I thought I’d do a follow-up post on my radio/podcast experience yesterday at Red River Writers. I’m giving y’all the link but be advised I sound really, really quiet there right now! I promise I have a big voice. :) Really! I don’t even usually need a mike when I talk. Maybe they can tinker with the audio a little bit. In the meantime, you could turn up the volume a bit and hear me a smidgeon.
As usual, life was completely chaotic before I went on the air. I was emailing Barbara Ehrentreu about 45 minutes before the show, ironing out some last-minute details. I suddenly got a text from my son: “Help me.”
I text back. “What’s wrong?!”
“Feel sick.”
“Why r u txting during class? Can u hold on?” The dismissal bell was only45 minutes off.
Then it was time to run out the door and pick up the drama class carpool. They ran 10 minutes behind.
Get home at the same time as my nauseated son, who arrives home via carpool. He goes up to bed and goes to sleep.
I tell my 8 year old to please not bother me. Mama is going to be on the radio. Please do bother me if the house is on fire or if you start bleeding profusely. Please, please don’t bother me any other time!
I put the corgi, who gets excited sometimes, out in the backyard.
I lock my bedroom door.
I was going to get in the walk in closet, but then I decided the landline phone would be better than the cordless.
I had a glass of water. I had a couple of notes. I think that under pressure I could potentially forget the name of my book.
Everyone was really nice and Karen Hunter was really interesting to listen to.
About halfway through, I hear some tapping at my door. Which I ignore. The tapping continues. I continue ignoring it, and speak even louder on the phone, indicating that I’m busy to the little person on the other side of my bedroom door. I see no flames coming beneath my bedroom door or pools of blood seeping underneath, so I’m assuming that whatever is happening on the other side of the door is not an emergency.
The corgi starts barking in the backyard. I shut my window really quick.
After wrapping up the show, I open my door. My daughter was dying to tell me that she had unlocked something on the Wii video game. Yes. That’s what she wanted to tell me.
“Sweetie! I told you Mama was on the radio!”
“But you weren’t. You were on the phone!”
So my only advice as a newbie radio interviewee? Be really clear with children about what you’re doing. REALLY clear. Reconsider that closet to call in from. Talk louder than normal. And have fun. :)
Seriously, how do we ever get through this life as do our jobs as moms.
I had to laugh thinking about you hiding out in the closet to do a radio show.
No wonder us mom’s are so multi-task oriented. I was hoping you’d go in the closet. But with a sick son and the little one, I see why you didn’t!
Okay, that does it. I’m putting a sign on my office door Saturday for the times when I’m engaged in live audio at PPWebcon (ppwebcon.com/index.html). The sign will say something like, “ON THE AIR. DO NOT DISTURB, OR YOU WILL DIE.” That will likely take care of the humans in the house. But it’s amazing how dogs who have been quiet all day find plenty to bark at as soon as you close the office door.
Suzanne Adair
http://www.suzanneadair.com
I laughed out loud when I read your daughter’s comments. :) Kids are the best!
I’m glad the podcast went well despite the interruptions! I’ll head over to hear it after work.
Elizabeth – Congratulations on successfully getting through the podcast despite the children and dog clamoring for your attention. Journaling Woman is right – it really is a wonder sometimes that we get through our lives and get everything done when we’re on “mom” duty.
I think it’s great, too, that your interview is now archived, so people can listen to it whenever they’d like, and you can have it available online; the wonders of modern technology : )
It’s amazing how literal you have to be — our son was in high school, and in charge of making sure everything was copacetic with his two middle-school aged sisters while we were out of town. I had even cleared it with his boss that he was NOT to be scheduled for closing night shifts while we were away. I told him he was to come straight home after work.
We called to check up on them. It would have been 9:30 pm. No answer. When we finally got in touch the next day, he said he’d taken his sisters out to a movie.
Yes, he came straight home from work. But I never said he had to STAY home once he got there.
How hard was it to ignore the knocking on your bedroom door? Made me smile just picturing you trying to focus on the interview questions with the dog barking and the door knocking and, and, and.
You deserve some sort of medal, Elizabeth, for being so successful at both being a mom, and being a writer.
karen
I love that you share what was happening on your end of the interview. Kids…gotta love ’em. Thanks for sharing the radio link. It’s neat to have a voice to associate with your blogs. :)
Oh, a great post!
And no one likes hearing her own voice :D
Haha! That’s awesome!!!! Thanks for sharing your story! And congrats for getting on the radio!
Have a great weekend!
LOL – wow.Well you got thru it! I didn’t do the podcast thing until I was an empty nester so didn’t have the li’l ones to deal with, but sounds like you handled it quite well. Ok, I’ll listen to the podcast now. Bet you sound great! (wink)
The Old Silly
LOl! Happens all the time just differently to each I guess! :-)
I once took an interview call from the bathroom, with my 8 year old trying hard to pacify my then 1 year old wailing for a diaper change. Felt terrible!
Too funny!!
Here’s what I do – I put a sign on my office door that reads:
Please come in so we can get started on chores.
For some reason, no one ever bothers me.
OMG am I truly LMAO on the floor this early in the morning?? I love the “no flames or blood seeping under the door” part! Sounds like the stress of parenting was WAY more at the time then the whole radio thing!! LOL!
