Interview with Tiffany Taing: Junior Associate Publisher

This week we have an interview with Tiffany Taing, a Junior Associate Publisher here at Blooming Twig. We asked her a range of questions such as the first book she could remember reading, what stories she likes to write, and her favorite English class at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

1. What was the first book that you read?

This is a really hard question to answer, because I can hardly remember that far back. The earliest and most memorable book I can remember reading might be Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, but I am sure I must have read a million and one other children’s books before then. Come to think of it, I have a rather vivid memory of reading and marking up a copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves when I was really young.

1. If you were stuck on a deserted island, what is one book that you would want to bring with you?

I’m finding it difficult to choose between The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. They are different books, for sure, but I always thought they paired well because of how both authors approach the ideas of time and life. I imagine if I were stuck on an island by myself, I’d start to get really philosophical, so having books to accompany that train of thought would be fantastic.

1. What types of stories do you like writing?

I like to write modern stories — ones that seem simple enough but that touch on bigger themes of life. Funnily enough, I love reading fantasy and sci-fi, but my writing preferences are widely different from that. I like to get inspiration from authors like Kurt Vonnegut and John Williams.

1. What do you like most about reading literature?

I like reading literature and feeling like I can relate to the story. Even if the novel is really foreign or fantastical, I like to imagine myself in the book with the narrator and all the characters, living it out, too. On a similar note, I like talking about literature I’ve read with others and being able to connect with them about it.

1. If you could live in any fictional world, which world would you choose?

That is a tough question, mostly because a lot of my favorite books are based around or involve in some way the idea of war, and I can’t say that I’d like to live in those worlds at that particular time. I also read a lot of dystopias… I want to say that I’d choose to live in a story that’s set in our own modern world, the way it is now, which is probably a boring answer.

1. Do you prefer reading on an electronic device or a physical book?

I definitely prefer reading a physical book. There is something about holding the pages in your hand and being able to rifle though it, flipping the pages with your thumb and arousing the familiar scent of books. That’s not to say that I don’t like electronic devices — I think they’re really practical when traveling or when you need to have a lot of books on you. But nothing can truly replace reading a proper book.

1. What do you enjoy most about working at Blooming Twig?

The team — everyone at Blooming Twig is so encouraging and awesome to work with. That, coupled with all the incredible work we get to do with authors and helping to get peoples’ brilliant ideas out in the world, is what motivates me every day. Plus, we are making a difference, and that is an amazing thing to see.

1. Describe your perfect day.

My perfect day would involve sleeping in past eight in the morning and waking up to the scent and sound of coffee brewing. Lazy mornings are the best, so I’d have a lot of time to properly wake up. Then, when I finally am ready to face the world, I’d go to a cafe, get more coffee, and spend all day there, surrounded by the aroma of coffee and the sound of good music while immersed in a new book. All I need is coffee apparently.

1. If a friend asked you for a book recommendation, what book would you recommend?

Slaughterhouse-Five.

10. What is your favorite English class that you took at UCSB?

It was called Literature of the Mind: Modern Thought. It was in that class that I read The Unbearable Lightness of Being for the first time, and my whole outlook on life changed. We also read Darwin’s On Natural Selection, Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, and Dostoevsky’s Notes From Underground, and we watched a lot of Charlie Chaplin. It was a very beautiful class that forced me to think about the very idea of existence.

11. What is one thing that college has taught you about writing?

Be concise. The best writing can tell a story without adding unnecessary fluff and overly-flowery language. The best writing is simple, even when it’s a fifty-word-long sentence with several phrases within it.

12. What makes you smile?

Honestly, puppies. Music, too.