Furry Writers' Guild Forum

Furry Migration 2017 (August 25 - 27, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA)

Cons and Events
#1

Hello friends. Gathered Chipotle was going to this and wondered if any of the rest of you were? I believe Gullwulf is a local and wondered if anyone else was up in the Twin Cities.

After my werecat book comes out on August 10 from Thurston Howl Publications I plan to sit on writer panels at fan conventions to promote our Guild, my publisher, my book and myself. I live in Wisconsin now but have done a lot of work in Minneapolis over the last several years on the light rail lines there. I lived in “The Cities” for quite some while and still have many friends there, including a few writers. Figured this might afford me an opportunity to catch up with them and make some new friends, too.

And a general note–I read many cons feature “writing tracks” and seem to have a time finding panelists and speakers. Would be glad to consider attending one or another cons to sit panels, speak, etc. I’ve made con attendance a key plank in my author marketing platform so would be grateful for whatever suggestions any of you have. Thank you!

MJE

#2

Furry Migration is Sofawolf’s hometown convention. In past years Kyell Gold and Andres Cyanni have attended. Not sure of other authors who are local.

#3

OK! Thanks for letting me know, FuzzWolf. Certainly had expected for the SofaWolf crowd to be there, being it’s in their neck of the woods.

MJE

#4

I suppose I should run a panel or get a table or something eventually.

But not this time I think.

Only furry con I’ve been too is Fur Squared in Brookfield, Wisconsin, is this one bigger or smaller than Midwest Fur Fest?

#5

Just registered! And booked my hotel. Looking forward to seeing a few of you there, at least! First book in my werecat family saga, a paranormal sci-fi thriller from Thurston Howl Publications, will have been on sale for a mere two weeks by then. :smiley:

MJE

#6

I’ve got a room booked from Thurs-Sun with double twin beds at the Millennium Hotel in Minneapolis, the “overflow” hotel, if anyone needed someplace to crash.

Also planning a writer’s panel with Mark.

#7

And the request is in! Thank you, Zarp, for your help. Guild members are invited to participate; all are welcome to attend. Hope to see a number of you there! (Lookin’ at youse, Chipotle and Gullwulf. So Temp, how about it?)

MJE

“Exploring Avenues to Publication”

Panel, Writing, General Audience

Published authors share influences, motivations, and milestones from their creative journeys to inform and inspire fellow writers in the furry community. Panelists include members of the Furry Writer’s Guild.

Panel will be recorded (available for FWG potential future use)

#8

The Furry Migration staff got in touch with me, and it turns out I will also being in attendance as a representative of the Guild, which is neat. The staff have been great, so far, so we’re looking forward to it!

#9

So glad to hear it there’s word from the con staff! Chipotle hasn’t told me yet whether he’s heard back from them, and I haven’t yet been notified about the writer panel request Zarpaulus and I put in. Gullwulf did mention in one of the chats recently she’d be there, so I’m excited for a right proper FWG showing. Looking forward to it! Oh, and there’s a Whole Foods not terribly far from the venue–might we look forward to “Slow Food with Maddy” road show?

FYI I lived and worked for years in the Twin Cities, including over ever inch of the light rail lines there. Note me if I can help you with your travel arrangements. If you’re flyin into MSP I can help guide you to the venue and the surrounding area via the fast and frequent light rail trains and limited-stops bus routes.

MJE

#10

I think I kinda threw a wrench into things, programming-wise, since they asked me for some panel ideas as well, and I gave them my standard four to choose from. Hopefully I don’t cause too much trouble! It sounds like Chip is all confirmed, and all I need is to nail down travel with them (will be snagging my own room because husbandog is tagging along). We’ll likely be flying into MSP, but that’s up to the con. Will know about that soon, I think.

As for MEALTIMEs, I’ll have to think about it! There’s a few things I can make that won’t cause toooo much trouble with the hotel, I hope.

#11

The panels that I suggested, for the record:

“The Gun on the Mantelpiece” – A lot of writers are allergic to outlining, but the more complicated and the longer your story is, the more likely you are to get lost without a map. Let’s talk about plotting, literary devices, foreshadowing, and story structure.

“Furry vs. the Mainstream” – There’s increasing crossover between furry and the mainstream (you may have heard of a movie called Zootopia last year), but grabbing attention outside the fandom is still tough. How do you “sell” furry to non-furries? Do you even want to?

“Why a Fox?” – Why do we pick particular species for stories, or use animal-people at all? “Because furries” works for a lot of us, but it can be fun to think about it more deeply – and if we can find answers beyond the fur-deep, it might just help us tell better stories.

I believe Sylvan, who’s a long-time Minneapolis area furry and a writer, is interested in a few of these, and Furry Migration should know that Mark Engels, Gullwulf and Zarpaulus will be there, too. (I have mentioned it more than once. They seem to be lovely people, but maaaaaaybe not the most organized this year.)

