• Re: (ReacTor) What Lures Readers Into Picking Up an Unfamiliar Book?

    From The Horny Goat@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, March 15, 2026 21:39:37
    On Mon, 9 Feb 2026 15:04:03 -0600, Lynn McGuire
    <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

    https://reactormag.com/what-lures-readers-into-picking-up-an-unfamiliar-book/

    You. And several others on this board and other boards.

    I only think the way that article does when it's an unfamiliar author
    rather than just an unfamiliar book. I remember when I was in grad
    school I discovered Julian May's Many Colored Land series and that was
    a time in my life when my recreational reading time was most limited.

    (In the early 90s I used Aiken Drum as my screen name for several
    years before I found out that a Brit who was using the same 'handle'
    had been arrested for child molestation which made me drop the
    'handle' in near record time - for those unfamiliar Drum was the
    leading character in the Many Colored Land series)

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From James Nicoll@3:633/10 to All on Monday, March 16, 2026 13:57:00
    In article <a52frk942c371prlm4icoh64eirhs9uds9@4ax.com>,
    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
    On Mon, 9 Feb 2026 15:04:03 -0600, Lynn McGuire
    <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

    https://reactormag.com/what-lures-readers-into-picking-up-an-unfamiliar-book/ >>
    You. And several others on this board and other boards.

    I only think the way that article does when it's an unfamiliar author
    rather than just an unfamiliar book. I remember when I was in grad
    school I discovered Julian May's Many Colored Land series and that was
    a time in my life when my recreational reading time was most limited.

    (In the early 90s I used Aiken Drum as my screen name for several
    years before I found out that a Brit who was using the same 'handle'
    had been arrested for child molestation which made me drop the
    'handle' in near record time - for those unfamiliar Drum was the
    leading character in the Many Colored Land series)

    There was an unfortunate fellow in ... BC, I think... who decided to
    change his name because a surprising number of people could not get
    the idea that there might be two people named Clifford Olson and
    were sure he was the Olson then serving what was effectively a
    life sentence for murdering eleven children.

    (Americans may be puzzled, since killing eleven kids is something
    they might do to test their new AR15, but murder in general and
    of kids in particlar is socially unacceptable up here)
    You'd think not being in prison would be a tell that he was
    a different Olson but nope. Lots of idiots in the world.
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)