Thursday, October 11th, I had the honor to be on CNN.com--which is a video interview that's played on their website and broadcast all over the world.

CNN.com LINK http :// www . cnn .com/video/#/video/showbiz/2007/10/11/ odell .interview. cnn

Yikes. I thought I'd be scared and jittery, but honestly, I wasn't. That's where all the local and regional interviews I've done in cities such as Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando and others have helped.

I've learned that you sell one book at a time, and when you're on TV or radio--you talk to the one person who's interviewing you--that's it.

The scariest part of my day was driving through downtown Atlanta and hoping I could find the place without any problems and without being snagged in one of Atlanta's infamous and all-too-frequent traffic jams. All went well, and I parked and took a picture of the giant red (my favorite color, by the way) CNN sign on top of their building. The security guard had my name and printed me out a badge, and the producer came down and escorted me upstairs through the newsrooms, through headline news set and into the make-up room.

Now, I've had make-up before, but usually, they just touch you up a bit--put on a darker foundation applied with a big fluffy brush that takes all of 30 seconds.

Not at CNN, I had FULL make-up done, and it was so fascinating to be sitting next to anchors who talk on CNN and stare into their reflections in the mirrors--me--on CNN--how cool is that? Being a hick that I am, I got my picture taken with my make-up and hair artist. I couldn't help myself.

Life is about celebrating, and this day was too monumental not to document, not to celebrate.

Honestly, I've never felt more together in my life. I had achieved my CNN diet (earlier blog ) and they did such a good job wi th my hair and make-up that I was flabberghasted at how good I looked:) Even my daughters and friends called me later--in shock almost at how good I looked (which makes me wonder what I look like walking around every day).

The producer escorted me back upstairs, through all the newsrooms and the busy people rushing here and there, coffee cups in hand. I thought about all the news and events coming into this place from around the world. We went through one darkened room that had well over 100 TV screens/monitors on the walls--live feed from around the world.

I took my seat and soon, Melissa, my interviewer came over. Sharp, beautiful young woman. She didn't "mess around" as us old geezers used to (and still do) say. She shook my hand, said we were "just going to have a conversation," which made me feel like I was on NYPD and thought of asking if I needed a lawyer. Two seconds later, the cameras were rolling.

We did, we had the conversation. No prep, I just spoke from my heart. She had picked some great passages from my book, and in the end, I felt I did caregivers proud. I felt that my message that family and hope trumps despair, and I did it staying true to my story to the caregiving experience. No sugar coating, but poignant all the same.

A few minutes later, the producer walked me back downstairs and I felt as if I had just left an afternoon wedding--all dressed up and needing something else to do. I bought a latte in the atrium, watched all the tourists get in line for the CNN tour, took a few more pictures of the flag, the world that hangs high above, and I wrote in my journal.

I sat in the atrium of CNN and wrote because writers write. That's how we live, remember, emote and process.

It was an amazing day--

~ Carol D. O'Dell

author of MOTHERING MOTHER

Kunati Publishing

Available on Amazon and in most bookstores