Wednesday, September 10, 2008

A Clue About ClueLass

It was brought to my attention through the Listserv DorothyL that Kate Derie’s terribly useful ClueLass Web site is no longer being updated. But at least some of its information, along with material from the associated Mysterious Home Page, has been folded into a new Wiki called Mysterati. A note on that Wiki’s front page reads:
After thirteen years, the original ClueLass, Kate Derie, decided to move on from maintaining databases and websites. So she created the framework for this site and imported the start-up information from her Deadly Directory.

The Bloodstained Bookshelf, as contributed by Dave Robeson, is no more, but many specialized mystery booksellers show new and upcoming books at their websites. We highly recommend Fantastic Fiction for lists of series books by authors, including upcoming titles.

The Mysterious Home Page (originally founded in 1995 by Jan Steffensen) was a streamlined “links-only” part of the cluelass.com website, edited by Andi Shechter. We have tried to design the current site to include pages that provide the speedy shortcuts of the MHP, as well as the more detailed information of Cluelass.com.

Why the name change? The new name reflects the collaborative nature of the website, which is no longer supervised by just one individual.
Sad news. But I guess the Web is too volatile to depend on projects generated from the heart to continue forever.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, this is quite sad. Kate's Cluelass site and Deadly Directory was a great service to the mystery community. Times change, technology changes, and you're right--projects generated from the heart cannnot continue forever.

Lucky for Mystery Readers Journal, Kate continues to be Associate Editor.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to also recommend Stop, You're Killing Me, at http://www.StopYoureKillingMe.com, which is in its 11th year now. While Fantastic Fiction is fantastic, it isn't mystery-focused. We are, at SYKM. Not to mention the character, location, job, etc., listings and newsletter. I hope you folks will check SYKM out.

Cheers, Stan

Stan Ulrich ... editor@StopYoureKillingMe.com
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**** Nominated for a 2008 Anthony Award! ****