Southern Enclave/Issues 31-40

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Issue 31 (Winter 1991)

cover of issue #31
  • contains 52 pages
  • has the STAR aWARdS winners
  • a review of Another Sky #1, see that page
  • on deposits for zines:
    Many of the zine editors of my acquaintance find it impossible to go to press without asking for pre-deposits. That's an unfortunate economic reality. Perhaps a partial solution for those so constrained would be to clearly indicate that they would refrain from soliciting deposits until they are ready to go to print. Asking for deposits a year or two in advance does seem somewhat unreasonable from a buyer's viewpoint. although I've seen it done.

  • on the good old days:
    Personally, I feel that nostalgia isn't what it used to be. The so-called "Golden Age" is overrated (migawd, let's face it, while there were a few gems to be found, some early fanfic was ghastly stuff!).

  • a fan is sad:
    I was extremely saddened to see that WC is ceasing publication. Not because fandom is losing a really good zine (we are), but because WC 1 was the very first zine I ever purchased and the rest as they say, is history. From then on, I bought and read any and all SW fanlit I could get my hands on. And the pages of WC saw my first story in print. I do tend to get sentimental at times but if it hadn't been for you and Samia, I would not be where I am today--having an outlet for all of my fannish energies...

  • a fan writes of technology:
    Whoa! Entire zines published on floppy disks may be wonderful for you who've joined the technical age, but not all of us are so fortunate. Though I'd dearly love to own a PC. my purse has thus far been too shallow. Please, don't deprive us of the typewriter generation. Besides, can you frame a favorite bit of art off a disk? Maybe you can, I don't know. Yes, my age is showing.

  • a German fan scolds:
    Alliance/SW Fan Association of Italy--quit the backstabbing, people! You're ALL ruining the fandom. Remember-- hate leads to the Dark Side of the Force.

  • pooh on Creation Con:
    I attended "Shore Leave" but missed the panel discussion about Creation Cons. I'm so indignant after reading your letter that I'm almost glad I did! Fandom is for fans; there's no room for hucksters who see the potential for making a profit out of what some of us (most of us?) obviously care about a great deal. And I'm not referring to dealers who own and sell ST, SW or SF merchandise; these are people who make their livings selling goods fans are legitimately interested in buying. There's a difference between making money by selling goods and making money by declaring a takeover! I tend to think that fandom is an outlet for people of an artistic nature; it's a springboard for creative minds (all that writing, art and costume making!). How dare Creation jump in, uninvited, and decide they're taking over! If we worried about a few mundanes invading MediaWest, folks, wait 'til the whole show's run by them! Sounds fun, huh? These people don't have a clue what fandom's all about, or what motivates the people who are involved. All they know is that there's gold in them thar hills, and they're going after it at warp speed. I agree that Creation presents a danger to the publication of zines, too. How long will it be before they demand a profit on what we're not making a profit on ourselves? And how much longer after that that they tell us what we can and cannot write? (Shades of early SW fandom!) I recommend that fans boycott conventions run by Creation if they care about keeping fandom thriving in the spirit in which it was originally intended.

  • more on Creation Con:
    Bjo Trimble was quoted in the ST letterzine Engage! that Creation Cons only had licenses for a few things, such as t-shirts. Their jurisdiction is nowhere near as vast as they claim. Bjo also said that all the cast have not signed exclusive contracts with Creation, but if fan-run conventions believe they do, well, that works out fine for Creation, doesn't it? (I wish I could have quoted her exactly, but I loaned out the zine to a friend before I started this.) I've also heard that Creation actually had the gall to send out one of those "cease and desist" orders to Majel Roddenberry and her company, Lincoln Enterprises. Majel tore the order up in their faces, right there in the dealer's room. If I remember, I'll enclose some anti-Creation flyers for Cheree to consider reprinting/excerpting. ((Ed: I haven't printed any of the flyers I've had in my possession for two reasons--(l) I don't know the whole story behind this and (2) I could be sued for slander.))

  • Maggie Nowakowska asks:
    Before I start on last issue's letters, here's a question for everyone. Lately I've found myself photocopying old fannish articles on SW, and old fanzine reviews, for newer fans, or for fans who never connected with fanzine fandom. This got me to wondering if there were a market for a retrospective zine, one which would collect 15+ years of fanzine commentary on the Saga. Reading through the developing theories ought to be fascinating; and a person could get a better handle on how SW has affected different people over time. So, would anyone buy such a reprint zine? And all you writers of those long ago, far away articles -- would you be interested in supporting such an effort by giving me permission to reprint, and even contributing any follow-up ideas that have occurred to you over the years? Let me know through SE or drop me a postcard/letter with your ideas (and suggestions! I have a fairly extensive zine library from the 1st ten years, and what I don't have could be accessed through the Archives, under which auspices I would publish). Maybe Ming and I can put something together by MW'93. Also, I'd like to suggest to the dinosaurs of SW fandom that it is time we got together and set down a history of SE fandom. Maybe we could schedule a SW Fandom History Workshop for MWC '93 (cleverly I suggest the next con I'll be able to attend...); or do a zine; or have a timeline brochure published through the Archives, or at least a history file stored there. No one of us knows everything that went on, and Force knows a number of us were on opposing sides in the free-for-alls that occurred; we need each other to remember and to make sure all sides of everything that happened get represented. I know I'm certainly no impartial party, whatever my good intentions.[1]

  • regarding editors:
    ...there are fanzine editors to beware of. Unfortunately, the only way to learn who they are is generally through personal experience. Such editors may say they won't edit without your permission. but they don't always keep their word. I once had a story [2] printed in TWIN SUNS. It was my very first Star Wars story and it was pretty awful. The editor and I had settled in letters that she had pretty much a free hand in everything but dialogue. The dialogue was not to be touched, since that was how I heard the characters speak in my head. She agreed. Don't ask how, but this editor managed to take a bad story and make it even worse. Plus, she forgot her promise and changed the dialogue all over the place. Her excuse was editor's prerogative. What she meant was that she could change any-thing she damn well pleased in anyone's story and if they didn't like it, tough. In a B7 story that I sent to another editor, the editor not only changed Avon's dialogue so much that he sounded like a whiney wimp, but she had the nerve to blame the changes on her typist. Needless to say, I never sent any other stories to either of these editors. Still. these are only two editors out of many. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't let the bad editors get you down. If a good editor thinks a story needs help, she will write to the author and make suggestions (Annie Wortham did that for one of my stories a couple years ago, and the story was better for it.). And, of course there are lots of editors who don't edit at all. Hmmm. Most editors are not on ego trips. You get to know who they are.

  • a fan clarifies:
    I was not griping against Anne McCaffrey. I know about her guidelines... and as she is the soul creator and author, I have no dispute over her right to regulate zines. But for me, the best relationship between a fandom and the studio/network/author would be for each to tactfully ignore the other. The bureaucracy of Pern fandom is something I wouldn't care to deal with. Think for a moment what SW fandom would be like if we were told we couldn't use Luke, Leia, Han, Darth, etc.

  • Anne McCaffery's limits on Pern fanwriters:
    It seems that in the past, the moment fans were told they couldn't do something, they immediately went out and did just that. Do you think folks cooperate because McCaffery is willing/able to be involved with the fans doing the zines?

  • whoa, that's a lot of responsibility! -- one fan addresses another:
    Zines on fax and computer disk would be fine, IF we all owned fax machines, or the same kind of computer and used the same programs. Do you want to finance/organize fandom's electronic conversion?

  • fannish speculation regarding the movies:
    Oh, my, you should read all the rumors that abound on Prodigy bulletin boards (for computers) about the next trio of films. People without fannish information sources interpret the hints and allusions in very interesting ways! Lots of people seem to think that the next film will be based on HEIR; also, a lot of people out there take all SW materials, published/approved by LF or not, as true SW...and if they are approved, as gospel. The concept of "alternate history" is alien to lots of folks, apparently. The discussions on the bulletin boards are fascinating for all kinds of neat reasons, too. Some wonderful speculations about the Force, and the EJDV relationship. I'm going to paraphrase one I really liked (when you write on electronic BBs, it's often more like stream of consciousness and needs a bit of translation for printed word)....

Issue 32 (Summer 1992)

cover of issue #32
  • regarding zines not on paper:
    Concerning computers: Zines on disk? Oh, my aching eyes. As regards submissions, assuring that everyone in fandom were rich enough to afford the equipment, there are still various problems of compatibility. The whole process can be skewered by such simple things as 3-1/2" vs. 5-1/4" diskettes — which is why poor Cheree ends up retyping my unconscionably long letters to SE.

  • more on "computer zines":
    Entire zines on floppy disks! Well, if you can find a disk that will survive accidental erasure, electrical accident, or fit in a pocket-sized computer, maybe! Until then, the pocket version or 8x11 I can roll up and put in a backpack, cram in a suitcase, or leave on the seat of a car without worry, will do.

  • regarding fanfiction and quality:
    About writing and the zines, well, in the SW universe, there are a lot of stories. Many great, many good and some bad. The most amazing thing I have found is that no matter how poor a story may be, there is almost always a bit or piece that is good, either an idea, or the way a story is handled. I have always found it amusing that outside of Shakespeare or the Bible, one of the most quoted excerpt example is "It was a dark and stormy night...", supposedly a most terrible quote! We can learn from even the bad.

Issue 33 (Autumn 1992)

  • contains 72 pages
  • the lead article is "Literary Sources in Star Wars" by Lisa Cowan
front page of issue #33
  • a fan-review of the pro book "Dark Force Rising," and of the Dark Horse comics "Dark Empire" #1-4
  • the editor ruminates a bit about the first issue of this letterzine nine years ago
  • this issue contains many photos from MediaWest
  • from the editor:
    A.G. Steyn's letter this time will raise a lot of hackles out there, both in support of her words and in repudiation of than. I will not respond except to say that, although she makes her comments under the heading of remarks to Z.P. Florian, they are in fact addressed to me. I am curious, however, how the rest of you out there-particularly zine editors and/or writers (both past and present)- feel about the situation and why. I am not asking for support or defense, so don't interpret this as a begging request. I am simply and honestly curious about how the rest of SW fandom sees this situation. Hey -- we haven't had a good, old-fashioned blood-roiling controversy in a long time! Let's hear from all of you out there!

  • A.G. Steyn's letter referenced by the editor:
    Ahh—editing. What a fun thing to talk about (who says sarcasm is unbecoming?). Now, I agree 150% with you on having an English speaking person dissect my stories grammarwise. It would be a great asset. So I heartily invite my publishers to pick up the red pen and ruler and correct all my errors. Thanks in advance. Unfortunately, some editors go overboard and not only correct obvious errors in spelling, grammar, etc. without even asking the author's permission, they will add/remove/alter expressions/lines/sentences... even whole passages from stories submitted to them. And this is something I simply cannot/will not accept or even try to understand. It doesn't only bug me that my own works undergo such unauthorized changes, but I'm miffed that some editors don't even allow me to form my own opinion about what other writers turn out (since: what happens to my stories happens most probably to other writers' stories, too). I don't want to read revised, edited stories. If I want something like that, I might as well get myself a copy of the "Pravda" or any other publication from a country that censors everything in print. Is the editor of a zine automatically entitled to re-work a story he/she thinks lacks "finesse", "needs some polishing", etc.? [snipped] ....Another thing that never ceases to amaze me is just how much "no-no's" we heap on our heads by setting up publishing rules the likes of: — No "/" (not even in its MILDEST form, leave alone explicit); — No gratuitous sex/porn (see above); — No gratuitous violence (at the same time turning out "bruisie/mendie" stories as if they were going out of style... kind of hard to explain); — No stories centering around hero "X" (or "Y"or "Z"); — No slapstick; — No alternate universe stories; — No plots that will make hero(ine) "X" ("Y", "Z") appear in unfavorable light; — No stories taking place before/after a certain given date (in SW; before ANH, after ROTJ, etc.) and so on. HELP! With all these restrictions, it's a sheer wonder we still are able to come up with any stories at all. But: just how long can we keep coming up with fresh ideas and avoid getting caught in a treadmill, repeating ourselves over and over again like Tibetan prayer mills, if we cling to all the set regulations? Don't get me wrong: I'm not trying to push the fandom into the gutter. But I'd rather take a stroll through the local sewer than ride the carousel until I get so dizzy from going round and round that I have to "pull a Daniel Boone". A little less restrictiveness, a bit more of a casual approach, a bit more "audacity" to try to venture off the beaten path...any takers out there? Now...we don't have to go "all the way" here. I don't want to wallow in SMUT. But it could be a nice chance to finally have a Luke with humor, a truly "streetwise" Han (after all: he IS one of the "galaxy's most wanted"), an insecure Leia with honest human feelings, a Chewie who forgets about his manners and behaves, for once, like a true wild Wookiee.. .and so on. Where are the daring authors to compile such outrageous plots? Where are the unfearing editors willing to publish such boldness? Geez — who am I talking to here? Z.P., I know I'm forging open doors addressing you with this. After all, you'd be the FIRST to try. And that shall be my consolation: I will not be the only one who get's stoned to death by the rest of the SW gang. There is another... And now that I successfully made everyone in this universe ravin' mad: on with the LoCs...

