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Campaspe (seen here
channeling Joan Fontaine
in Suspicion)

At her blog Self-Styled Siren, the elusive Campaspe writes about classic Hollywood. We asked her to tell us a little bit about what pushes her to blog.

Tell us about your blog.

Self-Styled Siren is where I retreat to write about old Hollywood movies. I occasionally venture into another country, era or even a current film, but the blog is almost entirely commentary on the history and artistry of pre-1960 Hollywood films.

How would you describe your readers? Do you have much contact with the people who read you?

My readers are the best part of the site. When I post, I can't wait to see who will turn up, which movies they will mention, and what I will learn from talking to them. They're a diverse lot, bound together mostly by shared love for classic Hollywood. Some of them email me instead of commenting, some appear and disappear like ghosts, never identifying themselves. I have pieced together a picture of some regulars but others remain a mystery. A few have outed themselves to me on Facebook. In real life I have met some of the bloggers and critics who comment at my place, but so far I've met no one who just reads the blog and comments.

Tell us how – and why – you started your blog.

I am now back in New York, but in 2005 I was living in a rather dull part of Toronto, having taken a leave from my workplace life to be with my kids. It wasn't that easy to meet people and I had few outlets--at the time Toronto didn't even have Turner Classic Movies. Two of my friends, Victoria of Bois de Jasmin, and Annie of Blogdorf Goodman, had started popular beauty blogs. I thought an online journal could keep my writing in shape. So I started Self-Styled Siren, creating a third-person persona as a distancing mechanism. The original concept was a more wide-ranging blog. I never intended to write about personal matters, but I did think I might occasionally branch into literature, beauty or politics. Well, motherhood was eating into my once-voracious reading, my friends did a better job of covering perfume and other beauty matters, and political writing would mean constantly getting worked up over something. So I stuck with movies. In the end, it is easiest to write about what you love best.

Describe your blog day – do you work from home? Go to a café? Sit in an office?

I usually blog in the late morning and early afternoon, when my youngest is taking a nap. The drawbacks to having your writing dependent on a toddler's sleep schedule help explain why my posting can be erratic.

How do you find things to blog about and how do you decide that a entry is worth being in your blog?

Usually an entry is prompted by nothing more than my seeing a movie and wanting to write about it. Other times a blogger or commenter might mention an interesting topic; that's often the case with my semi-regular feature called "Anecdote of the Week." Every once in a while I write about something that has angered me, although I try to minimize that.

What is your favorite blog entry?

My sentimental favorite is Father's Day with John Ford, which was about how my father tricked my cousins into watching the beautiful but tragic How Green Was My Valley. That one prompted such emotional responses from readers. In terms of the analytic posts, I am fond of The Titanic in Three Movies, which took two weeks of writing and research and which includes, for once, a relatively recent movie--only one decade old! It was intriguing to look at the way approaches to filming the disaster evolved, and to see the things that James Cameron borrowed, both from A Night to Remember and from women's pictures of the past like Back Street. I also liked writing about The Letter, because I was able to bring up some racial and political themes in the movie that I had missed in previous viewings.

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Self-Styled Siren

What was your most popular/controversial blog entry?

One good thing about classic movies is that they don't tend to provoke nastiness. Even an entry on Elia Kazan brought not much more than rational discussion. The best example, though, is probably Once Upon a Time in the West. I dislike the film and wrote what I thought was a very witting, cutting piece about it for Jim Emerson's Contrarianism Blogathon. I showed the draft to my husband, who loves the movie, and he told me that wasn't the way to approach a film that many people revere. So I rewrote the essay, treated the movie with the seriousness it deserved, and behold, the ensuing discussion was full of meat, not venom. It was the most valuable lesson I have learned as a blogger, that you're the one who sets the tone. There will always be the occasional spat or troll invasion, but if you write in a calm, reasoned manner, people will respond in kind. I sometimes fall short of this, of course--I have a temper--but I strive for it. As for popular posts, what seems to generate the steadiest number of hits week after week is a two-part piece about Frances Farmer--a look at the Jessica Lange movie and its distortions, and then an analysis of Farmer's role in Come and Get It. But the post that got the most-ever comments, and gave me the biggest traffic boost, was about stars that I dread seeing in an old movie. However polite people are, they still like the opportunity to vent.

Is blogging the new path to fame and fortune?

I find this question charming, but hilarious. Aside from well-known print critics with blogs, I know very, very few people who make money from blogging, and the ones who do usually cover contemporary movies that can pack 'em in at the multiplex, not Kay Francis. However, there are film bloggers who have parlayed their Web visibility into freelance gigs, and a subset who make a real living that way. I frequently think about trying to monetize the Siren, so to speak, but so far I am having too much fun the ways things are. Who knows what 2009 will bring?

What separates journalism from blogging?

The Cinetrix gave the correct answer: editing. I don't have a dog in the recurring critic-against-blogger fight, since I enjoy reading both. I do think the best blogs, along with the best film journalism, employ serious thought and real research. And spellcheck.

Who are the bloggers that you read religiously?

I'm tempted to resort to a Sarah Palin-like "all of them," because there are so many good blogs out there, and it pains me to leave any out. I try to keep up with everybody on my sidebar. I read the big guns like David Hudson, Glenn Kenny, House Next Door, Kim Morgan, and Girish, who was my first friend in the blogosphere--Filmbrain was the second. I am always eager to see what Larry Aydlette is up to--he changes formats so often and his writing is such a pleasure. In terms of classic movie coverage, Jacqueline T. Lynch shares my love for romantic movies, and David Cairns has become someone I can't do without. I'm still addicted to Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee, Goatdogblog, Cinema Styles and Cinebeats. And the picture blogs like If Charlie Parker Were a Gunslinger and Allure are such a haven. Six Martinis and the Seventh Art is actually much better than a martini.

How has your life changed because of your blog? Has it gone in any new directions because of your newfound prominence?

My blog's following is small, so I think the word visibility is better than prominence. But it has enriched my life, without a doubt. I can't believe the number of other bloggers and readers who have taken the time to send me a copy of a hard-to-find movie. I feel as though Santa has already made his 2008 visit to the Siren. And trading thoughts with readers and bloggers and critics is such joy. Being blogrolled by someone like David Bordwell or James Wolcott--that's something I never envisioned when I created the Siren to stave off boredom in Toronto.