Quantum Chain
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Quantum Chain |
| Publisher: | Threadneedle Press |
| Editor(s): | Julie Barrett |
| Date(s): | 1993 |
| Series?: | |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Quantum Leap |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Quantum Chain is a gen digest-sized Quantum Leap anthology that ran two issues.
They are collections of chain stories.
Zine Premise
From a submission request in Zine Scene: "An ongoing QL chain novel. Each writer receives a situation set up by the previous writer. Your job is to write a story and then leap Sam into a new set of circumstances. To query or to find out about publication dates, please send a SASE to: Threadneedle Press."
From the first issue:
Welcome to the first installment of Quantum Chain.
This project is a bit of an experiment based on the premise of Quantum Leap. In each episode, Sam Becket faces the chalenge of leaping into a new life and having to quickly establish himself.
Quantum Chain takes this idea into the short story arena. Each writer is presented with Sam's leap in, and is given a limited time in which to write a short story based on that situation. At the end he or she leaps Sam out and into a new life. The story is then passed on to the next writer. The other main ground rules are that while the editor can make spelling and grammar changes, no changes to the content are made save fixing obvious factual errors.
The ways in which the writers handle this chalenge are varied, as are their reasons for accepting it. Seasoned writers relish the challenge of working of of a springboard provided by someone else. New writers like the idea that the editor is not going to criticize their stories, and, unless the basic ground rules are broken, it wil be published. All writers enjoy the opportunity to put Sam in a sticky situation for the next one in line to handle.
If you think you might be interested in participating in the chain, please see the back page few details. Further installments wil be published as the volume of material warrants.
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed puting it together.
Interested in participating in the chain novel? Here are the basic rules:
1 You have a week in which to write your story, but it only has to be about five pages long.
2. The editor wil not change the story, but does have the right to edit for grammar, spelling and factual errors.
3. Your reward will be to leap Sam into a new situation for the next writer to handle.
Please send a SASE for a complete set of rules and guidelines.
Issue 1
Quantum Chain 1 was published in 1992 and contains 48 pages. The pages are unnumbered .
Contributors are Eileen Roy, Jeanne O'Donnell, Roxanne Shearer Koogler, Lorraine Anderson, Christina Mavroudls, and Karen Funk Blocher.
- The Beginning by Julie Barrett
- Only Women Bleed by Eileen Roy (story title is an Alice Cooper song)
- These Allergies are Murder! by Jeanne O'Donnell (the challenge, Sam leaps into the body of a vampire)
- Monsters by Karen Funk Blocher
- Breaking Up is Hard to Do by Roxanne Shearer Koogler
- A Babynap by Christina Mavroudis (also titled Two Dweebs & a Little Monster)
- Dandelions by Lorraine Anderson
Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1
I shouldn’t review this; I’m in it. This is a smaller (digest-sized) zine, rushed out in time for Leap Weekend and bearing a bit more than its fair share of typos. It doesn’t matter. The stories are both good in and of themselves and interesting from the standpoint of seeing what each writer threw out at the next and how the next writer made that leap his or her own. I also have trouble with several stories that back the mind- leaping theory, but oh, well. I’d recommend this wholeheartedly, but modesty forbids, so I’ll just recommend it normally. [1]
Issue 2
Quantum Chain 2 was published in 1993 and contains 52 unnumbered pages.
"The saga continues with Mindy Peterman, Daniel R. Eckman, Eileen Roy, Neil McNally, Terri Librande and Denise Stovin."
From the zine:
Welcome to the second installment of Quantum Chain. The chain novel is a fun concept, but difficult to describe, as a certain promotion might have put it. What happens is each writer is presented with a leap-in, and has to write a short story around the situation. Once the story is resolved, the writer gets to leap Sam out into a new life.
Surprisingly, I've found this concept has attracted a variety of writers, both new and seasoned, and of all ages. The new writers like this concept because it provides an easy way to get published, and the more experienced ones like the idea of writing within the constraints of a set-up handed to them. Unless a story utterly fails to meet the broad guidelines, it is published.
This time the luck of the draw fell to quite a few new writers. Some have since been published in the year or so this has been in the works. Those whose works are seeing the light of day for the first time here do hold some potential, and I look forward to seeing their bylines again.
Why does it take a year to put together such a small zine? I've sometimes wondered that myself, but I've foimd this is a project not to be hurried along. Some writers manage to get their chapters finished within the allotted time, but for most of us. Real Life tends to intrude at the most inopportune times.
- Whiz Kids by Mindy Peterman
- Beach Baby by Denise Stovin
- Out/Down fro the Count by Terri Librande
- Look Before You Leap by Neil McNally
- Pure Greed by Daniel R. Eckman
- The First Principle by Eileen Roy
References
- ^ from The Hologram #3