The Hospital Visit

Our family has a new member, its name is Asthma. It's a real bitch, but we will do what we can to keep the peace. You know it's like that dodgy family member who always outstays their welcome, but you can't get rid of them. You've just got to hope they don't visit too often.

Along with asthma, came our first stay in hospital. Miss 4 and I had a "special two night sleepover". Not that there was much sleeping what with me in protective mother overdrive mode and of course, the regular nurse visits to check Miss 4's oxygen levels and administer medicine. It was a scary time as anyone who has had a sick kid would understand. It was also an introduction to a world that unfortunately we may continue to find ourself from time to time.

So, here's bigwords' Guide to Hospital Stays.

1 - If you think you need your phone charger then it's most probable you will need a change of underwear and pajamas Trust me on this one, sleeping in your jeans is not comfortable and spending the next morning in them is just plain gross. But hey, at least you have a fully charged phone to ring people to let them know you smell a little fishy.

2 - Do not eat the green jelly. It is that colour for a reason - there is nothing real in it. And definitely do not eat the hotdog wrapped in alfoil or the "mashed potato". And don't get food from a nearby takeaway restaurant expecting a higher quality of cuisine. The spring rolls also did not have anything real in them either, unless you count THE LENGTH OF STRING.

3 - Bring headphones and panadol. The first item helps drown out the sounds of other people's crying children. The second deals with sleep deprivation. These things are usually medicated with wine, but drinking in the children's ward is like having a bong at a Young Liberal's convention.

4 - Do brings lots of coins for the vending machines. As evidenced by Number 2, hospital food is not nice. There are times when bbq, salt and vinegar and cheese and onion cover all the major food groups. Coke and Cherry Ripes are just the icing on the "highly-processed, full of additives" cake.

5 - On the topic of cake, do not offer the very skinny teen a chocolate cup cake. She is in hospital for a reason.

6 - Do get people to bring real coffee in with them, as no amount of milk and sugar can make instant coffee taste good. No matter how desperate you are, it is still best to have caffeine withdrawal than drink poo flavoured water.

7 - Do talk with the other parents, it helps you realise you are not alone. And they smell bad too, so you don't feel so gross.

8 - Do take the time when you are awake with worry to kiss your sleeping child. It will help calm you and give you something to do when all that's on television is football and the only magazine is one detailing the arrival of Bec Hewitt's first baby.

9 - Do watch where your child is walking when playing in the communal toy room so as to avoid her stepping in the warm wee of a yet toilet-trained toddler you just met.

10 - Do thank the doctors and nurses - they are amazing people. A-MAZ-ING.

Have you ever had to spend time with your child in hospital? Have you got any handy tips?

The Mentors

I have adopted the following four women as my mentors. They don't know it yet, but when they read this they will nod and laugh and when they do that they will through magic be my mentors. Since I became a regular Twitterer and blogger I was drawn to these women. They write books. They do what I want to do. Through sheer hard work and determination, they have followed their passion. So, I thought to get myself motivated I would go to the women who inspire me - to get a virtual kick up my backside. To remind myself I can do it. I also wanted to, in my own small way, help promote four unique female voices in Australian literature. Four strong women. Four great writers. 


I sent them all the same questions - these are their responses, in their own words, their own styles. They made me laugh and when I read Kylie Ladd's explanation of why she loves writing, I even cried. Here goes it, a few words from my mentors...

  LISA HEIDKE

 The biggest misconception about being a writer: I have three -

      1) Writing chick-lit is easy

       2) You’ll earn a fortune (!)

       3) Once you achieve publication, you’ll continue being published. NO! You’re only as good as your last book.

What was your longest stretch of writer's block and how to did you overcome it? I don’t think I’ve had writer’s block – I tend to think of that as an ongoing ailment.

However,  I often have feelings of ‘blah’ and malaise. These feelings generally coincide with bleak patches in my personal life and/or when tackling difficult/emotional scenes where I can’t quite get a handle on my characters. (My characters tend to be difficult and petulant.)

The longest stretch has probably been about two weeks. After that, I get bored. I slap myself around and tell me to get over myself. I light a candle, play ‘Defying Gravity’ very loudly, sit down at my computer and force myself to write – ABOUT ANYTHING!

What is the best piece of advice someone gave you when attempting to write your first book? Other than ‘DON’T’? (Thanks, Mum!) Peter Bishop, who was the Creative Director of Varuna for many years, told me not to be in a rush to get published. He said that there were very few overnight sensations and that, in the long run, they often stumbled. He told me the average time taken from starting writing a manuscript to publication was ten years.

