--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DAT00006 Date: 06/23/96 From: FRED RUNK Time: 02:05pm \/To: DOROTHY REYNOLDS (Read 3 times) Subj: Mysteries -=> While in the White Hart, Dorothy Reynolds insisted to Fred Runk that <=- DR> takes a special kind of author who can spin yarn after yarn and DR> each one with a completely different pattern. That's rare. I suspect most authors have a formula, but either they publish their books sufficiently far apart in time that most readers never pick it up or they can vary their formula enough to disguise it. DR> Guess that's why I kind of jump around from author to author. Find DR> this to be the case in whatever genre I read. I even throw in a I frequently do this also. DR> Silhouette or Harlequin Romance occasionally for a change of pace. Now that's a change-of-pace. DR> But I find they have the same basic plot, regardless of the DR> author. In fact, it was because I found this to be so, that I It's formula writing. DR> decided to try my hand at writing a Romance. "Surely, I can do DR> better than this" I told myself and sat down to attempt it. We'll DR> see if it plays in Peoria. :} Hope it plays in Peoria, and a lot of other places too, including the publishers. DR> technology is basically the same. Maybe if Brother Cadfael were DR> alive today, he might be able to solve some of today's "Still DR> unsolved mysteries." Think so? No question. After all, many of today's "fictional detectives" have been able to solve many of yesterday's unsolved crimes--including everybody's favorite (at least in England), the fate of the two princes locked in the tower during Richard's reign. DR> My oldest grandson is a great fan of his. He has a very large DR> collection of his books. Some of everything. Next time I write DR> will ask him if he has Caves of Steel. I bet he does. If he has any sort of collection of Asimov, he will have it. The sequel, although not quite as good, is still enjoyable--THE NAKED SUN. DR> Strange how we tend to do that. Picture a certain actor in the DR> role of the protaganist. I read Hunt For Red October before they I saw the movie ZORBA THE GREEK before reading the novel--in fact read the novel because I liked the movie so much. Now, whenever I reread the novel, it's Anthony Quinn I see as Zorba. DR> part. Enjoyed the book much more than the movie. Find this to be DR> true more often than not. I understand Clancy wasn't too happy DR> with the movie either. I've heard others make similar comments. DR> Happy reading, and thanks for you most intelligent posts. Find DR> them very enjoyable. It's always a pleasure to read one of your posts. ... Yellow gold...Plentiful compared to white-haired friends. ___ X Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 X --- Maximus 2.02 * Origin: Fred's Place (1:300/6.2) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DAT00007 Date: 06/23/96 From: FRED RUNK Time: 02:08pm \/To: DELORES E ROWE (Read 3 times) Subj: reading matter... -=> While in the White Hart, Delores E Rowe insisted to Fred Runk that <=- DER> <> Good Grief! It must be at least, what.....10 degrees cooler in DER> Tucson, huh?? Well, more like 5 degrees or so, but we'll catch up as the city gets larger and covers more ground with concrete and tar. DER> Ahh, yes, but......then there are days like Thursday, Friday and this DER> morning. Azure skies, gentle breezes and high temperature of about DER> 76-80! That, my man, is Paradise Found!!!!!!!! ! My comfort zone is 65-75. FR> FR>SIL? sister-in-law? FR> DER> FR> DER> Son-in law. FR>I wonder what would be sister-in-law? DER> DER> SIL? DER> his name, but he also did a credible job. However, I much preferred DER> William Holden. Joseph Wambaugh was also the executive director for DER> the series Police Story, which ran for quite a while. Yeah, know whom you mean, but the name escapes me at present. Big, heavyset guy--light hair. Frequently plays heavies in the movies. George Kennedy? DER> Germany. Le Carre is incomparable in his ability to build DER> characters, and to portray the depth of feelings, the fear and the DER> doubts of men and women under stress. Err...You seem to have forgotten James Bond! DER> Are you a Professor? What do you teach? How long? Nosey aren't I? DER> :) No, haven't reached, and doubt if I ever will reach the dizzying heights of professor. I'm adjunct faculty (read "parttime grossly exploited slave labor"--notice lack of smiley) at two community colleges in the area. I teach, or attempt to anyway, composition, intro