I finally got a podcast!

Well, Janet, I did it! I overcame apprehension and fear that I would impose or irritate some unassuming subject. (Although my first attempt to secure an interview failed, as the man looked at me and said, “I don’t think so.”) After choking under pressure and watching amazing podcast opportunities go by more than once, I finally worked up the nerve to approach Jack Gantos after his presentation about memoir. To be honest, I didn’t really know who he was as he first began to talk, but once he started telling stories, I knew I stumbled on a gem that would turn out to be a highlight of the conference. I was wishing I had recorded his entire session; it was like a stand-up routine – he was SO funny. He talked about snooping through underwear drawers to find and read diaries of the people he babysat for as a teenager. He talked about the social implications for a teenage boy to keep a “diary” (the ‘Hello Kitty’ kind with a lock and key.) And, he told his true story of sailing a boat filled with marijuana from the Virgin Islands to New York, getting caught, spending a year and a half in prison, keeping a secret diary in the white spaces of a large book by Dostoevsky, transition back into society and deciding to write for kids. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk more to this guy.

Once I track down Troy, we’ll see about posting the podcast with unique writer.

Safe travels.