After I picked myself up off the floor, he continued with ‘during that time you’ll go through highs and lows, develop your craft, and if you’re really serious, you’ll have a strong body of work to show publishers when the time is right.’

Interestingly, it took me eight years of absolute toil to get a contract and ten years before my first novel, Lucy Springer Gets Even (Lucy Bounces Back) was published. (But I had another two, What Kate did Next and Claudia’s Big Break, almost ready to go.)

What two words should never be in the same sentence together? There are probably a million, but today I am going with ‘amicable separation’.

Your forced to write your next novel on a deserted island and aside from essential items, including your computer, you can only bring three things with you - what would you bring? Grey Goose Vodka, a solar powered Utopia (dual action, waterproof bunny vibrator), and a change of underwear!

Why do you love writing? Writing gives me the freedom to say and do things with my characters that I’d never dare to in real life. Although sometimes I do test my characters and use their dialogue just to get a reaction. (Should revise this as it gets me into trouble and generally ends in tears!) For my characters though, they can retrieve those situations, make them funny, even life affirming.

When starting out, I have a blank canvas and 85,000 words to fill...I love stream of consciousness mode where I run with whatever I am thinking about...I have no order and no inner filter.

I have characters in my head now, telling me what to do and it can be intense.

I love letting my imagination run amuck and create characters, relationships, and adventures and have them play out in satisfying endings that rarely happen in real life.

Lisa lives in Sydney.  Lucy Springer Gets Even (Lucy Bounces Back) (Allen & Unwin, 2009), her first book, was quickly followed by What Kate Did Next (2010).

Lisa’s third novel, Claudia’s Big Break, was published in January 2011. In February, Claudia’s Big Break, was listed in SMH’s Spectrum as one of the Top Ten Australian Best Sellers.

Her fourth novel, tentatively titled Stella Makes Good will be published in January 2012.

You can find out more about Claudia’s Big Break and her other titles, as well as read her sporadic blog, at www.lisaheidke.com You can also follow her on Twitter @lisaheidke

DR ANITA HEISS

The biggest misconception about being a writer is: That it is a glamorous life!

What was your longest stretch of writer's block and how to did you overcome it? I don't recall really having writer's block. With my novels, I always do chapter breakdowns and character profiles / arcs before I start writing, so if I get stuck on something I simply move onto another chapter and pick up there. I already know the character know the direction the novel is generally moving in, and writing further on then informs me on how to handle the previous issue. Anyway, what's that quote? "There is no such thing as writer's block. We are the block we percieve." I think that is so true.

What is the best piece of advice someone gave you when attempting to write your first book? I wrote my first book Sacred Cows 16 years ago and don't recall asking anyone for advice back then. The best advice I received later was by Linda Jaivin http://www.lindajaivin.com.au/  who said in relation to novels I should ensure that every few pages at least one of senses has been used in detail. I've since done workshops with deadly authors like Kathryn Heyman http://www.kathrynheyman.com/ who helped me to understand the importance of using my senses when describing settings and so on.

What two words should never be in the same sentence together? Ok, so I googled this question to see if there was some serious literary rule I should know. I found an article that said that the two words that should never be used in a sentence are 'Facebook' and 'Privacy'. I let you all discuss that amongst yourselves.

For me personally, I want to be a full-time writer and I want to be the best I can be. So, in my world, the two words that should never be in the same sentence are 'Anita' and 'failure'.

You are forced to write your next novel on a deserted island and aside from essential items, including your computer, you can only bring three things with you - what would you bring? 1. My pillows - if I haven't slept well with my four pillows (one to cuddle) I won't possibly be able to write my best-selling Island Dreaming novel. 2. Crochet bikini- seeing as it's deserted it's probably the only time I'll be able to wear it and not worry :) 3. Endless packet of Tim Tams - does this need explaining? Of course, it won't help the bikini look but eating chocolate is also part of my writing routine.

Why do you love writing? I love writing because it allows me to be creative while educating and entertaining a range of audiences across genres. Whether I am writing adult novels, kids novels or even travel articles, the research and story development of my works nearly always requires me to have 'fun'. I often have to suffer for my craft ie travel, shop, eat, dance, meet interesting people and eat a lot of chocolate while writing!

