LifeSongs
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | LifeSongs |
| Publisher: | Rainbow Bridge Productions |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | Lydia Bower |
| Cover Artist(s): | Rosemarie Hauer |
| Illustrator(s): | Rosemarie Hauer, Rhonda Collins, Jan Durr, and Marsha Young |
| Date(s): | September 1995 |
| Medium: | print zine |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
LifeSongs is a 127-page het Beauty and the Beast (TV) novel by Lydia Bower.
It contains art by Rosemarie Hauer, Rhonda Collins, Jan Durr, and Marsha Young.
This is a "fourth season zine," which means it features Vincent Wells and Diana Bennett.
This zine contains song lyrics by Melissa Etheridge.
From the Editorial
Thanks to all the storytellers and artists out there who’ve helped to keep the Dream alive through the sometimes dark and dismal times following the cancellation of Beauty and the Beast. I know from experience how hard it can be, sometimes, to pick up a pencil and begin a sketch; or boot up the computer and begin a story. But I also know what a wonderful experience it is to be able to open up your heart and give it all away. Thanks for providing all the great adventures and the long nights sitting up way past bedtime so I can see what happens next. I don’t know how many times I’ve thought, looking bleary-eyed at the clock, "Just one more page and then I’ll go to bed."
As always, thanks to the dreamweavers: Ron Koslow, Ron Perlman, Linda Hamilton, Jo Anderson, Roy Dotrice, Jay Acovone, George Martin and the Brotherhood of Pain - and all the rest of the talented cast and crew. You gave us more than just a wonderful story — you gave us hope and inspiration.
And finally, special thanks to Nan Dibble and Rhonda Collins — two very unique and talented women who’ve shared with me their laughter, their kind criticism, their hard-won praise and their overwhelming support. This zine belongs as much to them as it does me.
Contents
- Come and Go (1)
- Coming Alive (24)
- In the Shadow of Another (78)
- Blue (113)
Sample Interior
Jan Durr
Marsha Young
Jan Durr
Rhonda Collins
Rosemarie Hauer
sample text
Reactions and Reviews
This fourth-season novel is comprised of four connected short stories and novelettes. Bower's writing is crisp and full of vividness, energy, and wit, with a nice sardonic edge. Incidents in the fiction range from scary to tender to amusing, and certain sections have quite graphically described sex though the orientation of the zine as a whole is adult only in the broader sense: for grownups, whose take on love may tend to be wry and realistic rather than dripping with hearts and flowers.In the first story, "Come and Go," Vincent is bewildering Diana by sending mixed signals—seeking greater closeness and depth to their relationship, then figuratively shoving her away when she responds to these overtures. The story then reveals what's behind Vincent's ambivalence toward the prospect of new love. In novelette "Coming Alive," Vincent and Diana cope with his having messily slaughtered a punk who raped someone who merely looked like Diana, again arousing Joe's accusing suspicions that Diana knows more than she's admitted about the mysterious Vincent. Both Vincent and Diana are appalled at his reflexive protectiveness resurfacing, and what this may come to mean to their relationship. As Diana tries to solve the case in a way that won't implicate Vincent, her solution to the personal problem—impromptu wrestling matches to let them both (but particularly Vincent) get used to close male/female physical contact short of all-out sexual engagement—is really funny in places...and really heated in others. This novelette is well worked out and develops both convincingly and effectively in its evolution of character and of their relationship.
Novelette "In the Shadow of Another," Father has suffered a stroke. As he slowly begins recovering, he insists he wants nothing further to do with the responsibility of running the community. Beside his concern for Father, Vincent finds the mountains of detail and duty descending on him eating up his life...with very little left for Diana, whom some Below would prefer he not visit anymore in any case. And the idea of really taking Father's place, while Father's still alive, seems to Vincent both frightening and impertinent. But unless he claims the authority that goes with the responsibility, he'll have no life of his own. Ever. When Diana suggests a way for him to work, not harder, but smarter, he knows that it will arouse serious and outspoken opposition, building to a climactic council session and its surprising aftermath.
Final story "Blue" has Diana realizing she's pregnant and trying to come to terms with all that will involve and decide how to break the news to Vincent...who may be less than delighted. The moment when Vincent ignores her to snatch up and read the pregnancy test kit, word by word, is pricelessly funny and credible.
Fans of fourth-season fiction will find Bower's fresh contribution a delight.
Interspersed are contemporary song lyrics by Melissa Etheridge. Art by Rosemarie Hauer (six splendid pieces, including cover!), Rhonda Collins, Jan Durr (some of her finest work to date), and Marsha Young. [1]