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The Email

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Sometimes, just sometimes, the thing which looks almost too good to be true, can be true. Last week, I received an unsolicited email from Jeffrey Griffin inviting me, as a local author, to be interviewed on a local radio talk show and discuss my book Low Tide. It will be

“like friends talking over the dinner table” he assured me in the email. After my experience with an unsought phone call from Trixie Summers posing as a literary agent, the hair on my neck begins to stand up. Can this be a real thing?


            Uncertainty looming, I take a few minutes to look up the announcer on the internet, Jeffery Griffin. Yes, he went to school in the Triad area. Yes, he does have a radio talk show and regularly features artists, authors and publishers. Yes, I can also find a website for the radio station, WSJS. Hmm, he has a history of involvement with the arts. His Facebook page matches other items I found on the internet. It all looked like the real thing. I decided to give it a go.


A microphone in a recording studio.
A studio microphone.

            My heart began to beat a little faster as I email Jeffery back agreeing to do the interview. When I asked, he let me know we’ll talk just talk about the book, nothing about my writing process. I’m okay with this. I don’t have the background to speak knowledgeably about any writing process, but my own. For my own marketing research, I asked how I came up on his radar. To paraphrase Jeffery’s answer, we look at a lot of things like Facebook event pages and other online sources. Nice to know all the time I’ve spent building a social media platform is bearing fruit.

           

I talked about the upcoming interview with family and writing friends. Everyone was hugely supportive and assured me that I would do well. But the truth is, I was a little nervous about doing a live broadcast. I had made some notes in preparation for an upcoming event. Over the few days leading up to the interview, I added a couple of other notes. Hopefully, my recent book events along with all the chats I’ve had with family and friends about my books will pay off.


            Interview day arrived and I managed to sleep through my alarm. Groggily, I poured a cup of coffee and settled into my armchair. Only forty minutes until the interview. No time for breakfast. Just coffee.  Part way through the coffee, I hurried through an abbreviated version of getting ready. Even though this is radio, I felt I should get out of my pajamas. As I got dressed, my heart began to pound. The cleansing breaths I took had little effect on my racing heart. I fell back to my guided imagery. I closed my eyes. I’m floating on a warm sea. Sunlight warms my body. I floated for a few minutes. And after a final cleansing breath, I hurried to the kitchen, refilled my coffee cup, grabbed my phone and my notes.


            Just as I closed the door to our back bedroom and sat down, Jeffery’s assistant, Christian, called to tell me they were in a news spot and to hold on. Jeffery would be with me soon. I rapidly scanned the room, looking for something to focus on. Something to talk to. My eyes landed on a stuffed dragon my grandchildren play with. For a woman enthralled

Black and bronze stuffed dragon and his sidekick giraffe.
Black and bronze stuffed dragon and his sidekick giraffe.

with these mythical creatures, what can be more benign than a dragon?


A skilled interviewer, Jeffery quicky put me at ease. We talked a little about my history, my military service, and my career in nursing. He had definitely done some homework, reviewing my website to ask appropriate questions. But mostly, we talked about Low Tide, the other books I have written and what I was planning to write next. It was only an eight-minute segment after all.


In hindsight, I think I should have answered his question about what shocked me the most after writing my first book differently. My answer was the amount of marketing required to promote my books. Maybe I should have answered: not knowing exactly when to end the book was a shock. After writing my first novel, I definitely amended my approach so that I knew not only the beginning, but also the ending. Or maybe I should have said--- Even with those after the fact reflections, I thought the interview went well. Friends and family that listened said I did well.  As I bask in the glow of doing something new and doing it well, I remind myself that sometimes, something unsolicited can be a good thing.

           

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