Hello, Shelley Burbank here, still in my home state of Maine and absolutely loving the fall foliage and glorious weather. Also "enjoying" a mini-publicity tour of two events in two weeks. Stressing the "mini" aspect because I know two events is really very modest. However, both events stretched me as an author and public speaker.
Have you ever been interviewed on your local news? I hadn't. Not until this week when I was the guest author on WABI TV Channel 5's Book Club segment on the 4 o'clock news. I spoke with Brian Sullivan at the studio--my first time in a tv studio. Before my spot, I could see the meteorologist standing at the weather map in her dress and tall boots. So chic. So cool.
Then I was escorted into the studio and mic'd up--yes a wire run under my sweater and little mic attached to the collar. I had a quick 12345 soundcheck for my voice and after a bit of small talk to warm up, we were live on the air. Brian asked me questions, and I was able to sound somewhat coherent on the topic of my Olivia Lively series and synopses of each of the two novels and the upcoming novella.
In 3.5 minutes, it was over. Watch the whole clip at https://www.wabi.tv/2025/10/02/mystery-womens-fiction-author-discusses-olivia-lively-mystery-series/
Here I am before the interview with PR guru, Melissa Gerety of BookMarks-Maine. She sets up the Book Club interview schedule, and I am so thankful for her because I never would have reached out to my hometown TV channel on my own. I grew up in Bangor, Maine. Yes, I know the world's most famous horror author also lived in town. Stephen King sightings were rare, but thrilling. Also, if you haven't read Tabitha King's Nodd's Ridge series of books, you are missing out!
You can follow BookMarks-Maine on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bookmarksmaine and Facebook.
This wasn't my only event this month. Last week I spoke at the South Freeport Church's author luncheon. They hold these four times a year, and I heard that the last speaker was none other than Tess Gerritsen. Tess. Gerritsen! Okay, that was also intimidating, but the people were so welcoming and kind. They served a fantastic lunch, and then I spoke about external versus internal storylines and how to create a character arc over a series.
Members of the Freeport Woman's Club also attended and took this lovely photo. If I lived in Freeport I would certainly join both these groups. I had such a good time talking with everyone about Olivia Lively.
Both of my recent events caused me a little bit of stress. It's been awhile since I've had a public speaking engagement. But, my friends, we can do hard things.
This is the lesson I'm taking from the tv interview and the author talk. I can be scared. I can prepare. I can practice. I can think deeply about what I want to say and the best way to say it. I can mess up. But the important thing to remember is, I can do hard things. I will survive them. And sometimes I might even surprise myself and do better than I expected.
And so can you!
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