Random Thoughts: Revisiting Radio and other General Shenanigans

When I was six years old, I said I wanted to be a radio disc jockey, and I did that. A lot of you reading this are probably aware of my time as a radio diva (or divan, it gets a little blurry sometimes.) When I was twelve I said I wanted to be a writer, and yep, I am still doing that. The road to both of these things was circuitous and strange. I have a resume with a lot of odd jobs to prove it.

No, you can't see ye olde resume. It might tell you what mumblesomething means and we can't have that, now, can we?

It's been mumblesomething years since I've been on the air. People who have been in radio or are in radio often describe what they do as having been bitten by the radio bug. It's almost like once you choose it, it chooses you back. We always go back for more. I didn't quite believe this until the past few months.

Some things sort of accreted, nostalgia for crazy fun stuff the Revolution 101.1 team did at its zenith and discussions with friends who are still in the industry. David Miller of DeadDavesRadio.com has such enthusiasm for what he's doing with internet radio that it's contagious. And of course, there's my friend Dr. Ham who has continued volunteering at college radio since his college days mumblesomething years ago. He does a show Friday nights that is off the wall, especially when he breaks out the Punishment Songs or his friend Criswell stops by to do voice impersonations.

Music is sort of a big deal for me as a writer. It might not appear in the work, but sometimes a character will have a theme song or a favorite band, or a certain sound evokes the mood of a scene or story. Music can help anchor me in the world that I'm trying to write when I need a little extra help getting into the head space. Other times, music is totally distracting. It depends on the writing day. But, it's, you know, a thing. Lately, I've been more into it for some reason.

So, all of these factors combined lead to one thing, my return to the airwaves! (Can I get a triumphant spin of the radio dial? Maybe a little kazoo?)

I'm volunteering for the summer of 2013 once a week at WRKC, which broadcasts out of downtown Wilkes-Barre, PA. It's Kings College. Sue Henry runs it if any of you NEPA folks are about to go to college and wondering about broadcast careers.

The coolest part?

WRKC was my very first radio experience. When I was in high school, Bob and I had a morning show there over the summer once a week. Talk about coming full circle. Wow.

Wednesdays from 1p-3p if you're interested and it is streaming online.

In other news... still writing the dragon novel, waiting for news on the play and publication date of the short story Aliens In The Soda Machine.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention that today's under-caffeinated rage was alleviated by this blog post by Rune Skelley. (While you're there, if you are a writer type, check out their random prompt generator. It is awesome. Actually, if you get nothing else out of this whole blog post, check out their prompt generator. Just do it. Good times.)