Lights, Camera . . . Panic!

Just got the news I'm going to be doing some TV interviews to talk about Mama Does Time Including one on a certain well-known morning show based in New York CIT-TAY, with which I happen to have a marital 'in.'

Okay, it's the NBC TODAY Show. I'll be on the couch Tuesday, Nov 4, between 9:30 and 10 am, barring any Election Day meltdowns.

So now the worrying begins.

I not only have to sound good, I have to look good (or, at least presentable). Meaning my customary writing clothes -- giant sweat pants and bunny slippers -- won't do. Even my dress-up Florida clothes -- lots of swirly, flowery patterns, and shoes showing toes -- aren't right. I mean, I don't know much about styles, considering I haven't changed my haircut since 1979. But I do know that people Up North dress in dark colors this time of year, and nobody wears pink plush bedroom slippers with animal heads, at least not in public.

I need a fashion makeover. Maybe I should write Ask Mama for help. That Rosalee Deveraux would straighten me out! After all, she has counseled there's no such thing as TOO much when it comes to animal prints . . . and that's certainly good fashion advice.

She's also an expert at make-up, and I could use a few tips. If I want to look any younger than Neanderthal Gal under those TV lights, I'll have to slather on the pancake with a trowel.

Then again, I could just stop worrying about how I look, and let my work speak for itself . . .

Yeah, right.

A Great Face for Radio

Well, it's finally here. My official book tour for Mama Does Time. I'm in Tampa, Fla., prepping for my debut signing, Thur., 10-16, 7 p.m. at the wonderful Inkwood Books. I'm staying over with a good friend, who is supplying me with ample cups of herbal tea to calm my first-time-author anxieties.

I did my first "media'' . . . an interview on Tampa's WUSF-FM with Bobbie O'Brien, public radio reporter par excellence. Radio's super, because you can just relax and talk. There's no stress over hair, clothes, crater-sized wrinkles ... At nearly 55, I've got a GREAT face for radio!

Tomorrow's the big day: a morning interview on WFLA-TV (Gulp! Hope the turquoise-colored jacket, the same color as Mama's convertible, looks OK. (Second thoughts: Will I look like I'm wearing a Realtor's blazer?)

Silly concerns, I know. And not very literary. But there it is. Wonder if Denis Johnson worried how his hair looked when he accepted last year's National Book Award?