Now it can be told

As editor in chief of the Philadelphia City Paper, Duane Swierczynski has to come up with his WTF column each and every week. But sometimes, he gets wonderful ideas that are summarily killed by his higher ups.

As it happens, this week’s edition was not the one originally written, and due to unforseen circumstances — something involving libel lawsuits and iPod accidents — the replacement was made.

But thanks to some covert intelligence and timely emails, the original is now available for all to see.  View it for yourselves after the jump.

**The Write Stuff

I usually bitch about the city in this column, but in this case, I

thought I’d make an exception. Instead, I’d like to tell you about

something that really inspired me.

[

Christin Kuretich][4] (pronounced “cred-itch,” like an itchy

Mastercard, or something) is the marketing and sales manager for

Rollomatic, a European company with U.S. offices in Virginia and

Illinois. Christin is an interesting case study; even though she is

not a writer herself, she has quickly earned a formidable amount of

fame on a series of writers’ blogs, most notably, Sarah Weinman’s

“Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind.” In fact, she’s pretty

much become  the conscience of the blogosphere-at least when it

comes to mystery fiction.

Crazier still, she’s only 25 years old.

But that’s not the impressive thing. Just a few weeks ago,

Christin-who I must stress, is not a professional writer-was invited

to participate in an innovative “blog fiction” experiment, where

at least a dozen different writers tackle a common theme (in this

case, a police auction) and agree to simultaneously post stories on

their blogs at a predetermined time. The idea was the brainchild of

Bryon Quertermous, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-area crime writer.

How did Christin get the invite?

Some cynics may say “because of who she knows,” but I think it’s

something else.

Her voice.

Christin’s backblog comments are one of the most distinctive, and

dare I say, bravest literary expressions that I’ve ever

encountered. And I’ve been in the publishing business for 13 years,

working with New York professionals and novice hacks alike. Hacks like

Dave White, a Jersey-area writer who thinks that a Derringer Award

means gotcha, Dave.