UBB.Developers Forums Announcements Announcements U-Zine Interviews July 2002: Content Rulez: ADWOFF

Interview by: tackaberry
Interviewee: ADWOFF



The "Content Rulez" contest, allows UBB'ers to show some substance over style. Where it takes more than eye candy to run a great message board. Each entrant must supply a background on their forum along with four example threads that they feel best represent their forum.
The Staff at UBBDev reviews each entry and votes to decide which site, in our opinion best serves the needs of its community.

This month our winner is ADWOFF ("A Day Without French Fries") Messageboard , an oustanding literary community. We caught up with Sue (a.k.a. ADWOFF) the head Noraholic in charge to find out what it takes to author a great community.

The ADWOFF message board can be found at: http://www.adwoff.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi and the site home is at http://adwoff.com/



UBBDev:
Tell me about the history of ADWOFF and when you got started.

ADWOFF:
In 1997, I was looking for a new author to read. It was between Nora Roberts and Patricia Cornwell. I went into messageboards on AOL and challenged their readers to convince me to choose one or the other. Imagine my surprise when Nora responded to me personally!

At the same time, women on that board had started a round-robin e-mail. The concept was great, but the reality meant hundreds of e-mails each night. When it ended, an idea struck me--Why not do an e-mail newsletter that would focus on Nora and her readers?

I asked Nora if she'd be cool with it, and she gave me her blessing. Nora had said to someone in a post, "A day without fries is like a day without an orgasm ..." And so, A Day Without French Fries ...-ADWOFF-was born.

The first newsletter went over extremely well. The second one was so big that it crashed a lot of computers when opened.

I had no choice but to make a Website--even though I had no clue how to do .html, etc.

The ADWOFF site has evolved from being pieced together using AOL screennames to its own domain, and as of May of 2001, a UBB.Classic messageboard.

Through the years we had a very simplistic .html board and then one that was "free" but had pop-up ads up the gazoo. When that site was taken down by crackers, and a guardian angel donated enough money for the ADWOFF domain and messageboard, I didn't think twice about getting a UBB.Classic board.

We have evolved from being friends in cyberspace to actually being friends in real life--as we have attended signings, traveled to see one another, and even gone to work for each other!

Needless to say, ADWOFF has evolved into something beyond my wildest imagination.

UBBDev:
For those not familiar with Nora, can you describe what her books are like?

ADWOFF:
Nora writes three kinds of stories: stand alone romantic suspense (latest is Three Fates); straight romance (usually trilogies or category romances--latest title is Face the Fire); and a futuristic police procedural/romantic suspense series that features a cop named Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke (latest title--Reunion in Death).



Her books are mostly read by women, but her stand alone titles and her DEATH books have enough gritty elements to attract men who like suspense.

UBBDev:
How many books has Nora Roberts written?

ADWOFF:
As last count, Nora has had at least 145 novels published--with even more due out in 2002.

UBBDev:
Nora seems to write a lot of books. What are some of the favorites that you would recommend.

ADWOFF:
Depends on the kind of story you like to read. If you like thrillers/suspense, I think the three I'd recommend the most would be Sacreds Sins, Divine Evil, and Montana Sky. If you're interested in straight relationships, her trilogies are quite excellent. If you like series books--especially police procedurals--the DEATH books (starting with Naked in Death) is good, gritty suspense.



UBBDev:
Have any suggestions from the board appeared in any of Nora's books?

ADWOFF:
LOL--no, not that I'm aware of, but we have nagged, er, convinced her to write a story that she never intended to write (Chesapeake Blue).

UBBDev:
Nora's books are predominantly read by women. Do you have any male members on your board, and how do they fit in with all the gals?

ADWOFF:
We literally have just a handful of guys (to my knowledge) signed up for the board. I think they'd be well received.