psych, and lit courses. DER> I would appreciate your honest evaluation when you have finished it. DER> That way I can decide if I should add it to my ever increasing list!! Ok, will do. However, I'm a great fan of Inspector Morse, so keep that in mind. I just might be a tad biased. DER> The review is so I can remember a week from now what it was about!! DER> hehehe! I usually do a brief review which I sometimes put in the conference, especially the SF conference. If I do something more than a brief paragraph about DAUGHTERS, I will send it along in this conference. ___ X Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 X --- Maximus 2.02 * Origin: Fred's Place (1:300/6.2) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DAT00008 Date: 06/23/96 From: FRED RUNK Time: 02:11pm \/To: DOROTHY REYNOLDS (Read 3 times) Subj: Various... -=> While in the White Hart, Dorothy Reynolds insisted to Fred Runk that <=- DR> mysteries written by Kevin Robinson who used to participate in DR> Titles: Split Seconds (which I haven't been able to find to buy, DR> Mall Rats DR> A Matter of Perspective. SPLIT SECONDS? Name is familiar. I think I saw a movie by that name or something similar. Could that have been him? DR> newspaper column (which Kevin actually does). He's wheel chair DR> bound. (And Kevin is too). I think he's based his character on DR> himself. :}. Naw--purely coincidental. There's a columnist here in Tucson who is also wheelchair bound, result of a motorcycle accident I think. DR> The protaganist hangs out in the malls to gather material for DR> involved in a mystery and of course, with the aid of his DR> friends, solves it. I particularly enjoyed the books for having I guess malls are taking over from town square, the corner pub, and the general store as places to get into trouble, or at least hear about it. DR> some insight as to the type of man he is. He has a wonderful DR> sense of humor and it shows in his writing. Definitely different from the columnist here in Tucson--definitely. DR> I guess I'm basing my opinion on my experiences from training DR> adults during my working years. So many times when I tried to DR> comment would be, "Well that isn't the way we did it at..." Then DR> I'd have to remind them they were no longer employed at...and this Ah, ok. That makes sense. We are talking about two different groups of adults. Your group is there "involuntarily" and probably wouldn't be interested in changing except that they were forced to by circumstances beyond their control. Most adults I encounter in class are there because they are not happy where they are and are looking for something better, or are looking for change or development or just new experiences. I think there are two sets of attitudes there which would explain the differences between your experiences and mine. If I did what you were doing, I suspect I'd agree with you. DR> they asked intelligent questions, I knew they cared. If they asked DR> no questions and just nodded and said "uh huh" look out. Yep, closed minds. Going to have to knock "real hard" to get even a minimal response. DR> Well, I guess teaching is a different ball of wax than training DR> new employees, but in a way it's similar. The bottom line is DR> willing to learn. Yep, agreed. I think the difference is, to repeat myself, many of yours were there involuntarily while many or most of mine were voluntary. DR> The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for DR> curiosity. Nice, very nice. Going to work on that one too. ... New clothes and old friends are best. Old Chinese Proverb ___ X Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 X --- Maximus 2.02 * Origin: Fred's Place (1:300/6.2) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DAU00000 Date: 06/23/96 From: JAN MURPHY Time: 08:56am \/To: MAUREEN GOLDMAN (Read 3 times) Subj: Re: Cajun French > MG> I heard a while ago that Barbara Hambly is working > MG> on a series to be set in late 19th century New Orleans. .... > > Hambly has a Master's in medieval history, so historical > research does seem to be a love of hers. Also has a black > belt in karate. Her heroines may not be physically fit when > they enter an adventure, but they shape up real good. As long > as she > gets the weather and tombstones right, she'll get past > me. (I've heard that flooding has played a part in the way > that burials are/were done.) According to stuff I've read, the burials are done aboveground in New Orleans because the water table itself is just too high there. You can't dig down deep enough to bury anybody without hitting water. So there are mausoleums. Presumably there are memorial stones as part of the mausoleums, but you shouldn't see tombstones per se. --- Opus-CBCS 1.73a * Origin: Sci-Fido II, World's Oldest SF BBS, Berkeley, CA (1:161/84.