Kyell Gold is the pen name of a Californian novelist who is chiefly known for writing male homoerotic literature for the furry fandom. His longest published works are in the Argaea series ... Volle, Pendant of Fortune and Shadow of the Father ... and the standalone novels Waterways and Out of Position. He is also known for his short stories.
Gold, who represents himself as a Red Fox, is one of the most acclaimed furry writers, having won more Ursa Major Awards than anyone else. He currently has eight awards (all since 2005); beating the previous record of six, held by Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai. Gold has also been acknowledged by non-furry writers. In 2010 he was nominated for the WSFA Small Press Award for short fiction.
Gold's first published story was "The Prisoner's Release" in the magazine Heat, an adult publication by Sofawolf Press. Gold went on to write novels, starting with Volle, which became the first part of his Argaea fantasy series. Volle won Gold his first Ursa Major Award in 2005 for "Best Anthropomorphic Novel". In 2006, his sequel ... Pendant of Fortune ... won the 2006 Ursa Major Award in the same category. Fred Patten reviewed the pair, calling them "arguably the best anthropomorphic novels yet written". He also won that year's "Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction" for his short story Jacks to Open, published by Fur Rag.
Gold won his fourth Ursa Major with Don't Blink (published in Heat), which was voted "Best Anthropomorphic Short Fiction" for 2007. He again won both the "Novel" and "Short Fiction" categories for 2008 with Waterways and In Between respectively. Gold won the same prizes again in the 2009 awards with Out of Position and Drifting.
In 2010, Gold was nominated for WSFA Small Press Award for short fiction with his story Race to the Moon.
Gold himself has set a goal of writing at least one novel-length work a year, as well as a collection of short stories which are published on furry fandom websites Fur Affinity and SoFurry (previously YiffStar). As of March 2010, he is editing the sequel to Out of Position and preparing a Bridges bonus story.
Outside his work, he lives with his partner Kit Silver, and attends furry conventions around the world.
The following books are printed editions and collections of Gold's work.
Argaea series
Volle. Cover art and illustrations by Sara Palmer ("Caribou"). Sofawolf Press, ISBN 0-9712670-8-1, 2005.
Pendant of Fortune. Cover art and illustrations by Sara Palmer. Sofawolf Press, ISBN 0-9769212-3-5, 2006.
The Prisoner's Release and Other Stories. Four short stories set between Volle and Pendant of Fortune. The title story was originally issued in Heat #1-2, the others were previously unpublished. Cover art by Sara Palmer and illustrations by Vince Suzukawa, "Taurin Fox", Adam Wan and "Arthur Husky". Sofawolf Press, ISBN 0-9769212-7-8, 2007.
Shadow of the Father. Cover art and illustrations by Sara Palmer. Sofawolf Press, ISBN 978-098198834-4, 2010.
Other books
Waterways. A high school boy falls in love with another boy, the novel chronicles his coming out process. Cover and interior illustrations by John Nunnemacher ("Cooner"). Sofawolf Press, ISBN 0-9791496-5-7, 2008.
Out of Position. A story about a gay activist and an American football player who fall in love with one another. The cover and nine interior illustrations were created by "Blotch". Sofawolf Press, ISBN 978-0-9791496-9-6, 2009.
Bridges. A novella of 111 pages. Cover and interior illustrations by Keovi. Furplanet, ISBN 978-1-935599-16-6, 2010.
X. A collection of ten erotic short stories based on the Ten Commandments, written by Gold and other writers. Gold acts as editor of the book. Sofawolf Press, ISBN 978-0-9819883-2-0, 2009.
As of February 2010, Gold's stories have also been published in each issue of furry erotica magazines Heat (#1-6; Sofawolf Press) and FANG (#1-3; Bad Dog Books).