The Hot Author Report

Interview with Barbora Knobova – Author of ‘Tales for Delicious Girls’

Barbora Knobova is a writer, relationship coach and expert in Delicious Life. A world traveler, she is one of those rare world citizens who live everywhere and nowhere. Barbora is a firm believer in female friendship, loyalty and bonding. She writes hilarious, sharp-witted, caustically apt, ironic, moving, true books for strong, independent, smart, fearless women.

Barbora has also written several self-improvement books and teaches women about the importance of self-love in relationships and life in general. Barbora speaks eight languages and has found her home away from home in New York, London and Milan. She is always on the move, accompanied by her beagle Brinkley, the nasty dog from Tales for Delicious Girls. http://www.barboraknobova.com

Q: Tell us briefly about your book.

My book is called Tales for Delicious Girls. It is a humorous, ironic book about men and women and about female friendship. It deals with dating and relationship mishaps and funny situations that actually happened, no matter how incredible it may seem. It’s a book for smart women of all ages who have a sense of humor.

Its main purpose is to entertain but when you read it you realize the book also shows women that the relationship they have with themselves is much more important than their relationships with men and other people who surround them. It helps them love themselves more, appreciate and respect themselves. I know that no matter how strong we are, how educated we are, how great our career is, sometimes we just get lost in the complicated web of relationships.

I would like every woman to see herself as the pillar of her own life, her best friend. I would like every woman to love herself truly. I hope that my book makes women laugh and also helps them deal with any personal and relationship issues they may have.

Q: It’s rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a ‘real’ job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you’ve had in your life? Have they influenced/inspired your writing?

I’m a woman of many faces and I consider myself very lucky because I’ve managed to turn my hobbies into professions. I speak eight languages, I had been working as a movie translator for ten years full-time and had translated over six hundred movies, series and documentaries before I decided to keep movies as a hobby only.

I still translate movies but now I choose only those that I find particularly interesting and fun to work on. Movies stir up my fantasy and I think they helped me become a better writer. I’m a relationship coach, which is closely connected to my writing. Studying to become a coach helped me understand the world of women, men and love and I’m always happy when I can help women solve their relationship and life issues. I encourage them especially to find self-love because I believe that the relationship we have with ourselves becomes reflected in our relationships with other people.

I have founded the Delicious Academy that supports women of all ages and helps them find their real self. I also own a small independent press in New York that focuses on women writers and in January I’m starting my own radio show. I think that living with passion and purpose is a blessing and I’m always looking for new activities and ventures. But writing is where my heart is and I will always see myself mainly as a writer.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

Currently I’m working on two projects. One of them is a self-improvement book for Delicious Girls, a guide to self-love and happiness, which is supposed to pick up where Tales for Delicious Girls left off. I’m also finishing another book which takes place in Italy, specifically in Milan and its surroundings. It’s sensual, it’s funny and it’s charming.

Again it’s a book of tales, this time about Italians, especially about all those wonderful Italian women I know. I would like my readers to become a part of the stories I write about, to feel that they actually are at the places that I describe, and to get a taste of the famous Italian dolce vita. My grandma was Italian and Italy is my home away from home. I see it through different eyes than most people and I hope readers will find my book amusing, original and entertaining.

Q: How do you balance out the writer’s life and the rest of life? Do you get up early? Stay up late? Ignore friends and family for certain periods of time?

I think it’s very important to live a balanced life, to have time for work, for hobbies, for friends, for family and for fun. When I started writing, I realized I had to make a schedule and stick to it if I didn’t want to go insane. I put even my friends, family and free time on the schedule. I know it sounds crazy but if you want to tackle writing and work and still have a life, you need to get organized.

Q: What is your writing space like? Do you have a designated space? What does it look like? On the couch, laptop, desk? Music? Lighting? Typing? Handwriting?

My “writing corner” is a blue sofa in the living room, it’s huge, comfortable and full of pillows. It’s surrounded by windows and there is lots of light. That’s where I take my laptop and my notes (ideas usually come to me at unexpected moments so I keep small notebooks on my nightstand, in my car and in handbags). A cup of good tea, my beagle, and I’m ready to write a new chapter.

Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?

I always read my books several times. My mum is a professional editor, she is the first one who reads my work (and she’s a very tough critic). But I always hire an editor for thorough proofreading and unbiased editing. A well-written book is a well-read book and for authors it’s very easy to miss little mistakes and details in their work. I think that every author should find his personal editor who understands his work and his style and stick to him/her.

Q: When they write your obituary, what do you hope they will say about your book/s and writing? What do you hope they will say about you?

A fortune-teller told me that I would live to be ninety so I still have sixty years to torture my family and friends with my energy and restlessness. I’ve never really cared much about what people thought about me and I believe that when I die, I will have other things to worry about than bad press.

So no matter what my obituary says, I would like people I love to remember me as a generous, honest and caring person. I would like my readers to remember me for the good books I’ve written and for the nice moments they spent reading them. And when my time comes, I would like to leave this world without regrets, knowing that I lived to the fullest.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Tales for Delicious Girls is a book about women and for women and I hope that all those Delicious Girls out there enjoy reading it! You are welcome to visit my website http://www.barboraknobova.com and my blog http://barboraknobova.wordpress.com where you can also find more information about free Amazon Gift Cards that I’m giving away every week until Christmas to celebrate my Virtual Book Tour together with my readers.

You can also find me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/barboraknobova and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/barboraknobova.author I love connecting with my readers and your questions and comments are always welcome.