***QSP CONTRIBUTE***

Information for Contributors

In addition to invited presentations, Iron Mouth's Quiller Scholar Pages issues a call for proposals for serious discussion of issues related to the Quiller novels. The successful proposer will be responsible for the following: (1) the writing of a central essay of sufficient length to adequately treat the topic area the presenter has chosen; (2) the providing of an email address to which commentary and questions by site visitors can be sent; (3) provision to the site webmaster of any supporting material (statistics, graphics, citations, and so on) necessary to full presentation of the presenter's material onsite; and (4) followup exploration of issues raised in onsite discussion and offsite correspondence.

While all proposed topics will be reviewed, proposals stand a better chance of being accepted if they conform to the following guidelines. First, the proposal should treat, simultaneously, more than one book in the Q-orpus, but no more than four. The aim of the site is to extend discussion beyond the focus of one book at a time (as on the "Unofficial Quiller Web Site" and its "Quiller Book of the Month"). At the same time, given the amount of detail in each of the Q-orpus works, more than four books discussed at once would likely render the discussion incomprehensible.

Second, the proposal should encompass a definite theme. Choice of that theme is up to the proposer, with the range of possibilities probably limitless. Penny Fielding's inaugural essay treats three Quiller novels published in the 1980s. One could envision other thematic groupings, such as the role of the Bureau as an organization in the first three Q-orpus works (or for that matter, in the final three works); an examination, over time, of Ferris's performance (from, for example, "The Striker Portfolio," through "The Mandarin Cypher," "The Kobra Manifesto," and "The Sinkiang Executive"); Q-orpus novels taking place in Moscow (or in the Far East); and so on.

Third, the discussion should focus almost entirely on the novels themselves, with treatment of ancillary material limited to points about the novels made by the presenter and serving to illuminate the chosen theme(s). A good example of this is to be found in Penny Fielding's inaugural essay, where discussion of "actual" news events related to British intelligence services is brought up to illustrate changing attitudes toward espionage.

Proposals will be subject to blind review by two persons chosen by the webmaster, but not told of the proposer's identity. Proposals should consist of an abstract of not less than 250 words, nor more than 500. Upon acceptance of the proposal, the presenter and the webmaster will agree on a time frame for completion of the essay and the finalizing of ancillary materials, subject to the webmaster's other duties, both in and out of the Q-mmunity.

Further questions and proposals may be directed to the webmaster, at ironmouth@sprintmail.com.

Disclaimer: all opinions not expressly attributed to other contributors are solely my own.