Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink

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Zine
Title: Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink
Publisher: Manacles Press
Editor(s):
Date(s): 1992-1995
Series?:
Medium: print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom: The Professionals
Language: English
External Links:
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Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink is a series of slash anthologies edited and published by Megan Kent and Charlotte C. Hill in the 1990s. These zines contain no art and no poetry.

The phrase, often used for ironic sexual innuendo, comes from a Monty Python sketch known as Nudge Nudge.

General Reactions and Reviews

1994

#1 was pretty good, #2 pretty much sucked, unless you're into non-B/D stories and death; #3 was better, but still had a few problem spots. Going onto my "borrow, don't buy" list. [1]

Issue 1

cover of issue #1

Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink 1 was published in February 1992 and contains 139 pages.

From a July 1993 ad in GAZ: "A collection of long and short stories from a variety of experienced and new authors, including Pamela Rose, Stew, Jane, Alex Sanders and others. All B/D stories, (okay, one where Murphy figures prominently), with a wide range of topics and moods."

From the zine: "This Fanzine contains over 80,500 words, in a format of 139 pages. It is possible to print, clearly, 80,000 words in any page format ranging from 95 pages to 240 pages. PAGE COUNT IS NOT AN ACCURATE MEASURE OF STORY OR ZINE LENGTH! And so concludes this lecture to support editors to begin relying on word count and saving trees...."

From the editorial:

Hiya, slashfans! The first, natural thing any normal editors (and us, as well) want to make known is their deep and abiding gratitude to their contributors! We sincerely appreciate the support and skill of all of our writers, with special thanks to Pam Rose (for being so damned good!). Jane (for surprising us! and for being a wonderful correspondent), and Stew for her continued commitment to support our publications. We love you all...'nuff said.

This zine was fun. We've enjoyed building it probably more than any other thus far, and we hope you'll enjoy reading it half as much. And now, if technical thingies and chances to save money bore you to tears, please, shift your eyes to the facing page and enjoy the zine. Thank you for playing!

A Word on Page Count.... With the incredible latitude of programs and computers, fonts, styles and formats that Very Small Presses use in fandom, we have come to the realization that 'page count' doesn't really mean anything. So...while we will still be polite and number our pages (maybe even correctly and in order), Manacles Press now and forevermore includes WORD COUNT on three, count them three, pages of its zines. We would love to solicit other editors to do the same, and we'd appreciate your response (we expect "I don't really care" to top the list. Sigh). Word count is a more accurate measure of what the reader is buying, and for MP, a way for us to start printing more ecologically, i.e. smaller, tighter formats on fewer pages that still provide as much or more story content as a larger format might. We are committed to offering you between 75,000 and 95,000 words of quality fiction in every zine.

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1

See reactions and reviews for Time Out: Past Tense.

See reactions and reviews for A Game for Two Players.

See reactions and review for The Land-Bridge Saga.

Issue 2

cover of issue #2

Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink 2 was published in 1993 and contains 153 pages (89,690 words).

It contains no interior art.

  • Say no more, editorial (ii)
  • Limbo by Thomas ("Oh, it was all right for Doyle to know how he felt, he didn't mind it. But he hated seeing his feelings mirrored back to him on Doyle's face, ugly in all their pitiful vulnerability.") (1)
  • The Sisters of No Mercy by Jane Mailander ("'Bodie and Doyle were Cowley's best pair. The way you and I are Bodie's best —you can tell, he bitches at us the most. And they were friends, in a rough macho kind of way. Not the way women are close, of course, but as close as they could get.'") (companion to "Some Say the World Will End in Fire, Some in Ice" by Jane Mailander in Concupiscence #2) (15)
  • Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Maggie Hall ("He spared a polite nod for Doyle and a' Mornin, mate for Bodie before noticing the tension in the room. If they were fighting, the best thing for him to do was stay well out of it.") (26)
  • Games by Alexandra ("He took a look at the two men who now sat at the table closest to them, just in time to see one man lean over to kiss his partner on the lips. Doyle felt the flush on his cheeks; he turned to Bodie. 'Did you see that?' 'See what? Bodie casually slid his arm around Doyle's shoulders.") (53)
  • Guardian Angels by Baravan ("Facing Cowley with the steady determination of a fencing master, Ross delicately raised the as yet untouched glass of sherry to her lips. 'What is your opinion of homosexuality within the ranks of CI5?’ The moment stretched endlessly as Ross waited for the answer that would directly affect the lives of two of CI5's finest agents.") (64)
  • Champers by Sophie Max ("Bodie had known for months, maybe longer, that he wanted Ray. Incontrovertibly, unconditionally. Ray. Bodie not a man to push aside his pleasures or desires out of fear or reluctance but he also a man schooled with infinite patience.") (89)
  • Measure for Measure by Maggie Hall ("Doyle flinched at the word, a word of endearment he'd fought and finagled for months to hear... a word that simply hurt him, now. Every time a bloody light flickered, Bodie's love hurt him.") (sequel to Madelein Lee's "Carnal Interests" trilogy in Proslib (Part 1 is "Carnal Interests", Part 2 is "Selling Hours" and Part 3 is "Good Morning Soldiers.") (101)

