WW was actually originally
intended to be a local club newsletter, part of an effort to get DS back
on the air in our area. This was long before the SciFi channel existed,
and DS was being shown on small PBS stations around the country,along with
a couple of independents. We'd had about half of DS' first syndicated year
(up to just before 1795), and we wanted it back. So, we were trying to
get a small group together to this end.
However, a good friend of
mine, when told about the plans for a newsletter,exclaimed, "oh no - you
must make it a fanzine! PLEASE make it a fanzine!" and she sent me
a drawing for the cover. Another friend promised a story. With a beautiful
cover to use, and the realization that I already had the same number of
pages as another of the 'zines at the time, I decided to go with it.
WW's first issue was published
back in October, 1988. It was necessarily thin, but people were impressed.
Stories and poems began coming in, and we had a fanzine.
The focus of the fanzine was,
from the start, the character of Julia Hoffman. This was because at that
time, there was NO outlet for Julia fans....no Graysonwebsite, no JuliaList,
nothing much in the other zines because of who the editors
happened to like/dislike.
Every Julia fan thought they were alone in their admiration of this character,
and from my own fandom correspondence I knew there were quite a few. But
I had no idea how many there really were! As the years went by it became
obvious that Julia-fans were in the majority.
Over the years we've had some
really wonderful fan fiction in the pages of WW, and as my skills grew
as a designer WW became a fanzine that readers *insisted* was the best
of them all. I don't know about that, but the readers were happy, anyway!
Popular features have included
"Moods from Dark Shadows," a four-page spread of tv photos featuring closeups
of DS characters; the trivia contest; our serials; and many, many other
things that come together to create the whole. Someday soon, probably before
spring, we'll have a larger website where we can display some of the pages,
rare photos, hilarious cartoons, beautiful artwork, and "The Best Of" the
fan fiction.
Since doing fanzines is a
non-profit *hobby,* they need to be created during the editor's free
time. This is why WW has been sort of "on hold" for the past three years.
Issue 11 was published in spring of 1996, before the DS Festival that year.
Right after the festival,
my mother fell and broke her hip and had a series of small strokes, and
ALL fanzine activity was put on hold for awhile. She became very ill, and
died in April of 1998. I was emotionally shattered and unable to even think
of doing the fanzine, mostly because my mother had always been very involved
in the zine process and had shown a deep interest and had even given me
a lot of input and advice. Doing it without her, was impossible.
Now it's been awhile, and
the pain is starting to lessen. I am thinking of doing issue 12 in the
near future and have done some work on it. WW is not a business, and funds
cover the costs of printing and (some) postage ONLY. I currently have
enough funds to cover the
printing of three more issues (12, 13, and 14). I'm even getting a start
on funds for issue 15.
However, since *ALL* fanzines,
everywhere, in every fandom, are starting to die down, I will eventually
have to move WW to a website. I'll have excerpts from current issues on
the site from issues 12 thru 15, and may have it entirely online
by issue 16. New subscriptions
are currently being designed to cover these planned issues, 12, 13, and
14, and existing subscriptions are being extended to cover them because
of the long delay.
I'm pretty certain that I'll
have enough money by the time issue 15 rolls around,to be able to print
an issue 15.
Still, if I do get enough
*new* subscriptions between now and issue 15, I will go ahead and print
an issue 16. The decision whether or not to continue doing a printed version
of WW will be made at that time.
WW is a $12.00 subscription
for three issues: currently 12, 13, and 14. Postage is sort of included
in this. (It shouldn't be, but it was traditional among the other fanzines).
The zine survives on postage donations and fundraisers.
SINS OF THE FATHERS
is my famous fan novel (yes,
this IS the one you've probably heard of on mailing lists, newsgroups,
discussion groups and BB's).Taking five years to bring from the original
short-story concept to the full novel, it saw its first printing in December
1994. It's gone into a fourth printing since then. The book is more than
361 pages, which includes 70 *full-page* illustrations and a color cover
(shown). As the picture implies, it's a Barnabas/Julia story, taking place
nine years after their marriage, and focuses on the strength of their relationship
as well as the "future generation" of Collinses - David, now grown
to adulthood, his fiance, and Barnabas' and Julia's two childen, Ben and
Sarah Beth. The story follows the consequences of the long-past actions
of two Collins fathers, Barnabas and Roger, with results that neither of
them would ever have anticipated. Time-travel, vampires, sorcerers and
ghosts all play a part in the story.
Watch this space for more
information on the novel: reviews by readers, a longer
plot synopsis, excerpts from
scenes, and more. Meanwhile, follow this link to find more info on the
Grayson Website:
Grayson's WebSite
Go to the "Whispers from Wyndcliffe"
page and click on the novel cover!
