Friday, October 15, 2010

The Thrilling Detective

Below is a note from Kevin Burton Smith, editor of The Thrilling Detective, that was posted to the Thrilling Detective group blog:

Okay, so the site is tentatively back.

To those of you who've followed The Thrilling Detective Web Site through the years, and to those of you who just wandered in off a Google search, head on over to view this special transitional issue.

Unfortunately, due to severe time constraints, part of our previous concept (or was it conceit?) of semi-regular "issues" featuring a handful of original stories and selected excerpts, has -- after a lot of personal soul-searching and hand-wringing -- been abandoned. Temporarily or forever, I'm not sure, but currently I just don't have the dime or the time to devote to the fiction side of this site. Or at least in any sort of way that will ensure the quality you've come to expect.

I will, however, continue to try to keep -- with renewed energy, I hope -- the reference portion of the site going. That, in fact, was the original idea for the site: a big P.I. reference site. And actually, it's always been the less glamorous but major portion of this site -- and plenty time-consuming in its own right. But I intend to keep it going for as long as I can. Or until the wheels inevitably fall off.

To keep this site current and moving along -- and to make sure I don't slack off -- I intend to maintain a short list (see below) called THIS JUST IN... detailing happenings in the P.I. world. They'll be short, mostly snappy blasts (I hope), with appropriate links, that will direct you to -- or give you my take on -- some of the things that have caught my eye lately and that may be of interest to you.

For those of you who despair that you'll never read fiction in these pages again, please note that, like Sean Connery, I never said "never". At this point, I'd like once again to thank current fiction editor Gerald So and my original co-editor Victoria Shea-Esposito for all their hard work over the years. My decision to ditch fiction in no way reflects upon Gerald's tireless work for so many years.In fact, all this is off the top of my head. Tomorrow, who knows? Your opinions matter, so let me know. Publicly on this list, privately, whatever. I'll be weighing my options in the next few weeks. And if I see any of you at Bouchercon this weekend, please let me know what you think... And yes, bribery is an option.

This Just In...What's new in the P.I. World

Bouchercon 2010 in San Francisco I'll be there this Friday for the PWA Awards dinner and just possibly at a bar or two afterward. Buy me a drink, be my friend.

Terriers on Fox Is it truly a dog, or an wildly erratic show that's slowly improving?

Nekropolis by Tim Waggoner A zombie P.I.? Sigh...

The 2010 Shamus Award Winners Watch this space..

Disciple of the Dog by R. Scott Baker A new P.I. novel with an unforgettable premise.

Once I have a routine going, I'll be posting the items on this list as well, and probably expanding on them occasionally on my blog.

Kevin Burton Smith
Editor/Founder of The Thrilling Detective Web Site

http://www.thrillingdetective.com

For me, I'm sad that there will be no more fiction on the site but I'm very happy that the site will remain intact as it is a great source of information for the mystery community and PI writers in particular.

6 comments:

David Cranmer said...

I use The Thrilling Detective as a reference site many times a month. Sad to see the fiction go away but glad they are remaining.

sandra seamans said...

I agree, David, the site is such a great source of information. It would be a horrible loss if it ever disappeared.

Kevin Burton Smith said...

Hey, I ain't dead... the non-fiction section is alive and well.

But your kind words are the demise of fiction on the site are duly noted. I loved doing the fiction part of the site, but editors, just like writers, shouldn't work for free, and the negligible income from the site, mostly through advertising and affiliate programs, just couldn't justify the time it would take to do the stories the justice they deserved.

Maybe if I can build up the site's profile over the next few month's, I'll re-introduce fiction. But so far, the reaction to my announcement has been more "zzzzzzz" than "!!!!!!!!!!"

My little non-tiff with the Drama Queen from Beantown drew more attention.

sandra seamans said...

Welcome to the Corner, Kevin! If there's anything I can do to help raise the profile, just drop me line. Of course, you could stage a dust-up between you and the Drama Queen on the site and sell tickets! ;-)

Kevin Burton Smith said...

Raise the profile?

I dunno. Mostly I just need to do that myself, by being more regular with updates, I guess. And making it a point to do the THIS JUST IN... thing on a regular basis. As you pointed out, this is a transitional phase, but eventually I want to post -- or maybe cross-post on various lists and my blog -- THIS JUST IN... once a week. Just things that have caught my eye in the P.I. field, with relevant links (and my typical irreverent asides).

But as for taking pot-shots at Her Majesty, hell, even I wouldn't buy tickets to that. By the time I even realized it mattered to anyone, the Pretty Princess had already picked up all her marbles and gone home, much to my surprise. I was in San Francisco at the time.

Wait. This is beginning to sound like a Dylan song...

sandra seamans said...

Well, I can link to your THIS JUST IN posts and that might drive a little traffic over to TD.

Some people just don't know how to conduct a good fight, do they? But then maybe she just wanted all the marbles for herself.