On Thursday 15th June 2017, my Oldbury Writing Group posse and I went to the Black Country Radio Station to be interviewed by Billy Spakemon about our World War Two anthology titled From Sunrise to Sunset.
Since this was my first time being interviewed on the radio, I was excited and a little apprehensive, but I had nothing to fear because Billy made us all feel welcome and comfortable.
The journey to the studio could have been a story. We (Dave, Angela, and me) had a long walk from the Merry Hill bus station to the Waterfront – it was such a long walk that Dave said if he knew the walk would be so long he would have brought sandwiches. When we eventually reached the building where Black Country Radio lived, we were faced with a challenging task – we needed to figure out how to get into the building. While it seemed straight forward at first – press the button, and someone will let us in – it turned out that there was no one there to let us in. After spending twenty minutes circling the building, a Good Samaritan let us inside. Then Angela remembered she had Billy’s number, so we were finally allowed entry into the studio.
At the start of the interview, Angela (our leader) talked about the Oldbury Writing Group and what inspired us to write our anthology together. Following on from our introduction, we all took turns to read out poems and short stories from our anthology. When it came to my turn, I was asked when I started writing. I explained that I started writing as a child, and it has always been my real passion, but I didn’t think it was a sensible career option, until now. After my introduction, I read out my poem titled ‘My Colour is All You Can See’. And for my second reading, I read my poem ‘The Women of the War’.
During the radio interview, we were asked what our favourite sweets were (random, I know), and I have to admit, some of the answers surprised me – Dave likes pink bonbons, and Angela likes flying saucers. I, of course, shared my love of jelly beans, especially Jelly Bellys, which surprised everyone, especially Dave because he thought pink bonbons would be my favourite (I love pink).
When we left the studio, we were buzzing with excitement. We all had a brilliant experience, and we’re pleased with how well we did. And we couldn’t wait to hear the interview broadcasted on the radio, even though I was a little nervous about hearing my own voice. But I didn’t have anything to worry about because on the Sunday (18th) the interview was broadcasted, and even though it was weird to hear my voice on the radio, I felt we all did really well.
Since joining my writing group I have had so many amazing experiences, and being interviewed on the radio is one of them. It’s always nice to have someone ask you about your writing and actually appear to be interested. Like I did when we did a book reading at the Wives Methodist Group, I felt like a real author. I can see myself one day being interviewed about my own book, and that makes me more determined to finish my novel and all my other current projects.
If someone had told me when I started writing in 2012 that five years later I’ll be on the radio, I would never have believed them. This is why it’s important to never give up on your dream. At times it can be hard, and it can even feel impossible, but if it’s something you want to do, you must do it, and you never know, you could end up on the radio too.
Keep writing, folks!
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