The Next Waltz

Zine
Title:	The Next Waltz
Publisher:	Dominion Press
Editor:
Author(s):	Carolyn Kleinsorge
Cover Artist(s):
Illustrator(s):
Date(s):	January 1991
Series?:	yes
Medium:	print
Genre:
Fandom:	Beauty and the Beast (TV)
Language:	English
External Links:
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The Next Waltz is a 230-page Beauty and the Beast (TV) novel by Caroline Kleinsgorge.

another cover, Sherri White

cover (later edition?), Mary Ellen Nicosia

There is much less art in issue #2 than in issue #1 and none of it is as explicit.

Summary

Continuation of the story line begun in ...Shall Have No Dominion. Catherine slowly is becoming "real."

Part of a Series

• ... Shall Have No Dominion
• The Next Waltz
• O Sweetest Song

Two of the Zine's Dedications

To Ritch Brinkley for letting me use his own ideas regarding William's background. You gave him life.

All of the wonderful fans who have written, sent gifts, telephoned and in so many ways given me their incredible love and support. You keep the Dream alive throughout the world. Thanks are not enough.

Author's Notes

From the author's notes on the last page of the "first" issue:

When I originally wrote the last page of ". . . Shall Have No Dominion", it was, in and of itself, a complete entity. It still is. However, in the days and weeks following the publication of the novella, I have received letters and telephone calls asking me to please continue the story.

".. . Shall Have No Dominion" was my way of coping with an untenable situation. Many of you have made it yours as well because of this, and because of my love for the characters and the world Below, I have begun work on the sequel.

Nothing I have ever written has given me as much pleasure as ". . . Shall Have No Dominion". That you, the readers, have accepted my vision of Vincent and Catherine's transcendental love, reaffirms my belief in the limitless boundaries of the human mind.

From the author's notes "The Next Waltz":

With The Next Waltz, I continue my idea of what 'really happened' after 'Invictus." As you know from having read ". . . Shall Have No Dominion", I could not leave Vincent to face the rest of his life alone, without the woman he had come to love so deeply. Such a thing was totally incomprehensible to me. Hence, the writing of ". . . Shall Have No Dominion" was a catharsis as well as an obsession. What continues to astound me is the overwhelming support I have received from fans all over the world. You gazed upon my vision with open minds as well as open eyes, and for this, I will be forever grateful. Writing The Next Waltz was much more difficult than I had anticipated. These people wanted to tell their story, their way, and no amount of coaxing, ranting or raving from yours truly would sway them. They stole and changed my plot, twice; ran away with all of the scenes, and invariably made the book theirs. They had a little help from me, but I will be the first to admit that this story belongs to Vincent, Catherine, Father, Pascal, William, Eric, and everyone else who demanded a voice. I thank them for allowing me to tell their story.

Sample Interior

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Reactions and Reviews

Well done novel. Follow-up to “Shall Have No Dominion.” This reviewer found “Catherine as a ghost” premise interesting. More graphic sex, as in SHND-1. Large print and margins but still worth the price, considering the longer page count. This story is more fully formed than the previous volume, exploring a bit beyond the fundamental premise. Pro romance writer. We gather publisher considers the graphic sex here as appropriate to an R rating. Followed by O Sweetest Song (which see).

It tells the story of how Catherine becomes a permanent part of Vincent's life. As much as I loved the first book, 'The Next Waltz" is even better. These books are beautifully written, with characters so perfectly drawn, I can see and hear them in my mind. The love scenes are exquisitely detailed, yet never overstep the boundaries of good taste. She also does a lovely job of integrating poetic references with her own words. I would hate to have anyone miss either of these two wonderful books because of Randi's negative comment [in a previous issue of Tunneltalk] about Catherine being a spirit. I think it's worth noting that she was willing to admit that "if this had been another format, I would have said it was well-written." Randi objects to the way in which the author brought Catherine back, calling her a spirit. I find it hard to believe that anyone could read this book, and still think of Catherine as a spirit. Yes, in the beginning, she is clearly still tied to the "other" world. But as the book progresses, she becomes so much more. There are, after all, three love scenes in the first book, and five in the second book.

Most of us have seen Patrick Swayze in Ghost at least once. He can't be seen or touched, and only a medium can hear him. His ability to interact with the world is limited and requires great concentration. He is truly a spirit. In "When the Bluebird Sings," Kristopher Gentian is much more apart of the world. His strong commitment to his art has kept him here. He can be seen, he can be touched, he swipes art supplies from the next table. He even displays a milk mustache.

Catherine in "Shall Have No Dominion" is so much more than Kristopher. Given the strength of her bond to Vincent, it seemed so right when Vincent saw and heard Catherine during the third season. How could Catherine have gone on to the next world without Vincent? There was so much left unfinished in their relationship.

In order to give you a sense of how Carolyn Kleinsorge sees Catherine and Vincent, I wrote to her and got her permission to quote the following passages:

[many excerpts from the zine, snipped]

As an unpublished writer, I know how difficult it is to maintain consistent "character" and true "voice" with characters that I created. It is nothing short of a miracle what she does with characters that are not her own. Everyone rings true, not just Catherine and Vincent.

It would have been so much easier for her if she had started out with "Catherine's back and it's a miracle," and then gone on to write an ordinary story in which life goes on just as before. Instead, she has given us "Shall Have No Dominion/ pure magic, and The Next Waltz," nearly twice as long, and so much more. Within the pages of these two books, Catherine comes back to Vincent and becomes a permanent part of his life.

The things that happen to us in our daily lives make us the people that we are. Vincent and Catherine have been through a very difficult time that has made them stronger. It is wonderful to see the growth in Vincent and Catherine as they explore their new relationship. I look forward to her next book with great eagerness.

I can't close without commenting on the wonderful illustrations by Sherri White. Most fanzines are full of generic drawings scattered though the pages like interchangeable raisins in an oatmeal cookie. However good they are, and some of them are very good, they have no real connection to what surrounds them. Sherri White's drawings allow you to feel what the characters are feeling. They truly illustrate the pages they share.

I know that this letter is a little different from most of the letters you publish, but I hope you can find room for it. I feet very strongly about Carolyn Kleinsorge's vision of Catherine and Vincent. She has given us the life Catherine and Vincent were meant to have, the life they were cheated of. I want everyone to share the way that she made me feel.

(Editor of Tunnel Talk's note:—Thanks, for sharing your enthusiasm over Carolyn's vision of Vincent and Catherine. However—I'd like to ask that everyone, in future, refrain from quoting from any zine to this extent. It takes up a lot of room, people who don't want to read a particular zine find it intrusive, and I also don't feel you'll really convert anyone by quoting lines from a zine out of context. 1 know you find it hard to believe, but many people did interpret Carolyn's story as "Catherine is a spirit." I tend to feel that way myself. Which is fine—Carolyn has every right to tell whatever story she chooses. But—the problem for me was mainly that Carolyn's advertising was misleading. Many people bought the zine after reading the flier's claim "... dedicated to those who still believe that, as long as dreams survive ... Vincent has his Catherine," which they interpreted as meaning Catherine wasn't dead. They were not prepared for the concept of Catherine as "something that has never been" because Catherine had been, up to that point, a strong, normal, flesh-and-blood woman, and Carolyn's advertising did not indicate the change in her nature at all. To argue that Catherine (in this zine) is a spirit but so much more is, to my mind, begging the question and playing semantic games with people who are laying out money and not being made aware of what they are buying. And that just doesn't seem fair to me. What does everyone else think? —Barbara).