  • a fan writes:
    I sent my first story ("Mindlink") to Cheree hoping for no more than that she would read it and tell me what she thought. I cannot begin to describe the elation I felt when she wrote back to say she wanted to publish it! Of course, it needed a lot of rewriting first, and Cheree had gone to the trouble of including a detailed list of suggestions, which we then worked through together. That kind of service and friendly support is invaluable to new writers and, if SW fanzines are to survive, it must always be available. But it's a two-way street in that the writer must also be willing to accept and follow the advice given.

  • celebrity guests at MediaWest?:
    As to inviting "stars" to a con like MediaWest, initially the idea appealed to me, but now I'm having misgivings. I wouldn't want anything to spoil the fans-for-fans atmosphere of sheer love of creativity of MediaWest ever to change. I can't help but wonder how much it might become a matter of attendees only wanting to hear what the "celebrity" has to say, rather than stimulating and appreciating their own talents.

  • some thoughts on mingling:
    Yeah, a Vulcan and a Terran are fine, but just wait until Chewie tries to marry a Corellian girl. Of course, the prejudice is only valid for us. In the SW galaxy, no one appeared surprised that Jabba wanted Leia. Apparently, race is of no consequence in Lucas' universe and we all should make an effort to shed our planet-bound ideas!

  • a look to the future:
    I hope you're right about computers being as common as telephones in the next ten years, but I have a feeling it could be a while longer unless prices are drastically reduced or the economy does a high swing soon.

  • Maggie Nowakowska's look at the past, excerpt from a very long letter:
    The MWC panel transcription was fascinating. I've been digging into my old zines and memorabilia and letter files and such, working on my history of SW fandom (see "ad" following this discussion), and came across a letter that might clear up some of the historical questions that arose in the panel. I'm quoting (with permission) Bev Clark, someone who was very active right from the beginning of SW fandom, who had lots of contacts in SoCal, and whose memory has amazed and astonished her friends for many years now. This letter, dated 11/84, is from the letterzine COMLINK, Issue 22, April 1985: ".. .According to Craig Miller with whom I talked earlier this year at Westercon, and who was the first fan liaison at Lucasfilm, Paramount's inability to control what was done with STAR TREK because of original neglect (party because of its inexplicable failure to copyright the first season) was one of the main motivations for Lucas' establishment of control over how SW was used from the beginning. And in the case of A NEW HOPE, there was 20th Century Fox to contend with also, as Fox owned a large part of AMI. In fact, there almost wasn't a SW fandom at all, at least centered around fanzines, and the reason was Fox. It took nearly a year of negotiation between Lucasfilm and Fox-negotiations conducted for the most part by Gary Kurtz himself, and sometimes Craig before Fox would agree to allow unrestricted publications of fanzines. Lucasfilm backed then all along. Craig says he and "others" at Lucasfilm were disappointed that SW fanzines took the direction they did, i.e., fiction, like ST' zines, rather than to articles and analysis, like SF fanzines, but they backed the zines anyway. I have more reason than most to be glad they did, as [my fanzine] SKYWALKER was the zine they took to Fox to show them what a fanzine was—and this was before I even knew they had copies of the zines.

  • Maggie Kowakowska also comments on a fan-pitched pro book that was rejected:
    I asked Jenni Hennig about the rejection of her idea of a pro fan history and she says it was Del Rey that turned her down. She's looking for the actual paperwork now so I can add it to the histories. I also asked if the rejection was as harsh as remembered, or simply something a younger fan might remember badly but an older one might recognize as simply an impersonal business rejection. She said she wouldn't be surprised if it were the latter, but she'd withhold judgment until she found the letter. ([the editor interjects]: Although I never saw the actual rejection letter, I have clear memories of sitting in Jenni's living room in Irving, Texas, in the spring of 1984, along with several other fans which included, I believe, Annie Wortham, Linda Knights, Laura Virgil and several other Dallas area fans—the original Southern Enclave—and all of us were perturbed and angry at the rejection of Jenni's book idea. I distinctly recall her telling us that Del Rey had sent the book outline to Lucasfilm who had squashed it in no uncertain terms. As you say, perhaps it was a case of a young fan overreacting to a rejection letter, but my memories of this are very clear.)

an ad for Maggie Nowkowaska's proposed zine, "A Brief History of SW Fantime"
  • Maggie lays out her plans for a Star Wars fandom history zine:
    My plans for a SW Fanzine Fan History are shaping up. I plan to start with pre-fan, late '76 when Kurtz and Hamill first appeared at a WorldCon previewing their new movie, and cover through 1986 in the first zine, to be published in 1994; #2 will feature 1987 through 1994, for publication in 1995. Both will be combined and updated (and corrected as necessary) for 1997, in anticipation of the next movie and new fans. New, I've got a pretty extensive collection of evidence in boxes in my basement office, and I knew where a lot of the bones are buried, but I NEED YOUR HELP! it's been 15 years; we've all forgotten a lot of what went on and what we do remember can be pretty selective. I want to include surveys of what ideas kept the letterzines going — anyone interested in tracking the topics in SCOUNDREL or SOUTHERN ENCLAVE? I want to include lists of who LoCed (got these); of what zines were reviewed (I'm up on the core letterzines, but where else did SW zine reviews appear — let me know, better yet, send me a photocopy with citation info); of who won what award for which zine/story/art piece. I was involved in some of the old controversies — but (here comes the chorus) I'm going to need your help in keeping the reporting on an even keel — okay, who's willing to track the old "Church of Ford/Cathedral of Luke" controversy? I'm going to try to get time at MWC13 for a "So, How Much Have you Forgotten in 15 Years?" panel/brainstorming session/workshop. If I don't get the time, my hotel room will be an ongoing workshop. I'll bring mockups of possible layouts and samples of the kinds of info I want to include. Check it out! Until and before then, write and let m know what you want to see in this kind of publication. Also, I need a name for this thing! How about A BRIEF HISTORY OF SW FANTIME?

  • a fan writes:
    Oh, yes, the subject of beastiality has cane up in ST fandom. There was a distinct Fundamental contingent in ST fandom years ago that sorrowfully (for they were indeed ST fans) concluded that Amanda was guilty of beastiality because Sarek, not being a Son of Man, was not created in God's image.

  • some tech opinions:
    The idea of putting zines on PCs or faxes sounds cool... just wait until I can afford then first!

  • regarding Luke romances:
    This has been touched on in a few of the letters, so I guess I'll make most of my comments here. I think fear is the major reason Luke isn't getting the girl in fan stories anymore. Not Luke's own fear—but the writers' fear. I started writing stories before I learned of zines and fandom and everything which goes along with it. Then I learned of the dreaded "Mary Sue" category, which Marti had to explain to me and basically that was the end of all my Luke romance ideas! I didn't want to be accused of fulfilling private fantasies by putting myself into my stories and having a romance with Luke. (The way I see it, ANY original female character who shows the least bit of interest in Luke will be shot down as a "Mary Sue".) Since then, every time I come up with a story with original characters, I always make sure there's no, or very few, females in it.

  • a fan wants more sex:
    Why isn't anyone out there writing the type of wonderful romantic, stars-in-your-eyes stories we used to see? Why isn't there more sex in SW fiction? I don't mean porn or slash stuff -- just good, old-fashioned "lay" story that raises your temperature a bit?

  • a fan wants you to read a book:
    I urge all of you to get a copy. It's a bit academic in spots (I still don't know what a meta-text is) but it's a well thought out, researched, fan-friendly portrait of our sub-culture. Mr. Jenkins has taken care to gain permission and feedback from every fan mentioned or quoted, including yours truly. This book would no doubt provide fodder for many discussions in SE] .

  • a fan wants you to join a different BBS:
    For all of you who are on Prodigy—cone on over to GEnie, a real online service! I've been on GEnie for over a year and a half and have seen the Science Fiction and Fantasy Round Table (SFRT, fee start) triple in size. A new Star Wars Category started up about a month ago and is one of the busiest cats on the service. Most of the fans are new (and I've been pushing SE like crazy to them), but there are old hands on board too, familiar names like Deb Walsh, Tish Veils, Bev Clark, Linda Deneroff, and Mary Jean Holmes. The only SE subscribers are Nora Mayers and myself, but we'd really love to see more of you. You won't encounter the censorship and delays in message posting that you run into on *P*, and there's no E-mail fee. And the rate of $4.95 per month (Basic Services in non-prime time) can't be beat.

  • a fan writes of technology and fears:
    Zines on disks? Please, God, no! like yours, my eyes could never stand the strain! I gladly accept electronic submissions for my zines, but only final draft submissions and even those need to have hardcopy sent along in case the file translates as garbage. Initial submissions have to come in on hardcopy for the edit. I've had people offer to send me disks containing their 150-page stories, expecting me to print it out for editing! This little cowgirl doesn't have that large a budget, however. And zines on disks lend themselves frighteningly well to bootlegging. The idea scares the hell out of me.

  • another fan is not a fan of zines on computers:
    Zines on disk? My eyes hurt just thinking about it! And I am not ready to take the time to print a whole zine, even to avoid eye strain. With my (or rather my mother's printer), it would take days. (Besides, my mother won't let me take her computer with me when I move out.)

Issue 34 (Winter 1993)

cover of issue #34
  • online here
  • contains 68 pages
  • "Dark Empire Review/Analysis (Dark Horse Comics)" by Mary Jo Fox
  • art by Catherine Churko, Gerald Crotty, Z.P. Florian, Judith Low and Fiorenzo Delle Rupi
  • the editor's response to an Editing Controversy, how much should an editor do? Followed by much discussion.
  • a blurb for Textual Poachers along with an order form for the book
  • there are some comments on Enterprising Women, see that page
  • a blurb for a book by Martha Wells
  • a letter wished Maggie Nowakowsi luck with her "Brief History of SW Fanzine Fandom"
  • the editor's comments regarding the letter in the previous issue regarding editing:
    During the span of... twenty years, I have had the pleasure of working with some of the best known writers in SW fandom (some who have gone on to write professionally), some writers who flared briefly and then followed other interests, and others who contributed occasionally with modest but heart-felt works. And, during all that time, I found myself on the receiving end of only a handful of minor complaints. However, for the past six months, I have been bewildered and angry at having to defend myself when I thought my reputation in fandom spoke for itself. And, frankly, I have been hurt and deeply offended that my personal integrity has apparently been called into question. A G. Steyn, in her remarks to me in this issue's LoC, says that I refused to carry on the discussion "under the table" but insisted that I would only do so in SE. I'm afraid that she must have misconstrued what I said to her. She had insisted that I reprint unedited versions of her stories in TF #7 or in SE. This was something that I refused to do, but I offered her SE's public forum to make any sort of public statement she wished, giving her carte blanche to blast me to kingdom come if she chose and I promised that I would not edit, censor or rebut a single word in that issue. I have done a great deal of thinking during the past several months and discussed the situation privately with several other zine editors -- including an editor in an unrelated fandom -- to see what their thoughts were, as editors. And, it was with this in mind that I asked last issue for your opinions on editing stories and the duty owed by an editor to an author and vice versa. The responses received this issue have been thought- provoking and sobering, to say the least. [much snipped] In the case of the story vignettes by A G. that I printed in A Tremor in the Force #6, I just flat out failed to follow through properly on them. The deadline for getting the zine to the printer was coming up fast and I had a lot of things on my mind. Plus, I neglected to send the edited versions back to her for approval. With 20-20 hindsight, I realize that I should have done so or held the vignettes out of that issue until everything could be worked out. But I didn't because I was rushed and doing final layout on the zine (along with my usual dozen or so other activities, like working full time and maintaining a home and family, as well as getting out an issue of SE and handling a heavy load of correspondence), and it simply didn't cross my mind. Therefore, I hereby formally and publicly apologize to A G. Steyn for the misunderstanding and miscommunications we have experienced over this matter. And I formally and publicly apologize to everyone who has ever submitted material for any of my zines if I have offended you in any way with my editing practices. Your comments in this issue of SE have made me more conscious of your feelings and I will henceforth try to work more closely with all my contributors as well as mailing "galley proofs" of all final printouts back to the authors for proofing and changes. I hope this will alleviate any more hurt feelings in this matter. [much snipped] I'm sorry this editorial sounds so belligerant but this matter has struck close to the heart. And the bottom line is this -- I will stop doing zines altogether before I will lower the quality of Falcon Press publications. And you can carve that in stone.

