The Heirs of Anthony Boucher Marvin Lachman

Aspects of Mystery Fandom
What makes DorothyL an interesting discussion group is the variety of the postings.
There are lists of favorite books or movies, reviews of books, and details of
personal lives, generally presented discreetly. Betty Webb has described members as
“sort of a family,” wording previously applied to DAPA-EM and MDM.
Though most reviews tend to be positive, there is plenty of room for disagreement,
for example about the bestselling The Da Vinci Code. However, criticism of
other members is often regarded as personal and leads to postings supporting the
target.
Some topics are considered taboo, primarily politics and religion, and most members
stick to the guidelines, though at the end of 2004 moderator Kovacs strongly
chided people for straying too far into religion, saying on December 14, “One more
religious post and that person gets removed.” Occasionally, members have engaged in
disputes with Kovacs and other members, notably Kevin Burton Smith, who admits
rubbing people the wrong way with his criticism of some postings. Kovacs deemed
his language inappropriate.
The moderators walk a fine line regarding what they call “BSP (Blatant Self Promotion).”
Many published writers are members, and they often mention their own
books. Some routinely list their book credits after their “signature” line in a posting.
Others offer advance review copies. Though some readers refer to it as “spam,” BSP
seems to be tolerated as long as it doesn’t go too far, and the author otherwise contributes
to the discussion.
Though there were DorothyL events at several 1990s Bouchercons, recognition
of the work of Kovacs and Robinson did not really come until 2005 when it was announced
that they would receive MWA’s Raven Award for their activities and, coincidentally,
would be Fan Guests of Honor at Left Coast Crime in 2007.
Though possibly the best-known mystery
activity in cyberspace, DorothyL is
only one of many. The Mysterious Home
Page (MHP), created and formerly owned
by Jan B. Steffensen of Denmark, was the
first general mystery website, established in
May 1995. It is now operated by Kate Derie
of Cluelass.com, who calls it “a streamlined
‘just the links, ma’am’ jumping off site for
the mystery world online.” The Cluelass
site, which began in June 1995, also includes
a calendar of events, a list of forthcoming
books, answers to frequently asked questions
(FAQ), and advice to mystery writers.
While Steffensen listed website links only,
Derie has annotated each link with a de-
scription of the site. She keeps track of over 1500 web sites, hundreds of which belong
to individual mystery authors. When Jon Jordan interviewed authors for his book
Interrogations, twenty-four of the twenty-five interviewed listed their own websites.
Keeping track of websites is not easy as sites spring up and become defunct with
1 0
Kate Derie, better known as Cluelass.