Merry Christmas, Everybody!

Well, it's that time of year again, and it feels good to be back at work on the site. My decision to get rid of (at least for now) the fiction, to add the "This Just In" and "Quote of the Week" features, and to use Twitter in conjunction with this blog seem to be paying off -- traffic has increased, and I'm inspired to try out a few new things. Like, my new "Christmas Issue" has a new Christmas-themed "cover" (oooh, look what Santa has!), a end-of-year list of My Favourite P.I. things of 2010 and a revised and updated List of Holiday P.I. Movies, Books & Stories that I think is sorta spiffy.

But the real plus of coming back from the dead is the sheer fun I'm having. I'd forgotten how much fun the site can be. So, please, spread the word: I'm back. And please, have yourself a very Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all.

Twits are for Kids...

And grumpy old web monkeys, evidently. You can now keep up to date on what's happening in the P.I. world -- and my take on them -- by following ThrillDetective on Twitter.

Actually, it's all part of my plan (as much as I've ever planned anything) to rejuvenate The Thrilling Detective Web Site.

To those of you who've been followed the site through the years, you've probably noticed it's been pretty dormant until recently.

But that's about to change. If you head on over to the site you'll see I'm well into round two of our special, "We're Not Dead Yet" transitional phase.

I'm still tweaking things, but here's a quick recap: 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 soul-searching and hand-wringing over the last year -- been taken out to the woods and gently tucked into a shallow grave. 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, and your encouragement -- 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, non-fiction has 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 of ten or so items detailing happenings in the P.I. world. This Just In... will feature 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. Abbreviated versions of them will also appear here on this blog and on our Twitter feed occasionally.

I've also introduced a Quote of the Week, just for fun. Feel free to submit suggestions. If I choose one of yours, I'll send you a P.I. book or something... Lord knows, I have too many books.

For those of you who despair that you'll never read fiction on the site again, please note that, like Sean Connery, I never said "never".