  • the fan, A.G. Steyn, whose letter about editing is a big subject, wrote:
    I'm standing to what I said about (a) editing and (b) self-applied restrictions in our fandom. So, if you think I'm an asshole or a conceited ape: voice your opinions, friends. I'm dying to hear what you think! feel about these issues. However, I would like to point one thing out: The bitching between Cheree and yours truly is (at least from my point of view) strictly a "business" matter. Personally, I have no reason to cross lightswords with her. From the few letters we exchanged before the incident as well as from what Leanne Wingo told me, I got the impression that Cheree is a very nice person. What started the argument was that I had submitted several short stories that were partially accepted, partially passed on to another zine editor, and par- tially returned. So far, so good. The ones returned were, on second reading, really BLAH! I was, how- ever, not aware that the ones kept or passed on would undergo editing. And I was never informed about changes made in the script, and why (which would have been very important for me to know). So I was first shocked, then solidly miffed -- and I let Cheree know in a private letter, as I wanted to keep this strictly between the two of us. Cheree, however, made it clear that she was not going to discuss these matters "under the table", i.e., exchange private mail over the issue, but was only going to deal with this via Southern Enclave. So here we are.

  • a fan addresses A.G. Steyn:
    Boy, have you pried the lid off Pandora's Box. I can hardly wait to see how others react to your words. Strictly from my own p.o.v., I have to agree with you about some editors who rewrite a contribution without consulting the author. Minor changes, especially in grammar, punctuation, etc., are expected and welcomed, but major alterations really grate on my nerves. I don't believe an editor automatically has the right to "polish" or "embellish" a story or impose their ideas on what sounds appropriate for a character on someone else's work. If story, poem, etc., is that out of line with their tastes, they should reject it. If it needs additional work, they should make suggestions of which changes they'd like to the author and act accordingly.

  • another fan weighs in on the editing dust up:
    I believe you made a valid point about editing. Obviously, I know nil about the production of a zine, having never been an editor, but perhaps an easy way to solve the problem is that when a story is received by an editor that if s/he deems it necessary to edit for whatever reasons, s/he write to the author with a copy of the edited version before the zine goes to press. Along with that a letter explaining why s/he felt that changes were important. That way, the author can see the changes and if s/he doesn't like them, s/he is free to respond by saying "I don't really like the new version and I'd rather you simply send the story back." Then the author can send the story elsewhere if s/he likes.

  • more on editing:
    With regard to your commentary on story editing and restrictions, I think you've got a live rancor by the tale. To me, it's reprehensible for an editor to change anything, in a submitted story without first asking and obtaining the author's permission, then informing the author of the changes and getting an okay on the changes. No exceptions! Conversely, the author has to be willing and open to accept the advice and expertise of the editor. Sometimes as authors, we're too close to our own material and can't see the need for improvement or correction. An objective editor can be invaluable. One has to respect (there's that word again) both sides and work together. I think one also has to keep the whole zine thing in perspective. Zines are out there for fun. Yes, they are near and dear to our hearts, but not a life and death event.

  • a fan comments on the editing controversy:
    On editing. There is a tremendous difference between American and European ideas about the art of writing. Where I come from -- and I guess, it's not far from where A.G. comes from -- a writer is a direct channel between the Divine and the Masses, a kind of sacred fool, whose words can not be altered. Whereas in the USA, a writer is a professional, who skillfully creates a marketable commodity. If it requires alterations, one can assume that the editor does her best to improve the story. After all, she has to sell the stuff! This is the business part of it.

  • an Italian fan writes:
    About the "to edit or not to edit" matter... Honestly, that's a complex problem and what I'm going to write is just the way I deal with the problem in running Cloud City. I am not aware of what's going on in the USA, but I did have this kind of experience over here, so I'll just offer it, without the intention of offending or siding up with anybody. Let's go. The Force knows how much I would have liked to destr-- ahem, to correct some contributions I was sent, but, truly, I never have. There is a little voice within me that pops up and says, "You are not going to print that stuff in your zine, are you?" but there's always another that says, "Well, who are you to decide it?" The fact is that sometimes I'd like to be some- thing more than the guy who spends his days typing at the computer or running to the printer and to the post office. I don't want to be a censor, but I'd feel it was a duty towards my readers to guarantee that what they're reading is of a certain quality. I'd like to have people think "Ab, Cloud City -- they publish good stuff." But that is not the right way. I have never and I will never go beyond the grammar corrections in the stories I publish.

  • Ming Wathne writes:
    The first words on my editing outline are "all material is subject to edit". The amount of editing done will depend on the story and the ability of the author. There are perhaps 5 or 6 authors who never need editing in any way, others than need merely suggestions for deleting or additions, and others who need to do complete rewrites. It is the editor's job to make decisions like that. How closely the editors and authors work together seems to be the key. Some editors just take the bit and run and, if they get a good product that way, that is s the way they will do it. Others work more closely with the authors on changes and restructures. And sometimes no matter how hard they try, one combination cannot make a story work. This has nothing to do with the quality of the story. It simply involves the human differences in people. With another editor, the author would find the same story working fine. I would say the bottom line in things like this is for authors to try and know your editors and how they work, and for editors to try and know your authors and how they feel about changes, etc., in their work. In Bright Center in just 3 issues, I have had to tum back 2 stories, not because the stories were bad, but I could not make them work. There were elements in the stories that were important to the authors but I could not get the elements to gel. Other editors did. I have made suggestions on another couple of stories, some of which were accepted. Where there is a difference of opinion, I am very careful to examine the situation. If I can work with it, fine; if not, I will return the story. Below the bottom line is the fact that in fanzines, most materials are the hard work of imaginative authors, artists, poets, and puzzle makers, but the editor is responsible for getting these materials together and presenting them to the public and standing the expense of putting out the zine. The reading fans will decide if the zine is worth the price they will be asked to pay. So, it is necessary for all sides to decide what the final purpose of this creative product is, and what needs to be done to make it saleable.

  • a fan's comments regarding the subject of editing:
    I am not going to comment on AG's subject of zine editing. I am neither an editor nor a SW writer. I have only written one fiction thing and the editors of that zine went out of their way to help me make my story better. They consulted with me on every change. For me, it was a good experience. I am sure that there will be a LOT in this issue of SE regarding this subject!! Only I hope that it will turn out to be a controversy and not an all-out war!!

  • more on editing:
    Responding to A.G. Steyn's question, "Where are the unfearing editors willing to publish such boldness?" I am reminded of the stories you hear coming out of Hollywood where a director/Writer fumes that the studio/network has compromised the artist's creative freedom. I'm an anti-censorship as the next liberal, but it's the studio/network's millions that the artist is gambling. If these artists want creative freedom, no one is stopping them from bank- rolling it themselves. In our (hopefully) happy world of zines, if an author wants to publish bold fiction that eds balk at or threaten to cut or alter, then the author can still pull their submission. I do believe no one must put up with edits they don't agree with, but neither should they feel an editor has any obligation to print anything they don't wish to (no matter what the reason). I hold editors in high regard for providing a forum that I have neither the talent nor energy to match. If not for them, none of my fiction would have had any readership beyond a few of my closest personal friends.

  • more on editing:
    Perhaps some useful, fannish conventions regarding fanlit and fan publishing are being lost in the passage of time. I don't know the particulars of your specific writer/editor exchange, but in the past, many writers -- especially new writers or those sending material to a new editor -- enclosed a SASE sufficient to the manuscript so that the editor could send the ms back with suggested corrections, spelling and such, for approval by the author. No review of corrections often meant no future submissions by that writer, just as a refusal to change anything on the part of the writer could mean a rejection of the ms. Even-steven on both sides.

  • celebs at MediaWest?
    I've only been fortunate enough to attend MWC once, but I did attend the now defunct KC Con twice. Stars were invited and in attendance at KC Con and it definitely altered the atmosphere. MWC is much more relaxed and fun, allowing fans to meet, exchange compliments on one another's work in fandom and new ideas, and generally be free to "cut loose". I have to agree with you that "stars" would spoil MWC. Besides, one of those I met at KC Con was so obnoxious that it's forever altered my perception of the character he plays, ruining my enjoyment of the major work he appears in.

  • a fan refers to another letter:
    I think you hit a nail on the head with your assessment of people being wary of fandom because of fear that someone will associate them as a whacked out dweeb. I have a lot of friends who I know think I'm strange for my interests concerning SW. I even have friends who are big sci-fi fans, going to many cons, who don't want to involve themselves in fandom, because of that image we've been unfairly given. (I have one friend who was willing to stand in line for six and a half hours for tickets to see Depeche Mode who thought I was crazy to drive to L.A to go to the SW con in '87 ... in my mind, there isn't much difference, is there?)

  • a fan muses on conflict:
    Perhaps in the early days (I can only surmise from what I've heard and been told as I "discovered" fandom in 1985), when fandom was just being defined by fans themselves, tempers ran high, lines were drawn and, sadly, friendships were lost because of a difference in opinion. Since then, I think a lot of us have learned from such self-destructive behavior; hopefully, we've grown past the lock-step group mentality. It's always nice to find someone who thinks as you do, a soul-mate, but one shouldn't totally exclude those that don't. One of the greatest concepts to emerge from the Star Trek universe was IDIC ... Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. I think I quoted that right. A difference of opinion is a sign of a healthy civilization. It encourages fresh thinking. It makes life interesting. Sameness is boring. I do object to a difference of opinion for the sole purpose of creating a controversy, to set people one against another. If it's a sincere belief, fine, but if someone just wants to stir the pot so they can sit back and watch the anger grow and fester, then that person is a parasite feeding off of one of fandom's greatest strengths.

  • a fan writes of future tech:
    ... along with computers in the home being as common as telephones, I'd like to add fax machines to that. Imagine instant rewrites from writer to zine editor without having to go through the unreliable, chancy, destructive Post Awful!

  • fanworks are too good?
    Are fans becoming too hard to please? Have we become too wrapped up in our own fan fiction to accept anything Lucasfilm could give us? Many of us dislike the books, the comics don't suit us all... Just how would another film be received? Perhaps our expectations are too high? Saying that, though, and after reading the most recent Lucasfilm magazine, I have to admit that I don't really want to see a movie about Kenobi and Anakin and what went before. I've read too many excellent stories on that subject and feel it's been done! Lucas would have to find something extra- ordinary to please me! See what I mean about expectations?

  • the editor comments on whether fanworks outshine canon:
    This exact thing happened with ROTJ. After TESB, SW fandom just exploded and for three years wonderful stories poured out of the imaginations o f the best writers in fandom. Some were so logical and well-written that many fans said, "Yes, this must be how it will be resolved." Then, when ROT! appeared, many fans were disappointed because the film just wasn't as good as some of the fan stories.

  • a fan comments on Maggie Nowakowska's proposal for a Star Wars fandom zine:
    Good luck with the SW fan history. If I can help in any way, please let me know. I have tons of old SW letterzines and correspondence. How about Tempest in a Teapot: A Brief History of SW Fandom as a title? I'd better not chronicle the Church of Ford/Cathedral of Luke Controversy, since I was involved. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Thank Ghu that the actors never got involved in any of that nonsense.

Issue 35 (unknown content)

  • unknown content, can someone provide?

Issue 36 (Summer 1993)

cover of issue #36
  • contains 85 pages
  • contains the 1992 STAR aWARdS winners, as well as a short description of the process and award ceremony, by Judith Yuenger
  • there is a con report for MediaWest, see that page
  • there are many photos of fans at MediaWest 1992
  • the editor writes:
    As of August 1, when this article was written, I was informed that all the rooms [for 1994's MediaWest] at the Holiday Inn are sold out. Because all the regular rooms sold out so quickly and because I didn't get one!, Randy and I decided to contact Lori Chapek-Carlton (who was handling the suite arrangements at the hotel) to see if we could get a suite to serve as a base for the SE group. I'm happy to say that this has been arranged, so watch for the Southern Enclave Hospitality Suite at the 1994 con. The annual SE get together will be held there and will afford us a lot more room than we had at this year's party, which was wall-to-wall people in the room and spilled out into the hall! We will be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and will check out by noon on Monday, but hopefully that will give us a place for chatting, visiting, and watching the Saga. I may also deal out of the room, although I've also got a table in the dealer's room. Plans will start to solidify as the convention approaches.

