--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1P00000 Date: 01/19/98 From: SUZZE TIERNAN Time: 12:58pm \/To: JAN MURPHY (Read 0 times) Subj: ix-nay on price comparisons, please -=> Quoting Jan Murphy to Suzze Tiernan <=- JM> I just wish we could all (myself included) start posting some messages JM> with some meat in them, instead of talking about shopping for the JM> books or just giving dry lists of what books we have in the to-read JM> pile (I know, I'm guilty of *that* as the next person), the being- JM> read pile, and the just-finished pile. I think part of the problem at the moment is that we have so few participants, and at least from what I see, none of them read the same type mysteries as I do. So when they talk about what they have read, I don't have a lot of interest in it, and vice-versa. JM> After all, one of the things I've always enjoyed about this echo, and JM> would like to see continue, is finding out about authors I haven't JM> tried yet. If all I see is somebody saying they read such-and-such JM> and nothing else, it tells me very little about whether I want to read JM> it or not. I agree! Here and on DorothyL, I have found out about some authors that have been fabulous, and that I might not have tried otherwise. Now to get back to what we are reading, and using the word "fabulous" again, I am in the middle of Michael Connelly's new book "Blood Work". It won't be out till some time next month, but it is worth waiting for. I can't put it down. It is about an ex-FBI agent who has recently had a heart transplant, when he is approached by the sister of the heart donor, who wants him to help find her killer! Seems he was given the heart of a murder victim! I just finished "The Thin Man" by Dashiell Hammett. Not sure if it was my type of book, although it has superbly written dialogue, it is almost entirely dialogue!! I didn't feel like I really knew anything about the characters, except maybe that Nick and Nora drank constantly!!! ... suzze@concentric.net --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.21 * Origin: The Chessplayer's Forum (1:2410/278) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1R00000 Date: 01/20/98 From: JENNIE TURNER Time: 01:25am \/To: MICHAEL LABRECK (Read 0 times) Subj: Dark Tower IV -> Fred: -> -> ML> You must be one of those people who speed read, because I've noticed -> ML> the names of the books that you've already finished reading. -> FR> No, not speedreading--the semester hasn't begun yet, so I have some -> FR> free time. However, courses at both colleges will be going in about -> FR> week or two, so the length of time needed to complete books will -> FR> increase considerably soon. -> College, huh? You must be younger than I thought.... -> -> ML> What do you mean that it will be another five years before you find -> ML> out what transpires after Book 4? I think that WIZARDS AND GLASS is -> ML> it.... -> FR> No way. In the afterword of Book 1, THE GUNSLINGER, he states, "my -> FR> brief snopsis of the action to follow suggests a length approaching -> FR> 3000 pages, perhaps more." -> Oh.... -> FR> Right now the page total is -> FR> THE GUNSLINGER 216 PAGES -> FR> THE DRAWING OF THE THREE 399 PAGES -> FR> THE WASTE LANDS 420 PAGES -> FR> WIZARD AND GLASS 668 PAGES -> FR> __________ -> -> FR> 1703 PAGES -> FR> In the afterword of Bk 2, THE DRAWING OF THE THREE, he says, "This -> FR> completes the second of six or seven books which make up the long ale -> FR> called THE DARK TOWER." He also says that the fourth book WIZARD AND -> FR> GLASS will be mostly a flashback of Roland's history prior to the -> FR> Quest. -> Again, I say - Oh.... -> FR> In the author's note at the end of WIZARD AND GLASS (I cheated and -> FR> glanced at it even though I haven't read the work yet), King states -> FR> that "there are three more to be told, I think..." -> Shame on you for cheating.... -> FR> Note the "I think." If he is wrong, I bet there will be more than, -> FR> not less than three. I have yet to find an author who overestimated* -> FR> the number of works needed to complete a series. -> Me, too. But I honestly DID think that WIZARDS AND GLASS was the end of -> the series. -> ML> V.C. Andrews and some ghost writers? Haven't heard anything like -> ML> that.... -> ML> Could you possibly be thinking of someone else? -> FR> Could be. It's been awhile--I vaguely remember some question as to ho -> FR> was writing the books, but that's in the dim past. I haven't read -> FR> anything by her, so I never really looked into the issue. -> Understandable.... -> -={Michael}=- -> --- Blue Wave/Max v2.12 [NR] -> * Origin: A Bit Of Light In Your Night 860/290-8578 10p-8a Only (1:142/578) hi guys. I just finished wizards and glass and i hate to tell ya but if your anything like me you'll be biting at the bit for more now. and 5years. heheh i read the 3rd book about 7 years ago, and had to wait....urghhhh. we better not have that long again, or we could always shanghi Mr. KING,lol Jennie --- Platinum