#12

“Gun on the Mantlepiece” is a panel I very desperately need to attend. I’ve gotten better about outlining but I can always learn more.

Hope to see everyone there!

#13

Why yes, I think all of the panels our esteemed colleague Mr. Chipotle suggested are awesomesauce! Look forward to working with you all on them. Because I think I could learn a lot too! :smiley:

MJE

#14

The four panels I usually bring are:

“Exploring the Fandom Through Data”
Join [adjective][species] to explore the ins and outs of the furry subculture through data, prowling through seven years of the furry survey and additional surveys and data sets besides, investigating what makes up the fandom and exploring why.

“The Love - Sex - Fur Guide to Safer Sex”
Interested in what all goes into having a happy, healthy, sex-positive relationship with your partners? Curious on how to stay safe while playing? Safer sex is important for staying healthy, both physically and emotionally. Join Makyo from Love - Sex - Fur in exploring ways to enjoy intimacy safely.

“Healthy Relationships in Furry”
Interested in what all goes into having a happy, healthy, positive relationship with you and your partners? Curious on how to make long-distance and in-person relationships work? Come join Makyo from Love - Sex - Fur in an open panel discussing safe and healthy relationships.

“Gender and Furry”
Both gender and furry touch on very important aspects of identity, and the fandom often provides a space in which to explore one’s gender in a safe manner. Join Makyo from Love - Sex - Fur to talk about what gender is and how it interacts with the furry subculture.

Panels haven’t been confirmed yet, though, so I can’t say which will be accepted ^^

#15

Yeah, I admit I’m not that well organized in terms of planning for this thing. I haven’t even compiled the slide show for that panel me and Mark were going to do.

Also, my approach to outlining has generally been “get a vague idea of what happens in the story, then watch it spiral off on tangents and try to prune them.”

#16

We’ve received the schedule of events! I cajoled a list of all writing events (plus all of Chip’s and my events), so here’s the list:

Friday in Greenway Ballroom D
18:00 GoH Meet and Greet
All GoH
19:00

Friday in Greenway Ballroom C
21:00 Healthy Relationships in Furry
GoH - Madison “Makyo” Scott-Clary
22:00
***Room will need to be cleared between this and next panel for adult
ID checking

Friday in Greenway Ballroom C
22:30 The Love - Sex - Fur Guide to Safer Sex [Adult]
GoH - Madison “Makyo” Scott-Clary
23:30
***This panel is okay to run longer than scheduled as there are no
panels after it

Saturday in Greenway Ballroom C
12:00 Furry vs. the Mainstream
GoH Watts ‘Chipotle’ Martin - Furry Writers’ Guild
13:00

Saturday in Greenway Ballroom A
15:00 Furry Writers’ Guild Meet and Greet
Furry Writers’ Guild
16:00

Saturday in Greenway Ballroom C
19:30 Gender and Furry
GoH - Madison “Makyo” Scott-Clary
20:30

Saturday in Greenway Ballroom D
19:30 Why a Fox?
GoH Watts ‘Chipotle’ Martin - Furry Writers’ Guild
20:30

Sunday in Greenway Ballroom C
09:00 The Gun on the Mantelpiece
GoH Watts ‘Chipotle’ Martin - Furry Writers’ Guild, Sylvan
10:00

Sunday in Greenway Ballroom C
12:00 Exploring Avenues to Publication
Joel Kreissman, Mark Engels
13:00

Sunday in Greenway Ballroom C
15:00 Exploring the Fandom Through Data
GoH - Madison “Makyo” Scott-Clary
16:00

I’ve set up a calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=drab-makyo.com_qaufpved6vtbmpks95t992k6vs%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

(Please disregard Maddy’s horrible typo, if you saw it. Also disregard the fact that Google Calendars is dead set on deadnaming me. I’ve filed a very angry bug report.)

I’ve added the events to the FWG events calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=al30rpq15459f601ks3rhtb4h0%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Denver

#17

Furry Migration has apparently taken my panel suggestions to be “here are panels that I am going to present myself,” which was NOT MY PLAN, so I am in kind of sudden panic mode. If anyone who is attending wants to be on ANY of those panels PLEASE let me know in this thread, or just show up, or…something.

#18

Gotcha covered, Chipotle. I read all three of your panel ideas from 7/16 with interest. Would love to sit them with you! And would be glad for our other esteemed Guild colleagues to join us.

MJE

#19

I’ll be there, too, Chip, for all but the “Why a Fox” panel.

#20

Sunday in Greenway Ballroom C
12:00 Exploring Avenues to Publication
Joel Kreissman, Mark Engels
13:00

I would certainly appreciate my esteemed FWG colleagues sitting together with us! The story of my path is kinda short. Figure between Joel and I and a couple others, we can spend a reasonable amount of time comparing and contrasting our different approaches. Believe the audience will benefit from several points-of-view as well. I know I would. :slight_smile:

MJE