Author Dawn Kravagna has released Murderous Critters, her first collection of Cattle Capers ™ mystery stories on-line at Smashwords. “Murderious Critters is a trio of outrageously funny mystery short stories, the first collection in a series featuring the zany comic animal characters from the world of Cattle Capers ™. A killer magician, rogue dinosaur skeletons, and roaming gunslingers are no match for bovine Master Detective Adam Steer and his goofy sidekick Crazy Cal.” The stories here include “The Magician’s Trick”, “The Dino Sore Mystery”, and “The Moontana Murders”, as well as the extra short story “Whopper Fish”.
Books and Trade Paperbacks
She Wanted Her Wings
We really can’t do better than the publisher’s notes at describing Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger. So here they are: “Once there was a Postman who fell in love with a Raven. So begins the tale of a postman who encounters a fledgling raven while on the edge of his route and decides to bring her home. The unlikely couple falls in love and conceives a child—an extraordinary raven girl trapped in a human body. The raven girl feels imprisoned by her arms and legs and covets wings and the ability to fly. Betwixt and between, she reluctantly grows into a young woman, until one day she meets an unorthodox doctor who is willing to change her.” According to Amazon, this hardcover illustrated novel will be coming to bookshelves and the Internet from Abrams ComicArts this May.
Cats with Swords
Sofawolf Press have announced that Caterwall, a new full-color young adult graphic novel by Spain Fischer, will be arriving this summer. Originally announced last spring, this sword & sorcery tale follows the adventures of Pax, a feline would-be adventurer. Pax is ” the orphaned son of the kingdom of Katia’s greatest knights. His family name and reputation has been tarnished, however, and Pax is to blame. When the young cat intercepts troubling news from the neighboring kingdom of the dogs, Dewshire, his warnings fall on deaf ears. Banished from Caterwall after insulting the Dewshire diplomat, Pax must decide if he will try to stop the dangerous tide approaching Caterwal l– or turn his back on the home which cast him out.” The story will be told in a series of three 100-page graphic novels. We’ll admit to some confusion regarding the web site for this project. Some promotional posters released at Further Confusion and elsewhere give the web site as www.caterwall.net, which leads you to a “Coming Soon” page with an illustration. More actual information, however, can be found at www.caterwall.com, which includes artwork and background write-ups.
A War for the Earth
Endtown is an Ursa Major Award-nominated black & white web-comic by Aaron Neathery. “A mutagenic plague followed by a global war fought with disintegration weaponry has left much of the Earth a desert of fine powder, and what remains of humanity fragmented into humans, animal-like mutants and bloodthirsty monstrosities with lots of teeth. The surface, still teeming with the mutagenic virus, has become the domain of the dreaded Topsiders: Well-organized, technologically advanced, and heavily armed un-mutated humans sworn to exterminate mutations of any kind in order to clear the way for the eventual resurgence of a new, genetically clean humanity. Faced with annihilation, mutants and ‘impure’ humans have retreated into the depths of the planet to form communities and hope to win, or at least survive, what may prove to be mankind’s final war.” The strip continues weekly on Gocomics, and now Jarlidium Press have announced that the first two years of the comic will soon be released in two paperback volumes. Pre-orders have already closed, but the books will be available for general sale this June.
Be Careful What You Wish For…
We recently stumbled across the works of Celeste M. Bath and Rael Bayellis. They’ve both worked on several stories of adult fantasy adventure (emphasis on adult), several of which fall into the “furry” category, and now they’ve begun to collaborate as well. One of there most recent works is Randi: A Shadowcats Story. Here’s the plot: “Randall was a very ambitious and powerful combat mage. When he found out about the Shadowcats he hatched a plan to make himself more powerful. Unfortunately for him it didn’t work. After having his brains scrambled and then his body changed after almost being killed, Randall is now Randi and owned by one of the more powerful Shadowcats in the Kingdom. Randi finds she enjoys life mated to the big sexy beast, and while she is now the most powerful mage in the Kingdom and both her and her mate are involved in Royal politics and intrigue, she finds her ambitions have changed…” The novel is available as an e-book, both at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
If Polly Ran The Ship…
Another discovery from Further Confusion — and we wonder how we missed this before. Black Beak the Parrot Pirate is a creation of Jennifer Sopranzi, Catherine Van Riper, and Tony Sopranzi, featuring CGI tricked-up photos of real animals as illustrations for their rousing sea adventure stories for young readers. “In the crystal blue waters of the Southern Seas lies the home of the fierce pirate parrot Captain Black Beak. Welcome to Conure Cove, the beautiful Island home of the brave and gentle beasts and birds who live in this mystic land. These are the first seven tales of Captain Black Beak, the greatest pirate parrot to sail the seas. Long may his tales be told in stories, songs and poems.” Now the first seven short books in the series (all of them available on Amazon) have been collected into a single volume, Black Beak: Pirate Saga, which also includes some new material. You can find out more about all of this at the home page of Black Beak Press.
Little Girl to Little Cat
Well-known fantasy author Charles De Lint has teamed up with well-known illustrator Charles Vess to bring us The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, a new hardcover full-color illustrated book coming this March from Little Brown Books For Young Readers. “Lillian Kindred spends her days exploring the Tanglewood Forest, a magical, rolling wilderness that she imagines to be full of fairies. The trouble is, Lillian has never seen a wisp of magic in her hills–until the day the cats of the forest save her life by transforming her into a kitten. Now Lillian must set out on a perilous adventure that will lead her through untamed lands of fabled creatures–from Old Mother Possum to the fearsome Bear People–to find a way to make things right.” From the review at Amazon, of course.
And with that, we’ll say TTFN (ta ta for now!) until after Further Confusion in San Jose, California. Take care!
Samurai Secrets of the Animals
We think it best to let the publisher, Shambhala, explain this one themselves: “The Demon’s Sermon on the Martial Arts is a classic collection of martial arts parables, written by Issai Chozanshi, an 18th-century samurai. The stories, which feature demons, insects, birds, cats, and numerous other creatures, may seem whimsical, but they contain essential teachings that offer insight into the fundamental principles of the martial arts. This manga version, based on Chozanshi’s text, brings these tales alive in a captivating and immediately accessible way.” It’s translated by Sean Michael Wilson, illustrated in full color by Michiru Morikawa, and coming this March in paperback from Shambhala. Amazon has more information.
Release the Power of Dragons
Dragon Resurrection is a new full-color trade paperback from Dark Horse, coming this May. It’s written by Emmy-nominated producer Mark Byers, ably assisted by Lin Zhang and Lyan Zhang, and illustrated Erfan Fajar. “Following the discovery of the remains of a dragon in the mountains of Tibet, adventurer Jesse Chang sends a DNA sample back to his twin brother, geneticist Jack. However, when a rogue American general learns of the discovery, he sets in motion a global pursuit to seize and control the technology for his own shocking ends. Now these twin siblings must synthesize the dragon’s DNA, creating a new generation of living, breathing dragons, in order to take on a tyrant bent on building his own personal kingdom.” Of course, there’s already a movie version in the works. Check out Dark Horse’s preview web site to see more.