Fall 2017 Update I: Where's that TSL Interview...??

Hi!! 

I haven’t forgotten the blog, and I definitely haven’t forgotten that figure skating’s Grand Prix (2017 edition) begins later this week. More about both of those things shortly. But first I’m gonna talk about something that, apparently, WAS forgotten.

Some of you may recall me sharing-- many, MANY months back-- that I'd been contacted to do an interview about Skating on Air with Dave Lease of THE SKATING LESSON (TSL). The results were to be posted on the TSL website and YouTube channel in coordination with my book being chosen as TSL's next book club offering.

Well, late last year we met up on Skype and recorded around 90 minutes worth of material. About the book, about televised skating of the past, and how things have changed even since the book was published, and plenty of stuff in-between. It was fun. Even though I'm terribly unaccustomed to being on the receiving end of questions!

I was initially told the edited piece would be uploaded for all to see within the next couple of weeks. Then "a couple weeks" became months. And as the 2016-17 season wore on, I tried several more times to get a response out of Dave, figuring perhaps the season had just become too busy and my "evergreen" (meaning "relevant anytime") interview was getting saved for the lull just before Worlds, or perhaps was now being saved for the off-season. Unfortunately, Dave has not responded to any of my efforts since last December.

If you've been to the TSL website lately you might presume, like me, that the site is no longer owned by Dave (though it continues to be called The Skating Lesson). The TSL channel has again become active on YouTube, with Dave back to hosting “This and That” on a regular basis since late summer. And of course, TSL's Twitter account remains active on an almost daily basis.

What's going on? I couldn't really tell you, since my final attempt to get an explanation from Dave was as fruitless as the others. At this point, you probably know more than I do!

All I know is that my TSL interview looks to have gone to that dreaded location where the sun don't shine, unicorns don't run with the rainbows, and unpurchased TV pilots meet their final resting place. We shall accept it and move on. OK? OK.

I'm sorry you didn't get to see it. I didn't think it was half-bad myself!

In the event that you’d like to read and/or listen to interviews about Skating on Air that HAVE seen the light of day, try these:

THIS takes you to Allison Manley’s review of the book—and “Episode 58” (on the list immediately to the right of the interview) is the accompanying podcast. If you’ve never given a listen to Allison’s interviews before—or haven’t done so in a while—you might want to clear some time. The Manleywoman Skatecast is no longer in production, but it remains a great body of work!

THIS is my interview with Vlad Luchianov, who maintained the World Figure Skating blog before becoming a regular contributor to IceNetwork.

THIS link contains a nice review of the book courtesy of the My Friend Amy blog (which still reviews books on the regular)…

And here's an interview she did with me too.

Oh, and while I’m in shameless self-promotion mode… if you’d rather just skip to the book’s Goodreads page…  (Oh hey, someone named Lucia just gave my book a 4-star rating this past September 28. Thanks Lucia!)

Or my publisher’s page (the preferred place to order it online):

Or finally the Amazon page, where you can order it and/or read 11 reviews averaging 4.5 stars…

As for Regular State of the Skate Stuff—stay tuned, because I plan to post an update (including Rostelecom Cup predictions) later in the week. A hint… it’s not ending. It’s EVOLVING.

Thanks for your support, as always!