It was the presenter from the Johnny Oosten show himself who rang me, so Johnny Oosten! He’s a lovely guy who invited me on the show for an interview that very same morning. Well, who was I say no! Yes!!!!!!! Seeing as though it was last minute, I couldn’t get on a bus and head to the radio station in Castlebar. So it was going to be over the phone.
When he rang, it was 09.30 am and I was in NUIG (the
university here in Galway – it’s a cool place to be doing some work, some
writing, some people observation ;) and to be meeting with my little bro who has only just started studying
there). I had until 11.05 to prepare and enter that 'space'. To do
so, I had to find a quiet spot… I
couldn’t afford to have any distractions…
This is actually the second interview I’ve done over the
phone. And I find it quite a challenge, compared to actually being in the studio,
sitting face to face with the person who is taking the interview. Either way, this was
another great learning curve. When the time drew nearer for me to come
on air, I really hoped that I’d do a better job than the last phone interview…
Because the thing is… chatting on the phone, you’re inclined to forget that
what you’re saying is actually going live to hundreds (possibly thousands) of
people… Wouw. (Just writing about it now, I’m nervous! haha).
Yesterday though I wasn’t too nervous… The phone rang and first I was listening to a song of the
pretenders… Once that was over, I knew it was my cue… So I was sitting on
the first step of a staircase in the hall, just outside the college café… Hummm…
I had to envision the presenter to be in front of me (headphones on, speaking into a mic), so I wouldn’t forget
that I wasn’t just having a casual conversation with one single friend. And it was working a treat! It felt great to be keeping the interview going the way I did. Students were passing me
by, things were happening around me… but I continued to sit on the bottom
step and speak about something so delicate, so deep, so personal and so
important. Brilliant! Johnny Oosten is a lovely person to be interviewed by, so that helped alot. I knew I was doing a better job than I did, during the last phone
interview (by the way, this is my 5th interview since the book has
been launched… I’ve had 1 on East Coast FM, 2 on South East Radio, 1 on Dublin
City FM and now 1 on CRC FM. 3 have been face-to-face and 2 over the phone).
So far, I feel it gets more satisfying as I (hopefully)
progress and reach more people.
The
most daunting thing I find though, during these interviews is that you never know what
question will come next… and there’s no time to hesitate, because it’s live on
air… There’s little time and space for mishaps and those minutes are so
precious… But I think I’m getting the knack of keeping my talk flowing, even
when I’m not too sure how to answer a question, or if, on hindsight, I’d have
wanted to answer it differently.
Anyhow… this interview I really enjoyed, because of how
Johnny approached the subject. He stressed the availability of the book, the
importance of it and was eager to draw from me, things I’d learned and was/am
willing to share. The highlight I found was when he asked or suggested I talk
publically about my experiences. This happened during the Dublin City FM interview
too… and both times I'd get such a buzz for 'public talks' to be suggested and highlighted. Every time that comes us, there’s
me… hoping that somebody somewhere out there is listening and snaps me up! Haha…
Oh well… who knows what can come of it. We just have to keep
it flowing and things will keep unfolding.
I'm learning so much as we're publishing and slowly reaching the
people. An important thing I’m realizing is that there’s no set destination to reach. It’s like the book has been brought into circulation now and it can
ONLY reach further and further. Circulation can never go back on itself… Nor will we
reach a point in time, when it comes to a halt… The book will just move through
different stages of publicity. And right now, we’re at the stage where bookstores
need to AGREE to put it on the shelves… even though it's available to order in all bookstores, it's not the same as the book actually SITTING on the shelves! Because if it’s not physically on the
shelves, then it can’t fly off them! So, that’s our mission at the moment… And THEN
people will get to know it’s out there… And only THEN can signings be organized…
(Another lesson: there’s no point in organizing such events, if people don’t know who I am or
what’s being shared)
Step by step, things will unfold. Trust, trust, trust…
Okay, I’ve linked yesterday’s interview here. It’s up on
Johnny Oosten’s facebook page. (For those wondering, the reason I’ve not linked
all of my interviews to my blog, is because not all stations have podcast, or ‘listen
back’.)
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