How Xena Changed Our Lives: True Stories by Fans for Fans PDF
Preview How Xena Changed Our Lives: True Stories by Fans for Fans
How XENA Changed Our Lives Copyright © ECW PRESS, 2002 Published by ECW PRESS 2120 Queen Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4E1E2 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ecw press. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA Main entry under title: How Xena changed our lives: stories by fans for fans ISBN 1-55022-500-6 1. Xena, warrior princess (Television program) — Anecdotes. 2. Fans (Person) — Anecdotes. I. Stafford, Nikki, 1973- PN1992.77.X46H69 2002 791.45'72 C2001-904084-9 Cover and Text design: Tania Craan Typesetting: Gail Nina Production: Mary Bowness Printing: AGMV Front cover photo: Wendy Sparks Copyright for all photos and artwork within the book is retained by the artists and photographers who created the works. This book is set in Minion and Korinna The publication of How Xena Changed Our Lives has been generously supported by the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program. Canada DISTRIBUTION CANADA: General Distribution Services, 325 Humber College Blvd., Toronto, ON M9W 7C3 UNITED STATES: Independent Publishers Group, 814 North Franklin Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610 EUROPE: Turnaround Publisher Services, Unit 3, Olympia Trading Estate, Coburg Road, Wood Green, London N2Z 6T2 AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND: Wakefield Press, 17 Rundle Street (Box 2066), Kent Town, South Australia 5071 PRINTED AND BOUND IN CANADA ECW PRESS ecwpress.com How XENA changed Our Lives True By Fans For Edited by Nikki Stafford ECW PRESS This page intentionally left blank Table of Contents Introduction vii The Story of Sword and Staff xi JCetia Changed My Life 1 Watching Xena .37 "You'reN otH ER, You?" 65 This page intentionally left blank Intr h hoduction The idea for this book first came about at the Pasadena Xena convention in May 2001.I was gathered with a group of friends telling them about a book I was working on about Trekkers telling their stories of how Star Trek has changed their lives, when someone said, "Hey, Xenites have some great stories, too! What about a book like that to say goodbye to Xena?" The idea had crossed my mind, but I wasn't sure if there would be the interest in the idea that there was for a book by Trekkers. I talked to a few other people at the convention and sure enough, there was a lot of interest. I came home, watched the series finale, wiped my tears, and sent out a notice asking for stories of how Xena: Warrior Princess had changed people's lives. And I got a ton of responses. Also, at the convention, I went to a Sword and Staff dinner and auction, and was amazed (as I always am) at how generous Xenites could be. I wished I had had the money to bid hun- dreds and thousands of dollars on the swords and chakrams that were selling. Sword and Staff is an absolutely selfless and incredible organization that collects monies from Xenites and distributes it to worthy causes. I contacted Debbie Cassetta (also known as "Mist") and she enthusiastically agreed to help out where she could, and we would donate proceeds from the vii XENA sale of each book to a charity of their choice. She chose the Starship Foundation in New Zealand, an organization that is backed by Lucy Lawless. Xena has meant so much to so many people. In the six years it was on the air, the two main characters underwent enormous character changes and developments, and their friendship was like nothing I had ever seen on television. Sure, people mocked me for watching it, but I always argued that if they gave the show a chance, they'd be rewarded with one of the most beau- tiful relationships they would ever see on television. The show was funny, campy, emotional, dramatic, violent, and gorgeous. Xena went from a dark killer to an understanding warrior, with Gabrielle at her side to pull her back from the dark brink time and again. Gabrielle started off as a shy village girl, and from there developed into an optimistic and talented bard and then to a fierce warrior. To go back and watch the first episodes again is astonishing when you realize just how far they've come, and there may never be an epic love story such as this on television again. This book has been written entirely by fans. I acted only as the editor, and I collected all the stories, but after spending so many years on Internet mailing lists I wanted the stories I'd heard to be made public. When my first book was released, it was received so warmly by the Xena community that I wanted to do another fan-oriented book, and I'm so pleased with how this came together. Xena fans are an amazing group of people, and I've never seen such a kind, generous fandom in my life. Let's hope they inspire other fans to be like them. I want to thank everyone who submitted stories, photos, and artwork; I received so many that I was unable to use for viii
The list of books you might like
