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The Drood Review Mystery's Second Century A forum on the future of the genre Original essays Our thoughts Follow-ups This site is copyright (c) 2000-3 by The Drood Review. The Drood Review
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Jeanne M. Dams I fear I don’t see too bright a future for the mystery, or any other genre fiction. The frightening mergers of publishing houses and distributors, the steady march of the huge bookstores, seem to me to bode ill for all of us who don’t write blockbusters. And that’s almost everyone in the mystery field. It’s too soon to tell what print-on-demand and other electronic innovations may do to the playing field, but a Luddite like me who loves real books can’t be too happy about any of it. As for what I wish for the field ... ah, if I’m to be a dreamer, I wish for lots more Americans to turn away from their TVs and rediscover the joy of reading. I wish for kids to demand much bigger school libraries. I wish for parents to get involved in reading to their children. Those things would bring a lively, active market back for all of us, and would do a lot to brighten America’s future, too. Jeanne M. Dams is (most recently) the author of Death in Lacquer Red, her first novel featuring Hilda Johansson, and The Victim in Victoria Station, her fifth Dorothy Martin mystery. |