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 2

See reactions and reviews for Limbo.

See reactions and reviews for The Sisters of No Mercy.

See reactions and reviews for Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

See reactions and reviews for Guardian Angels.

See reactions and reviews for Measure for Measure.

See reactions and reviews for Champers.

See reactions and reviews for Games.

[zine]:

I'd give NNWW2 a B... There was quite a range of like/dislike, though. One of the things that colors that is the fact that my two favorite stories in it, "Limbo" and "Games," I'd seen on the circuit before I picked up NNWW2. That's an accident of timing, of course; if I'd gotten into fandom earlier, the order probably would have been reversed.

One of the things that bothered me _as a zine_ was the heavy number of non-B/D stories. I like other variants, as long as the author makes me believe it, but so few of the standard pairing left me with an unbalanced feel to the zine. Nonetheless, I liked all the non-B/D stories, especially "The Sisters of No Mercy." Jane Mailander can write about just about anyone and make me like it.

"Guardian Angels," though, added particularly to the feeling that I was in the wrong zine -- other than the framing story, it had nothing much to do with Pros. Replace Cowley's name with Joe Smith, and you have a perfectly good WW2 story.

I had the biggest problem with "Measure for Measure" -- it was a sequel to two other stories that I hadn't read, and I couldn't get into it. It seemed to be based on a whole series of assumptions that no one had told me about. [2]

Issue 3

cover of issue #3

Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink 3 was published in September 1993 and contains 136 pages.

From an ad in On the Double #28: "Some light, and a lot of angst, a little Murphy, a little Cowley, and plenty of Bodie/Doyle. Available at ZebraCon, September '93."

From the zine: "This Fanzine contains 79,200+ words, in a format of 136 pages. PAGE COUNT IS NOT AN ACCURATE MEASURE OF STORY OR ZINE LENGTH! And so concludes this lecture to support editorsto begin relying on word count and savingtrees...."

From the editorial:

Well, this was fun! We are even quite proud of ourselves for getting this zine to the printer's several (okay, three.. .okay, two) days before our flight was due to depart lovely Los Angeles. Thank you to all our authors for different reasons: Jane Mailander, for rewriting above and beyond the call of duty, Jane Carnall for proofreading French where we were incapable, Alex MacKenzie for calling us and checking in before she left for ZebraCon, Courtney Gray for asking, "Do you want my story?" (do we want it?!?!), Lezlie Shell for responding gracefully to death threats, and Maggie Hall for saying, "yeah, sure, whatever" to our numerous and heated comments. Thanks, folks. We really appreciate it! Also, special thanks to our friends from the LA crowd who we press-ganged into proofreading this when they thought they were just going to a party. We worked on it after they read it though, and of course, all errors are 100% our responsibility.

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 3

See reactions and reviews for The Blue Figurine.

See reactions and reviews for Facets II: Stolen Moments.

See reactions and reviews for Settlement.

See reactions and reviews for Blood of the Lamb.

See reactions and reviews for Coming to Terms.

