Judith Proctor
| Fan | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Judith Proctor |
| Alias(es): | watervole, as part of the collaborative, Gemini, Vanessa Mullen |
| Type: | fanwriter, filker, archivist, zine publisher, convention organiser, poet |
| Fandoms: | Blake's 7 |
| Communities: | |
| Other: | |
| URL: | Blake's 7: Judith Proctor's site at Dreamwidth |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Judith Proctor is a British fan who is best known in the Blake's 7 fandom, in which she has been active since the mid-1990s. Her many areas of activity include fanfiction, fan poetry, filking, essay writing, fanzine publication/distribution, convention organisation and website management.
These activities, particularly the zine publication and the websites (where she sold zines to UK fans, hosted information about other fanzines, and posted much of the fic she had published in her zines) made her extremely influential in Blake's 7 1990s-2000s fandom. It is due in large part to Judith's work that Blake's 7 fanfiction history is so well archived today.
Judith also wrote slash using the pseud "Vanessa Mullen." [1]
She has a short bio here, Archived version.
Fan Fiction
Judith wrote fan fiction primarily in the Blake's 7 and Stargate fandoms. Well-known stories include the novella Morgan, a crossover between Blake's 7 and Morgan's Boy that won a FanQ award for Best Gen Standalone Zine in 1999. She is particularly known for stories featuring strong characterisation of Roj Blake.
Fanzines: Publishing and Agenting
Some of her fanworks were published under Waveney Press. As well as publishing her own zines, as KnightWriter Press Judith also acted as an agent for zines in many fandoms.
Much of the fiction from these zines was re-published on Judith's site Hermit.org, as Judith was able to seek permission to host the stories as she published them. Her interest in archiving and preserving older material for a newer generation of fans can also be seen in her decision to re-print numerous 'classics' of early fandom, particularly those by EPS. In a pre-internet age, this often involved significant work in tracing the author (who often had only used a pseud) whose work she wanted to reproduce.
She also published zines in the Star Cops fandom. These were novelisations by Chris Boucher (the original screenwriter) of his own work: An Instinct for Murder and Little Green Men and Other Stories.
Judith's own fiction shows a strong grasp of characterisation and dialogue. As an editor she imposed these traits onto the works of authors she published through in many cases heavily editing them before printing. Extensive changes can (for example) be seen between the two published drafts of Melody C.'s The Long Way Back and The Last Best Hope.
Most of Judith's zines have the same strong visual style, featuring the same chunky modular font for the title, two-column small font interior, and typically tape binding. This style was also used for Waveney adverts.
Zines
Some of these are original publications and some are reprints of earlier works.
These are titles that were published, and/or agented, and/or contained Proctor/Mullen's own fanworks.
AltaZine | The Aquitar Files | Dark Fantasies | Deadlier Than the Male | Derelicts | Diverse Doings | Evasive Maneuvers | Fellow Exiles | Forbidden Star | Horizon | An Instinct for Murder | Jabberwocky | The Last Best Hope | Liberator Fantasies | Limitations | Little Green Men and Other Stories | The Long Way Back | The Machiavelli Factor | Mindfire | Morgan | New Worlds & False Gods | No Holds Barred | Not to Know | Nova | One Night Stand | Pattern of Infinity | The Price of Justice | Price to Pay | Puppeteer | Orac's Oddities | The Quibell Abduction | Raising Hell | Rebel Desires | Renaissance | Resistance | Risk | The Road to Hell and Other Stories | Sevencyclopaedia | The Seventh Chevron | Some Dreams Are Worth Having | Southern Comfort | Southern Seven | Star | Straight Blake's | Tales From Space City | Truth and Consequences | View from the Boot Closet | The Way Back
Sample Fanworks
- The Ballad of Reading Gaol -- angst-ridden post-Gauda Prime (1995)
- White Mutiny -- Avon/Blake (1997)
- In Copenhagen Harbour -- dark alternate universe (1997)
- My Favorite Things, filk (published in Dark Fantasies 6); winner of STIFfie award 1999[2] (1999)
- Unspoken Conversation -- short story on the Avon/Blake/Jenna triangle. Sarah Thompson writes: Very nicely written, with effective use of the difficult Avon POV.[3] (1999)
- Touching Life. PGP. The most highly reader-rated story at the Hermit Library (2000)
- Substitute (Blake's 7 story) (1994)
- As Time Goes By (Blake's 7 story) (1993)
- Avon, My Avon (1995)
- Black Velvet Band (2000)
- Unexpected Mission (2002?)
Awards
Conventions
Judith was the chair of Redemption from the first convention in 1999 until 2007. She also chaired Orbital 2008.
Gareth Thomas
During many years in fandom, Judith attended numerous conventions attended by Gareth Thomas (Roj Blake) and the two became friends. He was due to be the first guest at Judith's convention, Redemption, for example, before actually attending the second. She also travelled the country to attend plays he performed in.
With Thomas's help, Judith researched and collated extensive information about his career across stage, television and film, Archived version. All information was then documented on Hermit.org.
In 2016 following his death, Judith recalled:
Website: Hermit.org
Proctor created and maintained Hermit.org: Proctor's Blake's 7 Pages which was founded in May 1996. It was the "The Largest Blake's 7 Site on the Web" and contains extensive zine lists, the Hermit Library fanfiction archive, essays, the Sevencyclopaedia, episode guide and scripts, as well as information on the careers of the Blake's 7 cast. The growth of the website (which started with just 4 pages in May 1996) is charted here.
It contains:
- Hermit.org (forum)
- Hermit.org: Proctor's Blake's 7 Pages
- Hermit.org: Blake's 7 Essays
- Hermit.org: The Blake's 7 Library
The site is an invaluable resource and the hub for fanworks, canon information, opinion, and resources.
The site was moved in 2015 (with the help of Aralias to Archive of Our Own.
References
- ^ Judith gave permission to MPH on February 7, 2023 via email to connect these two names here on Fanlore.
- ^ Judith Proctor quoted in BOUCHER, BACKBONE AND BLAKE – THE LEGACY OF BLAKES 7 by Erin Horakova, Strange Horizons, 2016