Each week during the media blitz, Smith Publicity would send me a report detailing whom they had heard back from with requests for a copy of my novel. This was great because there were some I had missed given the number of emails coming in and I was able to add and then send those people copies ASAP.
The final week of the blitz was underway, and my team send press release inquiries to media in Redding, California where the book takes place. As I mentioned before, the book is inspired by true events that took place when I was abducted in Redding when I was 13. Early in the week I heard from The Redding Record Searchlight and KRCR-TV in Redding! I had once worked for the paper and knew KRCR-TV well, so this was exciting to hear that they were interested in my story.
I sent out copies to them that day. The reporter from the Record Searchlight and I emailed back and forth and she asked me a series of pre-interview questions including if I had a police report about my abduction. I didn’t, my parents didn’t, but I knew who probably would: The Redding Police Department.
After an initial phone call, they found the police report dated May 1, 1993. I got some other basic info and found out that the file was on microfilm and had not been digitized. I requested a copy of the report.
I sent the info I had on to the reporter who was unable to pick up a copy of the report just a copy of the call log from that day. Luckily, this had enough information to legitimize my story as being true, and the interview went on as scheduled.
So, on Thursday morning of my last week of the media blitz, I had a phone interview with Michele Chandler from The Redding Record Searchlight. The interview lasted about an hour, and I talked about what I remembered from the day of my abduction, what happened after, and about my book and its theme of friendship. It went very well.
That evening, the article was up on the Record Searchlight’s website (you can read it here!). The next morning, it was on the front page of the paper! I was very excited about this as were my family, friends, co-workers, and my team at Smith Publicity.
It had been a busy and productive three weeks for me and my book, The Field. Tomorrow, I’ll write about the week after the media blitz was over and some final thoughts.
