“A window into another man’s masculinity” All-Bear mag interview

“A window into another man’s masculinity”:

RJS on FUR, BBB, in All-Bear mag

Check out the new issue (#17) of All-Bear, which has my interview by editor Colin, on FUR: THE LOVE OF HAIR, and the Bear Bones Books new titles.

All-Bear is a sexy, informative, and entertaining PDF magazine available by subscription or individual issue download. Here are a few excerpts from our interview:

CG: The book is a true global representation of some very talented guys from all around the globe. How many artists/photographers did you have to choose from for the book?

RS: We had about 1100 images to choose from, I think, and about 75 artists submitted work for our consideration. From that, we selected about 300 images, more or less equal in terms of photography and illustration, by 52 contributors in 14 countries.

FUR title page spread

CG: There have been a few books of late dedicated to highlighting artists and photographers whose subject matter is of the bear persuasion. What makes your book stand out above the rest?

RS: First and foremost, the book is humongous. It’s 8.5 x 11 inches, 4.1 pounds, 252 full-color pages. You can build muscle mass just by lifting the book.

It’s gorgeously printed. Excuse me — I mean, flawlessly printed. It’s like reading a storybook with pictures and tales of the lives of sexy hairy men. Even the endpapers are filled with squares of pictures of fur from the art inside — like a wall of “fur-tiles,” each square a window into another man’s masculinity.

And the conclusion:

CG: What future projects should our readers look out for?

RS: I edit a line of books written by and for the bear community, the Bear Bones Books imprint of indie GLBTQ publisher Lethe Press.

To date we have published twelve books, fiction and nonfiction. Our next title, which I am just now putting into production and will be released next month, is called WAKING UP BEAR, And Other Stories, a delightful short-story collection from my friend and occasional writing partner, Jay Neal. Your readers can check out all of our excellent Bear literature at www.BearBonesBooks.com.

There’s also the prospect that BBB will be doing the novelization of a very significant Bear feature-length movie, so that’s very exciting too.

CG: Thanks Ron, for your time and giving the ALL BEAR readers an insight into the making of the book.

RS: Colin, on behalf of Scott and myself, thank you and your woofy readers for your love of furry men in art and your interest in our book, FUR: THE LOVE OF HAIR.