I’ve written many times that an author isn’t done when he turns in a manuscript. There’s still many hours of preparation for the months of selling after the release of a book. As part of that preparation for the release of The Colorful Characters of St. Louis, I spent nearly two hours Labor Day morning with Father Dominic Garramone, OSB, (right) the author of The Breadhead Bible and other fine books about bread baking published by Reedy Press. Lovers of warm bread from the oven will gain from a check of his website, breadmonk.com.
Father Dominic is a monk at St. Bede Abbey in Peru, Illinois. St. Louisans with long memories will remember Father Dominic for a cooking program he did on PBS and Channel 9 from 1999 to 2001. He’s a pro at giving interviews, and spent much of the time offering advice on the best way to answer questions during radio and television interviews. As my wife will tell you, I’m a better writer than a talker, so his advice was more than helpful. Basically, it was practice, practice, practice, and practice some more. I may not turn into the smoothest talker, but I won’t hem and haw when somebody asks me a tough question.
Jim Merkel the Writer 