Close Quarters (Professionals zine)

For the Professionals con, see Close Quarters.

Zine
Title:	Close Quarters
Publisher:	Deathless Pros Press
Editor(s):	Alexfandra
Date(s):	March 1996
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	The Professionals
Language:	English
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

cover by Alex T. MacKenzie

Close Quarters is a slash 140-page (73,500 words) Professionals anthology.

The front cover is by Alex T. MacKenzie. There is no interior art.

Author's Thanks

To: Agnes (proofreading), Sandy, Blackbird and Caroline for critique. Rachael, Sandy, Agnes, Blackbird, Lezlie Conch, Pam Rose, and Katharine for "the wonderful story brainstorming sessions at Escapade which led to "Love in a Faithless Country."

Irene also thanked Jan Levine and "the eagle-eyed readers of Seattle".

Contents

Story summaries from the zine:

• Elena's Shoes by Irene (Guarding the wife of a deposed dictator may sound boring to Bodie and Doyle, but Elena Florian proves highly entertaining—and much more attracted to Bodie than Doyle cares for. But is the attraction mutual? And what will Doyle choose to do about it, if anything?) (1)
• Dance While You Can by Alex T. MacKenzie (In search of a blackmailer, Bodie and Doyle go under cover at a gay club. Doyle succeeds in keeping the fact that it's not all an act for him a secret—until Bodie suddenly pulls him onto the dance floor for one long, slow number...) (20)
• Fit to be Tied by Gwyneth Rhys (Can the lads survive hours of togetherness—a bit too much togetherness? Find out what happens when Bodie and Doyle become closely bound, literally, in a rather compromising position.) (30)
• On a Hot Summer's Night by Alex T. MacKenzie (A too-hot evening, a party that never seemed to end, and a drunken kiss on the sofa...in the morning, Doyle is ecstatic. And Bodie doesn't remember a thing...) (43)
• Groundhog Doyle by Irene (Bad enough to be stuck living the same day over and over again until he gets it right—but it's Christmas Eve, and Raymond Doyle has never liked Christmas. Still, how much trouble can he get into in just one day?) (58)
• Strictly Classified by Alex T. MacKenzie (A reprint of a story which originally appeared on the circuit. Doyle goes on a blind date via the gay personals as part of an undercover op—and is surprised when Bodie turns up to meet him.) (77)
• Love in a Faithless Country by Alex T. MacKenzie (Bodie and Doyle have casual sex now and then; one of them wants much more, but is thwarted at every turn. Set against the backdrop of a high-level assassination plot, this is a story about desire, truth, and the price of denial.) (89)

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Reactions and Reviews

See reactions and reviews for Love in a Faithless Country.

See reactions and reviews for Dance While You Can.

See reactions and reviews for Fit to be Tied.

See reactions and reviews for Elena's Shoes.

See reactions and reviews for Groundhog Doyle.

[Strictly Classified]: minus major points for the ending, but nonetheless brilliant romantic comedy schmoop, if not particularly original. brought you've got mail to my mind, in fact.

[zine] Close Quarters, from Deathless Pros Press, is one of the nicest anthology zines I have come across in a long time. The stories are all set in the mainstream CI5 universe, but are still refreshingly off-beat - the sort you can read over and over and glean a little more out of each time.

"On A Hot Summer Night" by Alex T. Mackenzie begins with a party at Murphy's flat. Both the Boys are more than a little drunk and just about make it to the sofa. Their boozy affection for each other increases in proportion to their inebriation until it finally ends in a drunken kiss. In the morning, Bodie acts as though nothing has happened, and it is two days later before Doyle confronts him with it, whereupon he goes into denial...

"Strictly Classified", another one by Alex T. Mackenzie, is perhaps the least of the stories. On an undercover op, Doyle goes on a blind date via the gay personal columns ... and guess who turns up to meet him!

[for this fan's comments regarding the other stories, see those individual pages on Fanlore]