Tales from the Cantina

Zine
Title:	Tales from the Cantina
Publisher:	Forces of the Empire
Editor(s):	Pat Grant (issues 1 and 2), issue 3 (?), Bernadette M. Crumb (issues 4 and 5)
Date(s):	1992-1998
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Wars
Language:	English
External Links:	WayBack Archive Link to Forces of the Empire publications; WebCite
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Tales From the Cantina is a gen Star Wars zine.

This zine series was published by Forces of the Empire, an "interactive role-playing club dedicated to the universe of Star Wars."

From in online flyer: "(We did have the name before Mr. Anderson, if you were wondering.) A fanzine for publishing stories about FoE personae."

There were five issues.

Submission Requirements

Submission Guidelines for Tales from the Cantina

We only accept submissions which deal with the club persona characters. The main movie characters can be in the stories also, but the focus should be FoE characters. In general, stories about the movie characters should be submitted to a mainstream Star Wars zine, such as IMPERIUM. However, if the movie characters are involved in an FoE specific plotline, that story should definitely come to us.

We will accept just about anything:

• Stories
• Scripts or Plays
• Artwork (we really want art!)
• Poetry
• Filks (songs about Star Wars)
• Cartoons
• Etc.

We prefer to keep it PG13 or less. R rated material will be considered, but is subject to Editor's approval. All work will be edited. If the author is not willing to accept editorial suggestions and changes, the submission will be returned.

Comments from the Editor

I really don't see much difference between our stories and some you find in mainline fanzines where they introduce new characters who were not in the movies. We just also use ours to role-play with. The role-playing is a natural extension of that writing and is used in many cases just to act out scenes to get a more realistic feel to them. The main difference is that while most zine stories are written by one person, ours are sometimes written by many in an interactive style, something akin to the Thieves World books. We do have many members, though, to whom the role-playing is the main event, and we all do have fun with the role-playing.

Issue 1

Tales from the Cantina 1 was published in May 1992 and contains about 110 pages. It was edited by Pat Grant.

cover of issue #1, Kirk Taskila

• Time Lines (1)
• Persona Information (2)
• The Bargain by Lynn Walters (3)
• Kiri's Fire by D.L. Hoyt (6)
• Lansing Point by Winston Howlett (31)
• Apprentice by Barb Gardner and Pat Grant (39)
• Incident on Dha-Rae IV by D.L. Hoyt (56)
• False Pretenses? by Pat Grant (76)
• Endgame by Kirk Taskila (87)
• Dance of Fire and Shadows by Cathy S. Mosley (91)
• The Prisoner by Doug Haile (93)
• Crash on Deck! by James Casselbury (99)
• Defiance by James Casselbury (101)
• Seeing the Fire by Night, conclusion by Lucy Kitchen (105)
• Rendezvous on Ranak (author unknown, supplement)

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  inside page from issue #1

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  inside page from issue #1

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  inside page from issue #1

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  inside page from issue #1

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  inside page from issue #1

Issue 2

Tales from the Cantina 2 was published in May 1994 and contains 100 pages. It was edited by Pat Grant.

The zine debuted at MediaWest*Con.

cover of issue #2, the artist is uncredited

• First Impressions by Angie Smith (5)
• Home Is Where Your Heart Is by Patrick Furlong & Cathy Mosley (9)
• Jedi Puss' Duel, poem by Betty Knight (34)
• News From A Friend by Doug Haile (35)
• If You Can't Get It Done Right by Patrick Furlong (40)
• The Gift by Doug Haile (45)
• The Flame of the Force, poem by Betty Knight (50)
• FUBAR (Fouled Up Beyond Recognition) by Dora Winter (51)
• Devil's Due by Angie Smith-Fenner (64)
• Orders by Doug Haile (80)
• The Wager by Leslie Danneberger (85)
• A Little Excitement by Stephen and Bernadette Crumb (91)

Issue 3

cover of issue #3, Pat Grant and Carol Hutchings: "Through the Porthole Glass"

flyer for issue #3

Tales from the Cantina 3 was published in May 1996 and is 119 pages long.

A summary: "Meet a few unsung heroes from the Star Wars universe. Hey, not everybody could be in the movie!"

