Choices (Beauty and the Beast zine by Debbie R.)
For other fanworks of the same name, see Choice.
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Choices |
| Publisher: | Penreddy Publishing |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | Debbie Ristick, edited by Lynne Wexler |
| Cover Artist(s): | |
| Illustrator(s): | Susan Abbott, Sue K, Pam Tuck, Mary Ellen Nicosia, and Jim Wappel |
| Date(s): | September 1991 |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | het |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Choices is a het 96-page Beauty and the Beast novel by Debbie Ristick.
The art is by Susan Abbott, Sue K, Pam Tuck, Mary Ellen Nicosia, and Jim Wappel. It contains poetry by MariLynn.
The Author Thanks
To the Writers of Beauty and the Beast thank you for giving us the magic you have. Your words were so wonderful that I borrowed some of them for this story...[Lynne W], thanks for asking tough questions, for smiling at all of my ideas, for silently putting up with my many, uncontrolled emotional outbursts, but especially for the pleasure of your company during the sometimes long trips to our club meetings. I don't know now I'd get along without you in my life.
[Barb K], thanks for being an anchor for me, for being here for me, but mainly, I want to say thanks for making all the right faces and sounds while reading "certain" scenes from the story.
[Lisa S], I want to thank you for the faith you've always had in me, for the dedication in From the Tunnels II that said I could write. Your smile over the phone is worth everything!
MariLynn, thank you for the time spent patiently listening as I read, for the times you couldn't get a word in edge-wise. You write some of file best poetry in this fandom, and without your love and your caring, I would definitely be a poorer person.
Chicago Area Tunnel Society, to all members, and that means you as well, Jackie! Thank you for giving me a place where I'm understood, where I'm appreciated and put up with. But mostly, thanks for giving me a place to finally belong. You are all-important in my life!
The Author's Foreword
How many of you still can't watch the end of The Rest of Silence? If you can't, take a moment to ponder this. As I wrote Choices. I saw the end of that particular episode approximately two hundred times. Aside from that torture, and on an individual level, I personally have trouble watching any episode, though I can't wait for the fall season to begin on a certain local network that has always entertained me by showing Star Trek: The Next Generation, and has had the good sense to purchase Beauty and the Beast.I made a tape of "certain" moments from the series to watch when the words would not come, thinking about it, dreaming about it, crying desperately over it: from all that suffering, ideas were born -- they took root in my mind and blossomed into the book you now hold in your hands. Choices was born because I, like most of you, was not satisfied by the way Beauty and the Beast ended. Though some details of the third season had me on the edge of my seat, (praying I didn't push the wrong button on my VCR remote) I mourned the loss of Catherine — wept tears and felt grief as though she were someone I knew closely, someone who meant more to me than a television character should. I started imagining what might have happened instead, (if CBS had not been the idiots they were) read countless 'zines by people who had obviously had the same dream. One night, I wrote a few lines, then paragraphs, then pages; I stopped after a while, thinking this story couldn't be written by me. I lacked faith in myself — I lacked belief in my own vision. It was a short time later, after having spent hundreds of dollars on 'zines and newsletters, that I started reaching out to the rest of you, hoping I could find myself amongst you. One fateful day in 1990. I chanced to meet someone, although It was over the phone, whose warmth and kindness touched me, whose writing excited me, and whose praise and inspiration made me want to try again... I thank the Beauty and the Beast community for its support and its faith. I can only hope the effort and love it took to write and produce this novel is worth the pain it brought to me during its conception. I welcome all your letters of comment and look forward to hearing from all of you. As to the prospect of any future publications, well, aside from my current project, Once Upon a Fairy Tale, being co-written by MariLynn, it will depend on all of you. If you like what you see here, please, tell me, for I want the dream to live on forever and cannot possibly do it alone.
Until next time, Remember Love, and we'll keep dreaming together.
The Poetry
- Choices
- To a Lost Lover
- The Storm
- Awakening
Sample Interior
interior art by Sue K
sample poem
sample text
Reactions and Reviews
This novel follows the events of 'TRIS' but ignores the 3rd season. Although Vincent survives his descent into madness in the cave, he sends Catherine away once again. The story line focuses on Catherine's struggle to convince Vincent that a life together is possible, and Vincent's struggle to accept that idea. Ultimately the lovers marry, Catherine opts to move Below and a daughter is born. Father and Mary also marry. Beautiful cover and interior art. [1]
This brief Classic novel takes off from the opening of “Though Lovers Be Lost,” splitting into an alternate timeline wherein Vincent, remembering nothing of what went on in the cave, withdraws from Catherine, who meanwhile learns she's pregnant. Vincent's memory gradually returns in vivid fragmentary dreams; Catherine, encouraged by Father, informs Vincent of the actual state of things. All is resolved in the end. In subplots, Catherine tries to help an abused woman, and Father and Mary find romance. Some sex, not graphically described. Art by Susan Abbott (cover: very nice!), Sue Krinard, Pam Tuck, Mary Ellen Nicosia, and Jim Wappel. Poetry by Marilynn. [2]