RARA-AVIS: We Interrupt This Thread for a Public Service Announcement

From: Kevin Burton Smith ( kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com)
Date: 13 Feb 2007


Terrill Lankford wrote:

> Aren't we on DorothyL? The last few days it has
> certainly seemed so.

The fact this appeared almost concurrently with Bill's comment:

> I think we've had enough discussion of that panel at Left Coast Crime.
> Further discussion should be done off-list in private e-mail.
> Let's get
> back to talking about what writers write.

... is just another example of why Rara is so great.

I may wander off now and then to other lists, like a straying husband on a lost weekend, but somehow I always come back -- simply because this is the best, most intelligent and well-moderated forum on crime fiction there is.

Maybe if you'd have a few public breakdowns and encourage brown- nosing a bit more, Bill, you too could be honoured at some crime conference and have people raise some cheap plonk in your general direction. Me? I figure, why wait? I'm doing it now.

The horror stories that have come from some lists (everything from moderator meltdowns to BSP orgies and menopausal hen parties) have never happened here -- because they have never been allowed to develop. And that's almost totally due to Bill's helmsmanship. He's smart and tough and honest and fair -- ideal qualities for anyone who dares to moderate, be it a list or a panel discussion.

So it's no mistake that Rara has become a favourite hangout of some of the most articulate writers, readers and fans of the genre. That's because we all continually offer -- to the best of our abilities -- passion and intelligence about a genre we all love, not starry-eyed groveling and slack-jawed horn tooting.

Thanks for a great party, Bill.

Now it's back to the "bad soup" thread....

Kevin



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 13 Feb 2007 EST