush. Tam has been wandering from place to place for years until the one fateful night they find themselves back in their hometown… battling a giant horse demon in the woods. Tam turns to Nova for help, and their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.” Written by Suzanne Walker and illustrated by Wendy Xu, Mooncakes is available now from Lion Forge.
“Were” to Find Them
It’s a bit late for Halloween-y stuff, we know… but maybe we’re just getting the jump (pounce?) on next October! Fab Press have brought us The Frightfest Guide to Werewolf Movies. “The crimson eyes of the werewolf have stalked us across the centuries. We are now most familiar with the wolfman courtesy of Hollywood. Over the past century, a diverse pack of lycanthropes has manifested on the silver screen – in big-bucks blockbusters and zero-budget B-movies – each revealing a little more of the nature of the beast. Within these colorful pages we encounter reluctant wolfmen and shape-shifting sadists, big bad fairy tale wolves and lycanthropic nymphomaniacs. Our guide is acclaimed author, broadcaster, occult historian – and lifelong werewolf obsessive – Gavin Baddeley. By finding fresh perspectives on established classics, uncovering neglected gems, and even examining a few howlers among the definitive selection of werewolf movies reviewed, Baddeley shows how the myth has adapted and transformed: Whereby werewolves become analogies for alcoholism or adolescence, or ciphers for sexual awakening or serial murder. Providing our foreword is the award-winning director, writer and producer Neil Marshall, whose brilliant debut feature Dog Soldiers reinvigorated the werewolf movie for the 21st Century.” The book is available now in trade paperback.
Funding A Fuzzy
Creator Charles Brubaker let us know about their current Kickstarter campaign for The Fuzzy Princess Volume 2, the second collection of strips from this popular web comic. “The Fuzzy Princess centers on Katrina, the adventurous feline princess of St. Paws, watched over by Chiro (a batty bat) and Kuma (whose love for haiku is only matched by his love of eating). Now they’ve been stranded in our world! Can Kat’s new human friend Jackson help them survive? Will Jackson be able to survive his new friends? Continuing off from where the first book left off, join Princess Kat on a voyage of self-discovery in this sec, as she explores her new talents such as: Urban exploration! Crimefighting! Attempting to make Christmas dinner! Surviving a surprise visit! Babysitting! Witches! And enduring Kuma’s slam poetry!” What more do you need to know? The campaign is running now through the beginning of March.
Why B Normal?
We discovered this through Upworthy.com: “Greg Sullivan says he never intended to publish his first book, Gregory Dragon Is Just The Same. It was around his son’s fifth birthday and the Los Angeles-based writer and artist wanted to create something unique for his son’s special day. At the time, his young child was going through a challenge familiar to most other kids around his age: wanting to fit in with his classmates… Sullivan wanted to create something that would help his son “…not only embrace his unique characteristics but to celebrate them.” And it just so happened that his son loves dragons. As an award-winning artist, animator, screenwriter and novelist, it made sense for Sullivan to put his professional skills toward something creative and practical for his son’s development. Gregory Dragon Is Just The Same switches up the traditional children’s book narrative. Instead having an omniscient voice making broad proclamations to a younger audience, he allows the young dragon character to take the lead: “Gregory Dragon is just like all the other dragons, or so the narrator says. But Gregory Dragon disagrees and refuses to let the story be told until he’s had his say.” Find out just what he has to say over at Amazon.
Such A Responsibility To Bear
Recently Marvel Comics introduced a new mobile game called Future Fight, and now they’ve created a tie-in comic series called Future Fight Firsts, starring some of the game’s most interesting characters. Including, it turns out, at least one furry — in the one-shot Future Fight Firsts: Crescent and Io, they ask, “How did Dan Bi, a young girl from South Korea, first bring an ancient mystical bear spirit into the modern world? How did this unlikely duo become the evil-smashing team known as Crescent and Io?” Written by Mariko Tamaki, with art by Ale Garza and Jon Lam, it’s available now.
Chibi and Tasty
Interesting things we found at this year’s Anime L.A. convention. The artist Ryan Zanfei has gathered together a small crew to sell her creations through a collective known as Tasty Peach Studios. And what are her creations? Cute! “Tasty Peach Studios… is a sweet, unique boutique that sells cute merchandise inspired by Japan! We started out selling small hand made clay charms and commissioned artwork through our little Etsy shop in 2007. Since then we have grown exponentially! We now attend upwards of 70+ anime conventions a year & ship high quality acrylic items, professionally made products and more world wide every day!” Those high quality items now include t-shirts, plushies, enamel pins, and even wigs — and more. Visit the Tasty Peach web site to see what we mean.