Alas Poor Throat, I Coated It Well

Yesterday I recorded what will be episode 6 of the reality series on The Writing Show podcast with host Paula B. It was an interesting few days leading up to the interview, because on Friday and Saturday my voice -- hoarse and rough from a cold I got earlier in the week -- sounded pretty much like The Godfather.

It wasn't until Saturday afternoon when we were at the farmer's market in St. Jacobs that I purchased a giant bottle of Buckwheat honey and started swallowing tablespoon fulls of it every half an hour or so that my voice started to return close to normal.

I took my last swallow of honey immediately before recording the interview (which lasts about 45 minutes) and I only had to turn my microphone off about ten times or so to cough, blow my nose and clear my throat during that time -- of course, Paula and Alan do a phenomenal job of editing out such things, along with the usual uhms, ahs and ers that often accompany normal conversation. In fact, they edit so well, that I often come off sounding only a little bit like an idiot when I'm speaking.

Interestingly, Episode 3 of the reality series "Getting Publishing with Mark Leslie" (originally recorded in December 2006) hit the top 10 list of most downloaded episodes of the week.

I'm not sure why -- I'd like to think it's because of the handsome author shot of me holding my skull Yorick at a book signing in Toronto . . .