My first #ComedyBookWeek interview is with fabulous author Barb Taub. Her funny travel memoir, Do Not Wash Hands in Plates, is a riotous journey through India, and definitely well worth reading. However, my true love is the paranormal, so tomorrow I will review her time-travel, fantasy, humor pastiche, One Way Fare, the first book in her Null City series. That book is so good, guys. It's as if Neil Gaiman, Georgette Heyer and Dr. Who had a train-loving baby, and that baby got caught in an angel war. It's fantastic. It's also FREE so go get it!!
Without further ado, here's Barb Taub.
In halcyon days BC (before children), Barb Taub wrote a humor
column for several American newspapers. With the arrival of Child #4, she
veered toward the dark side and an HR career. Following a daring daytime escape
to England, she's lived in a medieval castle and a hobbit house with her
prince-of-a-guy and the World’s Most Spoiled AussieDog. Now all her days are
Saturdays, and she spends them traveling around the world, plus consulting with
her daughter on Marvel heroes, Null City, and translating from British to
American.
Barb takes a
humorous look at writing, book reviews, and life at Writing & Coffee. Especially Coffee. Her books are available from major online sellers including Amazon US and Amazon UK. When she’s not travelling or blogging her latest travel
disaster, you can find her at home in Glasgow, Scotland trying to hide from
feral packs of rampaging haggis. Or you can reach her via Twitter (@barbtaub)
or Facebook. She would love to
hear from you!
1.
Why did you choose to write
comedy? I’ve always thought
of myself as a humor writer. Although I was a journalist when younger, with a
syndicated humor column in several American newspapers, the financial realities
of raising four kids who had unrealistic expectations — they thought they
should eat EVERY day, sleep in actual beds, and wear clothes—meant that I spent
many years on the Dark Side (HR professional). You can’t believe how much money
employers are willing to throw your way to get you to fire people.
I love to travel, so I suppose that’s what I most enjoy next to writing.
And of course, the best part is that I then get to write about my travels. My
husband gets twitchy when the phrase, “I could SO blog about this!” comes up.
But he does his part to provide comedy fodder by insisting on driving ancient
vehicles, refusing to consider GPS directions, and generally falling in with my
“Ooh, that road looks interesting, turn there…” approach to travel.
2.
Describe your main character. In my humorous
travel memoir Do Not
Wash Hands in Plates, I guess you would say it was India. Or at least
the places there that I threw up in…
In my last fiction release, the
main character is Carey Parker. Picture the best friend you’ve ever had—the one
who is always there for you, who has a special, almost psychic bond with you so
that you know what each other will say or feel in any situation. Carey Parker
is not that friend. She’s pathologically loyal to her family, her dog, her
sword, and a very few friend/drinking companions. Sometimes strangers flinch
when she tries to smile. She’s good with that.
3.
Who would you
choose to play that character in the movie or television version? For portraying me, it might be Emma Thompson. For Carey Parker,
it would have to be Scarlett Johansson (as Black Widow in Avengers)
4.
Who is your favorite funny author? Now that’s a good question. I review books, but very few in the humor
genre. One that I reviewed recently is the darkly funny The
Devil’s Mouth by Matt Kincade . But it’s (so far)
the only thing he’s got out there, so I guess he’ll have to just be my wannabe-favorite.
I’m also addicted to the writing on Samantha Bee’s show Full Frontal, especially because my screaming-funny daughter is one
of the show’s writers.
5.
Do you have any advice for other authors? I’ve always thought Dorothy Parker
said it best: “If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the
second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first
greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”—Dorothy
Parker [Note: in the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that I
already have a copy of Elements of Style, and that I’m actually quite happy
right now. Please don’t shoot me.]
6.
What’s next for you/your series? I’m currently working on three
writing projects: the final book in the Null City series (in which my editor
insists I’m not allowed to kill off
every character from the earlier books even though I think that would be absolutely
hilarious), a new cozy/humor mystery set in India, and of course, the next book
in the India travel memoirs.
7.
If you could live anywhere, where would that be? I always
said I wanted to live on an island. I pictured myself running a coffee shop
with very bad coffee so I wouldn’t have too many customers interrupting as I
hang out on the beach and write trashy novels. This is a great lesson in the
difference between plotters (so not
one!) and pantsers (which explains how I ended up in England, a much bigger
island than I’d expected…). And why I now at least outline my projects.
8.
If you could choose a super power, what would that be? After
four kids, the answer is obvious. My superpower? Laundry Woman. Zap! Pow! Holy Clean Tidy
Whities!
Barb's Books:
Nonfiction: Do Not Wash Hands in Plates text by Barb Taub, photos by Janine Smith & Jayalakshmi Ayyer
The story of three women eating our way across India in search
of adventure, elephants, temples, palaces, western toilets, monkeys, the
perfect paratha...and the kindness of Indian strangers.
Warden Carey Parker's to-do list is already long enough: find
her brother and sister, rescue her roommate, save Null City, and castrate her
ex-boyfriend. Preferably with a dull-edged garden tool. A rusty one.
Carey knows superpowers suck, her own included. From childhood
she's only had two options. She can take the Metro train to Null City and a
normal life. After one day there, imps become baristas, and hellhounds become
poodles. Demons settle down, join the PTA, and worry about their taxes. Or she
can master the powers of her warrior gift and fight a war she can't win, in a
world where she never learned how to lose.
It just would have been nice if someone told her the angels were
all on the other side.
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