About

My cover photo

This incredible photo is from the Federation Peak series by talented Canberra photographer, Jason MacQueen.

Hello

My name is Joanna Baker. I’m a sixth-generation Tasmanian*, deeply attached to the place and very proud. I love everything about this magical island.

There’s nothing all that heavy here, and definitely no sales pitch. The posts are pretty short. There are a few abstract ideas, but you can ignore those, unless you’re that way inclined. Mostly it’s just stories — about people and places in Tasmania.

Of course, there’s really only one reason for doing a blog like this. It’s for me. I write murder mystery novels, and this is my way of examining why I choose to set them in Tasmania. It’s also a kind of tribute …  to a home that I love.

Tasmania. I’m not going to run out of material, am I?

Let me see …

history, landscape, wilderness, breathtaking beauty, environmental damage, conflict, oceans, ruins, horror, violence, secrets, families …

… corruption, Antarctic light, exquisite literature, MONA, The Theatre Royal, Dark MOFO …

There are many, many things about Tasmania that make it a perfect setting for my books.

And love is only one of them.

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* My great-great … and so on … grandfather, Thomas Moore Ikin, came to Hobart in 1813  (!)