Dr Anita Heiss is a member of the Wiradjuri nation of central NSW, and is an author, poet, satirist and social commentator. Her published works include the adult novels Not Meeting Mr Right, Avoiding Mr Right and Manhattan Dreaming, the historical novel Who Am I? The Diary of Mary Talence, Sydney 1937, poetry collection I’m not racist, but… and non-fiction text Dhuuluu-Yala (To Talk Straight) – Publishing Aboriginal Literature. In 2004 she was listed on the Bulletin /Microsoft ‘Smart 100’ and has since won three Deadly Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Literature. She is currently a Director of the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy, a Books in Homes Ambassador, an Indigenous Literacy Day Ambassador and Patron of South Sydney Youth Services. Anita has been invited to every major writing festival in Australia and has performed her work in America, Canada, France, Spain, Austria, the UK, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Fiji and New Zealand. Anita has made guest appearances on the Einstein Factor,  The Late Session, First Tuesday Book Club, The Circle, Living Black and Message Stick. Anita’s latest book is Paris Dreaming (Bantam 2011). www.anitaheiss.com On Twitter she is @anitaheiss

KYLIE LADD

The biggest misconception about being a writer is: The biggest misconception about being a writer is... that it’s in any way glamorous. Not washing your hair for three days because you’re not going anywhere other than school pick up is not glamorous. Three figure royalty cheques are not glamorous. Reviewers writing that they hated your male lead so much they wanted to cut off all his hair and then disfigure his face with the scissors is not glamorous. (That was in my first ever review. I cannot believe I am still writing.) Dreading reviews, agonising over sales figures and hating Stephanie Meyer because WTF? She can’t write for peanuts and look at HER sales is not glamorous. Wondering why you can’t even crack an invite to the Emerging Writer’s Festival is, ahem, not glamorous. And really pathetic. Except it’s where I got my big break and I wanted to return in triumph, damnit! Spending all day writing one thousand words and then finding when you re-read them the next day that only about 300 are useable is not glamorous. Also soul destroying.

The thing is though that whenever I’m on Twitter and read Anita Heiss’s tweets being a writer does sound glamorous. The parties! The travel! The media coverage! I am clearly doing something wrong, but it would be even less glamorous to admit that.

What was your longest stretch of writer's block and how to did you overcome it? I have never had writer’s block! Don’t hate me. For one, I started writing fiction when my children were both still at home all day... I didn’t have the time to have writer’s block. If I got 20 minutes while Playschool was on I had to use it. Even now, when they’re both at school, I don’t struggle in that regard. Sometimes a tricky idea or sentence will tie me down for 15 minutes or so, and that’s agony (I’m not the sort of writer who can go on regardless - I need to have the road behind me rolled and sealed before I break new ground), but because I am such a planner (Lisa will say freak) I always know what I’m going to write each day, the rough territory I have to traverse. I like that - being able to see the horizon gives me the courage to strike out.

What is the best piece of advice someone gave you when attempting to write your first book? I never told anyone, including my husband, that I was writing my first novel - or my second or third (which was the first one I had published). I couldn’t bear the idea of failing miserably and having to admit it! Therefore I’ve never had any advice thrown at me, but if I had to give any it would be simply this: sit down. The most important part of being a writer is showing up; is staying there, bum on seat and fingers on keys until the job is done. I’ve been writing seriously (that is, for publication, for pay) for almost 12 years now, and I’m only just beginning to have days where I feel like I have some idea of what I’m doing. Talent is important, but persistence should never, ever be under-rated.

What two words should never be in the same sentence together? Two words: Non-alcoholic wine. Invalid password. No swimming. Moist panties (that last line is just to make @annieb25 squirm.)

You are forced to write your next novel on a deserted island and aside from essential items, including your computer, you can only bring three things with you - what would you bring? If I was a nice person I’d say my husband and two kids, Declan and Cameron. But no way! I’m there to write a novel, and Declan would just want me to watch him surfing, Cameron would take over my laptop to play Moshi Monsters and Craig would keep suggesting I be Ginger to his Professor. My very favourite things in this world apart from writing and my family are reading, swimming and the beach, so this one’s easy - I’d take some sunscreen, my bikini and a fully-stocked, solar-powered Kindle. Bliss! And, hey, if I’ve got my laptop I can Skype my family every day. OK, maybe once a week. Month.