  • fans are getting too wordy, writes the editor:
    And now it's time for my annual "Length of the LoCs" comments. I know you all have a lot to say, but please, try to limit your LoCs to no longer than 3-4 typewritten pages. Some of you are getting carried away and doing twice that much. Also, may I please ask you to severely limit or delete altogether the quo- tations from books, magazine articles, song lyrics, etc. They take up valuable space and increase the length of the zine, the cost of the zine, and the time it takes to type the zine. And remember that comments should relate to SW. Although we have myriad interests, if you want to discuss sf movies, comics, music, politics, religion, philosophy, and the Meaning of Life As We Know It with one another -- unless it directly pertains to Star Wars -- I ask that you do it privately. I've already had to edit LoCs in this issue due to length and com- ments that were too far off the beaten path. No one was singled out so if you find parts of your LoC edited out, please know that it wasn't an editorial vendetta against you personally, but was out of necessity to keep SE to a reasonable size. Thanks for your cooperation!

  • lawyers in the Star Wars universe?
    Does the SW universe have lawyers? The reason I ask is because in our own culture, the first thing an injured party does is sue the pants off everyone in sight. Consider the potential for litigation following Alderaan's destruction. An ambulance-chaser's delight. Who would be legally culpable? (I know, I know, acts of war and all that -- but a good attorney can make an airtight excuse look like a piece of Swiss cheese. Surely there would be a loophole or two to exploit.) Would the New Republic have to spend years tidying up the legal mess left behind by the Empire? What would happen to off-world holdings of individual Alderaani? Would any and/or all surviving Alderaani have equal claim to them? What about holdings which belonged to the government of Alderaan? Who gets those, assuming the Empire hasn't squandered the proceeds in the meantime?

  • a fan comments on a popular topic:
    What do I think of Han's character change in ROTJ? Er, I can't use the language that would be necessary to adequately convey my opinion; this is a PO-rated publication. Personally, I would have rather seen the character killed off, going out in a blaze of glory, than see him turn into a bumbling fool. Your explanation -- carbon freeze trauma -- is the only way I can see to explain it. And why the Alliance would have entrusted a generalship to a man in that condition is a question I've been asking ever since I first saw the film -- haven't found an answer yet and don't expect to find one in the foreseeable future. Surely an organization the size of the Alliance would have a pool of qualified candidates who weren't suffering from brain-burn and who hadn't been absent for a period of months (or was it years?). If making space-case Solo a general is an example of the decision-making capacity of Alliance leadership, how in the name of all that's holy did they ever manage to win the war?

  • a fan is confused by tech:
    Hey, do modems have spell checkers, or would everyone have to figure out the foreign language I use when I don't have one? ((ED: Sorry, you'd be on your own. A modem is just a telecommunications device, like a telephone or fax machine.))

  • a fan suggests floating an explicit sex balloon:
    Well, there seems to be enough interest in the, er, shall we say steamy-seamy -- whatever you want to call it -- stories, so why doesn't someone get them all together and do it? It would be a trial to see how Lucas would react (I don't think he gives a damn anymore). And if these stories are kept to one type of zine and not mixed with the other published material, I cannot see where the problem is. I have about five of these underground zines in my collection. The basic is mostly so poorly done in story material, it's not worth the effort to read it. As the only thing it has going for it is sex (I know it is supposed to make the world go round), story value is almost completely lost in 98% of this stuff.

  • it could be worse:
    Hey, reality is still a lot worse than fanlit trashing. Florida tourist murders, World Trade Center bombing, Bosnia, to name but a few. Plus, it is obvious that, apart from whatever Darkside feelings one enjoys reading a [trash]]-Han-again! story, the best of it is how he takes it, how he reacts, how he triumphs over the worst kind of situation.

  • on Mary Sue:
    I, personally, don't usually care for romance stories involving anyone, but I hate to see new writers put off. I think nearly everyone begins by writing Mary Sues and then progresses. In response to the Luke romance issue I've seen in SE, I've even broken down and written one myself. Hopefully, it will appear in a zine in the not-too-distant future.

  • regarding opinion:
    Whoa! You thought the opinions expressed in SE represented all of fandom? Why? There are plenty of dissimilar opinions expressed in these pages to disabuse you of that notion. I dare say every single SW fan has at least one opinion not shared by others. Very little is set in concrete, so to speak. Besides, I enjoy reading everyone's ideas, in SE and fanfic. There are, sadly, some readers who can never accept any ideas or stories that don't fit their particular idea of what should be. I call such people NIMGA's -- Not in My Galaxy. However, I believe these folks are a minority and am grateful for it.

  • size matters:
    I feel the same as you, that "slash" is "the Creature That Ate Media Fandom!" Why this is the only relationship that some fans want to explore is beyond me. Lest there be any slash fans in earshot who want to stone me, I protest the pro- portion of slash zines to the rest of zines published, and not their existence.

  • more on slash, but regarding The Professionals:
    I have no problem with providing slash for those who want it, but, please, also provide for those who want strong storylines! And having said that I must admit I have read almost no Professionals fanfic, but only because everything I picked up seemed to be centered on bedroom scenes. I really did enjoy the TV series, and would like to have found stories that furthered it.

  • using mundane words for alien term:
    I remember there was a controversy in ST fandom years ago when Jean Lorrah had Sarek, in an extreme situation, use the word "bitch." I thought she made a good argument for using familiar terms by pointing out that using a "Vulcan" word, which no one would understand, would lack the power she needed in that scene ... and that breaking the narrative to explain that that Vulcan word was indeed the equivalent of "bitch" would abuse the reader who is understandably more interested in Sarek's reaction when waking up to find someone desirous of castrating him than in etymological explanations. Not only is inventing terms is a difficult task, there's the risk of becoming so absorbed with your universe that you seriously irritate the reader with (take your pick) unpronounceable words, tedious explanations of those words, the need to remember too many unfamiliar words, the lack of tension! empathy/simple understanding as your reader says, The hell with it. I think one of the quickest ways to realize how many useless swear words people use is to write a alien swear word into stories. After the sixth "sithshit" (to quote my own stories), the swearing really stands out to hit one upside the head. And yet, do you use coffee or tea for the hot drink your character drinks? Or hot chocolate, as Zahn did in the current SW books, just to keep those unused to non-American English terms flipping the pages? I have no trouble with variations like cavene, cafine, or other earthy versions, like cha for tea. For myself, I'm locked into kleven and its variations in the TW series because the term got heavily written into the stories when I was still in my "ain't it glorious, it's a universe!" infatuation. So far, by reader's reactions, the term(s) worked, but it's always a gamble.

  • fanzines and tech:
    Is there any consensus building on how to handle two computer- related situations: (1) with editors requesting stories on disk, if possible, what will be the etiquette regarding return of those disks; and (2) with stories being sent in on disk, what is the prevailing opinion regarding typos and the inevitable slip of a word? Very few people can proof their own work 100%; do I as a writer have to worry that an editor will accept my electronic ms. as gospel. These thoughts just came up after all the discussions at MWC. Better to get some of these areas cleared up now than to wait until the situation gets really sticky.

  • there is much discussion about ROTJ and the poor treatment of Han Solo:
    But it's not just Solo that suffered. Lucas gave everybody short shrift in ROTJ. He not only turned a competent, graceful hard-edged Corellian into Chevy Chase, then separated Han from the Falcon, but he turned Chewbacca into a dumb animal ... more so than the one in the rope trap. This from a being who, in TESB, was capable of starship hyperdrive repair! He turned Vader, one of the greatest cinematic villains of all time, into a maudlin, pathetic figure. He created a forest full of cute, cuddly brave Ewoks that were almost as nauseating as smurfs. And while he did give the film back to Luke with some great scenes for Hamill, he had Mark looking like one of those sad-eyed waif pictures as Luke was sighing over the dying Yoda and then dying Vader. Then George gave us more creatures, more drool, more ships, battle scenes, a bigger, better Death Star ... as he tried to make ROTJ into the SW movie he originally wanted to make ... but it didn't work. Someone, anyone, should have taken a 2x4 upside George's head (a bit drastic perhaps, but it does get one's attention) and told him that more is not necessarily better!

  • regarding Enterprising Women:
    I'm interested in this "Enterprising Women" thesis that Mary Sue writers are disturbed women, and I'll have to read the book. I think that most human beings are disturbed, when one thinks about it! It is "normal" for men to be obsessed by fast cars, and "normal" for women to read romances or women's magazines. Doesn't that kind of "normality" still smack of a lifestyle where something is profoundly lacking? Some kind of wish fulfillment, where men can boost their male egos by gaining a sensation of power through their cars and women can escape their humdrum lives by reading literature of some kind of ideal life and relationship.

  • regarding GEnie:
    "We can do that!" So, you may see us cropping up online one of these days. I have to confess, I'm more than somewhat computer-resistant, though I've been using 'em in various jobs for over 10 years now. I just now am getting the hang of e-mail at work.

Issue 37 (Autumn 1993)

cover of issue #37
  • contains 87 pages
  • "Dirty Tricks of the Trade, Confessions of a Writeholic" by Z.P. Florian, topic: writing fanfiction
  • The Unifying Star Wars Fandom Panel (1993), transcript from a 1993 MediaWest*Con panel, see that page
  • the editor has the sad news that this letterzine will go on hiatus for an undetermined period of time due to personal financial reasons
  • there are lots of comments about "is Luke sterile," strong women in Star Wars fanfic, should there be more sexually explicit fanworks in SW fanfic, which of the movies is your favorite, ancient Terran Roman Empire as compared to SW's Empire, was Leia a virgin...
  • fans mention two proposed zines: "Tales from the Leather Rocket" and "I Have a Bad Feeling About This" -- both would have contained some explicit het, something that fans are finally, tenatively approaching as a subject
  • a fan from Israel asks:
    Being to new to the fan scene, I find myself totally befuddled by the zine piracy issue. The open letter yon published, as well as some of the things Ming Wathne wrote to me, on the difficulties of securing the rights to reprint old fan stories, have sure left me confused! I had always thought that: 1) There is no copyright possible when writing about material invested and patented by someone else (George Lucas, in our case). 2) That all that fan editors are allowed to do, is cover costs; and that this is the reason that fan authors and illustrators get no payment from them (other than contributor's copies). 3) That, if we don't get paid, at least we can reprint our stuff elsewhere if we choose (and are accepted), as nobody has any rights to our work, not us and not the editor(s). 4) That, on the other hand, we can't complain if someone else copies our work, and neither can the editor. And finally: 5) If someone "pirates" our work, that's a compliment, not theft! Fan authors don't get any money, only appreciation; and too damn little exposure, as is graphically demonstrated by the voting for the Star Awards — where only those who have read a specific magazine are in a position to vote for it. 6) As for fan editors, they don't expect to make profits, anyway, only to break even! We all do it for fun, as a hobby, and if we can't break even, due to the cost of paper, printing, distribution, etc, and/or the fact that our magazine is too expensive for the average fan, well, we fold. At least, that's what I thought am I wrong? Have I missed out on something? Will anybody out there please enlighten me?

  • a fan comments on the recent open letters, though stating that he's gotten his information second-hand:
    I'd already received Candace Pulleine's mailout. The only thing I can add comes secondhand from Bill Hupe. He was sitting behind a dealer's table as a woman was scanning [3] a Blake's 7 zine, when a second woman came up and told her, "Don't buy it. We're making a Kinko's run in an hour." Correct me if I'm wrong, but if anybody tried that at MediaWest, the police would be making chalk marks on the hotel carpet. I think all parties should calm down and try to understand the other's feelings before things get out of hand.

  • a fan addresses three others and their comments in the previous issue:
    All three of you commented on slash writing in one way or another, so to respond to all of you. Boo! There are so many slash zines because there are so many slash fen. There are plenty of non-slash zines, too. I enjoy both. Gods, the whole discussion is starting to sound like PhilCon's annual "Is Fandom Dying" panel Apparently, sf fandom has been dying since about 1960! Is slash fandom another nail in the coffin? Nah! For those of you who feel that there are too many slash zines - why don't some of you get together and put out your own non-slash zines? Oh, yeah, I definitely agree with Carolyn that even a slash story should have a strong storyline and, let me add, some character development. Yes, please.

  • more on sex in writing:
    As for an all sex-rated SW zine (I imagine George shuddering somewhere, feeling as if someone had walked over his proverbial grave), this would get boring very quickly if it were just sex scenes. After all, there's only so many ways that A can be described as going into B. It becomes mechanical without a plot, just a physical act without the anticipation and build up of emotions to carry the reader along with the involved characters. There needs to be a story with it, a stage to be set. Actually, there are alot of stories out there, already written and printed that fit my above criteria. The stories have a feature called an "outake" and have seen print with implied sex or the sex scene is tastefully (a/k/a "blandly") written, but in the author's private file, shared with a few trusted friends, is the scene in all its uncensored, passionate, asbestos-wrapped, descriptive glory! But without the story, the outtake doesn't fly. There is also a danger, I think, with a sex-scene zine (try saying that 5 times fast!). If one is worried about a Mary Sue label because too much of one's self is put into a story, think what you'd be revealing in a seduction paragraph. Where, more than in any part of one's writing - especially if it's one's favorite character - are your innermost fantasies laid bare (so to speak) for all to know? Perhaps for this proposed zine, authors should submit under an alias and only the editor would know who's who.

