Furry Writers' Guild Forum

The Voice of Dog · Short story podcast

Hey there; I hope you’re well!

I’m The Dog Formerly Known As Alex Vance; I founded Bad Dog Books, the FANG and ROAR anthologies, led both the redesigns of SoFurry, and wrote Heathen City, which won an Ursa Major. I’ve been comfortably retired from writing for a few years but I’m Making Something New, and I wonder if any of you want to contribute one of your stories.

I’ve missed doing narrations of stories, and like many people I’m stuck at home, so I though tI’d make something like the wartime resistance radio stations of old, to entertain and lift the spirits folks who are stuck indoors for the foreseeable. In my case: doing readings of enjoyable, cockle-warming stories.

And with so many cons getting cancelled, I’d love to help some writers sell a few books in the coming weeks.

I call it The Voice of Dog and I’ve recorded stories by Rob Baird, Huskyteer Televassi, NightEyes, Altivo and Toledo.

I’ve also received stories to read from Kandrel, Ryan Campbell, Francs Pauli, and Kyell and Rikoshi are looking for a story to send me.

Would you be interested in letting me record a short story of yours?

To maintain a daily release schedule I’m trying to avoid having to manage a slush pile, so I’m asking writers to use their own best judgment, with these loose criteria:

  • Under 5,000 words
  • Upbeat, inspiring, hopeful or uplifting — that’s a broad definition, but the goal is to leave the listener with less anxiety or despair than they started with :slight_smile:
  • Self-contained; the reader should be able to understand what’s going on without much of a backstory, and the ending should be satisfying
  • Erotica is welcome! I’m hoping to offer predominantly non-erotica, and I’m putting ‘content warnings’ with the episodes that feature erotic works in case there’s youngsters listening, or folks who aren’t into that.

I’ll also need a little bio-byline so I can introduce you with references to notable works or where to find you online, something like: “Today’s story is [story title] by [name], who [notable thing or self-description], and you can find more of [pronoun] stories on [wherever]"

And lastly, it’d help me out immensely if you check the story and provide a pronunciation guide for any words or names that a foreigner like myself might not know how to say :slight_smile:

I’ve made a handy-dandy template for submissions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z9a9VTYIMuQjaKJYlal9-NFxqshPCOZRYTN7wyQjkI0/edit?usp=sharing

You can send your submissions to khakidoggy@me.com, I’m @khakidoggy on Twitter and Telegram. Thanks in advance!

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As a newbie on the forums I was only allowed to include two links, so you can find the show here: thevoice.dog :slight_smile:

I’ll make sure the word gets out.

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Just want to say that I think this is a great idea! You’re helping out less recognized authors and keeping people in high spirits at the same time. Here’s to your success!

Cheers Kyzak, that means a lot to me! :slight_smile:

I have to say, this is a really great idea!

Thank you kindly. If you think you’ve got a story that fits, by all means send it in!

I have a short story that I think would fit. It involves graphic sex, though it’s not erotica. It’s a comedic philosophical inquiry, done by a fur who has an epiphany during an orgy, and loses interest in having sex but is too polite to actually back out.

It would likely require a bit of cleaning up though. When do you want the stories by?

That sounds like a hoot! If it’s under 5K words, I’d love to take a gander. I’m releasing one story a day, and trying to build up a cushion. Would it be possible to get the story this weekend, or early next week?

I wish I did! But I don’t - my stories are a biiiit longer. But still, glad to hear this is going forward!

If I move the schedule from daily to weekly I might be open to longer stories. We’ll see!

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Just sent it! I was hoping to get it done this weekend, but drama. Sigh.

I hope you enjoy it!

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I thought about sending in Family Ties, but you said “uplifting” and I don’t think it would qualify.

It’s more like Altered Carbon than that.

Yeah; that may change in the future, but at the moment there’s enough uncertainty and worry going around that folks could use a little boost on the daily. But ‘uplifting’ has a lot of definitions! The first story featured, by Rob Baird, is dryly dystopian, but ends on a note of hope and courage!