Why do you love writing? I don’t always love writing. Sometimes I HATE writing. Quite often I wish I’d been a  hairdresser instead, or a bank teller, except then I’d have to get out of my pyjamas and leave the house. Some days I think everything that I’ve written is utter, unmitigated crap - that I have no clue and no hope. But then, just occasionally, I string some words together and they click. They feel right; they nestle, gleaming, alongside each other like pearls on a necklace. Getting a sentence or a metaphor or even a paragraph just right is the most wonderful feeling in the word... somehow expressing with words precisely what you see in your mind, what you feel in your heart. My second novel, Last Summer, comes out in July. Over the last three months I’ve read it through four times as part of editing and proofing. And, you know, I’m quite proud of it. Most of it. But in those 92,000 words there are precisely three sentences that glow for me; that I got right; that lit me up every single time I read them, no matter how sick of the damn book I was. That’s why I write, why I love writing - for those three sentences. For those rare moments when you absolutely nail it.

Kyle Ladd has written about parenting, jury service, the World Cup, egg donation, the Edinburgh Festival, the prefrontal cortex and losing her religion, but all people ever ask her about are her infidelity books. Her second novel (fourth book), Last Summer, will be published by Allen and Unwin in July, and is available for preorder now through Booktopia. Hint. And you can also follow her on twitter @kylie_ladd

KERRI SACKVILLE

The biggest misconception about being a writer is? I think people assume that writers are private creatures who sit in isolation and pound away at their computers in self-imposed solitude. In my experience, writers are extremely social and crave company and recognition. Oh, and we drink a lot, too.

What was your longest stretch of writer's block and how to did you overcome it? Eighteen months. I didn’t write a word for eighteen months after my sister died three weeks before my youngest child was born. It was hideous. I honestly thought I’d never write again. I felt like a part of me had died too. Then I stumbled onto Twitter. Twitter helped me get my writing mojo back. It changed my life. I love my tweeps and owe them everything.

What is the best piece of advice someone gave you when attempting to write your first book? My agent read the first draft of my book and said ‘It’s great, but you need to put more of yourself into it.’ I thought... MORE? It was hard, because I felt vulnerable at times putting so much personal stuff into the book, but in the end, it was the key to making it work. 

What two words should never be in the same sentence together?

You know, I came up with all sorts of disgusting combinations of words involving bodily secretions and colours, but in the end the most offensive pair of words I could think of was ‘perfect children’.

Your forced to write your next book on a deserted island and aside from essential items, including your computer, you can only bring three things with you - what would you bring? Okay, I’m assuming my computer will contain pictures and movies of my kids, so I will say: Several warm socks. I can’t bear to have cold feet. I sleep in socks even on the hottest summer nights. There is no way I could function without them.

My coffee machine. I become blind and twitchy without coffee. I couldn’t negotiate a QWERTY keyboard without coffee. I’d lie helpless and foetal under a palm tree until I was rescued.

Dental floss. Can you imagine anything more awful than being stuck on a desert island with coconut in your teeth and not being able to get it out???

Why do you love writing? You know how people love going to the gym? Or eating chocolate cake? Or having sex? That’s how I feel about writing. I feel agitated when I haven’t done it for a while, I crave it, I become transported when I’m doing it, and I feel a bit high when I’ve finished. It’s my drug. Always has been.

Kerri Sackville is a writer, blogger and mother of three. She has written extensively for mainstream media and parenting magazines, and is a regular contributor to the hugely successful website Mamamia. Her popular blog, Life And Other Crises, details the daily dramas of her life as a 40-something wife, mum, friend, bunny-wrangler and owner of an improbably white house. Kerri’s first book When My Husband Does The Dishes...A Memoir Of Marriage And Motherhood is being released in May 2011 by Random House Australia. Kerri is an avid reader and obsessive Twitterer, and in her free time enjoys eating Nutella, drinking caffeine with friends, and lying very still on the couch. She can be found on Twitter @kerrisackville

Thanks so much Lisa, Anita, Kylie and Kerri xx

This Week I'm Grateful for Superglue

As you are aware, we are in the process of selling our house. I have been to my fair share of house inspections, but never before have I sold a house. Actually, let me clarify that, never before have I sold a house with three children, under the age of five, living in it. Not only do I feel like I am living in a display home, but I also feel displaced. I look on the walls and there are no pictures of my family. On the sink there are no dishes and in the bathroom there are crisp, white towels hanging on the rails which I have never used to dry myself. It is tricky enough keeping a handle on the piles of "things" my husband leaves everywhere, but when you spend hours cleaning the house, neatly stacking books on the bookshelf and carefully arranging the dolls house furniture to mirror your own anally clean home, it is soul destroying to discover your eldest children have been quietly following behind you and messing everything up. Even the baby did a vomit on the carpet. That is why, this week I am grateful for superglue. Just a little dab on my kids' bottoms, feet and hands and *presto* they stay securely fastened in place for hours at a time. It is a truly marvellous product and I must say I am very proud of my ingenuity. Superglue, I love you.