Xpress/Win/Wildcat5! v2.0 * Origin: The Midland BBS! (253) 536-0793 (1:138/327) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1U00000 Date: 01/21/98 From: MICHAEL LABRECK Time: 11:53pm \/To: SUZZE TIERNAN (Read 0 times) Subj: V C Andrews Suzze: ML> Yes, she did die some years back - and her books ARE still coming out. ML> Her family is picking up the work that she was writing; before she had ML> died. So, I wouldn't call them "ghost writers"..... ML> BTW - Since you know a little about her, do you read any of her books? ST> I can't believe she had pre-written as many books as have come out ST> since her death, that had to have been 15-020 years ago! Yes, I read ST> the "Flowers in the Attic"/Doppelganger series back when it was first ST> issued. Then I read her next book after that, hated it, and never read ST> another. Just to let you know before I get your reply -- I was told by the moderator of this echo, that this conversation and also the ones I've had with Fred Runk, are off topic and to please take them elsewhere, but I haven't seen your name in any other echo except this one.... All I do have to say about your reply is this -- "Everyone has their own tastes." :) -={Michael}=- --- Blue Wave/Max v2.12 [NR] * Origin: A Bit Of Light In Your Night 860/290-8578 10p-8a Only (1:142/578) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1U00001 Date: 01/21/98 From: MICHAEL LABRECK Time: 11:57pm \/To: FRED RUNK (Read 0 times) Subj: Hello? Fred: ML> Well, I hope that you find the other books.... FR> Oh, there's no problem there. I didn't say that there would be, did I? FR> What are you reading now? I would tell you, but it would be off topic....(see message to Suzze) FR> I'm now reading the second book in Saylor's "Gordianus the Finder" FR> series, ARMS OF NEMESIS. Good historical stuff--at least as far as I FR> can tell--I'm no expert in pre-Christian Roman history. The feel is FR> right though. That's swell.... :) -={Michael}=- --- Blue Wave/Max v2.12 [NR] * Origin: A Bit Of Light In Your Night 860/290-8578 10p-8a Only (1:142/578) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1U00002 Date: 01/22/98 From: MICHAEL LABRECK Time: 12:00am \/To: FRED RUNK (Read 0 times) Subj: stuff Fred: ML> College, huh? You must be younger than I thought.... FR> Probably older--I teach at two community colleges. Oops, my bad.... -={Michael}=- --- Blue Wave/Max v2.12 [NR] * Origin: A Bit Of Light In Your Night 860/290-8578 10p-8a Only (1:142/578) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1U00003 Date: 01/24/98 From: SUZZE TIERNAN Time: 02:02pm \/To: JENNIE TURNER (Read 0 times) Subj: Dark Tower IV -=> Quoting Jennie Turner to Michael Labreck <=- JT> hi guys. I just finished wizards and glass and i hate to tell ya but JT> if your anything like me you'll be biting at the bit for more now. and JT> 5years. heheh i read the 3rd book about 7 years ago, and had to JT> wait....urghhhh. we better not have that long again, or we could JT> always shanghi Mr. KING,lol Saw him give a lecture on tv a year or so ago, and he said it was the most often asked question of him "When is the next Dark Tower Book?". He also said he got lots of hate mail about it!! ... suzze@concentric.net --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.21 * Origin: The Chessplayer's Forum (1:2410/278) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1V00000 Date: 01/25/98 From: JAN MURPHY Time: 09:50am \/To: MICHAEL LABRECK (Read 0 times) Subj: what's on topic and what's not > FR> What are you reading now? > > I would tell you, but it would be off topic....(see message > to Suzze) Hi, Michael -- I want to clarify my original message, so you guys can understand what I intended when I asked you to stick more to the topic of the echo. There is a tendency over time for echo regulars to get to know each other, and chat about whatever is new in their lives, rather than to talk about the original purpose which the echo was for, in this case, mystery fiction. If someone new wants to talk about mystery fiction, they may pick up the echo and look at it for a few days or a week at most, looking at what comes in to see if the echo is worth carrying. Now if the echo has gotten to the point where the participants no longer talk about the subject, and they just chat all the time, a newbie is very likely to see this group of people who all know each other talking about anything but mysteries as a private club where they aren't welcome. I've done echomail and Internet stuff long enough now to know that the best thing to do in a situation like this is to post a message which is on topic, especially something open-ended which invites discussion and replies. If the regulars are still interested in talking about Topic X, then they'll reply (usually with glad cries because they now have fresh blood in the group) and the echo's intended purpose will be revived. If they just keep on talking to themselves, you know that they echo is essentially brain-dead, and it's not worth carrying Readers