{"type": {"key": "/type/author"}, "name": "Utunu", "key": "/authors/OL13018708A", "source_records": ["bwb:9781948743389"], "photos": [15148565, 15148562, 15148563], "bio": "Edwin is a veteran of the video game industry and has worked therein as a programmer since 1991. Always a voracious reader, he decided in 2016 to try the storytelling side of things, and since then has been working on both short stories and longer form creative efforts. He most enjoys writing LGBTQ+ and anthropomorphic fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, romantasy, and historical fiction.\r\n\r\nThe pseudonym \u2018Utunu\u2019, the name under which he writes, originated from a painted wolf (African wild dog) character he created some fifteen years ago. His first exploratory writing delved into this character\u2019s world, a fantasy setting where long-lost gods began to take notice of their followers once more.\r\n\r\nUtunu has had various short stories and poems published, and in 2023 he published his first book, the romantasy Rafts. It was the runner-up for Best Novel in the 2023 Ursa Major Awards, was among Novel Approach Reviews\u2019 Best of 2023, and won the 2023 C\u00f3yotl Award for Best Novella.\r\n\r\nHis second book, Far Flung, was published in the summer of 2024. It won the 2024 C\u00f3yotl Award for Best Novel and was a quarterfinalist in the 2024 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. The sequel to Far Flung will be releasing in early 2026.\r\n\r\nHe\u2019s also published Echoes, a fantasy anthology of his short stories and poems, which was released in 2025. Within its pages are included his three award-winning short stories \u2018Water\u2019 (C\u00f3yotl and Leo Awards in 2020), \u2018Lids\u2019 (C\u00f3yotl and Leo Awards in 2022), and \u2018Houses of Stone\u2019 (C\u00f3yotl Award in 2024).\r\n\r\nHe enjoys reading, writing, board games, commissioning artwork, nature, tabletop RPGs, ancient history, obscure languages, conlangs, worldbuilding, proper football, linguistics, and the Oxford comma.\r\n\r\nUtunu resides near Austin, Texas with his wife, son, daughter, three dogs, zero fennecs, and several Kallax units filled with board games he wishes he could play more often.\r\n\r\n(Source: [Mapaku Village](https://mapakuvillage.com/about/)).", "alternate_names": ["Edwin Herrell", "Edwin 'Utunu' Herrell"], "links": [{"title": "Furry Writer's Guild", "url": "https://furrywritersguild.com/writers/utunu/", "type": {"key": "/type/link"}}, {"title": "WikiFur", "url": "https://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Utunu", "type": {"key": "/type/link"}}, {"title": "Fur Affinity", "url": "https://www.furaffinity.net/user/utunu/", "type": {"key": "/type/link"}}, {"title": "Personal Site", "url": "https://mapakuvillage.com/", "type": {"key": "/type/link"}}, {"title": "Square Site", "url": "https://mapakuvillage.square.site/s/shop", "type": {"key": "/type/link"}}, {"title": "X", "url": "https://twitter.com/WildDogUtunu", "type": {"key": "/type/link"}}, {"title": "Mastodon", "url": "https://meow.social/@utunu", "type": {"key": "/type/link"}}], "remote_ids": {"goodreads": "22730095.Utunu", "amazon": "B0F1MZ136Z"}, "latest_revision": 9, "revision": 9, "created": {"type": "/type/datetime", "value": "2023-07-17T14:19:06.834845"}, "last_modified": {"type": "/type/datetime", "value": "2026-04-01T07:19:44.674938"}}