This post is part of Maxabella Loves weekly blog hop.

The 10 Things

bigwords' List of The 10 Things 
(Annoying things about being a woman, that are rarely spoken about)

1 - When you're pulling out your tampon and a rush of wee squirts out all over your hand.
2 - When you're getting a pap smear and the speculum hooks onto a pubic hair and you're already so embarrassed you just grin and bare it.
3 - When you go to run somewhere in public and remember mid-stride you aren't wearing a sports bra so are forced to hold onto your boobs. The situation is amplified if any nubile, perky young women are anywhere near you or if there are workmen on the street.
4 - When you are getting a bra fitted and the woman reaches around and cups your breasts to place them into the bra. Excuse me, I might need my bra fitted because I have been wearing this piece of grey tassled material over my boobs for years now, but I can grab my own tits. That would only be acceptable if the person with their hands on my mammaries was Matt Damon researching a new role as a David Jones lingerie specialist.
5 - When you are doing a pilates class and the woman next to you does a huge fart and everyone looks at you and you want to point at the culprit and yell: "It was not me, it was her! Back off".
6 - Anything to do with leaking boobs, leaking vaginas and the overall lose of dignity when giving birth either naturally or via c-section. There's just too many gross things to list here. And yes, the baby is all worth it in the end. That goes without saying. Yet, c'mon having your husband give you a sponge bath while blood drips down your leg is not fun. No-one finds that liberating.
7 - When you need to do a fart during sex, but hold on.
8 - And I can't go there without at least mentioning the taste of sperm. Raw yeast is not yummy. Enough said.
9 - When you use the tweasers to try and pull a rogue hair out of your nipple and you accidently pinch at the skin leaving an unsightly red, bleeding hole. * ahem * That didn't happen to me, it happened to "a friend".
10 - When you go to swallow your pill without water and it gets stuck in your throat making you gag. See number 8.

There's plenty more, but after my recent post about privacy, I fear I may have shared too much. Now it's over to you to share. Go on... what annoys you most about being a woman, but you're too afraid to say out loud?

This Week I'm Grateful For An End to the Torture

It's been an agonising three years dealing with our local council. The catch-cry of bureaucracy is "to inefficiency and beyond". But after an excruciating period of hair pulling and fist shaking, our subdivision has been approved. I have finally broken free from the red tape. For Sale signs are up on our land and out the front of our house. I am grateful for an end to the torture. The only problem now is finding the elusive "hop and pop" house the 2yo Teenager is convinced we are buying! We don't have the heart to tell her we have no idea what she is talking about and even if we did, we probably wouldn't be able to afford it anyway!


This grateful post is part of the lovely Maxabella Loves' blog hop. Pop over and visit her one day.

The Privacy Issue

The other night I woke up at 2am. I lay staring at the ceiling. I felt a tight knot in my stomach, thoughts crammed my head. I was troubled and to be honest a little anxious and distressed. I felt crowded.

I got out of bed. My husband's snores pierced the quiet of the night. My children slept soundly. I decided to take advantage of my alone time. We've been so busy and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, but there was something bugging me. There was something which had been worrying me and if I didn't sort it out I knew I would get increasingly agitated.

I turned on my computer.

I turn it off each night in the hope my mind will switch off too. Quite often it doesn't and I dream in hashtags and 140 characters. The computer has become an extension of me. I am constantly online, whether it be updating our diary, working, communicating with friends through Facebook and Twitter, shopping, researching and blogging. To be frank, I am on the computer too much and need to start imposing "computer free" time, much like "wine free" days. Except I've never been good at that, it never lasts for long. I just swap to gin or vodka slushies. And when I switch the computer off, I invariably find myself checking my phone for Twitter updates.

But I know it's time to get serious about computer usage because lately, I've felt my online life and my real life were starting to get a little blurry. Not that I am a different person online. I am exactly the same. Ok, perhaps I am a little wittier online and my avatar is photoshopped. In real life, my hair is messy and I haven't washed the mascara off from the night before. I also smell of coffee and baby poo. It's the privacy lines which have become blurred.

