Professional microphone and sound mixer in radio station studio (forestrun (123RF))

Twice a month, members of our writing/editing team go on air with AFN Europe to discuss an article (or two) they wrote. This month, I had the opportunity to visit with AFN’s Dom Ingram and not only talk about an article, but one of my favorite book and film franchises of all time: The Twilight Series.

When I found out that AFN DJ Dom Ingram was a “Twilight” fan, I knew I needed a reason to discuss the franchise on-air. For those who don’t know, scenes from the second film, “New Moon,” were shot in Italy and fans can make the journey to visit not only the places inspired by the book, but also actual locations where filming occurred. You can learn more about that here in an article all about where to find these “Twilight”-related locales.

However, there is a lot that goes into being live on the radio with AFN. We don’t just randomly show up to their studios. Once a month, we coordinate as a writing team to determine what dates best fit our schedules as well as AFN’s calendar. We then decide which stories will be of most interest to our listeners. Do we want to promote a travel story or maybe one of our upcoming publications? Are we going in-studio or getting interviewed via the phone? We’ve even pre-recorded segments in the past (sorry to ruin the radio magic for anyone).

Next, we put together the segment notes for ourselves and AFN. We send these to AFN ahead of time, so they have time to review them, but we also bring copies with us to reference while chatting live on the radio. These talking points help keep us focused and on track and can also help us with phonetic pronunciations of places and people, especially some of the harder-to-pronounce German words.

Writers’ notes typed in black ink on white paper on top of a yellow folder (Tamala Malerk)

On the day of the “Twilight “interview, I came to the studio prepared with my notes as well as our camera kit because I knew I wanted to get some photos and video for the Stripes Europe website. I was buzzed into the building and went to the waiting studio as Dom finished up another radio segment with other in-house guests. This gave me some time to get the equipment prepared as well as review my notes before going on air. I also learned that this is the room where they store the AFN Eagle mascot, which was in no way creepily watching me from the corner of the room.

AFN Eagle mascot costume propped up in the corner of a room (Tamala Malerk)

Dom got me as soon as the other guests left, and we got set up for our segments. As listeners rocked out to whatever tunes were on the air, Dom and I went over any logistics or questions before going live. We waited until the last 20 or 30 seconds of the song, then Dom pressed some buttons to line up the next song or talking segment. Before our discussion “officially” started, Dom did a quick “sneak preview” of our upcoming topic so listeners would stay tuned in after the song.

We usually do two segments with a song or two between each one, but as Dom was reviewing the notes, he decided that we could actually break it into three segments if I had the time to stay. We were talking “Twilight”; so of course, I had the time to stay.

Dom Ingram standing, wearing headphones and speaking into a microphone (Tamala Malerk )

We had a blast talking about the books, films and where fans can visit in Italy to see some of their favorite “Twilight” scenes (yes, you can re-enact the scene where Bella jumps on a sparkling Edward to stop him from walking out into the sunlight). It was also a good lesson in how different writing and radio are. When I am writing, I can stop, hit the backspace button and re-type something.

When I am live on-air, there is no re-do; there is just roll with the punches. My tripod got stuck in one position, so we had to alter how we filmed the segments. We also got so into our conversation on-air, we forgot to do the usual Stars and Stripes send-off, but Dom saved it with a quick “good having you here with us today Tamala and have a great day!” as the next song started.

Being live also meant that between segments when I suggested playing Christina Perry’s “A Thousand Years” from the “Breaking Dawn Part Two” soundtrack, Dom was quickly able to search and set it up so that we (and the listeners) had a complete “Twilight”-themed radio experience. We were also able to pivot the conversation to fit the flow and need of the talking segment time constraints.

We always have a blast when visiting AFN Europe, and you can check out some of my favorite moments from what I will forever deem as my “Twilight Interview” in the accompanying video.