  • a fan is feeling nostalgic:
    There used to be some really radical elements in SW fandom; Empire supports, the "Church of Ford", the Duncan sisters and their Leia-bashing. Hardly a radical in sight anymore, and fandom has become comfortable. I'm not so sure that's a good thing.

  • a fan questions the size of SW fandom as it appeared at MediaWest*Con:
    I'm not at all certain that "SW fans are the largest one group attending MW*C. Trek has its share of well-attended panels, "smaller" fandoms such as QL and B&B are still quite active, and "omnivorous" fans such as myself could be argued as the largest group MW*C. But I would say that SW fans are the more... rambunctious. That probably has something to do with having had our fandom declared "dead."

  • a fan who'd commented at great length about the value of strong women in fanfic comments on other material, stuff she'd pay good money to avoid:
    On a totally different subject: the idea of gathering together all the smut, pornography and homosexuality in one publication, strikes me as an idea whose time has come. While you're at it, why don't you also put in those publications the demolition jobs: Luke as a pervert, Han as a murderer, Leia as a traitor. This would enable those who like this kind of thing to know where to find it, and the rest of us could finally relax, knowing that we aren't running the risk of losing our lunch, every time we open a regular zine. In commercial publishing that is the situation. There are "special" magazines and the regular ones, where nobody expects to find offensive material otherwise, there are protests, even lawsuits! But, for some reason, in SW regular fanzines, we're expected to accept offensive material, and if we protest, we're chastised, even ostracized! I, for one, would gladly contribute money to such a smutzine, so that the others may remain clean. I mean it. I wonder how many others of you think as I do.

  • fan abilities vs those of TPTB:
    ...fans know the characters better than the creators is that very often, particularly toward the end of many series, many originators take the characters in directions that seem contrary to what's gone before. It happened dramatically' (and dismayingly) in Classic Trek, it happened in Remington Steele, probably in B&B (although I can only go on what friends tell me about this, never having seen the show), and it happened in ROTJ. Fan writers are often very, very familiar with a character's personality traits, idioms, speech patterns, etc., and try to adhere to that, probably because they know if they don't, they'll have to face the wrath of outraged fen! I don't mean to disparage the creators. Certainly the characters belong to them and we're merely borrowing them for our own pleasure. However, it's my impression that when a series gets "old", the creators seem to tire of the creation and get careless. They're ready to move on to other things and the heck with the old stuff. Granted, there are fan writers who miss the mark on characterization, but more often than not, they're more careful about what a character says or does than the originator who's become bored with the whole thing.

  • some tech pimping:
    I'd like to encourage everyone to join up [with GEnie] NOW! Not only will it make it easier on Cheree (I'm e-mailing this LoC to her via GEnie which she can download directly onto her hard drive), but it's to nice to trade daily comments with MWC attendees and SW fans. It's a great way to communicate, it saves a fortune in postage and long distance phone bills, it promotes friendships, and it's more fun than bulls-eyeing womprats!

  • a fan writes:
    I've been doing a lot of wire or on-line "surfing" lately. Anyone else hooked on-line? My Compuserve e-mail address is 76460,2356. I should have a Delhpi/Internet address by the next issue, so I'll keep you posted.

  • Maggie Nowakowska writes of two recent books:
    I just finished Textual Poachers and enjoyed the book very much. It's a good complement to Enterprising Women. In this reviewer's opinion, TP addresses Slash the better of the two books, while EW is best on the Mary Sue question and the sociology/politics of developing fandoms. TP seems to place fandom more securely in greater society, too. The author is quite comfortable as a fan himself, while EW seems to be a bit hesitant when confronting some aspect of fandom that seems - er - unusual to her. I definitely think they should be read as a pair; I certainly wish someone would gather together all the articles on fandom that they refer to in their texts.

Issue 38 (Winter 1994)

cover of issue #38
  • online here
  • contains 66 pages
  • "Star Wars Role-Play -- Blaster Battle Participation" by Ann Goetz
  • the editor says that she is now able to receive fannish correspondence at her work fax machine
  • art by Cheree Cargill, Gerald Crotty, Z.P. Florian, Judith Low
  • lengthy, lengthy ad for a Star wars film spoof by David Zaritsky
  • newspaper clippings
  • an ad for "the first single-brand [McIntosh] THX-licensed home theater system," this one sold by Jerry's Audio Visual in Phoenix and Tuscon, AZ
  • a flyer for Eclecticon: one highlight: "Programming -- a mix of this, that and the other thing, all intended to tickle the fancy of the media fan. You'll find four tracks of panels, covering writing, editing, and publishing, general fandom topics, discussions on specific fandoms, TV shows and movies, and the ever-popular Miscellaneous. Structured panels too mundane for you? Immerse yourself in one of our freewheeling informal discussion groups. And if that's not enough, you can while away the weekend in the con suite or video room, enter the hall costume competition, and browse in the art show and dealers' room. Feel like spending money? You can kiss your budget goodbye out of simple avarice at our art auction or humanitarian generosity at the charity auction! Feeling particularly energetic or just plain helpful? Volunteer to work as a gopher!"
  • much more on the role of a zine editor
  • discussion on "self-censorship" in fiction
  • submission requests for zines that never got off the ground ("Do You Call This Archaeology?" [Harrison Ford] and "Scarecrow's Dream" [zine dedicated to exploring the many characters played by Bob Dowdel])
  • a submission request for MY NAME AIN'T MARY SUE: SPECIAL GAY/LESBIAN ISSUE. "We're currently seeking stories featuring gay and lesbian Mary Sues for a special standalone, one-time issue. Note: This is not a slash project! We are looking for the same kind of innovative and thought- provoking characters and plot-lines that are the standard for every issue of MNAMS."
  • a fan writes:
    I don't think an author is free to distribute his/her stories while the zine that published them is still in print. After all, if we all did this, how would a zine editor ever sell a zine? My work was given and it belongs to the zine. We don't work for money, but for love (love of the fandom and our own art, of course) and we try to do it kinda honorable. Re: having a separate zine for the "smut", so the reader won't have to worry about finding "not pure" material in other zine. Let's have then "pure" zines, too, where Han sticks to smuggling daffodils, doesn't shoot Greedo from under the table, Luke won't fall in love with his own sister, and Leia will never turn traitor to the Empire. Looking at the zine ads at the end of SE, I can actually see a split in fandom, as some zines expressly stale "no slash, no profanity" and others emerge embracing the wild side of the Force. Gentlebeings, I can foresee the future. There is a storm coming. 1 wish I were wrong in this...

  • regarding explicit zines:
    Oh, I wouldn't think anyone wants to put out a zine with only sex scenes in it, that's boring. But giving sex the same intense attention we usually give to moral agonizing should be worth a try. If the writer wants to remain anonymous, that's fine. What blackmail? "If you don't give me your Luke doll, I'll tell everyone that your wrote the story about Han's youthful lapse with Boba Fett"?

  • a fan addresses others regarding tone and content:
    Finally, I have a need to address the rampant cynicism I've seen in LoCs and stories. True, there are times when the line between light and dark blurs into gray. Yes, they are fighting a war, which is, as we all know, belt But for the most part, what we see is what we get in the SW universe. The good guys are good and the bad guys, with the exception of Vader, are totally bad. SW at its very heart is pure and free from cynicism. This isn't to say it's free from complexity. Like most myths and fairy tales, there is a subliminal subtext to the plot. However, SW is not about confronting complicated social issues nor is it an existential treatise. We easily accept the fact that we can hear ships exploding in space, yet we cannot believe Han Solo is basically a nice, decent man hiding beneath wisecracks and bravado. Oh, nooo, he has to be a sexually-molested,alcoholic, schizophrenic, crazed, immoral, unreformable crook! Perhaps some fans cannot accept heroes - having heroes is for suckers, they suppose with their late-20th century sensibilities. So, they feel a need to pull the heroes down to their level, or lower, and burden them with talk-show-topic problems. "But that's more realistic," you might say. Well, to heck with that! If I want "realistic", I can turn on CNN. The reason why people watch the Saga over and over, why little kids who weren't even conceived when ROTJ came out love the movies, why I still admire these fabulous characters after 16 years and, at age 24, is that SW rises above "gritty realism" and shows us a galaxy of hope, and of people we can look up to and learn from. This is what Lucas wanted to create — a mythos that would be an antidote to the bleak cynicism that pervaded this country in the post-Vietnam/Watergate years.

  • a fan addresses another fan's letter from the previous issue regarding zine piracy and zine content, see Zine Piracy Letter by Ann Wortham in Response to Candace Pulleine:
    I venture to say that your letter is going to cause some heat in the next SE! But, since you probably expected that (brave soul that you obviously are!) let me put my two credits worth in. First of all, you suggest that it's complimentary when someone pirates a zine. Well, that's a good way to be complimented out of your savings! As you pointed out, we don't make a profit on our zines (or we're not supposed to). However, when someone else pirates a zine they're making a profit — and the zine editor often is unable to recoup their losses. Furthermore, the pirate is making a profit without putting in any effort. I don't know about you, but it takes me a year or more (my latest work took four and a half years - by the time it get; to MediaWest for its big debut, it'll be five years) to put out a good zine. That means hours upon hours of labor, expense and blood, sweat, and tears. To be "complimented" by having someone else sell my zine so they can make a profit doesn't do much for my sense of well being. To address your concern that we're taking from Uncle George anyway, so what right do we have to gripe? Lucas knows we're playing in his sandbox — he once even had a panel set up to read the zines to ensure that nothing he considered unfavorable got through. And since we're not making a profit on George's work — although we are putting out money to get the zines produced — I think we're entitled to gripe when someone steals from us. I'd also like to address one other point you make regarding people who prefer something a little — different - from mainline zines. I lend to agree with you (puritan upbringing that I've had, personal beliefs and all that!) But, while I far and away prefer SW as Uncle George gave it to us, I will defend and support anyone's right to read whatever they like without being called to task for it. You certainly have the right to make your point in SE, since that's what these pages are all about, and it would be a pretty dull world if we all thought alike! However, Yvette, it lakes all kinds to make a world. Read what you like, buy what you prefer, but remember that not everyone thinks as you do and fandom is large and diversified. Now, if your point had been put forward as a debate (a friendly debate) I might have cheerfully jumped into the fray, voicing my opinion and preference. But I will not lump people into one all-encompassing category labeled "Foul" — I'm not perfect enough yet to offer those kinds of judgments.

  • regarding Zine Piracy Letter by Ann Wortham in Response to Candace Pulleine:
    Yes, the zine editor does not expect to make a profit from selling a zine, but the person who pirates that zine certainly does and that makes the practice reprehensible. The editor puts in a ton of time and hard work to produce a product, while all the pirate does is stand at a xerox machine. To put it bluntly, pirating someone else's zine is possibly the most unethical, contemptuous thing one fan can do to another and one can have no respect for such a person.

  • regarding fannish controversy:
     : Oh poet extraordinaire! I do but disagree! 1 really don't believe that the so-called Church of Ford/Cathedral of Luke or that the ROTJ v. TESB debates are necessarily unfriendly things! Of course, having been in the fandom only five or six years I'm sure I missed the grit and mudslinging that I hear occurred. But, to my way of thinking, these are just opinions that are fun to dash about - and I enjoy getting another point of view, even though I may disagree and will voice another opinion. As I mentioned... voicing an opposite opinion isn't the crime — it's the way it's done, I think.

  • regarding Leia and strong female characters:
    Sorry, I have to disagree that ST:TNG and ST:DS9 copied the strong woman from SW. First of all keep in mind that the original "Number One" in the classic Trek pilot episode of "The Cage" was played by a very strong female. The network didn't like it and shot her down, but the stage was set for the future. I think the current tendency for stronger female characters is more an evolution of society than a copying of what came before. The 60's just weren't ready yet. The late '70's were more ready, but you have to admit that even with Leia as strong as she was, she was the only strong female role in the entire trilogy! Oh, sure, there was Mon Mothma, but I really feel she was a bit two-dimensional to count as a strong role. They just didn't take the lime to do much with that character. Much more has been done in fan fiction about her. But, now, the time is right and the public is not only ready for the stronger female roles, it demands them. And I know I'm probably going to get a bunch of hate mail on this, but I don't really see Leia as being that strong of a character. I feel she did too much whining and complaining, and was used by the Alliance as much for a figurehead to draw people together, as she was used for her strength. Don't get me wrong. I like Leia. And yes, she was strong, I just don't see her as the ultimate role model of the modern female image.

