The Flame Trilogy

Zine
Title:	The Flame Trilogy
Publisher:	In Person Press
Editor:
Author(s):	April Valentine
Cover Artist(s):	Killashandra
Illustrator(s):
Date(s):	October 1999
Series?:	sort of, see below
Medium:	print zine
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Starsky & Hutch
Language:	English
External Links:
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cover by Killashandra

The Flame Trilogy is a slash Starsky and Hutch 122-page collection of two connected stories that had appeared in previous zines. The color cover is by Killashandra. There is no interior art.

There was to be a final story (one where Starsky and Hutch get back together) but it never came to final issue.

Parts

The Flame Trilogy contains:

• Guilty Secrets, Guilty Pleasures (Reprinted from The Fix #4) (28 pages)
• Separate Lives (Reprinted from Nightlight #2) (93 pages)

About

From the editor:

I started writing this series a good many years ago, publishing the first story in The Fix #4. The second story, "Separate Lives" was published in 1991 and I thought at the time that the third and final installment would be on its way soon after. What I didn't plan on was being swept away into an entirely different fandom. It wasn't that I didn't still love Starsky & Hutch, it was just... well, you know how obsessions are. And one of them led, unfortunately, to another. And another. And here it is, the eve of the millennium and the third part of the story is still languishing. I announced plans to to a third issue of Nightlight in 1995 or 96, but to this date, I have not had enough submissions to complete the zine. I had hoped that reading and editing SH again would inspire me to finish the last part of the trilogy. However, even though Nightlight has so far not materialized, I have been working on the third part of the trilogy. Although it isn't finished right now -- in time for ZebraCon -- it is getting very close to being done... the latest it will be available will be at Connexions con in April 2000 in Baltimore. I wouldn't take pre-orders if I wasn't very getting very close to being finished. And it's been wonderful to re-visit the world of Starsky and Hutch. I can't wait to work on the next section of the story so that we will all finally know what happened after Hutch leaves L.A. and they start living their separate lives. Stay in touch and you'll be able to read it as soon as I do -- at the last the guys are talking to me again. All I have to do is write down what they tell me to, and it'll be a zine before we know it! Thanks go to Flamingo for encouraging me to keep working on the sequel and to all the readers out there who have begged and cajoled and threatened over the intervening years. I'm doing it all for you! Thanks also to Killashandra for the beautiful cover. Her work will also grace the Book Two zine which will contain the third part of the trilogy.

About the Unfinished Part

The third part of the trilogy was to be called "Unchained Melody." An excerpt from this third unpublished story from the back of The Flame Trilogy:

Part 2 ended in late 1980. Hutch left L.A., Starsky remained behind. Where do they go from here? -- 'Before he could give it much more thought, Hutch was out of his chair and reaching for the phone on the wall. He dialed without even having to stop to think about the number and stood listening to the ring, waiting for Dobey's bluster to answer -- or maybe Rosey would pick up the phone. It would be good to hear a little kid's voice again... 'H'lo? Dobey residence.' All the blood drained from Hutch's face at the sound of that voice. He leaned against the wall, his knuckles going white around the telephone receiver. No... not that voice... 'Hello?' the greeting was repeated, then a hand must have covered the receiver; Hutch could hear the muffled voice speaking to something else. 'No. They haven't.' Then louder: 'This is the Dobey residence. Who's calling?

A 2002 comment:

[April Valentine] is still writing the third story in the Flame Trilogy. She was hoping to have it done a few years ago, but you can't count on inspiration, and Martha's had a lot on her plate lately. However, I know she's been working on it and intends to finish it. We're all hoping she might have it done for SHareCon, but so much of that will depend on how well things are going for her around that time. Let's all cross our fingers. We're all dying to read the end of that story.