Interview with Judy Kashoff, Author of Tales From Down Under

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Tales From Down Under?

My husband and I left our “normal” lives to spend five years moving about five of the continents. We travelled mostly by bicycle and stopped often to stay with locals; sometimes as guests, other times working as volunteers. I soon found that we were having adventures way beyond what I envisioned and wanted to share them. I started writing just to keep our friends informed, and it was their encouragement that prompted me to submit my stories to a few magazines. To my surprise they were accepted, so I continued to write for these magazines and to the people on my email list. The response was always positive—and would most often include this sentence: “When will you put it all in a book”? It took over 10 years, but I finally published a compilation of our stories in Europe (Five, Ten, or Never, Adventures in Europe) and now “Tales From Down Under”.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

Non-fiction, but not necessarily travel. I like history and enjoy reading books by science writers—and perhaps that is why I include in my stories those background bits that interest me—how infant bats are “baby-sat” by teenaged bats, how they make paper from elephant dung, that sort of thing. And people—I am fascinated by other people’s stories.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

“Mapping The Darkness” by Kenneth Miller, “Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law” by Mary Roach, “When Things Go Wrong” by Bill Bryson.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

This is a tough question. I had fun writing most of the book! But if I had to choose, maybe, How to Avoid Becoming Dinner which tells the story of when human beings were occasionally on the menu in Samoa, or perhaps the piece about the horse-race in Australia. The story we were told while standing on the edge of a live volcano in Papua New Guinea was definitely interesting to relay!

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

Coffee. I must have a cup of coffee by my side at all times.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

If I did, it would change every day.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

That they laughed when reading it.