This is the home page for BluePlace, a discussion and idea list for lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersexed and transgender mysteries. While the DorothyL mailing list was named for Dorothy L. Sayers, an author, and Russ-L was named for the main character of Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell series, BluePlace is named for Nicola Griffith’s The Blue Place (the name is used with Nicola’s permission).
Membership in the list is open to anyone, even straight white males, who is interested in discussing GLBTI mysteries. To prevent spam and protect members’ privacy, however, requests for subscription must be approved by the listowner. Non-members may not post to the list, members must post under the email address from which they subscribed, and the list of subscribed members is not available even to members of the list. Posts that look like spam will be held for listowner approval instead of being posted automatically; for example, any message with more than ten recipients (including BluePlace) will trigger the approval process. This may delay legitimate postings occasionally, but the price of a spam-free list is eternal vigilance.
The list is not moderated, but flaming and other personal attacks will not be tolerated. The internet in general, and a mailing list in particular, is a forum for the free exchange of ideas and opinions, not an arena for gladiatorial combat. There are no forbidden topics, but members should exercise good judgment and sound self control. Posts should contain some mention of GLBTI mysteries, but this is not mandatory. Topics that are not of general interest should be moved off-list.
Topics that are of general interest include, but are not limited to, announcements of forthcoming books and author signings, notices of LGBTI-friendly bookstores (and other businesses) and websites, reviews, criticisms, comments, appreciations, Lambda award nominee and winner lists and discussions, discussions of place, character and plot in LGBTI mysteries, and most other topics that bear in some way, directly or indirectly, on GLBTI mysteries, to include discussions of GLBTI culture that may be pertinent to mysteries. Author announcements of books, either already published or forthcoming, are particularly welcome. This is known as BSP, “Blatant Self-Promotion.” Advertisements from publishers may or may not be welcome, depending on the nature and quality of the announcement.
Members are asked to never post their snail-mail addresses or phone numbers to the list under any circumstances. Such information should be excahnged off-list, never on, because every post to BluePlace is archived for the members’ benefit.
Due to the nature of the list, hate speech of any sort will not be tolerated; transgressors will be terminated with extreme prejudice, with no recourse. The decision of the listowner is final.
To join the list, visit
http://www.andi-holmes.com/mailman/listinfo/blueplace
New! “Lesbian Crime Fiction: A Timeline” is the result of about a year of effort. I tracked down every crime fiction book that features a lesbian protagonist, and the list I came up with ought to be relatively current as of the end of 2005. Of course I would love to have corrections and updates; write to me at
There are actually five pages of interest.
One of the writers on BluePlace said it far more eloquently than I ever could. With her permission:
It is often more difficult to write about someone who is considerably different. It requires research to make sure you are not making the easy and false assumption that “we are all brothers under the skin,” that people of color are just white people with tans, for example. It requires digging out unsuspected prejudices and admitting them and then going on to imagine a world where you are wrong, where you have been wrong all your life.
Somebody made a comment that sounded like the kind of comment a white kid might make in a high school cafeteria, seeing all the black kids at one table. “Why can’t we all get along?”
Sometimes it’s protective—you want to be with “your own” because you don’t want to have to listen to all the small prejudices that infiltrate your life the rest of the time, and you feel safety in numbers. You can be rubbing your separateness in “the others’” faces, making it clear that you can have a good time on your own, thank you, go ahead and exclude us. You can simply be enjoying a time to relax where you don’t have to even think about making things softer or clearer for “the other.”
My goal is not to make white bread gruel with everyone lost in it, but to make a salad plate where all the components are identifiable and appreciated for themselves, part of a totality to be sure, but all identities and tastes maintained and respected. Too many white liberals think unconsciously that the way to all get along is to all act white—though they would never say any such thing in such words. This is something unconscious, unexamined.
The same with many straight folks—some want us to just act as if we’re still in the closet except for a cute wisecrack once in a while and maybe an acceptable quick hug of an acceptable same sex partner. Totally immerse them in, say, a lesbian bar at 1 am Saturday and see how comfortable they feel.