[Some Days are Better than Others, N'est-ce pas? and La Perfide Albion]: Some Days Are Better Than Others, N'est-ce Pas? and La Perfide Albion by Jane Carnall in Nudge Nudge Wink Wink 3: Oh ye gods and little fishies (I always wonder what kind... anchovies? Yum!) - this was another ambush, and worse it's actually C/D. Both fics. Yes, two fics, one zine, and you can't not read the second after you've accidentally read the first. See the first is from Doyle's pov, and then you see exactly the same situation from Cowley's pov. And my initial reaction (as anyone who may have paid attention to my witterings in lj a while ago might remember) was - *ooh, squick*. But I gotta say... it's grown on me. Not that I want to see much more of this sort of thing *holds out fingers in a cross and backs off, hissing* but I have to say that these were.. intriguing. Yeah, that's it. And for the godsessake (whichever one you like) read NNWW3 cos it also has Stolen Moments by Maggie Hall which I have also wittered about briefly before here cos - oh. And I don't think there was a fic in NNWW3 that I didn't adore. [3]

[zine]:

I'm also finished with Nudge, Nudge, Wink Wink III, (No snickering...) and liking it a lot more.

Blood of the Lamb--[Lezlie Shell] What can you say about a story with this line? "He slapped the doubled deather belt across his palm, shuddering with dread at the thought of reddening his beloved's perfect buttocks." Wonderfully silly!

Coming To Terms--[Alex MacKenzie] is even better now than the version she circulated on-line. The intergration of aired moments and their growing relationship is great. I loved Bodie's reaction when Doyle comes clean. If I could have changed this at all, it would just have been to flesh out the individual pieces a little more.

Some Days are Better Than Others...La Perfide Albion--[Jane Carnell] Coming to Terms, a story written by a Doyle lover where Cowley looks like an insensitive pig, is perfectly followed by a story written by a Cowley lover who makes Doyle look like an insensitive... Two parter shows the Doyle Cowley relationship from both sides.

Settlement --[Jane Mailander] continues the Landbridge series. (Murphy/Doyle) This one is a little too repetitive and obvious compared to the deft touch of the first couple of stories in the series, but I did like it.

Facets II--[Maggie Hall] is the rewriting of a story that she first wrote for Frank and Vinnie, exploring how the same situation would have to change because of the differences between Frank and Vinnies relationship and Bodie and Doyle's. Good story whether you've read the other or not.

The Blue Figurine--[Courtney Gray] was sad and intense and wonderful. I expected it to be a 'It's a wonderful life' rewrite, and it surprised me more than once. What would Ray's life be like if he had never been partnered with Bodie? And what would he do to get him back...

What more you ask? Well, consistant editing, nice layout, a decent prize ($15 in person for 79,000 words) All in all, a very nice Pros zine. Well, consistant editing, nice layout, a decent prize ($15 in person for 79,000 words) All in all, a very nice Pros zine. [4]

[zine]:

My favorite story was Courtney Gray's THE BLUE FIGUERINE — original and nicely done! Lovely twists and turns which fit my libido and literary mind. Can't give too many details as it would spoil the story. Two nifty Jane Carnall pieces, the same scene with different viewpoints. BLOOD OF THE LAMB worked for me until the very end — somehow the finish didn't quite fit the tone of the rest of the story. Also, I've heard that this story used to be in the Circuit- True or not?

SETTLEMENT; I'm not adverse to death stories, but I feel as if I keep reading the same story over and over again, with slightly different "dress" in reading the recent ones by Jane Mailander. I'd like for Jane M. to move to other themes, as she is an incredibly original and talented writer- COMING TO TERMS and FACETS ii: STOLEN MOMENTS struck me as being a bit on the conventional side but were well-done. On the whole, I recommend this zine. [5]

Issue 4

front cover of issue #4
sample text, issue #4

Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink 4 was published in October 1995 and is 135 pages long.

From the editors: "This Fanzine contains 79,400 words, in a format of 135 pages. PAGE COUNT IS NOT AN ACCURATE MEASURE OF STORY OR ZINE LENGTH! And so concludes this lecture to support editors to begin relying on word count and saving trees...."

From the editorial:

Well, here we are again, and an interesting road it has been to this, Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink iv. Pros has resurged as a driving passion in our fannish lives, and if by chance this zine sees Bodie with a slightly rose-tinted eye, we ask your indulgence (it's just that he's great!).

Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink iv is are turn to Pros fandom's roots for us, with five lovely stories featuring the "real" Bodie and Doyle, in the "real" CI5 universe doing "real" tv tough-guy things. (We hesitate to call anything a"plot"— but we're getting there.) This zine is blessed by four wonderful authors, all willing to keep our boys alive, in one piece, and with at least a hope for happiness at the finish. We thank them for their love of fandom, their love of their craft, and their incredible patience with our sometimes-cumbersome editing process.

This is the direction we think our Nudge Nudges should be going; please loc with steering comments, at your convenience. We'll look forward to hearing from you.

We extend heartfelt thanks to Nicola, Melissa and Sandy for proofreading above and beyond the call of duty (and way beyond the last minute....)

Yours in Sin, J & C

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 4

See reactions and reviews for The Two Trees.

See reactions and reviews for Stealing Home.

See reactions and reviews for Be My Valentine.

[zine]: Couldn't get into the first story ("The Two Trees"), got bored waiting for the Lads to get in the same scene together. Loved "Be My Valentine" and "Stealing Home" (Okay, I know the authors are my Seattle pals, but still, I can say in a quite unbiased fashion that these are *good* stories. Honest. Trust me.) Didn't like the last story ("Hide and Seek"), though at least I read it. It's not bad, it just seemed written for the situation, and not for the characters. Best story in the zine is Maggie Hall's long piece, "You Get What You Need" - she's trying something with more plot here (and a good one!) and makes it work beautifully. I could tell that a lot of thought went into this story, into the plot, the characters, into everything. Very enjoyable to read. This was by far the best zine I got at Zcon, and despite the first story, I can definitely recommend it. [6]

[zine]: Of course I love a zine that's all Pros. I thought this one had a real good mix of stories, some weak, some strong, both serious and silly. For me that makes the best kind of reading when you're looking at multiple short stories. By story:

The Two Trees, by Morgan Dawn. I felt that both Morgan's stories were the weakest part of the zine overall. This one had a good angsty idea but was carried off in a largely situational manner, with not a lot of real character development and stuff. It felt more episodic. I can also say the same about the other story, Hide and Seek. I know in real-world critiques it's not supposed to matter that the author is a new writer, but I think in fanfic that's a legitimate thing to take into account. I heard through the grapvine that these were Morgan's first stories, and that made me reconsider a little how I viewed them. There is some good stuff in both stories, and both start from great ideas. I hope that she will keep on writing and develop things like characterization, becuase I think she's off to a decent start and really has some enjoyable story ideas -- just needs the experience to carry them off.

Stealing Home, by Sandy Hereld. Great, fun story that of course I'm partial to, as it focuses largely on Doyle. I enjoyed very much how desperately Doyle wants to know more about Bodie's past, and zeroes in on Bodie's old pal as a way to find out all the things he's been dying to know. Sandy really pulls off a neat trick in this story, too -- she manages to have Doyle come to the realization of his feelings by examining his own behavior history, after being confronted by both Bodie and Bodie's pal Jerry. He really takes a hard look at himself, and thus finds out how he feels -- no "chocolate on my peanut butter" here!

You Get What You Need, by Maggie Hall. This story really suprised me. Very well written, excellent plot and wonderful characterization. Good dialog. The whole story worked really well, and in the past I'd not been overwhelmed by her stories. What an excellent surprise. For me, the best of the zine.

I can't really comment on Be May Valentine (Gwyneth Rhys) as I was...um... personally involved with it. Ahem. But I am assured that it is not too gauche to review the rest of the zine.

Some typos, a few places in both Stealing Home and You Get What You Need that indicated people rushing to meet the deadline and leaving some confusing blanks, but all around I'd give this a good 4 stars on my five star rating. [7]

References

  1. ^ comment on Virgule-L, quoted anonymously with permission (September 27, 1994)
  2. ^ comments by Jan Levine on Virgule-L, September 14, 1995, quoted with permission
  3. ^ from Cowley/- fic, Kate McLean, Larton and of course - the weather., byslantedlight (February 5, 2006)
  4. ^ In 1993, Sandy Herrold posted a brief review as part of her Zcon convention report. It is reposted here with permission.
  5. ^ from Strange Bedfellows APA #3 (November 1993)
  6. ^ In 1995, Alexfandra posted a brief review of the zine as part of her ZCon convention report sent to the Virgule mailing list. It is reposted here with her permission.
  7. ^ comments on Virgule-L, November 17, 1995, quoted with permission
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