I recently made an enjoyable visit to Hailsham FM to appear as a guest on this community radio station.
The non-profit making station, run entirely by volunteers, serves Hailsham, East Sussex and its surrounding villages, with a mix of local news, traffic updates, weather, a variety of music and specialist shows and can be heard via online link worldwide.
Hailsham FM originally started broadcasting as ‘Festival FM’ in 2013 – a temporary pop-up station for the Hailsham Arts Festival. Following its initial success, the station obtained a full-time community radio licence and has been broadcasting ever since as Hailsham FM on 95.9 FM.
My visit to their studio at 2b St Mary’s Walk BN27 1AF – just off the High Street by Truffles (or up from the North Street car park) – was to be interviewed by Simon Herbert on Saturday, June 6th, about my background as an author and my latest thriller, Beggars Belief, in which a gunman, disguised as a beggar, commits a murder in Eastbourne.
I discovered that the station broadcasts a wide range of programmes by presenters of all ages. Shows vary from local news, chat, and quizzes to Rock ‘n’ Roll and other specialist music programmes.
Simon presents Saturday Morning with Simon Herbert and Stephen Rednapp, featuring a mix of music, chat and guest interviews from 10am to 1pm. The busy Mr Herbert, who has been a volunteer at the station since 2013, fits his broadcasts in between working at a bank and being with his wife, family and dogs. He told me: “It’s been a pleasure helping the station to grow to a full-time FM, with an Ofcom licence, and providing a valuable community service.”
Simon is an excellent interviewer. He immediately put me at ease, and, in addition to talking to me about my four crime thrillers, he asked me to reveal anecdotes featuring showbiz and sports stars as told in my celebrity book My Life With The Stars.
Other local authors and writers should take advantage of this excellent means of communication, as local Eastbourne author, Alex Hudson has done.
Hailsham FM also holds a Short Story Competition for which entries are read out by actor Brian Capron, best known as killer, Richard Hillman in British Soap Opera, Coronation Street. I’m delighted that Brian has also endorsed my latest crime thriller, Beggars Belief: Deadly Disguise and Web of Lies, a fast-paced whodunit set in Eastbourne.
During my interview, we discussed the other genres in which I’ve previously written, including a fantasy adventure called Secret Potion, containing more magic, post Harry Potter. As a former Fleet Street journalist, and Controller of Information at Sky Television, it was natural for me to write a celebrity book, My Life With The Stars – Sizzling Secrets Spilled!
The interview also provided me with an opportunity to let local writers and would-be writers know about the Anderida Writers Group, of which I am now Chairman. We meet at the Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne, usually on the second Tuesday of the month, and are always happy to help existing authors, would-be authors, and those just wishing to write for fun. You can find out more details by emailing me at tflood04@yahoo.co.uk or visiting the website.
You can listen to my full interview with Simon online here: https://www.mixcloud.com/HailshamFM/simon-herbert-chats-with-author-tony-flood-about-his-latest-crime-thriller-beggars-belief-070626/
More details about Hailsham FM can be found at: https://www.hailshamfm.com.
If you have something of interest to your local community or the world at large, why not get in contact and see if they have an interview slot for you.
