When I heard that Steve Cavanagh was going to be in the US for a quickie book tour I contacted his publicist and began working on arranging a phone interview. He flew in to Boston from Northern Ireland (just in time for St. Patrick's Day) and we arranged to have him call in to our studio from his hotel.
I was a really excited about this, I have wanted to interview him for years. And his new book, is utterly fabulous! I did not know where he was staying and I did not have a phone number for his publicist so we were really counting on him to call us. Otherwise, I had no clue how to contact him.
A few minutes before the appointed time our studio line began to ring and I answered it: "Hello, this is WYSO, is this Steve?" I could not hear anything. Then we got a dial tone. He had hung up. There was apparently something wrong with our studio line. He called right back, at least we assumed it was Steve calling, who else could it be? Same problem, he could surely hear me speaking but I could not hear him.
Fortunately he had my cell phone number as a backup and it began to ring, I could see the number he was calling in from was his personal cell phone, it had an Irish area code. We talked, I explained the problem, then I suggested we would try to call in to him. I asked him where he was staying and the room number to ask for at the front desk? Problem solved, right?
Well, that would have been too easy. Peter Hayes was busy looking up the number for the hotel. Have you tried calling in to a fancy hotel recently? It isn't much fun. We were sent to a voicemail queue: "dial one to make a reservation. dial two to cancel a reservation. dial three to inquire about booking a conference room. dial four to go insane, etc. There was no offering to dial a number to reach the front desk. Peter looked up a different number for the hotel. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, Steve is sitting there patiently waiting for me to navigate this voicemail inferno and connect to his room. We finally got a real person to answer the phone at the front desk. I told her I was calling for a guest, gave her his name, and the room number. She put us on hold while she checked the info out.Then my cell phone began ringing again,
it was Steve, Hi, how is it going? I'm still here waiting for your call? Yeah, I'm on hold with the front desk, we should be calling you any minute. I'm talking with Steve on my mobile while listening for the desk clerk on my headset. Steve, bless his heart, is a kind man, he hung up to wait for our call. He had been calling once again from his Irish mobile phone.
Well, the desk clerk come back on the line: "we do not have a guest registered under that name." Oh, this is never easy. And fancy hotels are really finicky about bothering famous guests if you don't have exactly the right information to get past them. Somehow I convinced her that I just talked to him, he's there in that room, please trust me and connect the call to that room number, he's famous, maybe he registered under a different name to conceal his true identity?"
Bless her heart, too, she reluctantly connected the call. Steve answered. I said: "they told me they don't have any Steve Cavanaghs registered at their hotel!" Steve, slightly sheepish, oh, yeah, "Steve Cavanagh" is my pen name, I'm registered under my real name...haha. He didn't laugh, but I did!
Who knew?! I didn't! I did not know it was a pen name! I learn something new every day. This author is so patient, so nice, such a great writer, and he gives a fabulous interview. Crossed him off my list at last.
We worked hard for this one. I hope you enjoy it!
The Book Nook on WYSO is presented by the Greene County Public Library with additional support from Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, Wright Memorial Public Library, and Tipp City Public.
