Books by Melissa Bowersock

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Time for My Close-up!

We authors love to talk about our books. But you knew that, right? These days, it's not terribly difficult to find a blog that offers guest posts or does author interviews, both great ways to put ourselves and our books out there for the reading public to see. A little tougher, but still do-able, is the radio or podcast interview. And tougher yet, but certainly attainable, is the TV spot. 

I was fortunate enough to meet the host of a local TV show at a book fair a while back. She and I talked about the books we had each written and hit it off right away, and before she wandered on through the rest of the book fair, she gave me her card and said to call her when I wanted to appear on her show. 

When? How about now?

I contacted her when I had a new book out. We agreed on a good date for my spot, I filled out their info sheet and we were locked in. 

Yikes!

Why is it that we really, really want something and then when we get it, we're terrified?

I'm no stranger to public speaking. I've done a lot of appearances at book fairs, libraries, book signings, podcasts. All well and good. But this is TV. My face. Up there. Holy cow. Most of us writers are so much more comfortable hiding behind our books. Suddenly my wardrobe became a major worry point. I was told not to wear white. What color, then? What style? I'm most comfortable in jeans and t-shirts. Probably needed something dressier than that. I had to buy new make-up. I hadn't worn mascara in years. And  my hair--what do I do about my hair? All those parts of myself that I'm happy with 99% of the time suddenly seemed not good enough. Well, they would just have to be, because I didn't have time to get a facelift or a body sculpt.

As with all these types of things, I was hugely nervous leading up to it. I don't know how anyone can not be. But I also knew that as soon as I got settled in, as soon as the host and I began chatting, I'd be fine. And I was. 

It was great fun. My host was lively and enthusiastic and we had a nice chat. As soon as she asked her first question, I forgot all about the cameras and it was just the two of us having a conversation. We could have just as easily been sitting in a small cafe as in a TV studio. 

And the best part? She wants me to come back in May to talk about another book. 

Now about that facelift ....



6 comments:

  1. Congratulations on the interview. It was lovely. I want to check out the Pits of Passion now!

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    1. I read it, and think you will love it. It's great!

      FYI, you can read my review of it on Goodreads. :)

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    2. RJ, just remember, you've been warned! It's not your mother's romance novel! And, yes, Lorraine knows!

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  2. That's great. Congratulations and good luck with your next one.

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  3. I am so happy for you, Melissa! Nice seeing you again! :)

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  4. Thanks, everyone. It was a lot of fun.

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