  • a fan addresses another fan:
    I wasn't going to respond to your letter, but having read it several times now I feel I must put in my two cents' worth. Not everyone in fandom shares your ideas on what constitutes a "demolition job" of a story. Personally, I've found few alternate fictions to my taste, but I would never presume to suggest they be excluded from a main-stream zine. One person's "smut" is another's art. What you find offensive, I might find satirical or just outright funny. If you want homogenized fandom, brother, you are in the wrong set. Try Disney. Otherwise, accept that zines will contain stories you won't care for, comment on them in an LoC if you're that upset, and go on enjoying the stories you find to your personal tastes. Or start your own G-rated zine. It's a big playground. There's room for us all and I honestly hope we're adult enough to avoid name-calling and shoving matches. You're entitled to your opinions, as are we all, but don't presume so many others share yours and are just too timid to speak out. I haven't met too many timid SW fans. Outspoken, yes. Opinionated, yes. But also willing to give that other person their say, too. As for me, I'll resort to that stale, but oh-so-true expression, "To each his own." Or, if you prefer, "Live and let live."

  • a fan points out:
    While I can agree with your desire to have various sub-genres of fannish writing in their own separate zines, I do have to point out that the grouping of "smut, pornography and homosexuality" could be interpreted by some people as highly offensive in its intent.

  • a fan is curious:
    I, myself, am interested in the smutzine. I'm curious mostly. It's been discussed at MW and in SE for years, mostly as a joke and now it's coming to life. As long as it's tastefully done, and I trust Z.P. to do that, I'm looking forward to it.

  • regarding some history:
    You guys should officially begin calling yourselves the "Eastern Enclave", Jeanine Hennig was the one who coined the term "Southern Enclave" to describe the Dallas area fan group way back about 1983. She stole that term from Maggie Nowakowska, who I think was calling the Seattle group the "First Terran Enclave." I liked the sound of it so much that, when I started this newsletter, I stole it from her!

  • a male fan writes:
    Granted, an excess of slash isn't much of a problem for me; plenty of ST, SW and Science Fiction/Fantasy zines to suit my taste. But next door over in the Buddy Cop/Detective fandom it has gotten out of hand. I've heard complaints from some of the fans of these shows that they would like to write non-slash stories but the only zines they could find for their shows were exclusively slash. And don't go tellin' me they could just go and do their own zine. Not every one has the skill, the money, connections and the more-guts-than-brains mentality required to be an editor.

  • a fan addresses another:
    I too know how it is to find particular zine stories disturbing or even offensive. However, one being's ambrosia is another's poison, and I would not want arbitrary decisions about which stories are acceptable and which ones should be ghettoized to outside the "mainstream" (whatever the mainstream is defined to be). Each editor has to make difficult decisions about what to accept or reject as it is, and if we disagree with those policies, we should move on to another story or no longer patronize those zines, just as if there is something offensive on TV or radio, we should turn it off or select another channel. If a story bothers you, quit reading it. You could even write it as you would like to see it done. Also, where do authors, readers and editors draw the line between "acceptable" and "dangerous"? We are all subjective creatures, and therefore no opinion is worth more than any other. I personally believe we need more, not less, fiction in which beings of all genders can openly express love and tenderness toward each other regardless of gender, for I would like to think that some beings in the SW galaxy are wiser and more tolerant than us frail and too-often short-sighted humans. I also think excessive violence is problematic, depending on the message of the story — is rape, torture or murder being romanticized or actually deplored? But these are my concerns, my views. The point is that the moment we start trying to make clear distinctions and definitions, everything falls apart and we differ about what is and what is not acceptable. Few of us would delight in reading detailed descriptions of disembowelment, for example, yet it can be easy for us to forget the fact that people die horribly in the SW films. After all, the two Death Star explosions and Alderaan's destruction are examples of mass murder - but we don't have to ponder that since we don't see the actual suffering and pain. It's just too complex an issue for anyone to try to apply tight classificatory standards. That is why editors should be able to print what they choose, and the rest of us should deal with it accordingly. If we don't agree with their policies, we should do our own stricter or more permissive publications or simply learn that we should tolerate others' opinions even if we don't necessarily agree with them. The only thing that makes me "risk losing my lunch" is the prospect of a SW fandom that stifles creativity, diversity and freedom of thought and speech. As I slated in Maggie's comments above, such a coercive consensus can only be detrimental. Therefore, I welcome stories that might make me grimace, for I believe in having my opinions, even my morals, challenged from time to time. Accordingly, I also welcome any criticisms you would like to point out about the opinions I have just expressed or any flaw you see in my reasoning. A U.S. Chief Justice once said that he couldn't define obscenity but "knew it when he saw it." Another one stated that he might deplore what someone said, but would defend to the death his or her right to say it. Those two statements seem to express the true issues involved in this admittedly thorny topic.

  • a fan writes:
    Droid smut is best, put your R2 up to the test. Why do you think they loaded it with all those attachments? Or read Mary Jo Fox's first issue of Blue Harvest. There's an article about the first SW trading cards, one series of which includes C3PO in his "hard drive" position. Droid smut is all around us — if you know where to find it...

  • a fan writes:
    My husband has long since become accustomed to the Vader shrine in our bedroom. He didn't even heave a sigh when I hung the two SW ties from our dresser minor. Now, if I can just get him to wear the helmet...

Issue 39 (Summer 1994)

  • contains 74 pages
cover of issue #39
  • the editor writes:
    Since so many of us are now cruising the information superhighway, I'd like to begin a listing of e-mail address. Many of you are already including your addresses in your LoCs or ads. If anyone is interesting in posting their on-line whereabouts here, just let me know. [She includes the AOL or GENIE.GEIS addresses of five fans]

  • a fan writes:
    Thank you, thank you for your flame about the need on peoples' parts to complicate SW with pop-psycho-PC-social-babble. Save it for the next three, guys. It sounds like what Lucas is planning. Meanwhile, let me enjoy my sexually-unmolested, social drinking, well-adjusted (in a Tool Time guy sense), chaotically good, hero Han (and my incredibly naive, gullible, growing-up-too-fast hero Luke [okay, side note. Has anyone else noticed that Luke has all the background to become a "Magnum P.I.", "Hawkeye Pierce" Peter Pan-like character after the war? Or is it just me? Okay, it's just me.)

  • regarding Zine Piracy Letter by Ann Wortham in Response to Candace Pulleine which was printed in Southern Enclave #37:
    I just want to throw some thoughts out on the piracy issue. I've been discussing this general topic with many folks in music, film, video and multimedia. (I). I recommend everyone read John Perry Barlow's excellent discourse on intellectual property in the electronic/information age. He has a couple o f small logical fallacies in his enthusiasm, but he gets the nut of the problem and poses some good questions. (2). We can't stop duplication of media. We've probably all got something of a pirate nature in our homes - cassette tape of a favorite song pulled from the LP or CD, a videotape of a TV show or a movie we took off of HBO, an article or newspaper clipping we photocopied, et al. (3). The primary reason for piracy is "value for cost". If we perceive something we desire as being worth as much or more than the price asked, we buy it. This is the entire impetus of point-of-purchase displays by the cash register. How many pirated video copies of SW were out there until the price of the videotape dropped to below $30? How many of us impulse-bought a zine at a con because it was interesting and "so cheap" (usually under $1O)? It may be necessary for us (editors/publishers) to find ways to cut our costs. I am very sorry now that I didn't wait on FACPOV #5 until I found a cheaper printing source. While the zine is very good, the cover is fabulous, I'm unhappy with having to charge $17. Maybe we can make our issues smaller and publish more often. (4). Scarcity will also increase both the value of a work, and the tendency to reproduce it illegally. We editors may need to figure out better distribution. I am working on the same problem in multimedia (MM) and small press music publishing. I will keep everyone posted later this year on our tests. I think the same concept may be viable for zines. (5). "Piracy" doesn't always mean lost sales. In fact, in our society, recognition can result in increased profits. Barlow points out that a significant factor in the Grateful Dead's status as the best selling live act in music is because they've always permitted fans to tape at the concerts. As they shared the tapes with others, Grateful Dead fandom lived, and grew, increasing concert sales and record sales. I have gotten zine orders from folks who found me by borrowing a friend's copy. I've even had someone admit that a friend sent them a photocopy of issue #1 and now they wanted a complete collection. I also remember when the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and several other national writers association began discussing in the 1980's forcing libraries to pay a "royalty" for each book checked out. They felt they were being "robbed" by not getting paid each time their work was read. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and pointed out that if readers didn't know you existed or what you wrote, they wouldn't become a fan and buy the rest of your books. People are more inclined to pony up the money, particularly in tight financial times, if they know and like the product. Software distributors are now offering samples of a program for this reason. Books often include a sneak preview of another novel. And movies have long given us a "preview of coming attractions". Maybe we zine editors need to do more than a blurb. Maybe we need to produce some samples. I don't know. These are just thoughts. And finally,let me state right now, I don't approve of or support piracy. I've thrown many a screaming-embarrassing-to-the-dealer-disrupting-his-business fit in SF dealer's rooms when I've found piracy going on. I've also chided fans I know for flagrant zine copying. But we can't stop it. The yelling's been going on since before SW fandom even existed. I think it's time we stopped kvetching and sought solutions that address any underlying problems. It's not going to get better as the digital age progresses. 'Nuff said.

  • a fan addresses "truth in advertising," or, ratings":
    I agree with you that we should "live and let live," however, I confess I wouldn't mind a bit more "truth in advertising" on the level of graphic violence and sex in some zines. I once picked up a zine on the strength of an editor telling me it was simply a strong, political-based story, only to put it down after the third gang-rape. Most editors are very good about letting me know about slash, but rather lax on graphic violence and sex content. What do you think of using the ol' movie ratings system to describe our zine content and putting it in our ads? I admit I've been lax in tagging my zines. I'll try to do better in the future.

  • a fan writes about sex, bad fiction, tolerance, and another's poor choice of words:
    I agree with Michelle Malkin, lumping "smut, pornography and homosexuality" in one pile is quite offensive. About smut in the SW universe: yes, SW is a wonderful fantasy, where there is a genuine, shining purity in heroism, sacrifice, determination and love. Without this, there is no SW. But this shining light is not something the characters are naturally born with. Anakin was a Jedi and became a monster. Han was a money-hungry smuggler and became a hero and a man capable of love. Nobel heroism is bloody hard to do -- besides, it's only worth something if it's not coming cheap. Someone said quite a while ago that the lamb that strayed and came back is dearer to the master than the one that had never strayed... Anyway, white shines best compared to black. And sometimes, well, some stories are just fun. For someone with a sense of humor, a story could be a good joke -- for someone else, it could be an undecipherable pile of dirt. Let's not try to tell each other what to think. After all, we all love the Saga: somewhere deep inside of us, it touched a nerve. Maybe not the same nerve in all of us. So what? Only really bad stories are offensive.

  • another fan comments on a choice of words:
    Hearty applause, second your comments to [Y G] re her grouping of pornography, smut and homosexuality in the same breath, so to speak. It's a free world and a person's choice of sexuality is their business and, while I personally don't want to read it, people who prefer slash and/or more adult-oriented stories, SW or other, have as much right to read them as we do those we prefer. It's all a matter of having the means and the right to choose.

  • a fan comments on a current topic: fanworks and content:
    This resurrected issue of "appropriate" stories and artwork by fans. Frankly, guys, this type of argument is exactly why I'm so involved in fandom to begin with; this is the type of "mundane" silliness I'm trying to get away from. I'm of the firm conviction that, while "PC"ism and Conservatism may be at ideological extremes, in practice they're exactly alike. They both result in censorship, oppression of ideas and creativity, and only increase the division of ranks. Is that what we want among fandom? Well then, we must practice that which we keep preaching in our SW fiction -- tolerance of different beliefs, acceptance of the fact that even though we've all seen the same films, every single one of us will interpret it according to our own unique point of view (sorry, Kenobi), and most important, the right to freedom of choice. Lively debates are integral to a healthy fandom,just as constructive criticism is important to better writing, but we must also demonstrate restraint when it comes to exerting personal opinions. If I'm in an art museum and I see something I don't care for, it's my right to say "blecch!" and walk away, but it's not my right to deny it from someone else, simply because I didn't like it. I would hope we could all be adult about this, and realize that we're all different -- in tastes, in beliefs and in what we see as "truth".

  • more on tolerance:
    Why is it that humanity just can't seem to exist without schisms? It seems like fandom's going to lurch straight from the Luke/Han debate into something which might be termed The Church of Smut vs. The Cathedral of Purity. Come on, guys! Grow up! There's enough problems in the world around us, without extra bickering between those who should surely know better. We are fortunate enough to have access to a huge circle of prospective friends from all over the world, a circle which breaks down social and geographical differences. We're damn lucky, so let's learn to enjoy it! Can we not perhaps start to think a little more positively and learn to respect those who might not share our own particular worldviews? I mean, we're fighting over rolls of celluloid and bits of paper! It might be different if some among us were disemboweling kittens or living secret lives as million-dollar drug barons. Things should perhaps be placed back into some kind of perspective.

