The Marshmallow Ranch Gazette (Patreon)

Volume 5, Issue 4 -- Tuesday, January 21st, 2020

Howdy, patrons!

Another Further Confusion is in the books. There was a real positive vibe among the attendees this year -- attendance was up to around 4500, from 3850 in 2019. A new event on Saturday night -- the Night Market, an adult dealer showcase with cash bar and dance floor -- proved to be way more popular than anyone had anticipated. Over 3000 people showed up, and there was a line to get in running the length of the convention center's second floor almost the entire time! I suspect they'll have to give it a MUCH larger space next year. Over $20,000 was raised for this year's charity, the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center! And the convention made national news when attendees stopped a domestic violence situation unfolding on the street. Honestly, I couldn't be prouder of our community. We're kind, generous, sex-positive and won't put up with shit. 

Both of my panels went fairly well. The "Serializing Fiction" panel was well-attended; Kyell Gold, Arilin, and I talked about how to manage the specific challenges of pacing a serialized piece, and shared tips, tricks, and mistakes we've encountered in our experience running Patreons. Folks asked a ton of great questions, and I definitely learned a thing or two from the more-experienced writers sharing the panel space. 

"Politics and Social Justice in Furry Writing" was a rousing success; each panel with topics like this actually fill up, and the attendance feels like it's going up every year. The audience asked several really awesome questions about really sensitive topics, and we all shared our experience about navigating the tricky terrain of social justice in our fiction. Furry is an especially ripe meta-genre for exploring this, but it also has fairly unique issues that might arise. For example, using a furry species as a stand-in for marginalized racial groups has an unfortunate and often unintentional association with the long history of dehumanizing those very same groups. Even if your story takes a sympathetic stance with your furries, it's quite possible to come off tone-deaf.

One of the things I'm always reminded of when I talk about these issues is that I have my own blind spots. As a cis gay male, women's and trans issues are often off my radar -- especially in porn material that focuses on beefy giant men. Stretching myself so that women feel included, or even encouraged, as an audience in my stories is something I really could be doing better with. We all have work to do, and it really helps to engage with that work with clear eyes and a humble attitude. All in all, it was a wonderful convention experience and I'm definitely looking forward to next year!

For now, it's time to get back to the routine I've been building so far this year: writing, reading, and exercise. I had hoped to have episode 3 of "Crushing The Competition" written by now, but of course there was no writing at all to be done during the convention weekend. I've started the episode and I'll be working hard through the week to make sure it's up on Friday. Reworking the serial to be a bit more cohesive (and sexy) has been really fun, and I hope folks have enjoyed the first few updated chapters. 

I'll also be pushing to finish the outline of a couple stories that will be made available to patrons at higher levels. These stories will be anywhere from three to seven parts, with each part longer than the typical "Crushing The Competition" episode. There might even be some 'single-serving' stories between them. I'm hoping that working on multiple projects (once I've hit a regular cadence with writing) will bear fruit before too long. 

But that's all putting the cart before the horse -- first, the work of consistency. Stay tuned to the Jackalope Serial Company Twitter for updates on the serial. For now, I'll see you on Friday with a fresh episode! 

-Jakebe