It's sorta...my um...first um...radio interview

Yes, it's my very first radio interview, courtesy of the local NPR affiliate. If the streaming is unbearably slow, let me know. If my voice is unbearably dorky, sorry, can't do anything about that one.

(And the advice on "allowing yourself to suck," comes straight from Brandon Sanderson. Gotta give credit where credit is due).

Comments

[Jaye Wells]

Your voice did not sound dorky at all. In fact, it was a great interview. I'm curious how that came about. Did you send a press release or did they approach you?

[jamie]

An MSU lit professor mentioned that the local NPR station always needs authors for their Readings from the River segment. I contacted them about reading from my current WIP, but they called me in for a general interview instead. It's a little weird to be doing it so far ahead of a publication date, but hey, it's good practice.

Must have been a sloowww news day...

[ello]

I thought you sounded quite sexy! Your interviewer was a bit hard o listen too, but you sounded great!

[m.g. tarquini]

I thought you sounded great. No ums. How'd you manage it?

[Jaye Wells]

Practice is a good thing. Although from what I heard, you shouldn't have too much problem once the real publicity push begins.

[Kennedy]

I think you need a real interviewer, like Charlie Rose. Or Dr. Johnny Fever. You come across as so much more personable, dynamic, thoughtful, and PREPARED than that NPR guy, there were times I wanted to find the call-in number and take over for him.

[JLB]

dude - well done, and congrats. And your voice is not dorky, so give yourself a break :) Glad to know you finally settled on a title - I dig it.

[Brian McClellan]

I can't listen to it till my class is over, so I've downloaded it. Congrats though. Good ol' Jaime is working his way up in the world.

[jamie]

Just don't listen to it while driving. I can't be held responsible...

[Brian McClellan]

Yeah, the interviewer was less than par. You sounded good. I thought it was amusing how you said "wow" after half the questions, because that's the same reaction I would have in my first radio interview.

[JimT]

I'd call it a solid at-bat, Jamie, a double in the gap, two-hopper off the wall, with you easily into second base standing up, your uniform un-smudged.

Practice is definitely good for the confidence and skillz, (which you've got plenty of). After a while, the trick is to swing at those same questions each time (and they do tend to reappear in every interview) as if they're totally new to you, swing and knock them out of the park.

[Adam Holwerda]

Hey man, awesome. It's weird hearing your voice again - but I do have fond memories of sitting in the critiquing circle and telling you how much I loved "I Am Chinese" - perhaps at that point I could tell it was going somewhere big. It's cool to know I was there at the beginning.

[jamie]

That critiquing circle was amazing. Lots of talent in the room. A humbling place to be for sure.

Thanks for the advice Jim. I'll keep swinging!

[David I]

Too cool for words. And you have an excellent radio voice, BTW. (I know nobody likes how their recorded voice sounds, because it doesn't sound the same way it does when it's inside you. But yours is good.)

[Jamie]

Thanks. It's weird since I have a much deeper voice in person or on the phone. I was a nervous and keyed up and was amazed at how high pitched I sounded. It was like I was 15 all over again...

[David I]

Voice coaches say that when men with deep voices pitch their voices a little bit higher, they don't sound nervous but rather affable and affirmative.

There's an exercise they have people with low voices do to keep from 'swallowing their voice.' They have you act as though you're listening to someone else talk, and you keep nodding your head in affirmation, and adding encouragement by saying, "Uh-huh?...Really?...Uh-huh?" Try it. You voice automatically starts drifting up.

But don't try it when you might be observed. It's the sort of thing that can get family and friends worried...

[Jamie]

Uh-huh?...Really?