There are times and places where sexual orientation has little or nothing to do with a situation, and it needn’t even be brought up, like a workplace. There are times and places where the subject is on the table, like this list, and everyone is welcome and needed—like that salad plate.
And there are times when all the tomatoes want to hang out together, and we should be allowed to. Or rather, we don’t have to ask permission or defend ourselves, sometimes that’s the way we want it. This can be very hard for the groups being excluded to understand or accept, but so be it.
I am on some purely lesbian lists, and we’ll run off anybody who does not belong, this is OUR space—but this kind of space has nothing to do with rights or discrimination. If such a list was the equivalent of an old boys’ club where jobs are being offered and information traded that put others at an economic disadvantage, that would be different.
Alix Dobkin, one of the earliest radical lesbian separatists and entertainer, explains her posture this way. She says, “I’m going to sing you a song which explains why I am a lesbian separatist,” and she breaks into the old Dusty Springfield love song, “I Only Want To Be With You.” Sometimes I only want to be with lesbians. But not on this list, which has the goal of helping all of us interested in the genre of lesbigaytrans mysteries to understand “the other”—whether that “other” is external or internalized homophobia or the rapidly changing publishing industry or the ever-fluid lesbigaytrans communities or even what sometimes seems like a writer-reader chasm. What do those readers want, anyway? Whatever was that writer thinking?
Carol Schmidt
Author of Silverlake Heat, Sweet Cherry Wine and Cabin Fever
http://www.naiadpress.com
[Some of these are adapted from guidelines prepared by Marilyn Knapp Litt. Thank you, Marilyn.]
What is said on the list must remain on the list. Consider what you read here as something you have been told in confidence and do not send it elsewhere. Everyone in your household is a de facto member of the list and may read what is posted, but no one outside your household should read what is written here.
Please respect this list and do not use the e-mail addresses for your own purposes, such as mass mailings. If someone is on the list, but not an active participant (lurking), it may not be appropriate to send them private e-mail. Use your discretion and respect the privacy of others.
Do not forward anything to the list (that is, no lists of jokes), other than announcements that you are sure will be of interest to other members. BluePlace is special. It is a unique place and will only retain its character if what is posted here is original. Neither should you post anything from this list to any other list.
Everyone is welcome to participate, provided they are courteous to the other participants and follow network etiquette guidelines for electronic communications. You will find more guidance at:
RFC 1855: Netiquette Guidelines
Do not assume anything about anyone’s sexual orientation based on subscription to BluePlace.
Discussion suffers in an environment where people are uncomfortable. What is appropriate in other fora may not be here. Take your cue from what you read.
Griffith, Nicola Ammonite
1992: Del Rey,
416 pages.An astonishing first novel. |
| Griffith, Nicola Slow River 1996: Ballantine, 352 pages. |
Griffith, Nicola The Blue Place
1998: Avon,
308 pages.The book that gave BluePlace its name. Buy extras to give to your friends. |
Griffith, Nicola Stay
2002: Vintage,
320 pages.An astonishing sequel. See my full review here. |
| Griffith, Nicola, ed. Bending the Landscape, Vols. 1-3 |
| Griffith, Nicola WIth her Body (Conversation Pieces) 2004: Aqueduct Press, 136 pages. |
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There are not many sites on the internet devoted to LGBTI mysteries. My own interest is primarily lesbian detective fiction, so this first set of links points to sites in that area.
Naturally, we start with The Official Nicola Griffith web page, at: http://www.nicolagriffith.com (Includes a place to subscribe to the Nicola Griffith Mailing List) Note that Nicola has also written some outstanding Science Fiction (which is where I first encountered her work).
Nothing yet.
Nothing yet.
Stop, You’re Killing Me! has a sophisticated search engine which easily turns up plenty of interesting gay/lesbian mysteries: http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/
To submit additional links, simply send email to:
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