The Other Side of the Microphone

Jack’s weekly guest blog

 

DSCN1013Both Wendy and I have some experience of radio broadcasting; in my case that covers BBC Radio Scotland,  ‘Scene Around’ on Heartland fm in Scotland, and ‘Celtic Clanjamphry’ on WETS fm out of Johnson City in Tennessee.

But when Wendy’s The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap was published we suddenly found ourselves on the other side of the microphone. Some of these interviews were on local NPR stations ahead of book signing events, others nationally syndicated shows like ‘Weekend Edition’. It was fascinating to see how other presenters worked and the studios were set up, from very relaxed and laid back to pretty frenetic.

Interviews get repeated from time-to-time and we don’t always know that will happen; messages or emails or phone calls from someone say they heard us as they were driving through some remote part of the country. Which is fun.

Even more fun is that for once we do know ahead of time. The widely broadcast NPR program ‘With Good Reason’ interviewed us in 2013, and it was probably the one we remember most fondly. Very relaxed and long enough to cover our road trip to small towns across America, seeking out bookstores and talking about our experiences with Little Bookstore.

‘With Good Reason’ is broadcast in many states at different times. Find your local listening time and station here: Where and When to Listen

Or, if you’d like to listen to it any time during the week. the podcast link is – Little Bookstore Nov. 28 – Dec. 4

We hope you enjoy listening – we had a lot of fun making the program!

 

MY NPR INTERVIEW

Jack and I traveled to Charlottesville, VA a couple months ago to do a radio program on my forthcoming book and the Booking Down the Road Trip, when we visited 38 or so used bookstores across 10 states. Here is the link to listen to the program (With Good Reason, with host Sarah McConnell). You can only hear it through March 24th, so enjoy it while you can! (BTW the fabulous photo of our cat Val-kyttie in the bookstore was taken by Wise County’s famous photographer Elissa Powers. She has lots of photos on facebook at a page called elp6n. She does lovely animal portraits.)

http://withgoodreasonradio.org/2012/03/the-little-bookstore-of-big-stone-gap/