You see, on Facebook I have a list of friends and family who I have worked with, grown up with, lived with, danced with and shared many personal moments with. I have my privacy settings set so that only my "friends" can access my photos and personal details. I post pictures of my children. Unlike when I blog, my husband and children's names are used freely. I share my life in the knowledge I will not be judged, my flaws are known and accepted. There's no trolls or discussion. It's just me, being me. It's a safe place.

On Twitter, I network and I share with strangers and friends alike. I am open to judgement or comment. I feel more inclined to be increasingly candid about politics and issues which annoy or worry me. I can be a bit more bolshy. I love the freedom, the immediacy, the banter and the sense of community. I like to be challenged or questioned. The ability to reveal the essence of me with no boundaries.

When I blog, I write about what is in my heart, what I need to get out. It's a form of therapy. It's a place to challenge myself as a writer. I choose what I am going to reveal. I choose what to keep private. It's my space, but it's also a public platform. The only privacy controls I have in place are what I impose on myself.

I am not exactly sure when it began, but slowly my real and online lives started heading for a collision. I started strengthening friendships with other bloggers. I even met a lot of people in real life and they were as gorgeous as I had expected them to be. I started uploading photos of my children to Twitter. I knew there'd be friends who'd love to see them, just as I love seeing pictures of their children. I didn't think about all the strangers, all the unknown elements. As I became more comfortable, I started putting photos of my children on my blog. The blogging community is kind and loving, right? Everyone else does it, why not me? The line in the sand had disappeared. Rules I set myself, about sharing private details about myself and my family, were being broken by me.

Twitter contacts and other bloggers became Facebook friends. My newsfeed started transforming into a blog post reader. My non-blogger friends' news was being swallowed up by posts I already had seen in my Goggle Reader and my Twitter stream. For some people, Facebook is only another avenue for blog promotion and that is it. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great way to promote blogs. I use it too, but I also rely on it to keep in touch with friends and family all over the world; it's a special place for sharing. I felt lost in my personal space. I started not wanting to put photos of my children up on Facebook and I questioned if I should put their real names. I was feeling nervous about not accepting friend requests. I started feeling rude, dismissive and uncomfortable. It weighed on me. I retreated from Twitter. I retreated from Facebook. I had a social media melt down.

So, the other night when my sanctuary, my bedroom, felt like a cell, like the walls were closing in and I tossed and turned. And when the awful din of my thoughts buzzing in my head kept me awake, my eyes staring into the darkness, I knew I had to do something. I turned on my computer and I regained control. I drew the line back in the sand. I "rearranged" my Facebook list, getting back to my core family and friends (and some new ones I'd made recently). I then opened my blog page and I took down all the photos of my children and my husband. I took back control of my privacy.

I knew the people who cared about me, people who are learning bit-by-bit about me through my blog and on Twitter, people who I am slowly building new friendships, these people, they would understand. They would identify with my dilemma, they would recognise that I needed to take a step back and take back the reigns. I knew I was doing the right thing.

And when I was done, I felt the tight feeling from my chest disappear. I felt the pressure subside. I could breathe again. I retreated to my sanctuary.

Then I slept.

This week I'm Grateful for Opportunities

I was interviewed by the gorgeous Carole Whitelock on ABC 891 this week. The topic was blogging. My heart was beating out of my chest and my mouth was sandpaper-dry. I cursed myself for not bringing in a bottle of gin to calm my nerves. Having previously worked in radio news you'd think I'd be fine, but there's something about going live which gets your pulse racing!

Here's a recording of the interview taken by my husband.

BIGWORDS' ABC INTERVIEW

He put his iPhone against the speakers of his car and recorded it while looking after the three kids. Miss 4 The Cat listened excitedly for a few minutes, while watching me on the webcam. When I didn't respond to her repeated attempts to say hello to me, she got bored and rushed off to do craft. I don't blame her, an interview about blogging wouldn't have been my cup at tea at her age either. The 2yo Teenager and the Chilled-out Baby, slept right through it!

I had the best time. I loved the rush. I did, however, have to listen back to the recording later in the afternoon as I had no memory of what I'd actually said during the interview. All I could hear was my heart thumping. The nerves took a glass of champagne to calm down, but not before I tried to unlock a stranger's car, forcing me to go bright red, niggle nervously and do a skid in my Toyota as I sped away.

Despite swearing to myself, as I walked into the studio, that I would never do radio again, I loved it. And yes, I would jump at the chance to do it again. I'm grateful for the opportunity.

This blog post is part of Maxabella Loves' blog hop. Go and check out her gorgeous blog if you get a moment.