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DAU00001 Date: 06/21/96 From: DAVID CHESSLER Time: 06:46pm \/To: MAUREEN GOLDMAN (Read 3 times) Subj: READING MATTER... On 19 Jun 96, 08:32pm, Maureen Goldman wrote to Delores E Rowe on the subject of "reading matter...": > I am doing very little reading. However, I've started on a > mystery by James Melville, A SORT OF SAMURAI, which is a > present-day police procedural based in Kobe. The characters are > good, lots of stuff about how people interact in Japanese > society. There's an earthquake during a holiday which causes > the main detective's married daughter and her family to move in > with him and his wife. The body of a foreigner is found in a > business office due to the wailing of an unhappy dog .... and > that is as far as I've gotten. > It was written in 1981 and sure sounds like an early book in a > series. It was. There were about 4 or 5 books in the series, and came out in paperback in the late 1980s or early 1990s. One of the later ones takes place in England. -- ___ __ david.chessler@mix.cpcug.org david.chessler@neteast.com d_)--/d chessler@capaccess.org chessler@trinitydc.edu ... E-mail: ->132 1:109/459 david.chessler@mix.cpcug.org * Evaluation copy of Silver Xpress. Day # 0 * Silver Xpress V4.3 --- PCBoard (R) v15.22/100 * Origin: (1:109/459) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DAU00002 Date: 06/24/96 From: MAUREEN GOLDMAN Time: 09:58am \/To: PATRICIA FERRARA (Read 3 times) Subj: Cajun Music On (23 Jun 96) Patricia Ferrara wrote to Maureen Goldman... PF> Wright won the Edgar ten or so years ago for her book "The PF> Suspect", set up the coast from Vancouver, Canada. I know. It's set HERE. PF> I wonder how people who live in the Yorkshires feel about PF> James Herriott's depiction of their land and people. Even PF> if they feel it lacks authenticity, it won't change the way PF> I feel about his writing. I love his books. But I guess I'm PF> way off topic... I read something about that recently. Many people visit that area because of the Herriot books. The result is that tourist-y type changes are being made to capitalize on it. Not good. PF> I just finished Charlotte MacLeod's "The Gladstone Bag". I PF> enjoyed it and will probably pick up another of her books on PF> my next trip to the library. It will be awhile, though, since PF> I have 5 books I just purchased from the library sale last week. PF> It's so hard to find enough time to read these days! I find her too chirpy, although I sometimes read the Rhys Maddox books. I enjoyed "Trouble in the Brasses". ... Okay, I pulled the pin. Now what? Wait! Where are you going? --- PPoint 1.88 * Origin: Point of No Deposit, No Return (1:153/404.11) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DAU00003 Date: 06/24/96 From: DEBBIE SHANKER Time: 08:59pm \/To: HELEN FLEISCHER (Read 3 times) Subj: Test > Hi Debbie, Hi Helen, It's been a while. Are you and Eric going to the picnic in Pa? We're looking forward to it a lot. Especially the side trip to the Hershey factory. > Oddly enough, though I've seen the replies to Suzze's test, I > never saw the original. Odd Fido. Saw it a few weeks ago, I'd say. > Just finished another Simenon, _Maigret Meets a Milord_. One of > the > better ones I'd say. Before that it was Blooming Murder by Jean > Hager. > Didn't like that quite as well as her other two series, and Night > Angel > by Kate Green, which was a very suspenseful story and a very good > mystery. You do guess the villain just before all is revealed, but > I'm > sure that's on purpose and it adds to the tension of the story. Haven't tried Jean Hager yet but have seen lots of good reviews for her. Will look for her at the library. Finished" Press Corpse" recently, written by Ron Nessen and Johanna Newman. It's the second in their Wash. DC series. Has lots of Wash. color and political name dropping. Their first book, "Knight and Day" set up the two main characters and was extremely good. This one is an equally good read but the chemistry between them doesn't seem to be there this time. It has a big, showy murder with Viet Nam overtones which slip in and out of the main plot. There is more interplay with the local detective this time and his character