AUTHORS INTERVIEWING CHARACTERS: LAUREN HO

 

Lauren Ho chats with her protagonist, Andrea Tang of LAST TANG STANDING, to find out what makes her tick.

Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones’s Diary in this funny and irresistible debut novel about the pursuit of happiness, surviving one’s thirties intact, and opening oneself up to love.

Lauren: Hi Andrea so good of you to–

Andrea: (takes out three phones) Sorry, one second, I need to put my phones on silent. (jabs at several buttons) Alright that’s done, I’m all yours but I’ll have to answer any calls though—they’ll be work emergencies. Or my mom. Same thing.

Lauren: Please introduce yourself to the readers.

Andrea: I’m Andrea, I’m a corporate lawyer in Singapore specializing in mergers and acquisition. I get involved when companies decide to, well, merge. There are three main scenarios: when a company, my client, wants to buy another, or is itself being bought by another, or—I’m losing you, right?

Lauren: Sorry, sorry, I’m listening. Go on.

Andrea: (sighs) It’s ok. Sometimes I get that same crossed-eyed look too when a difficult client sends me an email. I go to my happy place.

Lauren: What’s your happy place like?

Andrea: (eyes unfocussed) A uninhabited tropical island with an abundance of fruit and plump, trusting, flightless animals, clean water, no electricity, no phone lines, no internet….

Lauren: Your work sounds brutal. Have you considered leaving?

Andrea: To do what?

Lauren: Something else. Something that you might enjoy a little more. 

Andrea: Pfft. Not with my kind of financial obligations, you don’t. It’s fine, it’s like a crime scene cleaner or a beautician in a waxing salon for men only—someone’s got to do it, and with great skill. Plus it’s not all bad. I do have fun at work from time to time, and I have couple of friends there. And most of my colleagues are nice—except Genevieve Beh, my nemesis and Suresh Aditparan, who’s my contender for promotion. I mean, not that he’s any real threat. I am after all, a Top 40 under 40 lawyer in M&A, as voted by my peers. You can’t buy your way to get on that list. I have reputation. All Suresh has is his tolerable accent—he’s British, you know—and his muscles. (mutters) How any lawyer has that much time to work out, I don’t know, he must be taking protein. I mean, I barely have time to do my laun—I mean, taxes. It’s not ideal but I’d like to make partner this year so I’m billing through the roof.

Lauren: So what’s your downtime like? Any hobbies?

Andrea: (burst out laughing; while laughing, takes the opportunity to check notifications on all 3 phones in what she thinks is a faux-natural way) I don’t have down time. And I don’t have hobbies. Hobbies are for people who won’t make partner. Any downtime I have, I’m On The App.

Lauren: Oh, which one?

Andrea: Just the one. You know. LinkedIn.

Lauren: Ri-ight. Andrea, you’re very career-driven. What does that mean for your private life?

Andrea: Not great. I try to make time for family and friends, but I must admit I see my colleagues way more than I do them. As for love interests, I’d like one if only because it would get my family off my back and allow me to focus on my career. I don’t really have the inclination to put myself out there though, as I just got out of this long-term relationship. That was a real bummer because I’d invested all that time on it for nothing, I have to start all over again and dating these days takes time and skill. It’s brutal out there; I don’t know how to Photoshop.

Lauren: Sorry, did you say Photoshop?

Andrea: Yes. For all the apps, especially the dating ones. It’s all about how you look in the profile pics. It doesn’t matter about your achievements, like being Woman Lawyer of the Year for 3 consecutive years or being able to eat a whole chicken by yourself. Just the superficial stuff. Stuff that distracts you from making partner.

Lauren: Well—some upkeep is necessary, isn’t it?

Andrea: Nope. It’s just society’s way of boxing women in by binding us to a certain aesthetic. (Leans forward) I mean, between you and me, I haven’t done any maintenance, y’know, down below for so long, there’s been a royal baby since. Sorry if it’s TMI. 

Lauren: It’s…it’s fine. So. What are you looking for in a life partner?

Andrea: Well, that’s easy. He has to be smart, driven, in a respectable career, have no bad habits, and be, of course, of Chinese ethnicity. My mother’s so picky. 

Lauren: It does seem like you bring her up a lot. Tell us about her.

Andrea: I don’t want to come off ungrateful, but she’s very present in my life. Maybe because after my dad passed away, she had too much free time on her hands to monitor me. Sometimes I feel like the walls are closing in on me…I’m speaking metaphorically, of course. Aha. Ahahah. Ahahahahaha.

Lauren: Clearly. 

Andrea: (clears throat) I’ve got everything figured out, don’t you worry.

Lauren: And if you make partner—

Andrea: When.

Lauren: When you make partner, what’s next?

Andrea: I’m sure there’s another ranking system I would need to work my way up on (glances at watch in a pointed way).

Lauren: Well, thank you for giving me so much of your time today, Andrea. It was lovely getting to know you.

Andrea: (nods, shakes my hand, passes a business card over, then checks all her phones). Likewise. (starts walking away while speaking into phone) Time management: Log 30 minutes as Business Development. God I hope I get back to the office before Genevieve rats me out. 

 

***

You can follow Andrea’s snarky, hilarious posts in her year of adventure to find love, career success, and happiness—under the watchful “guidance” of her family, of course—in Lauren Ho’s debut novel LAST TANG STANDING, written in diary form and set in sunny, cosmopolitan Singapore. Perfect for fans of BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY and CRAZY RICH ASIANS, it will be available June 9 onwards from Putnam (Penguin Random House) here:  Link

Kirkus Reviews says “readers…will fall hard for fierce yet flawed Andrea” and that the book is “a lush portrayal of Singapore life filled with vibrant characters and a lovable leading lady readers will root for.” 

Lauren Ho is a reformed legal counsel who writes funny stories. Hailing from Malaysia, she lived in the United Kingdom, France, and Luxembourg before moving with her family to Singapore, where she is ostensibly working on her next novel. LAST TANG STANDING is not based on her mother. At all. Seriously.

Follow her on Twitter  https://twitter.com/hellolaurenho

Find out more about her on her website https://hellolaurenho.com/

LAST TANG STANDING

Crazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones’s Diary in this funny and irresistible debut novel about the pursuit of happiness, surviving one’s thirties intact, and opening oneself up to love.

At thirty-three, Andrea Tang is living the dream: She has a successful career as a lawyer, a posh condo, and a clutch of fun-loving friends who are always in the know about Singapore’s hottest clubs. All she has to do is make law partner, and her life will be perfect. And if she’s about to become the lone unmarried member of her generation in the Tang clan–a disappointment her meddling Chinese-Malaysian family won’t let her forget–well, she doesn’t need a man to complete her. Yet when a chance encounter with charming, wealthy entrepreneur Eric Deng offers her a glimpse of an exciting, limitless future, Andrea decides to give Mr. Right-for-her-family a chance. Too bad Suresh Aditparan, her office rival and the last man her family would approve of, keeps throwing a wrench in her plans. Now Andrea can’t help but wonder: In the endless tug-of-war between pleasing others and pleasing herself, is there room for everyone to win?

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing