Not Heathen City - Quantum Leap instead.

Right. I've used this LJ for promotional purposes more than anything these last years, so rather than waxing prosaic about the trials of producing the baddest-assed graphic novel the fandom has ever seen, its imminent debut at Anthrocon and, potentially, the significantly earlier onset of pre-orders, let me focus on something else instead:

The promotional tagline for the information page for Apple's next operating system: Snow Leopard.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard/

"A Quantum Leap."

It's a common tagline. A quantum leap in innovation, a quantum leap in saucer smoothness. Whatever. All of them are wrong, wrong, wrong, because a 'quantum leap' is, in physics, the smallest possible distance an object can travel without standing still.

So why am I so lyrical about Apple's use?

They're the first ones ever to use it right. The new operating system, Snow Leopard, is touted as having 0 new features. All focus is on improving stability, laying the groundwork for the next decade of development. It's a bold move, and leave it to Apple to be able to make "Zero new features!" a positive marketing slogan.

The point of all this is that the end user should notice nothing, aside from performance boosts, which makes this a true quantum leap. Kudos!

Fan Art!

Time to boast, time to gloat!

Heathen City has proven to be quite popular, despite, you know, not actually being available yet.

The sublime ArtDecade has decided to show his enthusiasm for the project by setting his ink brush on fire and producing this:

 
I dig his stuff immensely. He has two comics available at FurPlanet, two volumes of his Small Stories series.

They're these incredibly real, dramatic, modest little events, stunning in their simplicity. Absolutely recommended to those who appreciate spare but intense storytelling.

It's a far cry from Heathen City, with its dense, cinematic boldness. I'm susprised (and very, very happy) that an artist like ArtDecade is so excited about it.

Of course, I'm also very not surprised. HC is going to rock.

Heathen City Is Coming

After several months of hard work, with the aid of an enigmatic financier and two criminally underpaid artists, Heathen City is rolling full steam ahead.

The first issue of this new comic, written by yours truly, illustrated by the insanely talented

ayato

 and colored by his partner-in-crime Distasty, this tale of gay sex, blood-chilling action and epic urban struggle will set a new standard for furry comics.

I've been a big fan of ASB and Circles, and Genus Male still gets me off, but it's time to raise the bar.

Feast your eyes on these promo desktops, and visit www.heathencity.com for more information.

Coming soon.

Now what on earth could that be?

Stay tuned...

Books a million

Folks, it always goes the same way.

You plan months in advance, really take your time to prepare and make sure everything's perfect. You keep quiet about it so you can surprise people with it.

Then, a few weeks before the deadline, something happens, or you discover something, that means that all your work is for nothing and you have to do it all over again. Whether this be book formatting, editing, webdesign, writing -- any and all.

Then, a week before the deadline, just as it seems as if you'll make it, it happens again. Start over.

Le sigh.

But we at BDB are indomitable. We knew that Anthrocon would be a big thing for us, and despite everything the Fates have thrown our way, we're actually ready for it. (This mail will only be a quick sum-up; I'll properly give a blow-by-blow when I've had some sleep. According to my calendar, I'll have time for that in about three years.)

• FANG Volume 3 is being published. FI-NAL-LY. It's taken a long time, but it's been worth it.


• FANG Volume 4 is also being published -- but it's changing its name, and will be published as ROAR Volume 1. Yeah, I know it's weird, but you'll understand when I get around to explaining it better!


• The Hero: a gay fantasy novel by Teiran Dragon, who also the popular High School Days series.


• El Burrito de los Muertos: gay erotica novel by Anré Blaireau, sequel to Everybody Loves Luther.


• White Crusade: Ben Goodridge manags to juggle his editorial duties at BDB with a healthy writing career of his own. I fought him tooth and nail for the rights to his debut novel, the post-apocalyptic sci-fi White Crusade. He objected because publishing it through BDB would make it look like he was self-publishing. I told him to hand over the damn book or he'd be out of a job.


• Website's been updated. I know people say that the baddogbooks.com website is revamped more often than it's actually updated, but you know what? I'm kind of proud of that. Behold: the majesty that is www.baddogbooks.com. Go look.


• Free Press Program. I babbled about this in the March podcast, and right after Anthrocon, it'll finally be ready for prime-time.


• All the books mentioned above are now available in Trade Paperback format, by popular demand, through BDB directly, and all will be available on the FurNation table in the dealer's room at Anthrocon this weekend while supplies last, so be quick! The usual $19.95, and worth every penny.


• All three authors of the BDB novels -- Teiran, André Blaireau and Ben Goodridge -- are going to be at Anthrocon, and may give book signings, so ask at the FurNation table when you can find them there, and keep a look-out! Writers love nothing more than to hear from the people who enjoyed their work.

Well, what do you know. Got it all done before Anthrocon. Only a day or two before, but still long enough to actually tell people about it. I'd like to thank Ben Goodridge, the good folks at FurNation, the new Mystery Editor that I'll tell you about soon, and of course you lot. Writers, readers, you know what I mean. Thank you for making BDB necessary, and helping us strive to make it something amazing.

More to come soon!

- Alex Vance
Editor-in-chief of Bad Dog Books

FurRag Ninja Update

FurRag, the furry fiction archive which I had set up with the aid of a dear friend, has sadly gone untouched (visibly, at least) for over a year. Behind the scenes I've tried to kick-start the development numerous times, each time failing to find consistently available assistance in regards to the coding aspect. So I finally decided to give up looking for help, and teach myself some skills.

In the last few weeks I've been working on the update, which is reasonably radical, and tonight, after six or seven uninterrupted hours of toil (my eyes feel like hammers) the site's up and running. New features:

- Integrated review and rating system.
- E-mail notification option for nw stories from watched authors or collections -- or if someone leaves a review of your story.
- Separate, optional spaces for story notes, start and end notes for chapters, and summaries.
- Simplified ratings system (PG-13, Mature, Erotic).
- Hopefully properly cross-platform WYSIWYG editor (fingers crossed!).
- Co-authorship is now possible!
- Challenges.
- A new, more secure, hopefully spam-free forum.

And much else I can't get into. I'll be adding bits and pieces to the site as time goes on, incuding instructions as to how best to make use of its new features.

Ladies an gentlemen, after a year and a half of trying, I can finally, proudly, present to you:

FurRag.com.

Year of the Bad Dog

2007: The Year of the Bad Dog.

(this message is also available as an audio podcast at Baddogbooks.com!)

When things go quiet at Bad Dog Books, it can mean three things.

One: we're having a party and you're not invited. This doesn't happen nearly as often as we'd like it to. Alas!

Two: we're working very hard on something. This happens all the time. We wish we could have more parties, but between schmoozing, editing, wheeling and dealing we just don't have a whole lot of time to spend just drinking. Usually we end up drinking while working.

But there's a third option, too. That's when we're working very, very hard on things, so hard, in fact, that often we can't even drink. Can you imagine?

You don't have to. This is that eventuality. And we of Bad Dog Books, the hardworking yet comically underpaid Ben Goodridge and the money-grubbing, egomaniacal and always humble Alex Vance, are proud to reveal to you all the sweet, golden-hued fruits of our labours.