BBAW: New Treasure – Mysteries in Paradise
For me, one of the highlights of Book Blogger Appreciation Week has always been the blogger interviews. Each year, I’ve been lucky enough to be paired with a new to me blogger, which has given me the opportunity to discover some great new blogs! This year is no different – I’m thrilled to be paired with Kerrie of Mysteries in Paradise. I don’t know how I’ve missed Kerrie’s wonderful blog, since she’s been at it for over two years – be sure to check out her blog and follow her on Twitter. I tried to be a little more creative with my questions this year, but I’m not sure that I succeeded – anyway, on with the interview.
Please tell us a little about yourself, including when and why you started your blog.
I have only been blogging on MYSTERIES in PARADISE for a little less than 3 years. I was already writing book reviews and submitting them to another site, but didn’t feel I had much control of what they looked like. I am a chronic crime fiction addict and have been keeping records of my reading for decades. So that’s where the MYSTERIES part of the blog title comes from. I live in Paradise, a suburb of Adelaide in South Australia: hence the second part of the title. My pledge to myself when I began the blog was that I would write a review of every book I read, and so far I have done that, and lots more.
I have to tell you that I’ve dreamed of visiting Australia for as long as I can remember. What’s the best part of living there?
As you would expect, the weather is one of the best parts of living in Oz. Although Adelaide can have heat waves, for much of the time the temperature here in Adelaide is in the range of 20-25C. The pace of life is really what you make it, and although I live only 7 km from the city centre, we live in suburbs with lots of space, and getting into the city or to work is fairly easy. Adelaide has a bit of cultural stuff happening too: a bi-annual Festival of Arts, Writers’ Week, live theatre, but it is also within easy reach for country trips. Visitors to Australia are always struck by the immense distances – they don’t realise Australia and the USA are more or less the same distance coast to coast.
http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/dimensions/aus-size-compared.jsp
I noticed that you have a Kindle. What do you think the future will bring to the printed book?
I love my Kindle, but I don’t think I will ever do all my reading on it. For one thing my paper TBR is just too big – I have enough unread books on my shelves to last me for about 3 years on a desert island. One of the disadvantages of living in Oz is that not everything available to US Kindle users is available to us DownUnder. But the Kindle is great for traveling – saves me carrying a batch of books with me. I also love being able to choose the size of the print – a sure sign my eyes are aging.
I do think some publishing houses are going to have to get smart about e-books though if they are to survive. I think e-book readers will have a huge and welcome impact on education, on libraries, and readers in general.
We are just at the beginning of the revolution though.
In your opinion, what are the essential ingredients for a quality mystery?
I read a little more widely than mysteries, and some of what I read would be classified as thrillers, police procedurals etc. For me a good mystery has an interesting (and believable) puzzle, not necessarily a murder, some well drawn characters, lots of clues, some red herrings, an opportunity for the reader to solve the puzzle before the sleuth does, and then a credible solution, with ends all nicely accounted for.
Would you mind sharing one little known or quirky fact about yourself?
My first major overseas trip happened at the end of 1972 when some friends and I ventured to the USA. We were staying in San Francisco for Christmas and found the air conditioning a little stifling. There didn’t seem to be a temperature control and with great difficulty we prised the window open – the cool air was lovely. There came a loud pounding on the door, the manager strode in, went across to the window and shut it with a great bang. “I knew it would be you!”, he said, “Aussies always do this to us!” and then went on to explain how thermostats worked, and how we had managed to raise the temperature in every other room in the hotel.
Kerrie sounds like so much fun! I’m glad I got to know her through this interview and look forward to reading her blog. Thanks to Kerrie for taking the time to answer my questions!
I think I like being called a Treasure. Thanks Kathy
Love the interview Kathy, I think you were very creative and came up with great questions.
I’m constantly surprised by the number of great blogs I haven’t yet read. This seems to be one such blog too. Thanks for introducing us to Kerrie.
Lovely interview. Hers is a great blog!
Love the hotel story. That is so funny.
Hey I pry windows open too…who can breathe otherwise! What a fun interview and a very interesting blogger. I think I want to move to where she lives…
Wonderful interview
! It was nice to learn a bit about you, Kerrie, and Adelaide sounds like a lovely place to live. I agree, too, that we will keep seeing all sorts of technology changes in our reading habits as time goes on. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.
