I was surprised by an email the other day while my head was more focused on worldly matters like leaking water mains and fill in planting for my garden. Apparently some book club had picked up on a work I self published in 2014. They wanted to do an interview.

Now as a writer it’s easy to become a little euphoric at these very rare junctures, On the other hand one should always apply the old axiom ‘If it sounds too good to be true – it probably is.‘ So I replied guardedly and received a second email full of words of admiration, which I felt mildly flattered by. However, there was an offer of graphic design for redesigned book covers and other promotional material. None of which I was interested in.

Then right in the penultimate paragraph there was a little note that there would be a fee for this material, presumably whether I wanted it or not. For about thirty seconds I felt a a little torn. Should I try to say yes to the interview and no to the other stuff?

I discussed the matter with my wife and let her read the emails, on the simple premise that two sets of eyeballs on the same material are better than one set skewed by hope. False or not.

Just in case, I spent an hour or two updating my profile on a couple of sites, putting up an up to date profile picture and a quick once over for glaring errors

Given that the Paul Calvin story in question ‘A Falling of Angels‘ (Not the W.T.Delaney book of the same name) is over 12 years old, I wondered how much of it I would remember for an Interview, so I began reading my proof copy once more to remind myself of the content. And yes, I found it enjoyable, even relevant, and the experience revived a few memories of who why and where the ideas within the book had come from. It reads well enough. and that remains my opinion. To me that’s the only one that counts.

To cut a long story short I have elected to politely decline this never to be repeated, one time only offer. If a book club (or anyone) wants to talk to me, ask questions about my work and ideas, given time constraints I’m sure there is a place for the meeting of minds. A Zoom conference or whatever. That is fine. Even a list of questions to be answered via a YouTube / Bitchute / Rumble video, buckshee, free of charge. Happy to help.

However to make up unrequested services, no matter how good, then attempt to charge an author for the privilege as the price of being interviewed, that is unacceptable. An interview is an author provided service, therefore the interviewer should pay up, not the interviewee.

Well that’s it for the moment, I’m watching the ground water back up from the leaking main, hoping against hope that it doesn’t undermine the foundations or the concrete of my yard. My neighbours cattle are grazing contentedly in my meadows and there is a list of jobs a mile long for the next bout of sunny weather.

Here endeth the lesson.