From the editorial:

Well, here we are with the 3rd edition of Tales From the Cantina. The stories in this 'zine are all about the adventures of persona created by members of our club, Forces of the Empire. For information on joining this club, send a S.A.S.E. to the address on the Table of Contents page. Inquiries without a S.A.S.E. will not get a response.

We do something a little different with this 'zine than is done with most other 'zines, and that is, we provide a timeline for each story, so that you know exactly when the action is taking place. The Timelines are based on their correlation to the movies or to events at Port Lansing. For those of you not familiar with our dub or with MediaWest*Con, I will give a brief explanation here. Our dub holds an annual get-together at MediaWest*Con every year. This convention is held in Lansing, Michigan over Memorial Day weekend. We get one of the function rooms for our use for the entire weekend, and we set up a functioning Cantina there. There is role-play all weekend long. Some members of the dub work out detailed scenarios that run all year long and wind up with a bang on this weekend. We refer to our get-together as the Gathering at Port Lansing. We refer to Port Lansing as being a space station.

The first MediaWest*Con (under that name) was held in May of 1981. The third movie to be released was in May of 1983. Our club originated in October 1980, but there wasn't much established role-play until after the movies, so the timelines run by stating that a story takes place during a certain movie, or between certain movies, or during or between certain gatherings at Port Lansing, using the year of the convention, and starting with Port Lansing 1984. For example, a story listed with a timeline of: 3 months after PL91 would have taken place 3 months after the gathering in Port Lansing in 1991.

We use this system so that you, the reader, will know when you read stories about any given character between issues, since the author's don't always write their stories in order, you will know which stories or in what order. The stories in this 'zine are listed in chronological order, unless the timeline was unknown.

I hope you enjoy the 'zine! And please send in Letters-of-Comment (LOC's) to be printed next issue.

• Letter from the Editor (2)
• A Time for Revenge by Christine Bonder ("...an entertainer's life is changed forever when a friend is gunned down by an Imperial.") ** Incident (3)
  • Interim (5)
  • Interview (6)
  • Bits & Pieces (7)
• Best Laid Plans by Christine & Seth Bonder ("...two Imperial officers and the missions they hope will succeed.") (8)

• A Rebellious Design by Bernadette Crumb ("...a fashion designer helps the Alliance crash an Imperial wedding.") (20)
• Integrity by Bernadette Crumb ("...The Empire takes on a news reporter who vows to tell the truth.") (28)
• The Rescue by Doug Haile and Bernadette Crumb ("...continues the story from "Integrity".) (35)
• Enemy Entanglements by Clyde Hall and Pat Grant ("...a couple of Renegades go looking for an enemy and find a surprise.") (44)
• The Search for Family by Dale Fenner ("...a Rebel goes looking for his sister.") (50)
• Port Lansing by Bernadette Crumb ("...prisoner exchanges, Imperial tortures, daring escapes...it must be Port Lansing!") (55)
• Siege by Ron Winter ("...the Alliance prepares to help defend the home of Dral Warthen - Yavin.") (61)
• Decisions by Pat Grant ("...Ricia Targan turns light-side and sets out to right many past wrongs.") (73)
• Supply and Demand by Carol Hutchings (warning: contains some adult subject matter) ...some space travelers end up prisoners of Baron Tagge.") (80)

Issue 4

Tales from the Cantina 4 was published in May 1998 and contains 86 pages.

cover of issue #4, art by Debbie Casselbury

It was edited by Bernadette M. Crumb.

• Pledge of Loyalty by Terri Ruwe (1)
• Badge of Honor by Terri Ruwe (16)
• Changes by Suzanne Anders, Michael Arquilla and Terri Ruwe (32)
• Retribution by Terri Ruwe (42)
• Tour of Duty by Nfichaei Arquilla and Terri Ruwe (50)
• Contract by Tina Rrexiz (64)
• Scorpion's Sting by Angie Fenner (68)
• Scorpion's Prey by Dale Fenner (72)
• No Pay by Dale Fenner (74)
• Scorpion's Move by Angie and Dale Fermer (76)
• The Fall of Ofdias Base by Bernadette M. Crumb (81)

Issue 5

Tales from the Cantina 5 was edited by Bernadette M. Crumb.