  • a male fan writes and asks for some advice:
    . I've promised myself that a novella I did way back in high school will finally see print before the end of the year, but if I have time and can keep momentum, I just might send you a tale of Leia at a boarding school somewhere in the CSA. Seeing as how I've never been at an all-girl boarding school, I could use input from anyone who has. I'd like to know just how much trouble could a girl get into at such an environment?

  • a fan encourages another to get connected:
    Sign up for online services if you have a computer and modem. I've been on Fidonet for several months and recently signed up for GEnie (where I was astonished to find half the membership of MediaWest hanging about). It's all sort of like a continuing convention by modem. Only trouble is, it certainly eats into the writing time (or any other time). I read that author Lois Bujold called GEnie "a time sink" and I can certainly testify to the truth of that!

  • regarding profanity and fanfic:
    Those editors who protest fanlit use of profanity need to explain just whose definition of profanity they are using. Both damn and hell, used in a cursing manner, are heard in the American sound-track. Does that mean we're limited to those two words when a character is pissed? And what about that last word, pissed? Is it merely vulgar or profane? Are SFy versions of local swearing -- godsbedamned, for example, instead of goddamned -- allowed? Is it to be restricted according to character? Since Han swears in the movies, I'm assuming he can swear as a story character, but can Luke? Can Leia?

  • a bit of history:
    A clarification of Cheree's explanation of Enclaves -- In 1977, our local group started calling ourselves The First Terran Enclave after the ThousandWorlds Jedi Enclave and for a while fantasized about a whole network of Terran Enclaves of fans. Lasted about 1 year, such organization of that idea, although we still called ourselves that for fannish and SW Library purposes. Jenni Hennig, I think, picked it up from that first frantic year and Cheree's story follows from that.

  • a fan says this about Leia:
    I never said Ms. Organa was Little Miss Perfect. Yes, ST was a step in the right direction and, sure, it would've been nice to see more strong women in the SW movies. But for a genre notorious for keeping women around only to be rescued and be the hero's girlfriend, what SW did with its heroine was pretty unique, and made quite an impression on me as a seven- year-old. For once, the heroine was not a six-foot-fall ex-Miss America bimbo whose only talents were screaming and looking nice in a bikini. Leia was someone I liked, someone to whom I could relate.

  • a fan sticks up for Leia:
    Where have you seen Princess Leia whining and complaining? On the contrary, she never complains: not on the Death Star, when she loses her world; not on Hoth when she loses both her loves; not on Endor, when she loses her brother. She never even cries -- except once. And it's not whining to talk scathingly to a rude boor, who does not show her the respect she deserves and that she's accustomed to getting. For that matter, I'd like to see anyone I know burnshot in the arm and just gritting their teeth and saying, "It's not bad." (Not you, not me!) A human being, man or woman, who at age twenty goes through torture under drugs and sees her entire world destroyed before her eyes without going mad or even breaking; who at age twenty-three is in charge of an entire Rebel Base, one of the important bases; who goes to the rescue of her lover, right into the lair of the most dangerous gangster in the Galaxy; who kills an enormous monster with her bare hands and a chain; who, when wounded just says, "It's not bad"; who rushes to her friends' rescue without counting the cost; that's not a strong human being -- that's a hero.... She can be a role model for girls who dream of such values as aren't ordinarily taught to females in our society: courage, stoicism, resourcefulness, loyalty, physical and moral strength, and the ability to use our hands.

  • pro books -- a fan writes about a subject, and opinion, that seems to be a common one:
    It's good to see that people are willing to confess their dissatisfaction with Zahn's material. I'm afraid that I am not one o f those people who can say that something is flawless and wonderful just because it is Official. As a fan, I am a consumer and, as a consumer, I feel I have certain rights. We live in a capitalist world, after all, where the market rules supreme. Lucasfilm expects us to part with our hard-earned cash for their products, so I expect value-for-money. If I am not satisfied with what is offered to me, then I will say so. Not that my opinions count for much, but never mind. It makes me feel better.

  • a fan sticks up for a minor character:
    Oh, who cares about Wedge. You're always on about Wedge, "Why didn't Wedge get a medal?" Never mind that, there's someone else who didn't get a medal, someone very brave, someone that no one gives any consideration to. Yes, you know who I'm talking about: C3PO. No one ever seems to stick up for the poor guy. Okay, so he's a bit nervous at times. Who wouldn't be? But where would our heroes be without him. They'd still be in the trash masher or being eaten by the Ewoks. And do they ever listen to him? No, they might have avoided that unpleasantness on Bespin if they'd bothered to heed his warning about the hyperdrive. Everyone is constantly rude to him, with the exception of Luke. Why doesn't anyone ever listen to him. After all, he's only trying to do his job. I reckon I know why. It's 'cos he's English, isn't it? C'mon, admit it.

  • a fan wants to discuss the the next Star Wars movie trilogy:
    I'd like to see some discussion on what people think the new trilogy will be like. I must admit I can't really imagine what he's going to fill 3 films with. I certainly hope there are more women involved this time.

  • a fan is curious about the laserdisk set of movies:
    Has anyone watched this? Is there anything interesting on it? I know there are no extra scenes, but is there anything good in the supplements or the commentary?

  • regarding the zine The Rest of the Garbage:
    Call me paranoid, call me a pessimist, call me a worry-wart, call me a pain-in-the-ass, if you prefer, but I've got a bad feeling about this. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I think you should maybe, perhaps rethink publishing, The Rest of The Garbage. Not from a purist point of view, because the Maker knows I am guilty of changing the whole plot line of one of my stories if it means I won't be able to describe Han Solo in bed at least once. It's not censorship either or worries about offending anyone's moral sensibilities. (Everyone's on their own). It's courtesy towards the man who gave us the SW universe. George Lucas has made his wishes very clear on this. He doesn't want to see his creations, his characters in sexually explicit or slash situations. I think we should respect that. George has let us "play" in his universe with no restrictions other than the aforementioned ones. Never mind that the idle master hasn't been actively overseeing his property for the last decade, it's still his. It would be awful if he felt the need to issue any cease and desist orders, though justified, for we have been warned. If we want to go underground, sharing such literature from friend to friend, that's one thing, but publicly seeking submissions and selling such a zine on the open fan market would, IMO, be a mistake. Perhaps I'm an alarmist, but history could repeat itself and while I was not even aware of SW fandom during the so-called Porn Wars, I've heard enough horror stories that I wouldn't want it to happen again. It's just something to seriously consider. We get away with almost everything else where SW is concerned, why push it over the edge?

  • the same fan who cautions against publishing The Rest of the Garbage writes of her support of infinite curiosity:
    I disagree with your statement that anything other than what is shown or heard in the 3 films is a waste of paper and tape. For those of us who became fans from day one. it's been 11 years since the last film. A long time to sustain a loyal fandom without additional output for us to input. That "paper and tape" has helped keep SW alive. And I hope I was mistaken, but the implication seems to be there that you include fan fiction in this description. Fan fiction. however for some of us may stray from the movies or embellish the known facts with our own imagination. remains the single factor most responsible for bringing SW fans together. Fan fiction has enabled us to make friends all over the world, meeting people, soulmates, we would never have met otherwise. That is perhaps the greatest gift SW has given us. Without fan fiction. there would be no zines (perish the thought) and no one would know that there were others in the world with an equal passion for SW. What a lonely bunch we'd be. A waste? I think not.

  • more on explicit zines: {{Quotation2|1)we have adult women (and men) who grew up in this Universe and we don't necessarily stay static in our ideas/belief systems -- so that more graphic erotica may appeal to us more now than earlier. Or vice versa. Or we always liked it or (so far) disliked it. (2) Since I think it (SW) falls under the space opera/mythos and, yes, science fiction (in a very broad definition), the SF (tradition) part of it is about stretching boundaries/experimenting (and my brains are well-nestled inside ... to that snide adage about open mindedness). If we can't do it (no pun intended) in SF's realm, then where? (The arts are being attacked enuf as is...) As long as we are [[Fandom and Profit|not making a profit[[, and we have agreed ourselves as creative people to write on these subjects/or ourselves in certain ways ..' I say, sure. Maybe editors could tag an asterisk in a table of contents for graphic content that may offend some people, then they'll be forewarned. Heck, they tab gook descriptions in the Science Fiction Book Club, why not here? I, too, hope it doesn't come down to solely separated zine categories.}}
  • another fan comments about remarks regarding the publishing of The Rest of the Garbage:
    I don't see a storm coming in the separation of types of zines. This merely lets people know in advance what to buy and what to avoid. Some editors already circumvent the problem by putting out separate non-slash and slash or slash/adult zines. Han's youthful lapse with Boba Fett? Considering that it's Edward of Wickham (Jeremy Bulloch) under all that armor, I'd find such a youthful "lapse" entirely understandable. I'd lapse, too! As to my own taste in fannish "porn", I like nice long stories with tons of plot and character development and the occasional sex scene that actually helps develop both plot and character and doesn't turn one of the guys into the kind of wimp he never was before. (Hope I haven't disappointed any of the anti-slash crowd who think that all slash involves rape, torture, chains, leather, pain and suffering and all kinds of perverse treatment of your favorite characters. If that's what you want, go read a hurt/comfort zine. Such stories do exist in slash fandom, but not nearly to the degree they do in hurt/comfort stories.)

  • Carrie Fisher writing Star Wars fiction?:
    Carrie Fisher is a good writer and probably could do a decent SW book, if she set her mind to it. At least she wouldn't do what one of the actors in Blake's 7 did when he wrote a background B7 novel and had the Lesser Magellanic Cloud plunked in orbit around one of the planets in the Solar System! When this was brought to his attention, his attitude was that he should be excused since he wasn't a scientist! Whither research? He's not excused!

  • a fan laughs:
    You actually want Ming to read "The True Force", even if she's managed to escape it so far? Ye gads! Torpedoes loaded? Fire One!!!

  • a fan writes:
    I read somewhere that in the beginning [George Lucas] used to require his seal of approval on all fan fiction, but had let it slide later. Today, I think he only takes care of publications that have real distribution, not just among fans. I heard that he shut down Report from the Star Wars Generation which boasted of being the only nationally-distributed zine. It probably was and came to Lucas' attention, and he made them shut it down for being sleazy.

  • a fan would like some more pomp and circumstance and compares the Fan Q Award ceremony to the STAR aWARdS one:
    The Fan Q's I have to say were a real deflating experience by comparison. Not so much because of the "who won" aspect (was very pleased to see Wanda's "Glass Garden" earn a just reward for all the hard work), but just the atmosphere of presentation ... or lack thereof. They should take lessons from Judy in how to make a presentation ceremony something special and to be remembered.

Issue 40 (also dated Winter 1994)

cover of issue #40
  • 56 pages
  • contains the second part of The Incomparable Jundland Wastes, reprinted from Alliance. A complete copy of Maggie's history of Star Wars letterzines can be found here as a pdf file
  • an Eclecticon con report, see that page
  • fifteen fans (up from five in the last issue) list their email addresses (a fan comments: ""Talking" via the electronic highway may soon be the norm rather than the unusual. I sure hope so. It's great to be able to get an answer to a question in a hurry and to be able to talk to friends more often. I'm glad, Cheree, that you are printing the internet addresses of fans.")
  • there is a list of the 1994 Fan Q winners
  • a fan gives a description of Forces of the Empire, see that page
  • many fans thank Maggie Nowakowska for her work on The Incomparable Jundland Wastes, see that page
  • yay on ratings:
    Movie ratings for zine contents? You have my vote on that one.

  • nay on ratings:
    Movie rulings for zine ads and contents is not something I want to see, frankly. For one thing, what one editor considers violence might not fit another's or that of the readers. Creating a consistent code would never work either. Who would serve on that panel of decision-makers, for example? Professional publications have no such ratings, to my knowledge. You buy a novel on recommendation or because you like the author or the jacket blurb attracts your interest or the cover catches your eye and you take your chances. Personally, as far as SW fiction is concerned, I've only felt stung a few limes and the volumes of good material more than counterbalances the other.

