“One calamity after another”… that was the theme of my first NPR radio interview

The publication and promotion of my first novel, Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke, has taken me to unexpected places and has created opportunities that are entirely new and out of my comfort zone. I’ve been thrown into a world filled with public speaking engagements. I thought I was becoming more comfortable with presenting, promoting and interviewing. But then the NPR radio interview happened…
Let me explain the background for this interview. I was invited to Milwaukee to the largest Irish Festival in the Nation, and their local public radio station, Lake Effect, offered to interview me about my Irish-based novel. I knew I would be in Toronto with my family that week, but the producers assured me it wasn’t a problem because they said I could speak to the interviewer using Skype. Cool… or so I thought.
Fast forward to the day of the interview. I am sitting in our Airbnb looking out at the skyline of Toronto trying to imagine the types of questions the NPR interviewer may ask me. With my interview less than an hour away, my husband checked the Wi-Fi signal and noticed that it is was not very strong. He suggested we go to a quiet café instead. Hurriedly we pack our things and head to a crepe café—my three children along with us, eager for breakfast. The August day was bright and warm, and the outside patio was filling with patrons. I went inside and found a quiet spot in the corner. My husband readied my phone and checked the Wi-Fi signal and headphones, and announced that I was good to go. He then left to join my children on the sunny deck. I suddenly became anxious with anticipation. With one minute to go, I heard a loud crash from outside and to my horror I saw dozens of people clamoring through the door. They were escaping a sudden downpour and subsequent thunderstorm that had come out of nowhere! Oh, Gosh. I looked up to see my family heading toward me with glistening hair and plates of soggy crepes in their hands. They want to sit with me? No, I can’t do this! I rise from my chair just as I hear my phone ring and I run to the women’s bathroom at the back of the restaurant. Did I mention the bathroom is located right next to a huge TV screen that has been turned on to entertain the large crowd now gathered in the restaurant? Oh, and the summer Olympics are in full swing, and they are broadcasting a soccer match.
I reach the “washroom” and to my relief it’s vacant. Just then a smooth talking woman is speaking to me through my headphones… “Are you ready to begin?” Before I can answer there is a loud knock on the bathroom door, but I ignore it and commence my interview. I am sweating profusely as I listen to her questions and struggle to form coherent responses. Now someone is actually pounding on the door. I can’t ignore it anymore especially when I hear a young woman’s voice calling through the door that she is going to be sick. I take a deep breath and continue responding to an easy question, hoping to drown out the sounds of the blaring cheers that have just occurred as I step out into the main dining room. A scored goal—hurray. I spot my family still seated at my corner table and instinctively head there with my phone and headphones on trying to catch the next question. My husband assumes my interview is over so he bellows, “Can I get you a mimosa?” I shake my head “no” and rush toward the door just as the room is filled with sounds of loud Olympic elation. I conduct the last of the interview in the rain. Phew, all’s well. I had done it. I could not recall one question I was asked and I couldn’t remember anything I had said, but it was over. I thought to myself, how badly could it have gone anyway?
Well, it turns out it was a mess. I sounded like a Munchkin from “The Wizard of Oz”, I was clearly a nervous wreck, and worse yet, I had answered some questions completely wrong. I will admit that sometimes I confuse fact and fiction, but this was ridiculous. I stated that I found the exact town where my great grandfather was from, but in fact, Ballinhassig was the perfect “fictional” town, for I later discovered that he actually lived 80 Kilometers west of that village. The most important question I had been asked is whether I’d altered my great, great grandfather’s Civil War letters or if I’d used them verbatim in the book. Well, I couldn’t believe I was listening to myself saying that I used the letters word for word and that I had fought with the editor about this but I finally won out. Who was this crazy person? I DID modify the letters after a long battle with my editor, even though the initial drafts used a photo copy of the letters and a literal transcription. But, in the end I agreed with her that the changes were in the best interest of my fictional book (and the fact that several of the letters were unreadable or torn). Why didn’t I just say I took a creative license to fill in my great, great grandfather’s words where there were gaps? They are still 85-90 percent his own words!! I swore to myself then and there that I will never let this interview out (after the initial releases in Milwaukee) because I would never want to mislead my readers.
Well, several months have passed since the interview fiasco, and I’ve developed a new perspective. Instead of being ashamed and anxious about my disastrous interview, I am trying to see the humor in it and just post the story of what happened. What a learning experience this was for me! I will NEVER allow myself to be so unorganized and distracted before an interview—and I will always think about the REAL facts before answering (so as not to confuse fact and fiction like I did in Milwaukee).
I have attached the article and interview in its entirely (16 minutes) for your listening pleasure. I don’t recommend listening to the whole interview; there are much better things to do with 16 minutes of your life. But I think you will get the point in the first few minutes– I was talking away with utter abandon to fact or true history. It’s amazing how the mind works in situations of stress and adversity. I will do better next time! I hope to have a second chance at an NPR radio interview.
Ellen B. Alden

http://wuwm.com/post/civil-war-letters-found-attic-prompt-author-discover-family-heritage#stream/0