John Baker’s Blog

1. Why do you blog?
Outreach. I am an introvert by nature but I will always feel the need to reach out and inform, converse (as long as it’s not by phone), communicate.
I started this particular blog several years ago to keep track of everything I’d read. I like that it’s searchable - so I can easily go back and see what I felt about a particular book, story, poem. Also, I wanted to promote the work of writers/artists I admired. Finally, I enjoy writing about the deeply-personal and/or mundane details of my life. I find that sharing the shame, helps me to feel less ashamed. Not quite sure how that works, but it does. Try it.

2. Which author and/or book has most influenced you?
Whatever book I happen to be reading and loving at the time. I know that’s a lame response, but I’m not good at favorites. I’m fickle. I’m also unclear about influences - they shift and change shape as I grow.

3. Which three blogs do you most visit?
It really depends on who updates content most frequently. I tend to gravitate towards those who post original content or who add their perspective to the stories they are clipping.
One of my first jobs online years ago was as a “Content Producer.” There I learned that if you do not have original and interesting/humorous content and if your links are not fresh, then you might as well hang it up and go home.
Honestly, I want opinions - even if I don’t agree with them. I want to read what people THINK. I don’t want advertising; I want to be stimulated.

4. Why do you read fiction?
Why do I breathe? It is one of the first things I learned how to do, but it is more than habit, it is enduring love.

5. What makes you laugh?
Honesty. Fearlessness. Show me your dark heart. Show me your shame. But if you go for the cheap, the easy, the cruel laugh, you’ll have lost me (though, I do have a certain fondness for the scatological).

Myfanwy Collins blogs at Read by Myfanwy, which can be found here: http://myfanwy.blogspot.com

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