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Listless on the DorothyL Listserve 6/28/2007 2:27:03 PM
Not long ago, I registered on the DorothyL listserve. It is an ongoing dialog for all lovers of mystery, started by a group of librarians in 1991. For those of you who may not be familiar with Dorothy Leigh Sayers, she wrote crime fiction from the early 1920s to the mid 1950s with Lord Peter Wimsey as one of her most famous detectives. She accomplished much more in books and theater, but I only mention this to show how they named the list.
I’ve rarely posted anything on there, but I had hoped to read, learn, and enjoy what other mystery, crime, and suspense writers had to say. I’ve lurked for a month or so and I have found a number of great reviews, tips for new writers, and comments on various conventions and blogs. Unfortunately, I also found that I had to scan through a great deal of petty and sometime hostile commentary.
I don’t know why I expect more from people who write and read, but I do. My disappointment seems to be growing, and each day when the catalogs arrive in my email, I find myself trying to decide if I want to continue spending time on sorting through them.
The saddest thing, of course, is something that happens frequently in every part of life. A few people ruin things for a great many others. You’re probably asking yourself why I don’t post this on DorothyL, (or maybe you’re not). The truth is I suspect it would only create another round of bickering. Now that I think about it, that really answers my question as to whether or not I want to stay.
