Especially For Graham and Tribe

Paging Graham Powell, paging Graham Powell…

I think Daniel did a fantastic job summing up the history and value of Crimespot but I wanted to add my two cents. Graham does one hell of a job, and this holiday season I’d raise a virtual glass of eggnog to the man, except I hate the stuff. Bellinis it is. Yum yum yum, peach schnapps and rum.

And on a day to thank one person for all they’ve done to support the crime fiction community, it’s a day to thank another wonderful person: Tribe. This is a thank you that’s long overdue, and unfortunately it is a jolt of hindsight kicking me in the ass here.

Because Tribe has shut down his marvelous site, Flashing in the Gutters.

Now, I missed all the drama. I’ve had my head pulled down so far that I’ve been a bit oblivious lately. But I am deeply disappointed that Tribe was put through such aggravation and that someone, through a flame war, ultimately killed that whole site.

Rather shocking, given what I posted about earlier this week.

There was a part of me that often thought it would be nice to have a comments mechanism with Spinetingler for feedback, but when I read about what happened to Flashing in the Gutters I find myself thinking perhaps it’s for the best.

I raise a glass to you as well Tribe. One of the best people I’ve met online, talented writer, heart of gold. It saddens me to see what you were put through.

The funny thing about this is that it coincides with Anne Frasier’s musings about the lifespan of a blog. It sounds like Anne is thinking about calling it a day, and this coincides with something I’ve been thinking about as well. What I like about blogging is that it connects me to people and gives me a chance to interact with them. It also gives me a chance to sound off when something irks me.

And it gives me a very important opportunity to promote Spinetingler.

But I was thinking about pulling the plug on the blog.

To be honest, I miss the Mystery Circus. Although it was short-lived I liked the idea of a virtual spiked water cooler where writers hung out and talked about all manner of stuff.

On occasion, I’ve been tempted to think of starting my own forum, with the same idea in mind. Not really concerning myself if five people post on it or fifty, just having a chance to chat about stuff in a group format online.

Then I think of what happened to Tribe’s most excellent site… And I just don’t know if it would be worth the potential headache.

I plan to keep the blog for now, but I will be scaling back a bit in the new year. Surprisingly enough I’ll be around next week, as far as I know, but come January I’ll be battening down the hatches and working hard on the new ms, as well as doing some traveling. I won’t be here five days a week for the whole month.

Meanwhile, I’ve tried to be optimistic about the future of book production and selling in a post over at In For Questioning. You might find it interesting.

Still on track with hopping to and fro, check out Anne Frasier’s comments on Bill Cameron’s debut novel, Lost Dog. If my say-so isn’t enough to prompt you to run right out and buy it, I think her comments will do the trick.


And finally, what would the holidays be without a poem from Uncle Charlie?

He laid her on the table,
So white clean and bare,
His forehead wet with beads of sweat,
He rubbed her here and there.

He touched her neck,
Then felt her breast,
Then drooling, felt her thigh.
The slit was wet and all was set,
He gave a joyous cry.

The hole was wide........
He looked inside,
All was dark and murky,
He rubbed his hands,
And stretched his arms.........
And then he stuffed the turkey.

May I be one of the first to wish your dirty little mind happy holidays.