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A little birdie told me some exciting
news...very soon our cousin Melinda Chambers will be dropping in for
a visit. Okay, so she isn't making a national tour to each of
our homes but we WILL be able to see her on our televisions.
Melinda will be appearing on "The
Balancing Act", a one-hour nationally televised morning show that airs Monday through
Friday on Lifetime Television.
She and
husband Byron went to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida a couple weeks ago to
tape the segment in which she discusses her award-winning children's
books. Be sure to turn in (and set your DVR) on Tuesday, April
26 from 7:00 - 8:00 AM.
Melinda is
always too modest to broadcast news like this so I'm glad Mike
Spiker read about it in the State Journal then passed the word along
to me. When he emailed Melinda to congratulate her on the
wonderful news, she replied, "It was really exciting! I have
no clue what I said or how I did. I felt like I was on the
outside looking in."
Well, I was
excited too so I begged Melinda to share a few more details about
her adventure. She sent me a copy of the the article she had
posted in her
Homespun weekly column at HampshireReview.com.
"My husband
and I flew out of Dulles Airport in D.C. on the first Saturday in
April, the same day that Southwestern Airlines had a problem with a
hole in one of their planes, so they temporarily grounded their
fleet -- fortunately we were flying Jet Blue.
"The
flight was uneventful, but since we had left Hampshire county in
snow flurries, it was a welcomed change to see the palm trees and
the 80 degree weather. My interview wasn't until Monday
morning, so we spent the remainder of Saturday and all of Sunday
taking in the local sites of Fort Lauderdale and Dania Beach.
"Monday
morning came quite soon enough, and once again we were on the road.
The studio was located about a half an hour's drive away, so off we
went on I95. We quickly found the interstate to be 10 lanes of
bumper-to- bumper traffic, which seemed even worse than D.C.
traffic. Staying with the traffic, we managed to find our way
to the studio with time to spare.
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"Prying
my husband's white-knuckled fists off the dashboard, we headed
inside where we were greeted by a very friendly staff. My
first stop was to make-up, where they plastered my face with all
kinds of cream and color. When done, I looked at least 10
years younger, with about a half an inch of make-up. That was
my first unique experience, to be followed by a microphone attached
to my lapel and three cameras facing me.
"When
you're watching interviews on television, they look very relaxed and
easy. However, when facing the cameras, even though it's being
taped, it was a whole different ballgame for me. I can adlib
with the best of them, but this was definitely out of my comfort
zone. I had no idea what I had said, and when we did a re-take
halfway through, I said completely different things. I haven't
seen the tape since it's still in editing, which may take them a
while to decipher.
"I now
have the greatest respect for the TV industry, realizing first hand
that talking face-to-face to someone with cameras directed on you is
a lot different than a normal conversation. Anyway, it was
quite an experience and one that I won't soon forget.
"Flying
home, my husband and I went through the famed body scans at the Fort
Lauderdale airport, but made it out without too much fanfare.
Facing snow flurries once again, it was still good to see the
mountains of Hampshire County, and to get back to 'life as usual.'
I won't be making a career in the movie business any time soon."
For more
information about Melinda and her award-winning children's books,
visit Melinda's NEW personal
website. And if you miss the show on Tuesday, return to
this page and click on the video shown in the "Announcements"
section below. The link should automatically update so that
you may view the interview here. Hmmm...another Spiker Star is
Born.
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