This Saturday, February 9, 2017 at 9-11 pm Eastern (8 pm-10 pm Central), I’m un-exiling/retiring myself so that I can be Scott Morrow’s guest on The Fearless Ghosthunter show.
Exile? Retirement? Say what?
Once Upon a Time…
…when I was trying to be as active as possible and grow Haunt Jaunts and network, network, network, I appeared as a guest on radio shows from time to time.
In fact, for a brief spell, I did a Haunt Jaunt of the Week spot at the end of the now defunct “Keeping the Spirits Alive!” radio show with John Tobin and Chip Reichenthal.
Over the years, some of my faithful HJ followers have asked if I’d ever do something like that again.
I’ve thought about it. I’ve even contemplated hosting my own show. But up until now the answer has always been “No.”
Because something yucky happened.
Promoting HJ’s Guide to Halloween Hot Spots
When The Haunt Jaunts Guide to Halloween Hot Spots: The Spookiest Places to Enjoy Ghosts, Ghouls and Scares
After that experience I swore to never be on radio again.
Backing Up for a Second
Before I give anyone the wrong idea, being on Kim’s show was actually a fabulous experience. Kim was one of the kindest women I’d had the pleasure of being introduced to.
I say “was” because, sadly, Kim lost her battle with cancer at the beginning of this year.
Shortly after I’d been on her show was when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Which I found ironic because in addition to promoting the book, we talked a lot about my cancer journey. She was extremely compassionate and it was actually therapeutic to discuss it with her.
So I was shocked when mere months later she found herself fighting her own battle.
She was briefly in remission, then developed cancer in her brain. She fought fiercely, and those who loved and knew her prayed fiercely, but ultimately cancer claimed her beautiful soul.
Returning to “The” Interview
Kim had such an easy presence. A very warm spirit. We ended up having a great interview.
I was only slated for a 20-25 minute spot. She ended up keeping me on for over 45 minutes. It was one of the biggest opportunities of my life to date. (“Opportunities.” Oy! We’ll get to that in a second…)
After the show I was at first on a high because I’d felt it went so well.
But then some of my friends who had been listening said my connection had been bad and I’d faded in and out in a couple of spots. It wasn’t my best showing.
I made the mistake of listening to some of it.
The Voice
My voice…
All I heard was that voice. And then the technical guffaws on my part.
I was mortified.
I thought I had a decent headset and knew what I was doing. Wrong. Clearly wrong.
I meant to research buying a better set, and did. Briefly.
Then laziness took hold. Then the self-doubting. Who are you to think anyone wants to hear that awful voice anyway? Stick to writing, Squeaky!
Which is funny, because everywhere I go, almost weekly someone comments on just that: my voice.
“Oh what a great voice you have. It’s so happy. Have you ever thought of doing voice overs? You’re like a cartoon!”
It kills me every time. Because my ears don’t hear what theirs do.
Pulling Up My Big Girl Panties
But then, after talking with Scott Morrow, who I met at HAuNTcon (a convention I attended a few weeks back), he asked me to be on his show.
When I expressed concerns over my voice, he asked, “What’s wrong with your voice?”
I explained how I was self-conscious about it.
He told me to get over myself. (An example of his straight-forwardness, which is refreshing. Scott’s the kind of guy you never have to guess where you stand with him. He’ll tell you straight up. I bet his middle name is Frank. Hmm…gonna ask him that on Saturday…)
Anyway, he was all like: “Your voice is fine. Nothing wrong with it. Don’t use it as an excuse.”
So…I’m not.
Dedicated to Kim
Also, when I think about Kim, or any of the other people I’ve met because of my cancer who are no longer here because of their cancer, I think, “What would they do? If they were still alive do you think they’d let opportunities pass them by?”
“Opportunities”
There’s that word again. Kind of a funny one for me to use.
I used to be be engrossed in growing my blog. Hits, hits, hits. Exposure, exposure, exposure. That’s what “opportunities” to be interviewed on other blogs or radio shows used to present.
But now I see it differently.
Connections
It’s a chance to connect with other people in ways I normally couldn’t. Emphasis on connections.
Because one thing I’ve really come to realize, we all have stories.
We all have lives we expected to lead, envisioned we’d be leading, and are often struggling to figure out why we’re not leading. It’s the “What the hell happened?” Syndrome.
Because more than anything that’s what I know. We ALL have “sentinel events,” as my husband calls them, that shape and define us. Moments when Life smacks us upside the head so hard it sends us spinning spectacularly off track. So far off track we can’t even see it anymore, and sometimes even forget we’d ever been on a track at all.
Then we spend the rest of our lives trying to recover. Or mourning that old track. Or trying to find it again. Or, succumbing, and learning to adjust to the new one.
Which is where we’re supposed to be. That’s why the Universe got us there. Trouble is, the relocation is often in not gentle and very jarring ways and that causes trauma we’ll spend the rest of our lives trying to recover from.
Connecting with people, sharing experiences, it’s how we help each other. It’s how we let each other know, “Hey, it’s okay you’re not where you were or thought you should be. Yes, X happening sucked. It was awful. But you’re still here. You still have a purpose. Let’s figure out what it is and get you doing it!”
That was what Kim embodied: a helpful spirit.
So, yeah, that’s why I’m coming out of my self-imposed interview exile/retirement. It’s an opportunity to connect with Scott, his listeners, and any HJ fans and personal friends that want to come spend two hours with me via Scott’s show.
Oh yeah, in case you’re reading this and want to come connect, here’s how you do that:
Date: Saturday February 11, 2017
Time: 9-11 pm Eastern (8 pm-10 pm Central)
Place: ParaMania Radio http://www.paramaniaradio.com
Show: The Fearless Ghosthunter
Chatroom: See the link above (with “Place”). The ParaMania Radio Chat box will be right smack in the middle of the page for the show. You can sig in as a Guest or with your Facebook profile! Questions welcome!!!
Hope to see you there!
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