Thursday 27 October 2011

Platform podcast now available

I promise this'll be the last time I mention that I was on the radio recently. But just so you don't miss it, I was talking about Dark Steps on Future Radio's Plaform arts programme last Sunday. The podcast of that show is now available here - I think my interview starts at about 17:45 in. And don't think I don't cringe every time I hear myself say hello in that "I am on the radio" voice....

Tuesday 25 October 2011

...today we've got Martin Pond in the studio...

Following on from my recent phone interview with Future Radio's Kate Roma, last Sunday I went into the studio to do a longer interview with David Eastaugh as part of Future's arts programme, Platform. David is pictured left, holding a preview copy of Dark Steps. I was very nervous but David put me at ease and we had a nice chat about writing, the book and more besides. You can have a listen below - sorry if the sound quality is a bit tinny, but I had to really compress it to beat my host's 5MB file size limit.

Future Radio interview, 23-Oct-2011

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Si vous habitez en France...

Si vous habitez en France, maintenant vous pouvez acheter Dark Steps (ça c'est-a-dire Étapes sombres) chez Amazon.fr (et je suis désolé pour mon Français écolier...)

Friday 7 October 2011

More radio!

The interview on Future Radio's drivetime show, with Kate Roma, must have gone well. They've invited me into the studio on the 23rd October to do a longer interview, live, for their arts programme, Platform, with David Eastaugh. Naturally I've said yes - watch this space, and I'll tell you how it goes. You'll be able to listen live online here and, of course, if you're in the Norwich area you'll be able to tune in on 107.8 FM. The programme will start at 5pm.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Radio ga-ga (or, the Future's bright)

I've been trying all manner of ways to promote Dark Steps lately, some more successful than others. I've been tweeting relentlessly, for example, and it was by the miracle of Twitter that I discovered Kate Roma, a director and drivetime DJ at nearby Future Radio. Turns out we have mutual friends at Unthank Books.

I emailed Kate explaining that I'm a local author promoting his first collection of short stories and would Future be interested in giving me, or it, a mention. As it happens, Kate suggested a little more than that. She emailed me this afternoon asking if I would do a five-minute telephone interview, to go out live on her drivetime show at 4.30pm today. Yes, today! My first reaction was "blimey" but luckily my second was "yes please". Although I've been interviewed for radio once before, when I was involved in the (unsuccessful) campaign to get The Who a number one single, I was still a bit nervous.

I needn't have been; the interview has just happened. The entirely lovely Kate phoned and explained how she would introduce me. I sat listening to the end of The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen down the phone and then suddenly Kate was saying hello and we were on the air. And apart from one moment when I had a complete mental blank and couldn't think of the word "consideration" (as in "I submitted a story for consideration...") it went pretty well, I think. We talked a little about my writing history; we talked about the case for e-readers; we talked about Dark Steps (obviously), particularly which genre the stores therein might fall into (not horror, just unsettling - tales of the unexpected, perhaps); we mentioned this website a couple of times; and then, all too quickly. it was time to go.

Kate tells me I can get a recording of the interview from them in a couple of days time - if I can I'll try to post it here for your listening pleasure.