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crack_van2013-06-27 09:38 pm
flamingoslim.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2013-06-27 09:38 pm
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Murder on San Carmelitas by Lynna Bright (Explicit)
Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: 71,496 words (novel-length)
Author on LJ: Not on lj
Author Website: Lynna Bright on the Starsky Hutch Archive.
Why this must be read:
Murder on San Carmelitas by Lynna Bright, with over 20 hand-drawn illustrations by Suzan Lovett, was originally published as a stand-alone zine in 1986 by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aprilvalentine's Amapola Press. Due to technological and economic limitations of the day, the zine was initially produced with black and white representations of Suzan Lovett's original color art. When color reproduction became easier to obtain and more affordable, the editor republished the zine in 1996 to honor its 10-year anniversary with full color art and a new color cover by Suzan Lovett.
MoSC was one of the most popular and enduring works of fiction available to the fandom in the pre-internet print zine era, and reflects the time in which it was created. Written prior to 1986, the story takes place in 1982, 36 months after Gunther's assassination attempt on Starsky. It was also prior to the general public's knowledge of the AIDS epidemic, which would soon become a dominating factor in the gay community. The novel reflects some of the attitudes prevalent in the late 70's and early 80's regarding gay culture, lifestyles, and relationships, as well as common attitudes found in straight male-dominated work environments at that time. (In fact, the first print shop that agreed to produce the novel threatened to destroy all the art once they had it in hand because it was "pornographic".)
The novel uses what was already a stock slash plotline: ostensibly straight detective partners go undercover in a gay bar, and in the course of the case must confront their unresolved feelings toward each other. But MoSC ramps up this story line by drawing on gay gathering places like Fire Island to create a fictional island off the coast of California called San Carmelitas owned and populated primarily by gay men. Starsky and Hutch have to go undercover as a gay couple on this island to catch a serial killer who uses snuff films to murder his victims.
However, the crime plot wasn't what made MoSC such a significant fannish work. What made this story so important to fans of its era was the way the writer portrayed the depth of the emotional conflict between Starsky and Hutch as their assignment forces these two straight men to have to deal with their conflicting feelings about gays, their role in the undercover, and the change in their relationship since Starsky's shooting.
MoSC had a profound impact on me when I first read it in the 90's. As a woman who fell in love with another woman for the first time in my 30's, the novel so well represented the conflict I experienced regarding my own self-identity and how this new relationship might affect my life that I couldn't put it down. The novel inspired me to write my own version of this revelatory experience in Total Eclipse of the Heart. If I hadn't experienced MoSC as personally as I did, I doubt I ever would have attempted Total Eclipse.
Now I'm lucky enough to live in a state where I was finally able to legally marry the woman I fell in love with 31 years ago and invite all our friends, family, and work mates—something unthinkable in 1986. But when I read MoSC today (in the home I share with my wife) I can still vividly recall those profoundly complex feelings I first had during the three years of our courtship before we finally became partners. For some, this novel may only be an interesting historical slash romance, but for some of us, it was so much more: a mirror of our own intensely personal relationships.
I would like to give special thanks to the author and artist, Lynna and Suzan, for allowing their work to be produced on the web. Thanks also go to April Valentine for overcoming obstacles and publishing it in the first place, and for keeping this important work in print for so long. Special thanks go to Keri for proofreading, and for keeping me on track and focused—which considering my scattered lifestyle has to be the hardest job in the world!
Murder on San Carmelitas by Lynna Bright
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: 71,496 words (novel-length)
Author on LJ: Not on lj
Author Website: Lynna Bright on the Starsky Hutch Archive.
Why this must be read:
Murder on San Carmelitas by Lynna Bright, with over 20 hand-drawn illustrations by Suzan Lovett, was originally published as a stand-alone zine in 1986 by
aprilvalentine's Amapola Press. Due to technological and economic limitations of the day, the zine was initially produced with black and white representations of Suzan Lovett's original color art. When color reproduction became easier to obtain and more affordable, the editor republished the zine in 1996 to honor its 10-year anniversary with full color art and a new color cover by Suzan Lovett.MoSC was one of the most popular and enduring works of fiction available to the fandom in the pre-internet print zine era, and reflects the time in which it was created. Written prior to 1986, the story takes place in 1982, 36 months after Gunther's assassination attempt on Starsky. It was also prior to the general public's knowledge of the AIDS epidemic, which would soon become a dominating factor in the gay community. The novel reflects some of the attitudes prevalent in the late 70's and early 80's regarding gay culture, lifestyles, and relationships, as well as common attitudes found in straight male-dominated work environments at that time. (In fact, the first print shop that agreed to produce the novel threatened to destroy all the art once they had it in hand because it was "pornographic".)
