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Margery Allingham Discussions on Yahoo! About the Margery Allingham Archive
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About the Margery Allingham Archive There are several people who I should thank, but, sadly, I have lost some information, and can only remember that one of them is called 'Austin', who very kindly sent me some tapes several years ago. Another is called 'Liz', and I still don't know if she ever got the article that I sent to her. Please, if you are among those people who have helped over the years, or just want to say hello, then do drop a line. QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS This page was originally created as part of an experiment in designing sites for the World Wide Web, and somehow I just never got round to taking it back down. Naturally, it is designed first and foremost for those people who are afficianadoes of the work of Margery Allingham, but it is also intended to bring her excellent work to the attention of a wider audience. I hope that, in this task, it may yet succeed. WHY?... 1) Why are you doing this? Who are you? Where are my socks? My name is William Nedblake. Originally, several years ago, I started writing small tributary notices for the web about authors who I happened to enjoy, because I was bored with my job and it gave me a way to kill time. Now it has become a multi-thousand pence (or dare I say, farthing?) industry, the fruits of which you now see before you. If you're interested in me, well, then there are other bits about me here and there - try beginning at the beginning. And I regret to say that I have no earthly idea where your socks may be - have you tried looking in your neighbour's cellar? Never know what you might find there... 2) Why the links to Amazon? Are you just a crass materialist, trying to do us out of our brass with your slick gimmicks? Thank you, Rupert from Dagenham. Yes, I've provided the links at least in part on the off chance that you would wish to support my efforts with your hard earned (or hardly earned, depending) readies. If you do, then lovely, and thank you, it's much appreciated. Additionally, it's a convenient way for me to keep an eye on what is in print, and answer the age old question: 'where can I buy a copy of ?...' Currently, my sites are small enough that I don't have to pay anything extra for them to reside on my provider's server, and I'm working to keep them that way (judicious pruning, etc.). However, the odd ten or twenty of your Earth poundlingtons every few months might allow me to procure another title for my library, which means that I can eventually add it to the site. I provide links to Amazon, as opposed to other sites, because I've used them myself for years, and been consistently pleased with their service. I was also a great fan of Bookpages, the UK precursor to Amazon, although it was the latter who later swallowed poor little BP whole. Amazon UK is still a great place for British books, especially if you are four thousand or so miles from home with no ready prospect of return. However, all of this doesn't mean that you shouldn't, if you don't mind getting your books second hand (and most of us, myself included, do not), take a quick jaunt, or even a gentle stroll, to your local second hand bookshop, charity shop, dark alley, or car boot sale. Persistence pays: over time, you can find nearly anything. For those things that you can't, there are sites like ABEBooks (and I don't get a brass farthing for mentioning them, so there you are - altruism). For those of you who actually read the last paragraph, I, of course, in no way recommend attempting to find books of detective fiction in dark alleys. Why tempt capricious fate? MAY I... ...write to you with questions (comments, praise, complaints)? Certainly. I will even try to answer them, time permitting. Please write to thyrsis@excite.com (I'm trying to keep the spam on my home account from battering down the door with its tinny blueness - I'm sure that you'll understand). ...link to your site(s)? Please do, although a note to the effect that you are doing so is appreciated. I like to know my neighbours, after all (and the contents of their cellars, if possible). ...extend a comfortably large salary to you? I would have no objection. Indeed, I should be most gratified. Anything for a quiet life. OTHER INFORMATION I'm certain that there are questions which I have not answered, despite my best efforts. If you have one such, then please drop a line. I look forward to hearing from other admirers of Margery Allingham's work. I design these sites on a Macintosh, and have found that there are, again despite almost superhuman effort, some oddities in the coding of html between the Macintosh and Windows based machines - this occasionally results in weird characters, bizarre spacing, or both. Let me know if you run into something like that, and I'll see what I can do if it's really serious. The font utilised in the header graphics, for those of you who are curious, is Edwardian Script ITC, until I find something better. UPDATES? Currently, I am completing a cycle of updates to all of the pages that I have somewhat haphazardly maintained over the last few years. It is my hope that, potential major developments aside, they will be able to stand on their own and largely look after themselves once I have finished, so that I can find some other albatross to hang from my neck. However, with 'Campion' finally appearing on video, I anticipate a few developments, so do keep looking in from time to time. Thank you. - William Nedblake, September, 2002 |