is fleshed out more. I read it in 2 days and will look forward to the next in the series. I read McCrumb's Rosewood Casket a while back and enjoyed it..am now rereading her previous 3 in the Appalachian series. Am also impatiently awaiting O'Connells' newest, Killing Critics (I think that's the correct title). Saw a copy of it today but the library hasn't received our copy yet. Will probably just go to Sams this weekend and buy it! One of the kids at work saw it at our new Barnes & Noble and picked it up. He said he just wanted to take a peek at it and the next thing he knew, he was on page 90! Brought home a few new cookbooks today..they will keep me busy for a few days, I guess! <<< Debbie >>> --- GEcho 1.00 * Origin: chocolate, Chocolate, CHOCOLATE: Roch, NY (1:2613/321.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DAU00004 Date: 06/24/96 From: MAUREEN GOLDMAN Time: 09:33pm \/To: DAVID CHESSLER (Read 3 times) Subj: READING MATTER... On (21 Jun 96) David Chessler wrote to Maureen Goldman... MG> I am doing very little reading. However, I've started on a > mystery by James Melville, A SORT OF SAMURAI, which is a > present-day police procedural based in Kobe. The characters are > good, lots of stuff about how people interact in Japanese > society. There's an earthquake during a holiday which causes > the main detective's married daughter and her family to move in > with him and his wife. The body of a foreigner is found in a > business office due to the wailing of an unhappy dog .... and > that is as far as I've gotten. > It was written in 1981 and sure sounds like an early book in a > series. DC> It was. There were about 4 or 5 books in the series, and came out DC> in paperback in the late 1980s or early 1990s. One of the later DC> ones takes place in England. I finished the book this morning, and liked it well enough. I'll surely pick up another one from this Melville series. I enjoyed all of the detail about Japanese society. That being said, the murder mystery seemed to come second. I guess that I'd have to say that the unraveling of the mystery was another way of showing more about Japanese society. Not a bad thing, but a bit disconcerting. --- PPoint 1.88 * Origin: Point of No Deposit, No Return (1:153/404.11) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DAU00005 Date: 06/23/96 From: SUZZE TIERNAN Time: 02:57pm \/To: STEPHANIE SHAPTER (Read 3 times) Subj: Test -=> Quoting Stephanie Shapter to Suzze Tiernan <=- -=> Quoting Suzze Tiernan to All <=- ST> I'm still not sure if my mail is getting out, as I posted a message ST> about it a week ago and have got no replies! ST> Anyone hear me? SS> Hello? I hear you loud and clear in Fort Worth, TX!! I am doing another test here. Please answer (anyone) if you get this. I realized the only message anyone answered me from I posted directly on the BBS, I want to see if my messages in Blue Wave are making it out. ... I tried to contain myself, but I escaped. --- * Origin: The Chessplayer's Forum (1:2410/278) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DAV00000 Date: 06/24/96 From: FRED RUNK Time: 09:09pm \/To: PATRICIA FERRARA (Read 3 times) Subj: Libraries -=> While in the White Hart, Patricia Ferrara insisted to Fred Runk that <=- PF> Ours seems to be a bit of a secret, also, even though PF> they are consistant about when it is held. It is the PF> third Saturday (and preceding Friday) of every month. Around here it's an annual event, and poorly advertised, whether it's the city/county public library or the Univ. of Arizona Library. I guess both get enough word-of-mouth advertising among the ingroup that there's no need for letting the rest of us know about it. PF> Saturday. Each time, there was only one or two other PF> customers in there besides myself. I find this strange, PF> but perhaps the world is divided into two groups... those PF> who can afford to, and prefer to, buy their books brand PF> new; and those who cannot afford to, or prefer to, PF> borrow the books they read free of charge. Or perhaps, even though held regularly, maybe many aren't aware of them. PF> I thought it brought a fresh perspective on the issue of PF> sexual harrassment. I also enjoyed the computer-related I used to work in the personnel department for the City of Tucson. It's hard for me to get a fresh perspective on any of those issues. ... A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer. ___ X Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 X --- Maximus 2.02 * Origin: Fred's Place (1:300/6.2)