The novel uses what was already a stock slash plotline: ostensibly straight detective partners go undercover in a gay bar, and in the course of the case must confront their unresolved feelings toward each other. But MoSC ramps up this story line by drawing on gay gathering places like Fire Island to create a fictional island off the coast of California called San Carmelitas owned and populated primarily by gay men. Starsky and Hutch have to go undercover as a gay couple on this island to catch a serial killer who uses snuff films to murder his victims.
However, the crime plot wasn't what made MoSC such a significant fannish work. What made this story so important to fans of its era was the way the writer portrayed the depth of the emotional conflict between Starsky and Hutch as their assignment forces these two straight men to have to deal with their conflicting feelings about gays, their role in the undercover, and the change in their relationship since Starsky's shooting.
MoSC had a profound impact on me when I first read it in the 90's. As a woman who fell in love with another woman for the first time in my 30's, the novel so well represented the conflict I experienced regarding my own self-identity and how this new relationship might affect my life that I couldn't put it down. The novel inspired me to write my own version of this revelatory experience in Total Eclipse of the Heart. If I hadn't experienced MoSC as personally as I did, I doubt I ever would have attempted Total Eclipse.
Now I'm lucky enough to live in a state where I was finally able to legally marry the woman I fell in love with 31 years ago and invite all our friends, family, and work mates—something unthinkable in 1986. But when I read MoSC today (in the home I share with my wife) I can still vividly recall those profoundly complex feelings I first had during the three years of our courtship before we finally became partners. For some, this novel may only be an interesting historical slash romance, but for some of us, it was so much more: a mirror of our own intensely personal relationships.
I would like to give special thanks to the author and artist, Lynna and Suzan, for allowing their work to be produced on the web. Thanks also go to April Valentine for overcoming obstacles and publishing it in the first place, and for keeping this important work in print for so long. Special thanks go to Keri for proofreading, and for keeping me on track and focused—which considering my scattered lifestyle has to be the hardest job in the world!
Murder on San Carmelitas by Lynna Bright
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Thank you for taking so much time and effort and love and caring and putting into sharing with all of us this gorgeous and classic S/H work. Lynna Bright is an awesome writer, and it is even redundant to say how good Suzan is, after one has said her name.
I still have the 1996 version of this novel, and read the first edition in the late 80s, when was probably about 18 years old. I didn't understand it really, but I did understand the love in it, and the artwork is goreous. S/H fandom has been part of all of my adult life. It has helped shape how I think about my relationships and what partnership in life really means.
I feel SH (with or without the slash) can potentially teach us how to respect one another in friendship and lasting relationships. They show us that loyalty, trust and human mistakes are all parts of that package. Standing together.
This is what I believe marriages are founded on. Therefore the thought that you weren't allowed to marry your partner when you wanted to, but had to wait for the lawmakers to get a clue, elicits a lot of sympathy from me. I am lucky to marry the man I want to spend the rest of my life with without a thought and without any restriction. And I live the first country to make gay marriage available. It was not for my own personal use that it is important to me that people can marry people, no matter their gender. It is important to everyone at large, with great ripple effects to the children, grandparents and extended families of those who need to marry. Marriage is a need, which is normal to human-kind. It is not merely a privilege. Biology made us so that humans mate for life, no matter what shape it takes. It needs to be allowed.
My congratulations on your marriage! May you both continue your happy life together without anyone ever restricting you again!
My thanks for the efforts you have put into this fandom since you entered it. I have felt that you have kept this fandom alive and flourishing since the mid-90s. And I am grateful for that! It is my favourite place in the world.
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But I certainly can't take all the credit for posting MoSC or any of the other zine fic that ends up on the archive. It takes a village, and sometimes an entire city! Keri T. was certainly a big help in posting the zine, doing the initial proofreading (which on scanned material is always a lot of work), and as always, Cyanne solves more problems for me than anyone will ever know. Other fans work behind the scenes to help scan zines etc. I'm just the face in front of the curtain. ;-)
thank you again for your beautiful comments. They made my day.
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And thank yous to everyone!
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Thank you again Flamingo and to all the other wonderful persons for putting so much effort in making these older works available, they are a precious testimony to the early years of this fandom.
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