John Baker’s Blog

1. Why do you blog?
I blog to share my interest; nothing more and nothing less. Over the last few years I have gained some friends online and some “associates” who share my interest in crime fiction. In the UK, I am lucky to be able to attend author events that some can only dream about, given their location, therefore I am happy to spend time writing up the event, to let others know about what was said. Moving on, I thought I’d share my thoughts on books I read. And moving on again, I became aware of the pressures on midlist sellers in the UK as well as independent booksellers. I’ll write about what I’ve read, whatever it is, but I’ll also intersperse that with a focus on authors and bookshops that need more of a glowing light. I may divert into something else occasionally, but that’s my humour or passion. I may also notify my readers of crime fiction writing courses. Essentially, I am posting “crime fiction UK” with an open mind to the world, I hope.

2. Which author and/or book has most influenced you?
I achieved an addiction to crime fiction when in Toronto in 1992/3. I have to say that Cornwell’s Post Mortem was a major turning point for me. That, I will always remember. But subsequently, I returned to the UK and took Minette Walters’s The Scold’s Bridle off the shelf. I was on home ground with this novel and I was opened to lives I could never have imagined. I had no idea what a “Scold’s Bridle” was until I read that book. Where Cornwell pricked my skin, Walters took blood. The Scold’s Bridle is what hooked me to more of Walters’s books and UK crime fiction as a whole.

3. Which three blogs do you most visit?
Grumpy Old Bookman.
Keeper of Snails.
Debi Alper (thanks to your blog, John).

4. Why do you read fiction?
For escapism and assurance. For a decent plot.

5. What makes you laugh?
Humour, like anybody else. I’m general/mid/everybody, as it comes. A bit of sarcasm would not go amiss, I tell you!

Crimeficreader blogs at It’s A Crime. . . which can be found here: http://itsacrime.typepad.com

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