Interviews
This blog is directed primarily to all of those good folks who have contacted me over the past few weeks about the possibilities of conducting an interview: people from newspapers, magazines, radio, television, as well as free lance writers. In addition I am fielding queries from film production companies and book publishers. It is all exciting stuff but after a day of it I’m worn out. I am flattered by and grateful for everyone’s interest. I am, however, cutting back dramatically on interviews for a number of reasons which I will endeavor to explain.
First, if I granted an interview to everybody who requested one I would never get anything else done. I have an unbelievable number of writing projects under way with new offers coming in regularly. My writing day is full and rich and getting busier all the time. Furthermore, I am often on the road days and weeks at a time performing and speaking all across the country.
Second, I get weary of hearing myself answer many of the same questions the same way over and over. I can’t help but suspect that readers will likewise grow tired of me, thus I resist interviews because of concerns of overexposure. Many writers and performers I know have interviews scheduled only through their agents or publishers, and I may look into that possibility.
Most importantly, however, it has been my experience that most interviewers seldom get the facts correct. Over the years I have granted dozens, perhaps hundreds, of interviews. I can count on the fingers of one hand those that had quoted or represented me accurately. I don’t know that anything I might have to say is all that important, but I would like for it to at least be accurate. Not long ago I read a published interview in a newspaper that attributed statements to me I never said. When I asked the interviewer about it, he said he printed what he thought I should have said in order to make his article more interesting. This, of course, is dishonest, but happens more often than one might suspect.
Perhaps in the future when things have slowed down a bit and my schedule is not so full, I may consider allowing a few interviews, but for the nonce I must concentrate on my writing and meeting deadlines.
But thanks anyway for your interest.