Laura James "CLEWS" Interview - Missing Pieces - Text Edition

Clews the Historic True Crime Blog

Transcript from
Missing Pieces (Text Edition)
www.MissingPieces.info
Interview 1
October 25, 2006
Guest: Laura James
Clews The Historic True Crime Blog
http://laurajames.typepad.com/clews/

CLEWS is a weblog devoted to the discovery and dissemination of the fascinating stories to be found where murder, history, and journalism overlap. 

TODD MATTHEWS(Missing Pieces): Tell me more about the beginnings of your blog. How long have you been online with this? Did it grow larger than you initially expected?

LAURA JAMES(CLEWS): I started CLEWS in the spring of 2005, back when there were only a couple other people "blogging" about true crime. And yeah, it's grown quite a bit. I have more useless knowledge stuffed in my head about old crime cases and the true crime genre than I even realized.

TODD: How is CLEWS like the old days when you were a reporter?

LAURA: Blogging is freedom. No editor, no deadlines, no assignments. The folks who read CLEWS tend to be very, very well read in true crime. The audience for true crime online is very knowledgeable. One little boo boo and I get notes. A couple of times I've strayed into vaguely political remarks, and folks actually asked me not to do that. Which is fine by me.

TODD: We all get this question....why? I'm sure lot's of people are glad you did...but often we ask why did you decide to take on such a task?

LAURA: Housewifery is isolating and boring. Now I have a second life, a second persona, online. It's fun and gives me something to think about besides the dishes. But to be honest, there's that obsessive-compusive itch to scratch. You of all people can appreciate that, yes? And the stories I write about the genre and the book reviews have led to a lot of fun friendships with other writers.

TODD: You seem fascinated with True Crime, was this a life long interest?