Friday, December 22, 2006

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.

24 comments:

angie said...

Well, fuck. Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck. What the hell's going on?! I CANNOT believe FITG is gone. I LOVED that place - used to check it out once a month or so and settle in for a couple hours of frenetic flash fun. Why do these soul-sucking trolls feel compelled to tear down all the cool stuff?! And all this crap about closing up blog-shops is just fucking depressing. Dammit, I need a drink, but it's not even noon yet...

Mindy Tarquini said...

Holy shit! What happened?

I've been completely and totally out of it lately.

Maybe a little too out of it.

anne frasier said...

yes, WTF? i'm out of touch too.

tribe?

flashing in the gutters? noooooo!

Sandra Ruttan said...

Angie, I'm not going anywhere ftm. Breathe easy.

But as with all three of you, this was a real wake-up call, that I've been out of touch lately, and it saddens me to see that such a thing happened to a great person... And what is worse is that I wasn't even there to give them moral support. I know we all understand when people are busy, but a thank you to Tribe was long overdue, and now it comes too late.

It's a real shame.

Anonymous said...

So some fucking half-wit opened her big fucking mouth and ruined a brilliant fiction site.
If the kids weren't on a half day from school today, I'd be like Angie and having a fucking drink.
To the woman responsible for closing Gutters down, in the words of Borat - have a Merry Christmas. Not!

Sandra Ruttan said...

Alan, it really is such a shame. I wonder what that person thinks now. Do they feel smug and powerful or do they realize they're a complete ass?

This really marks a sad day in the blog community.

Good luck with the kids!

Graham Powell said...

Sandra - thanks for the kind words. And it's a huge shame about Flashing in the Gutters. Sites that are run for fun tend to shut down when it's no fun anymore.

Anonymous said...

That's damn shame about FITG. Bleh.

Sandra Ruttan said...

Graham, true about sites run for fun. I don't blame Tribe at all, it's just sad.

But again, thank you for all your hard work. We do appreciate it!

And Bill, yeah. It's a real downer.

Anonymous said...

I think it's a shame about FITG. It was great fun. Like most of us, I missed the drama, too, and don't have a clear idea just what happened, but if it stopped being fun for Tribe then I understand.

As for closing down blogs...

Sandra Ruttan said...

I was sad to see you shut down your blog, David. But I do understand...

Tracy Sharp - Author of the Leah Ryan Series said...

I'm so sorry to hear that Tribe has pulled the plug, but I do understand. I haven't been around much at all so I wasn't aware of what happened.

I understand your need to scale back on your blog as well. I've been feeling the pressure too and the writing has been suffering because I've been so busy. Working doesn't help in that area.

I guess we have to make hard choices.

Sandra Ruttan said...

Scale back, yes, but no plug pulling for now Trace. End of the day the most important thing is the writing, so if it comes down to blogging or writing, well, we know what gets top priority!

Anonymous said...

I did reopen the Planet just for Graham. It was an honor.

Sandra Ruttan said...

And I dropped by David.

Tribe, sorry, that poem didn't really have that effect on me.

anne frasier said...

alan said HER. hmmm....

i'd imagined a HIM.

i shouldn't comment since i never saw any of the shitfest. damn it!!! next time there's a shitfest, somebody call me. cell phone is fine.

JamesO said...

"I wonder what that person thinks now. Do they feel smug and powerful or do they realize they're a complete ass?"

Smug, I'm pretty much sure of it. Nobody can be such a complete wanker and not be proud of it, sadly.

I enjoyed FITG when I had the time to go there. I always meant to write a story for it myself, and stupidly never got around to it. My loss, I guess. But to Tribe, thanks - I had a lot of good distractions on that site and it's a damned shame some asswipe had to go and spoil the party.

Guess I'd better sashay on over to crimespot while it's still there.

Sandra Ruttan said...

I know Anne - I completely missed the shitfest. My radar must not be working.

James, there is the new Muzzle Flash. Don't delay in writing for that site!

Christa M. Miller said...

I saw the drama, but I definitely didn't see it sparking a total shutdown. That is probably because a site I've been active on for four years deals with them regularly, so I don't see them as a big deal - but that site has a phalanx of administrators and moderators to support each other. No one has to deal with the brunt of a troll like Tribe did. Again: that just fucking sucks.

Sandra, I would SO LOVE it if you opened another forum like the Circus, but I wouldn't blame you if you didn't either. Hope scaling back on the blog gives you the time you need hon!

Anonymous said...

So sorry to hear about Tribe. sigh. I missed the whole flame war thing- perhaps that is a good thing.

Have an amazing holiday.

Sandra Ruttan said...

Christa, I'm giving the forum serious consideration. A few people seem to be quite interested...

Anonymous, I was sorry to hear it as well. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

ivan said...

Cute poem.
But in SNL, they had the turkey in bondage.
gg

Sandra Ruttan said...

A turkey in bondage - ha ha.

ivan said...

Sandra,
I wouldn't even want to discuss supplying a talk balloon!