Tidings of Fandom and Joy

[neadods]

Gip!

Except that it's not just a gratuitous icon post, because there is some minimal content.

1) Fic rec: a very bitter/sweet Alan and Sarah Jane story, post "Lost Boy" and "Last of the Time Lords:" In the Quiet Hour. There's someone else now who understands. Someone else who has the same nightmares.

2) While cleaning my room this weekend, I discovered that I have a spare copy of the Christmas edition of The Jelly Baby Chronicles. This is seriously old school - a 1981 fanzine, in the fannish Before Time: before ubiquitous computers, before the Internet, before digital photography and its manipulation. It's 33 pages of Four and Sarah (with one Leela cartoon) in fabulous shape for its age - clean, white pages with no yellowing, and the previous owner even laminated the cover so it's nice and neat.

I'd like to offer it for free* to a new-school fan, as a taste of fandom back in the old days. It's not deep and meaningful (or flawless), but the stories are sweet, and the art is a quality that you just don't get these days, you young whippersnappers with your cameras and your photomanips without a zine as showcase.

Anyone interested?


*Except to an overseas fan, then I am going to ask for help with the postage

Comments

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

*raises hand for zine*

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Yours! Ping me, this screenname on aol with your address.

[drho.livejournal.com]

Could you or the giftee scan it?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Er. I'd love to share - wherefore the offer - but I've got a huge problem with scanning old zines for the 'net without permission. (Something I fought about when I went back to Beast fandom.) Back in the day when we did these things, we knew they were limited runs sold only at cons, and thus were only going to people we knew and pretty much trusted. And a lot of us used our real names, because what did we care? We were teens cranking out our little labor of love with tape and scissors in our parent's basement. When only 20 copies are loose in the world, the chances of them coming back to haunt us are slight.

25 years later, the rules have changed drastically. We've got mortgages now, and jobs (some of them in a business that wouldn't take kindly to copyright violation even if the BBC looks the other way) and the idea of our early efforts going up on the Net in all their glory where our employers can see it (not to mention possible spouses, enemies in old fan wars, conservative members of any organization since joined) without our say-so isn't just uncomfortable, it gets threatening. (For instance, some jerkwad out there is putting up old Star Wars zines directly in violation of the wishes of those original authors... including Eluki Bes Shahar, who had worked out the rudiments of her original series in her SW fanfic. Instances like that aren't just copyright violations of Lucas, who had been looking the other way until forced to take attention, but of her own original fiction.)

If I knew how to track everyone down, I'd get permission and do so, but I don't. So sorry - no.

(That said... I have no opinion or knowledge of what the next owner may email email instead of post publicly... *cough*)

On the good news side - and there is good news - I've gotten permission from the publisher and artist to publicly copy and post the gorgeous covers of the Sarah Jane zine "Roving Reporter." So those were going to go up for the fandom to enjoy as soon as my life settles down a bit.

[evil_plotbunny]

I have one issue of the Jelly Baby chronicles somewhere. A souvenir of my first flirtation with Who fandom.

I'm suddenly wondering if it's the same one but I'm too lazy to dig it out of the closet.

Is that the issue with the Winnie the Pooh crossover?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Is that the issue with the Winnie the Pooh crossover?

No, that was #1 - and if you still have that, it's a bit of rarish SF history now. The author of The TARDIS at Pooh Corner is Peter David. THAT Peter David. (I highly recommend Knight Life and Howling Mad if you can find them.)

The look on his face when I asked him to autograph that story at a con a couple years ago was pretty priceless.

[evil_plotbunny]

I knew that actually. And I think I've read both of those, some of his comics and a few of his Star Trek novelisations.

I think he may have put the story up on the web somewhere.

Someday I should find other issues, but I'm lazy.