  • yay on ratings:
    Yes, I do agree that a rating system would be helpful in describing fanzine content. Although I have not been personally offended by anything I've encountered so far, it's certainly possible that some people have more sensitive tastes that I do regarding sex, mayhem and violence in stories. The movie rating system is one we are all familiar with — it would be a logical starting point. I suppose it would be up to the editors to self-rate their zines, unless it wasn't too unwieldy to rate each story. (Like editors don't have enough to do already). On a similar note, keeping the true x-rated material in one place is also an ideal could live with. As someone in SE pointed out some issues back, regular professional publishers do it, I don't buy Glamour or Starlog with the expectation that I'll have to deal with photo spreads or stories that would offend me. On the other hand, if I were interested in sexually explicit material, I know that Penthouse and Playgirl are available if I choose to buy them. But I don't want to get slapped in the face with it unexpectedly... Which is the perfect segueway to Z.P. Florian regarding her forthcoming (and I use that term deliberately — insert smiley face here!!) pornzine, The Rest of the Garbage. Per [B A's] cautionary letter, you have the experience and background in fandom to know what is "safe" and what isn't, with regards to Papa George and LF. Use your judgment on this. I would hate to see anyone in fandom get into any sort of legal difficulty. Excuse my ignorance, but what has the precedence been with regards to both ST and SW on this subject? P.S. 1 am also slavering to get my copy!!

  • regarding explicit fanworks:
    I understand the need to respect Lucas' wishes to keep the sandbox clean -- although with all the really bad books published lately, I think the sandbox is getting a bit muddy; can't think of anything more morally offensive than Han and Leia's children being raised by some babysitter! My zine will not be sold to anyone who might not know what it is. Again, I must say that it is not nearly as daring or as explicit as all this excitement makes it seem. But not publishing it is out of the question, because we are talking about splendid, excellent, well- plotted stories that more than deserve to be read. As so aptly put it: "It's all a matter of having the means and the right to choose." So, if someone chooses to read it, they will have to ask me next May for a copy. In order to protect the innocent, The Rest of the Garbage will not be advertised in any zine.

  • a fan addresses another fan's letter in a previous issue:
    I just wanted to say that I can understand your point of view, but I don't agree with it. Your comment that "George Lucas gave us the SW universe" is what attracted my attention. George hasn't given anyone spit — he sells movie tickets, and story rights, and a shitload [4] of merchandise to anyone with a dollar. I never saw a SW movie for free - I either paid at the box office, at my cable company or at the video store. I can sort of see what you mean about the "universe as playground" idea, but as far as I'm concerned fandom can do what it wants with fanfic and fan art. Label me naive if you wish, but George stepped out of the picture a long time ago, I think his actions with regards to the third trilogy are clear: he has no interest in dealing with the post-ROTJ crew at all; that's why he's selling it off piece by piece. As for the first trilogy, well, you won't see any change in my respiration patterns until I see a trailer!

  • another fan comments on George Lucas' stance on fanworks and whether Star Wars is a a "gift":
    Actually, I can't remember any comment that came directly from George Lucas regarding fan fiction. The comments from his employees on (his subject have been vague and sometimes contradictory. [5]I suspect any zine discreet enough that LFL can deny knowledge of will not cause trouble. As for "playing in George's universe", we have paid to do so, most of us repeatedly. Fanzines are almost pure audience reaction. Does George Lucas have the right to control how we respond, how we think about his movies? That's what trying to control fanzines amounts to.

  • a fan writes:
    I agree that you shouldn't lump smut, pornography, and homosexuality together as a generality. Whether a couple should consist of a man and woman, or two of the same sex, is a matter of personal belief and preference. Some may believe it is not right, but that doesn't make it pornography. However, I have to say that a lot of the fannish material I have seen in this area (especially "slash") is what I would classify as pornographic. (I do admit i have seen or read little of this field as I personally am not interested in it.) However, it is not the homosexuality which makes it porn or smut, but rather, the manner in which it is written. Explicit sex is explicit sex, whether it be about a gay couple or a heterosexual couple. Personally, I'd like to see something written about gay characters in a romantic atmosphere. (Let me point out that "romance" does not necessarily mean the same thing as "sex" — something some writes seem to forget, unfortunately.) It's like Suzanne Sugarbaker said on Designing Women (one of my favorite non-science fiction shows) about the topic of pornography: "It seems funny how the Supreme Court can't seem to come up with a clear definition of just what is or isn't pornography, yet the guy down the street who runs the XXX bookstore doesn't seem to have any problem knowing what merchandise to stock. Why don't they ask him?" I have to say that I really don't like most slash. I feel if you want to write about gay characters, do so, but make up your own! I feel that slash is simply out of character in most cases, and I don't like any fan literature where the characters are written so flagrantly out of character. Apologies to those of you who read or even write slash. But that's how I feel.

  • a fan writes:
    No sense in trying to slop Z.P. and her infamous zine ... the Rancor's already out of the pit. I only say: May the Friskies be with you! and us all, for that matter, for if Uncle George reads that little publication, he'll have us all frozen in carbonite. But should he dare take me to court over something that insignificant I will be happy to point out that he'd better take a close look at his "employees". With "Princess Leia" writing things like Surrender the Pink, "Han Solo" giving interviews in which every fifth word is of the 4-letter variety ... and being caught giving a photo journalist on a busy street in Paris the middle finger (during the filming of Frantic), with "Wedge Antilles" running around in the nude on screen and on stage and playing bed scenes where and whenever possible, and with "Luke Skywalker" licking chocolate off of bare bosoms (Howard Stern show)... well, I don't think that a simple fanzine circulating among a handful of this world's population will endanger the good reputation of Lucas and SW. Hey, Georgie-Baby ... we mean no harm. We may be crazy, but we're not dangerous.

  • regarding pro novels:
    I enjoyed them all. Sure they had some parts that made me wince but that's happened in fanfic a lot of times. No one has written the perfect SW story because there are too many of us out there and we all have differing opinions. Besides, these people get paid doing what we do for nothing, except love of the Saga.... One question I'd like to throw out is (and I want everyone to think this through completely and honestly) what if a fanwriter got a hold of a prowriter's work a year before publication and decided to run it in an SW fanzine (forget about all the legal problems that would arise), would we fans be as condemning or vocal in our opinions? I get the impression that some have a mental block about the prowriters. I'd like to hear others opinions on this.

  • regarding the tie-in novel, "The Courtship of Princess Leia" and bumping up against its creator, AND on the value of fanworks:
    ARGGGH (growl, snarl, hiss). As I so tactlessly said on GEnie (and later learned that my less than enthusiastic comments were being relayed to the author) I despised the novel...On another track in a similar vein, I am concerned that the novels are being taken as canon. One fan was telling us on GEnie that a new fan she met wasn't interested in fanfic when she now had the "real thing" in the pro novels. Personally, I find that disturbing. Fanfic -- much of it high quality and much better than what's being sold professionally -- has been out since 1977. It's a slap in the face to these talented amateur authors to be told their work is worthless because they're not being paid for it. A check is just a slip of paper, folks. Fans have been writing out of genuine love of the series; I seriously doubt that all the writers being commissioned to write the pro novels have the depth of commitment that most fan writers have. Furthermore, the fans were there when the powers that be lost interest. We're due a lot more credit than they're giving us. This isn't to say that there aren't great SW pro authors out there. Truce At Bakura was a fine job in my opinion, and I'm looking forward to the Crispin and Macintyre books (they may be the only two I buy in the pro series from here out). I guess what I'm saying is that I'm bothered by much of the genuflecting to the pro authors I've seen because they've "given us back Star Wars." Funny, I never thought it went away. Not if much of the quality fanfiction I've read is any indication.

  • On the subject of "hardcopy":
    I don't think that it will ever be really obsolete ... but probably in our future only very important documents that require original, hand-written and unendurable signatures, or maybe certain valuable books will still be in hardcopy. All newspapers, magazines, mail, encyclopedia, etc., will be computerized, with hardcopies becoming valuable collector's items. From my PoV, I hope we will not ever make the complete move to electronic books. Reading from a screen is much more stressful to the eyes and books are so pretty...

  • a fan tries to decode gender:
    Let's see ... evidence of Chewie as a male Wookiee. Hmmm. Han calls him 'pal; which is not a tag name a male is likely to attach to a female companion (Hey! I know ifs weak! I know I'm reaching, but I'm trying....) Then, there is the Christmas special that shows Chewie with a wife and son. And he sorta looks male, doesn't he?

  • Is Chewie a male?:
    Chewie - according to the (in)famous SW Holiday Special - has a wife and a son. So that would make him a male (unless it's common practice on Kashyyyk that women many women and only seek males to produce offspring). However, Lucas had — before "inventing" Chewbacca the Wookiee - a female creature sharing Han Solo's life: something described as a cross between a guinea pig and a dog, about 5 ft/short, by the name of Boma. She was supposed to be his girlfriend. But somewhere along the line, Georgie dropped this daring idea, realizing that he was dancing on thin ice by introducing interracial... no, interspecies sexual relations to the SW galaxy. Not fit for a family program! (Just our luck, my dear fellow smuthounds.)

  • a female fan addresses a male fan:
    Thought your comments on the pro novels very interesting. We can be accused of sexism but there seems no denying that men don't seem to want or need heavy character/emotive stuff but prefer to get straight into the action. Interesting. Maybe this explains the lack of numbers of men involved in fan fiction ... we women are writing the type of story we prefer, i.e., mostly heavily character oriented.

  • a fan writes of gender and interests:
    I have to agree with you on the surprising differences of expectations between different genders of fen. In Britain, most fan organisations and 'zines are organised by male-dominated groups, and the contrast in publications is quite startling. Over here, the concentration is upon technology, over analyses of the movies and the sources in a more objective and less imaginative way (such as poring over the evolution of stormtrooper rifles and equipment in the three movies and their means of construction) and also on the collection of memorabilia. It's improving now, because the boys really are trying to get to grips with producing fanfic. But again it's very much like reading a novelised wargame, rather than anything else.

  • a fan from the UK addresses comments made in a previous issue by an American fan:
    Just one word: Phooey! Phooey to you, and phooey to Threepio! You and your Threepio fixation! I personally think that Threepio's Englishness is quite enough to warrant his miserable existence. Most of the cast are Scots, after all: Wedge, The Emperor, the Deck Officer, Miss Standby Ion Control, and so on. The SW universe was probably populated by Scots fleeing from the Clearances, and maybe that's why Threepio's treated as a second-class citizen! (And, after that pro-Scots tirade, I have to admit that I'm not even a Scot myself. Born here, perhaps, but actually Welsh by descent. However, I'm still a staunch Celt, so watch it, G.C.!)

  • a fan comments on The Incomparable Jundland Wastes and fannish tradition:
    I was very much impressed by the first installment in Maggie Nowakowska's SW fan history. Very well done! So much detail - most of which 1 knew little about previously! I've never read any Jundland Wastes but now I feel the urge - I'd especially like to look up all that discussion on "get stories"! It was fascinating to see the changing type of LOCs over the years. All this discussion on the whys and wherefores of plot and character development, etc., in fanlit seems to have gone by the wayside now for the most part. I wonder why. Too many writers with burned fingers/egos? Or less LoCers who are story writers and interested in the subject? At any rate, I feel Pat Nussman deserves some kind of award for her establishment of this early forum and her perseverance as mediator toward the more heated debates. The mention of the controversy over censorship is particularly pertinent to us at the moment with the same matter recurring regarding adult-rated or homoerotic stories. I was interested to see "a strong fannish tradition that Han and Luke were more brothers than anything else and that to pair them sexually was to violate a very specific relationship developed in the movies." Further, mention of Gary Kurtz' response - or lack thereof - to created characters being paired homosexually (but not explicitly), pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject, i.e., to write established characters in non-established relationships is to write about someone else entirely. A gay Han or Luke is not those of the movies. Therefore to me if such a story is labelled SW I feel cheated ~ I'm not reading about the characters Lucas created and with whom I wanted to have more adventures via fanlit. While I have hearty applause marks [for L T's] comments on the censorship issue, I therefore also found myself in at least partial agreement with [B A's] comments. But not quite so much as to avoid Lucasfilm wrath, but rather to preserve the character roles established by him in their basic intent. Other issues are wide open for exploration e.g., do any of the screen characters have prejudices against droids or clones etc. Well, I'm not stating this at all clearly. All I'm trying to say is if a reader sets down money for a SW zine I would think they want to read the characters in character. As for explicit sexual content, as long as the zine is clearly labelled as adults only, what's the problem? Those who don't want to read it don't have to buy it. I do however feel that Lucas as the copyright owner has the right to guard against what he finds completely contrary to his original creations. I think I'll leave that subject before I get myself into deeper trouble!

  • a fan comments:
    Shakespeare and Lucas have almost identical creative methods; take popular character types and plot elements, toss them into blender set on high, strain, served hot with a garnish of the finest production personnel and actors available. Lucas probably was Shakespeare in a past life.

References

  1. ^ I'd buy it!!!
  2. ^ "Long, Long Way from Home" by Michelle Malkin
  3. ^ In 1993, he meant "looking at," not reproducing a zine electronically.
  4. ^ the first time a profanity beyond "damn" and "hell" has been used in this letterzine
  5. ^ see Open Letters to Star Wars Zine Publishers by Maureen Garrett

[[Category:Star Wars Non-fiction Zines]

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