make quick judgements, and you can't really blame them. Who has the time to keep up with an echo for a month, just to see if the doldrums will go away? And most readers are too busy or shy or inexperienced to post that message which will start a good discussion; they'll just say "oh, this echo is junk" and leave. Suzze said that I was being too fussy since the traffic here is so low. I would argue that the low level of the echo traffic is exactly why I wanted to nudge the echo back toward its intended focus. If we were all posting stuff actively and had 20+ messages a day on mystery stuff, a few messages here and there about V C Andrews wouldn't be so bad, and I wouldn't have been so eager to complain about it. But if you guys are not talking about much else, then the V C Andrews thread is the major content of the echo. You really couldn't blame a newbie for concluding then that the echo was dead because nobody was talking about mysteries here. So I'd like to ASK all of you for your co-operation here, to remember that the echo was created for a specific purpose, and is not just a place for you guys to hang out and chat about whatever you feel like. After all, if you aren't interested in mystery books, why did you pick up the echo in the first place? --- 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: F1V00001 Date: 01/25/98 From: JAN MURPHY Time: 10:08am \/To: SUZZE TIERNAN (Read 0 times) Subj: Re: ix-nay on price comparisons, please Hi, Suzze -- Just wrote a 'long screed' to Michael which I hope will clarify why I wanted to nudge the echo back on track. Thanks for your reply saying what stuff you're reading now. > I think part of the problem at the moment is that we have > so few > participants, and at least from what I see, none of them > read the same > type mysteries as I do. So when they talk about what they > have read, I > don't have a lot of interest in it, and vice-versa. Agreed -- it makes it difficult to get something going. On the other hand, as I said in my message to Michael, I've seen lots of groups go totally to pot as people started chatting about off-topic stuff. New participants don't want to post because the traffic they're seeing doesn't have anything to do with the echo topic, and even the regulars give up in disgust after a while. I've just abandoned one of the internet mailing lists for this same reason. But what I'd like you to do is soldier on and keep posting about the stuff you love. You never know when somebody new will show up who also likes that author, and then you'll have a chance to get a good discussion going. > Now to get back to what we are reading, and using the word > "fabulous" > again, I am in the middle of Michael Connelly's new book > "Blood Work". > It won't be out till some time next month, but it is worth > waiting for. Tell me more about Connelly, could you please? We carry his work at my store, but I haven't read any yet. Are the books all related, should they be read in order, etc.? Where's the best place to start? > I just finished "The Thin Man" by Dashiell Hammett. Not > sure if it was > my type of book, although it has superbly written dialogue, > it is almost > entirely dialogue!! I didn't feel like I really knew anything > about the > characters, except maybe that Nick and Nora drank constantly!!! Nick and Nora can be a little hard to take sometimes. Many people would say that Hammett had started to lose it as a writer at this point (sometimes "write what you know" isn't the best plan.) I would recommend the classics from earlier in his writing career, e.g. "The Maltese Falcon", if you haven't already read them. (You'll quickly discover that although Bogie is wonderful in the John Huston film, the physical description of Spade is not quite the same.) I've also heard good things about "The Continental Op". Happy reading! --- 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: F1V00002 Date: 01/25/98 From: SUZZE TIERNAN Time: 12:56pm \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: Books I finished reading "Blood Work" (Michael Connelly). Read it!! Superb! Lots of twists and turns, I don't think Connelly can write a bad book! I am also almost finished with a first book by a new author, a paperback original called "Multiple Listing" by Anne Grant. The owner of an advertising agency finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, when manmy of her clients are suspected when women are being murdered whose houses are on the multi-list. ... suzze@concentric.net --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.21 * Origin: The Chessplayer's Forum (1:2410/278) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: F1X00000 Date: 01/27/98 From: STEVEN HORN Time: 12:34am \/To: ALL (Read 0 times) Subj: A Certain Justice I just finished P.D. James's A Certain Justice and thoroughly enjoyed it. This lady does know her stuff! Take care, Steven Horn (shorn@yknet.yk.ca) Moderator, CAN_SYSLAW --- Msged 4.20 beta 3 * Origin: Yukon Mail, Whitehorse, Canada (1:3409/1)