I’m switching subjects right in the middle of your post here, Elizabeth – please forgive me, but I just HAVE to tell you about yesterday. I spent the day in the kitchen. And all day, those blasted containers kept flying out at me. So…finally giving in and surrendering to their insistence on being organized, I got my “container” cupboard all neat and “in order”!!
Now I’ve done this before and SWORE I’d never let it get in such a state of disarray again! We’ll see if I can withhold that promise THIS time! :)
That is such a funny story! Fortunately I’ve only to deal with two needy cats when I’m taping a show, but that’s enough.
I’m very glad there were no flames or pools of blood awaiting your return from the interview!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Jen
Journaling Woman–I really don’t know. And yet, somehow we live longer than men…
Elizabeth–Next time, I’m TOTALLY getting in the closet. I’ve just got to buy that really long phone cord for the land line.
Suzanne–Definitely go with the sign. Because you have teenage boys and I know they’re just as bad as little kids.
Marvin–Thanks! :) Next time I’ll try to export the kids to friends’ houses.
Crystal–Awesome!! My cabinet is still in good shape. And will STAY in good shape…until I use my pitchers for something and they end up on the bottom of the crazy stack again.
Jemi–It did, actually, considering. :) They were just super nice and that helped.
Margot–The archiving aspect is only good because I know it went well. :) I was haunted by the thought that some inanity of mine would end up on the internet forever!
Terry–I would have been FREAKING OUT. You’re so right…you have to literally spell it out for them sometimes. I’m putting it on paper and hanging it on my door next time.
Diane–Usually one of our cats throws his furry body against any closed doors (he’s a little touched in the head), but he was asleep this time in a sunbeam. I felt safe.
Karen–I was REALLY distracted. The tapping just didn’t stop! Then she starts murmuring, “Maaaammaaaa.” Ack! It has to do with the phone, it really does. There’s something that happens to my children’s brains when I get on the phone.
Stacy–Thanks! I’m trying very hard not to listen to my own voice. :) Haven’t quite gotten over that not-liking-my-voice issue.
Elizabeth, I added a little something to my post after you’d been there – and forgive me for using YOUR blog to plug ME – but I’d like to extend an invitation to you and your followers to visit CC-Chronicles, where I’m very pleased to have been interviewed for her new Friday “Welcome to the Weekend With…” feature!
Thanks for the use of YOUR space Elizabeth…
Dorte–I think we all have this idea of what we sound like–and it’s NOTHING like the voice we hear on tape!
Kristen–Thanks so much! And you have a fun weekend, too.
Rads–The guilt! The guilt! We *never* get away from the guilt…
Crystal–Oh cool! Thanks for the heads-up, I’ll ck it out.
Alan–That is BRILLIANT! Pure genius. Because nothing else would work on my end, apparently! I could even amend it to read, “First person to bother Mama is on litterbox duty.”
Thanks for this really funny post! I swear children must have some sort of internal alarm that only goes of when Mama is on the phone. Look! Mama has that thing next to her ear! Time to swing from the curtains and eat strange food!
Elspeth
I hate to say this, but your daughter was right. You weren’t on the radio! ;-)
You always have the best posts. It would appear you lead a hectic life, yet somehow you remain calm.
Helen
Straight From Hel
Jen–Me too! Because, being a mom, you just never know. :)
Helen–That’s the darned thing. I was kicking myself for not saying, “Mom’s going to be on the PHONE for 1 1/2 hours. Don’t disturb me…”
It’s hectic. I don’t think I can remember calm, so that may be why it doesn’t affect me much…
Oh, the joys of motherhood and those little human’s interpretation of rules! At least life as a mom is never boring!!
Such a great story! I honestly don’t know how you do it.
But just so you know…retired husbands are almost as hard to control as a houseful of kids. The couple of times I’ve scheduled a phone interview, I’ve set it up for a time when I knew hubby would be gone.
Elizabeth, you did great on the interview! Despite beetles and Pretty is as Pretty DOES, you handled the whole thing nicely- especially with the initial digressions. You have a terrific speaking voice by the way. Next time you have to do a public speaking thing, know that you have a leg up on 50 percent of those who try to speak in public but sound raspy or illiterate. Nice job.
Best Regards, Galen
Imagineering Fiction Blog
Galen–Oh good! We DO drown Japanese beetles in soapy water down here, although I wasn’t sure that was an appropriate topic for the interview. :) Ha! Oh well, I’m a mystery writer.
And I appreciate your kind words on my voice. I don’t like hearing it, but I’m glad it’s okay. It’s…Southern. But hopefully not too drawly.
Ha! This is too funny. It’s true though — Whenever I do radio interviews, there always seems to be some distraction on my end that interferes. It’s hard to get away from life to take those calls! Very cool that you did the interview, though.
Alexis–I’d say we could sit in our cars, but that wouldn’t be good, either! Cell phones always cut out.
Elspeth–It’s true! I don’t know what happens to them, but they CHANGE from rational beings to little crazy things.
Janel–Yes, they definitely have a different interpretation of rules. We don’t speak the same language sometimes.
Patricia–Funny you should say that…my interviewer’s husband walked right up next to her and started running the paper shredder!