Folks, Kerrie has an absolutely fabulous blog!!! If you haven’t visited, please do!
It must be so nice to live in a place that’s warm! I also read a lot of mysteries and think Kerrie’s blog is great. Lovely interview!
Kerrie has pinned down what lots of us dislike about hotels!
LOL on the hotel story. That’s too funny.
The hotel story made me laugh. Seriously, though, I don’t think those thermostats work very well
I love Kerrie’s blog. I have known her for so long and her reviews are really great to read.
Here is my BBAW: Interview post!
Love the story about the air conditioner!! If I ever run a hotel, I’ll have a special card for my Australian guests! : )
And I like her recipe for a good mystery .. it seems to have everything included that I would look for.
Great interview!
You should never feel bad for prying a window open. Sometimes it just needs to be done. Great interview and I’ll be heading over to her blog now.
Kerrie’s blog is great. It’s a daily stop for me. Thanks for interviewing her, Kathy, and I love the story about the thermostat in SF. LOL
Great interview and great questions!!!
Kerrie does sound like a lot of fun, and how cool is it that she lives in Australia? I don’t normally read very many thrillers, but I do like mysteries, so I am really going to have to check out her blog. Thanks for the great interview, Kathy and Kerrie!
Great interview. And I’ve found a new blog for mystery fans.
Nice to meet you Kerrie. I understand completely about opening hotel windows. I do it myself all the time… I can’t stand stale a/c air.
I hate that many hotels don’t have windows that open! I prefer a nice, fresh open breeze over air conditioning any day! Great questions, Kathy! I’m rushing over to Kerrie’s blog now!
Excellent interview! Really enjoyed reading it!
That USA story is so funny!
I’ve been craving mysteries lately, so I’m off to be inspired by Kerrie’s blog. 
Wonderful interview, Kathy! I am ready to move to Paradise!
Awesome interview…and always great to find a new blog!!!
I liked the link to the US/Australia size comparison. I knew that Australia was big, but the visual really brings that home. I also enjoyed the story about her visit to San Francisco.
I happened to stumble across Kerrie’s blog a month or so ago and have been reading it since. I love thta her focus is crime fiction and that she lives in Australia.
This is a wonderful interview, Kathy! Thank you!
~ Amy
Australia would definitely be paradise! I am not familiar with Kerrie’s blog but I will definitely be checking it out.
How wonderful that two of my favorite bloggers had a chance to meet each other via the interview process. Kerrie is the sponsor of the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge and is a very devoted fan of lots of other mysteries as well.
Kathy, you asked Kerrie some very good questions. It was great to read all about Australia.
Kathy, great way to introduce us to Kerrie (or get better acquainted, whichever the case may be). I’d really like to visit Australia one day — I take it they hotels are more liberal about allowing fresh air in
?
Wonderful interview of a fantastic blog – I have visited frequently! Umm, Australia, paradise – surely the two are sweetly connected!
Great interview! I will have to check out her blog.
I imagine it must be fun to say “I live in Paradise.”
Nice to meet you Kerrie it was fun to read about where you live and your love of mysteries!
Since I love mysteries you know I’ll be checking her out! Great questions, Kathy
Great interview! Thanks for sharing this new treasure.
I’ve always dreamed of visiting Australia! Even before planning for my MS, I was looking at Australia as my location, but my family wasn’t all too keen about it, which is how I ended in the US.
Great interview!
Great interview and always nice to get to know folks better. For some reason, I always envisioned Kerrie as a tall, 30ish red head, don’t know why. That’s just her aura I guess.
Great interview. I’ll have to check out Mysteries in Paradise.
So fun to “meet” Kerrie – great interview questions, Kathy!
I agree that we are only at the beginning of the digital revolution in regard to books.
Love Kerrie’s story about the hotel and a/c vs. fresh air. Beppi Severgini’s (sp?) memoir CIAO AMERICA talks about this (he is an Italian who spent a year in the DC area), how we over-air condition and over ice everything. Very funny and recommended (although not a mystery).
I always find so many interesting blogs during BBAW… not that my Google Reader can handle much more…
I am a real mysteries fan. Wondering whether anyone in China/HK/Taiwan etc is filming the Judge Dee series?
I came across this http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703882404575519431818316208.html
and
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2010/09/135_73755.html