Sandy P. Shelton

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You may be looking for the Beauty and the Beast artist Sandy C. Shelton/Sandy Chandler Shelton.

Fan
Name: Sandy P. Shelton, Sandy Shelton Williams, Sandy Williams
Alias(es):
Type: artist
Fandoms: Beauty and the Beast (TV)
Communities:
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URL:
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Sandy P. Shelton is a Beauty and the Beast (TV) fan.

Interview

Fanzines

Fan Activities

She was one of the founding mothers of the Crystal Rose Fan Club, assists with Crystal Rose Lending Library, and has published a number of fanzines.

Introduction and Involvement in Fandom

In 2011, Sandy's wrote about her fandom journey in the essay, Back in the Day: Sandy Shelton Williams.

In 1987, I was awestruck and completely enchanted by a new tv show called “Beauty and the Beast”. Like most of you, I found myself swept up in the romance and beauty of the show. The tunnel world intrigued me. But all too soon, I was devastated at the way that romance and inspiration was ended.

Back then, very few of us had computers and no one I knew had internet or email. All news of the show was gathered and shared by Nan Dibble's Helper’s Network Hotline. That was where I heard about a fan group in NC called, “The Crystal Rose”. There was an address and phone number, and so I decided to seek the solace of other fans. I was amazed at how quickly I received a letter from JoAnn Grant (yes, snail mail). The letter was very upbeat and welcoming.

We corresponded a lot and then finally started calling each other. In those days, your phone bill was like making a car payment. They ate up a huge part of your budget. JoAnn wowed me with stories of conventions and thousands of other fans out there like myself. She introduced me to fanzines and pretty soon, I was hooked.

Let me tell you friends, every word that I ever wrote for the newsletter or for the fanzine was written by hand on a legal pad as I stretched out on the couch after a hard day at work. I would, at times, have hundreds of pages of scribbled stories scattered all around me. I would spend hours outlining, working out plotlines, marking through things that didn’t work until that particular scene was done to my satisfaction. That was the first draft. The second phase was typing them up, editing, proofreading, editing again and so on. After several people had proofed it, the art was collected, fit into the storylines, and then all was sent to the printer.

Writing fanzines was therapy for me. I hated the direction the show took but, through my zines, the story had a happy ending. There came a time when I felt I had no other stories to tell. Work was taking more of my time, and I started dating my future husband. As Vincent would say, “The time has come for you to leave the safety of this world and have a happy life.” I took that advice.

References