Legacy Interview with Suzan Lovett

Interviews by Fans
Title:	Legacy Interview with Suzan Lovett
Interviewer:	Legacy
Interviewee:	Suzan Lovett
Date(s):	2007
Medium:	print, CD
Fandom(s):	Star Trek TOS, slash
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In 2007, Suzan Lovett was interviewed for the zine Legacy.

See List of Star Trek Fan Interviews.

Suzan Said

[My introduction to K/S and to fandom]: 1980, my very first con, Kansas City TreKon, where I saw my first fan Art Show and thought: Hmmm, I used to draw. I wonder...? I must admit that the real reason wasn’t so much for “art’s sake” as it was for sheer money, or rather, the lack thereof. The paycheck coming into the house at the time simply couldn’t cover too many indulgences, I’d just discovered zines, hankered for more and I thought contributors copies were a great idea. I put together a small portfolio, Xeroxed them and sent them to the editors of the zines I’d bought. I had all of three. Galactic Discourse, Contact—the editors of which both bounced back my drawings, Bev Volker & Nancy Kippax telling me they weren’t good enough to be in Contact, Laurie H. saying essentially the same thing about Galactic Discourse, but very gently, and also suggesting that if I want to be printed in zines I might want to draw in ink rather than charcoal as I had done, since ink was cheap to print unlike charcoal/pencil work that required negatives & plates. The third zine was R&R, and— well, Johanna Cantor kept it cheap mostly to give the new writers and artists a place where they had a chance of getting printed. She sent me two stories to illustrate, mentioning she’d prefer ink, but if I preferred otherwise, she was fine with that, as long as I understood she’d be simply Xeroxing them and I shouldn’t expect perfect quality. She’s the only reason I kept on drawing. She kept sending me stories and printing my drawings until I got better and the other zine editors started noticing and asking for work, accepting pencil work, until I had more and more reasons to improve. Anyway, that’s how I got into illustrating zines. As to how I got into slash—same year, same con, I’m a wide-eyed newbie, and someone I didn’t know at the time, an older fan dealer who had obviously taken it upon herself to keep newly-minted “innocents” safe from unhealthy influences, saw fit to lecture me on those people over there who were putting out perverted zines about Kirk & Spock and I should stay away from them. (“Those people” were Vicky & Barbara and the zine was Nome). I’m a child of the Sixties, rebelling comes to me like breathing, especially if someone assumes an authoritarian mantle—naturally, I made a beeline for them. Once I found out what slash was all about, I wasn’t at first sure if I liked it or not as it applied to “my” characters (even if I was sure it was H*O*T*), but it was subversive and that suited me just fine. In any case, I wanted those zines, too, and they also cost $$$, so the above paragraph applied.

The first [Star Trek movie], mostly what I remember is waiting in line, in rain, seven hours. And once I’d done that I was not ready to hear the movie had shortcomings. Once I had laid eyes on the “This...simple feeling” scene, I was ready to get violent about the naysayers who dared claim it had shortcomings (so the flyby is long, so what; hell, go get popcorn). So, in short, I’m one of the few fans that I know who actually loves that movie unreservedly—even if it means putting up with Kathy Langley’s derision every time the subject comes up... There was a drawback to the movies, though. ST fandom started coming out of the closet, becoming a bit too mainstream for my taste. I like my fandoms underground. Now, with the web, worrying about that little bit of light shone on it seems silly, of course, but I remember being bothered by it while I was thrilled with getting more ST.

Reactions and Reviews

AN INTERVIEW WITH SUZAN LOVETT: Oh my gosh I have died and gone to heaven. First Syn, then Natasha and now Suzan! It was so fun reading her interview but I wanted more. Just as I want more of her artwork!