Tea for Two
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Tea for Two |
| Publisher: | Deathless Pros Press |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | Alex T. McKenzie (author), Erszebet Bathory (editor) |
| Cover Artist(s): | Alex T. MacKenzie (Alexfandra) |
| Illustrator(s): | no interior art |
| Date(s): | 1994 |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Professionals |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | zine here |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Tea for Two is a slash 142-page (71,000 words) Professionals novel by Alex T. MacKenzie.
It was a STIFFIE Award Nominee for Best Pros Novel of 1994.
The first edition has a color art cover, the second edition has a plain cover. There is no interior art.
From the title page: "NOTICE: This novel borrows characters created by Brian Clemens, for which we feel vaguely apologetic. This is an amateur publication. We'd be ever so grateful if you purchased ah original. Besides, we think the cover art is pretty neat."
Author's acknowledgement: "We'd like to thank Erszebet for doing a terrific editing job (and for providing emotional support as needed), and our tireless proofreaders—Agnes Tomorrow and Tina Carter. We'd also like to thank the Seattle Slash Sluts for being there, and especially our Great Pros Mother who started Alex on her road to infamy—Sandy Hereld. And an additional, extra special thanks to Erszebet for coming up with both the name of the press and the novel title!"
Summary
Summary from Media Monitor: "Bodie and Doyle didn't want to go to Oxford on the undercover assignment. They didn't want to share a flat, nor pretend to be a journalist and a book shop clerk, nor search for stolen arms and left-wing terrorists. They didn't particularly want to go to the long weekend house party thrown by Richard Lumley, the rich, eccentric, ex-commune leader and herbal tea entrepreneur, and be subjected to the company of his certifiable friends. And they certainly didn't want to pretend they were lovers while they were there. But, they did. And many interesting things happened during that long weekend."
Summary from Palely Loitering: "Bodie and Doyle must investigate an eccentric who once ran a commune and now markets a range of herbal teas. Someone is involved the recent armoury theft - surely it's the IRA? Against this background, snowed in at a Christmas party with a dozen bizarre strangers, Bodie must come to terms with his feelings for Doyle, and Doyle must decide what is most important to him."
Regarding the Art
1995 comments by the creator of this zine:
I use photos a lot for portraits, of course. There are two types of "copying" -- using an actual tracing device (light tables, projectors, grid systems, etc.), or just freehand. I've tried both, and so far I've been happier with the freehand results. You tend to lose your artistic eye when you're flat-out tracing something, and it comes out accurate but lifeless. Also, I can never quite find the exact photo reference I want for a particular pose, and wind up using multiple references for one portrait. The cover for "Tea for Two", for example, which shows Bodie and Doyle from about waist-up sitting closely together on a sofa, gazing into each other's eyes, was the result of using a good 15 different photo references, some for facial angles, some for expressions, some for clothes, some for body angles and gestures, and so on.
I suppose I could list the "credits" as "inspired by 10 photos courtesy of Sharon Fetter and 5 photos courtesy of Denetia Arellanes", but to me, that would be a bit much. I took the photos and created something new, something I consider my own. [1]
Reviews
This story reads like an episode with an element of slash thrown in. Bodie and Doyle go undercover and through many mishaps discover their feelings for each other. I originally read this story as a zine and was happy to see it had been put online. It won't disappoint.[2]
More of Alexandra's work that stands out for me. It's a first-time story again, and again is built around a case and some absolutely fabulously drawn original characters. And a house decorated in Early Modern Penis.No, really.
But fun though that part is, it's the relationship, as always, that draws me the strongest. Alexandra manages to balance the growing relationship with just enough misunderstanding and misapprehension -- without making me want to whap them upside the head and tell them to just TALK, already.
If you have a horror of slash tropes because of how often they're done badly, fear not: this is a "going undercover as a gay couple" story, but is a marvelous example of how that sort of story should be written.[3]
This is a CI5 case story that deals with the lads' new romance at the same time. There is a nice balance between the two things, especially for those who prefer op-based stories. The supporting characters were fun too, nicely done, and it turns out that I'm a big fan of Early Modern Penis... A few Americanisms threw me - muffler for scarf, billfold for wallet, kitchen cloth for teatowel and so on - but the story is strong enough that they're a relatively minor distraction and it didn't stop me wanting to read on. The lads mostly sounded English, which is the important thing to me. I'm not really big on the lads deciding that they "need to talk" mind, and there is a fair amount of this, particularly towards the end of the story, but again it didn't put me off reading to the end, so all was good! [4]
Tea for two is a long, interesting story where Bodie finally faces the fact that he desires and loves Doyle and tells him. Surprised, Doyle initially just wants their friendship back on an even level, but he too realises that what he feels for Bodie is far more than simple friendship. The back ground story with it's strange characters is a fascinating back plot to their developing relationship. Games starts with Doyle intending to tease Bodie, but ending up caught in his own trap. When I've checked through the other stories I've not read yet (there are 19 in all at the Circuit Archive, and I've recc'd 6 of them so far) I have no doubt I'll be adding more here.[5]
A few years ago I read a review of Tea For Two in a Pros letterzine which was very complimentary, so when I got the chance to read Alex MacKenzie's story I jumped at it. TFT uses one of the most popular storylines in Pros fiction: Bodie and Doyle posing as a gay couple while gathering evidence. The tea comes in through a suspect who spends his time producing herbal teas. Most of the action takes place at a Christmas house-party. It's a sort of 'Who-Hid-It', the 'it' being a stash of stolen arms. All in all, the story hangs together very well and has plenty of fleshed-out characters as well as less well-drawn ones. Alex Mackenzie's writing style is very readable, combining both the case and the budding relationship between Bodie and Doyle in a flowing style, and she includes humorous touches as well as serious ones. The fanzine lived up to the praise I read in the original review (plus the front cover is lovely!).[6]
Christmas house party, undercover. Phallus-obsessed eccentric. Secrets. Whimsical, character-driven, sexy.[7]
I love it for the daft interactions and the colourful characters. Very socially observant: you'd know it if you 've ever met any too-serious-for-their-socks radicals - this one's an absolute satirical killer.[8]
Ah, another classic tale of phallic snow sculptures.... When I first came across this in my read-everything-by-Alexandra phase I didn't think I would like this one so much, but I ended up getting totally caught up in the Agatha Christie feel to it. The repartee is great, there's a light touch of angst, *and* erotic snow sculptures - what more does a fic need? [9]
References
- ^ comments on Virgule-L, quoted with permission (Sep 5, 1995)
- ^ recced at Crack Van, August 2004
- ^ Fic Recs, The Professionals, by Arduinna, 2005
- ^ In 2006, byslantedlight reviewed the zine here
- ^ from Alison's Jotting
- ^ from DIAL #5
- ^ a 2006 comment at CI5hq
- ^ a 2006 comment at CI5hq
- ^ a 2006 comment at CI5hq