Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, Hey, what's going on?
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Is this?
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Tim?
Speaker 2 (00:03):
It sure is? Hi?
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Timla it sure is. I'm looking forward to sharing a
conversation with you about this book.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Guy. Well, thanks, thanks. I hope you've had a chance
to take a look at it.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I have, and it's one of those books that you know.
It's like I'm one of those readers. I will read
a page and I go, Okay, there's something here I
need to go back and pick up because so many
times we put ourselves in a position of trying to
race through a book. Not this book. You need to
really digest it and let it become a part of
your imagination and thinking process.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well, I hope that's what's happening with you. That sounds great.
I like the way you read.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
What was it like for you to put it on
paper though, because I mean it's one of those things where,
I mean you definitely had to go into this thing
as a thinking person as well as somebody that you
know that readers are going to be busy in their
life and all of a sudden they pick up your
book and it's like, oh, here we go.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Well, I had a couple of plans when I started out.
I figured I wanted to make it fast. Yeah, I
want you to be able to read it and the
action just keep happening. And I made short, short chapters
because you know, when you read, I like to read
short chapters. I don't want to get lost in a
long one. Made it easier for a reader to read
(01:12):
and keep with it. And then I wanted to make
it jump around in terms of both place and time.
That way it keeps it interesting. And it's a little
bit of a travelogue too, for you if you go
to a different place every once in a while in
a book.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Well, when you speak like that, it's almost like, do
you have a broadcasting background, because that's exactly how they
try to train us as broadcasters.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
No, no, no, I'm a trial lawyer.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Oh see, Okay, that explains a lot there, sir.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Absolutely, I've spent most of my life as an attorney
representing people in court, so necessarily I had to get
to the point where I could speak comfortably and make
sure that people would listen to me.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Now, how did the book actually come to you? Because
we're talking about an empire that was built on tequila,
and so many people they go, oh, tequila. I know
you need to read this book because it's more than
just taking a shot.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Oh, yes, it's much more than tequila. Well, you know,
as I say, I was a trial lawyer for many
years and many different kinds of people, had all kinds
of scenarios, saw all kinds of cases, spent time deposing
and cross examining and et cetera. And so the people
in places and the story of Tequila is an amalgamation
(02:28):
of all kinds of stories that I've seen over the years.
It really just came to me from various cases. That's
the basis of Tequila, and it's all fabricated, but it's
all got bits of reality in it as well. Those
people in Tequila are real people in the sense that
I've seen them or I've put them together. Maria, for example,
(02:51):
one of the main characters in Tequila, and she's a
fabulous my favorite character is a combination of all kinds
of wonderful women that I've met over the years, and
so she is a true paragon. And of course the
main character, Brian young Men, the lawyer, well I know
him very well.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Well. When you know so, then is that your way
of saying that, yes, I did step into the underworld
like Brian because I mean it's because I mean, when
you're smuggling things like that, it's like you're going into
a completely different universe, Brian. That's what I think. What
I like about Brian is the fact that God he's
got the guts to do something like this.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, Brian, young Men is God has got guts, but
he's got guts that are not He's not James Bond,
you know. But he knows his way around. He's in
great shape. He knows Judo and that helps him in
a couple of very important scenarios. But what he is
is he's loyal, he's dedicated, he cares about his clients.
(03:53):
He's trying to do everything in the right way. He's
got a high moral attitude. And that's what I like
about Brian. And Brian is spurred on more by his
morality and his dedication to his craft. He is not
an adventurer, but he ends up being in a lot
of adventures as representing his clients takes him there.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Please do not move. We'll be right back with Tim Rubin.
The name of the book Tequila, a Story of love, sex,
and Violence from author Tim Rubin. One of the things
that I always do when I'm reading the book is
I always think of the actor who's going to play
this in a movie. Automatically that's where I go. And
so in the beginning when I was when I met
up with Brian Youngman, I always thought, Okay, this would
(04:37):
be a great Tom Cruise part. And I thought, no, No,
this has got to be somebody that's going to be
on the younger edge, that is living life, but they're
living life hard, and he's going to take them somewhere
because he's got that courage to do it.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Well, you're right, I mean, of course we can think
of George Clooney too, but yeah, a young, younger George Clooney.
Perhaps because Brian Youngman is a man in his forties,
he's an established career, he's grown up and divorced unfortunately
for him, but he's a solid guy. And I think
(05:12):
a George Clooney type of actor, and there are plenty
of them out there that I'm sure would do a
fabulous job would be my idea of how Brian Youngman
would come off.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Yeah, I was picturing Channing Tatum only because I think
he's ready for a role like that where he gets
to play a grown up role instead of always running around.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Oh yeah, Channing Tatum would be excellent. He's a fabulous
actor and I think he could pull this part off
beautifully that I hope that they make it. We'll see.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Well, the character that really made me kind of you know,
you kind of sit up straight and really start paying attention.
I'm going to say his name wrong, but it's either
Tomaso or to Moso. And man, you talk about a
handful of character here.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, Tomaso's a fascinating character. And he is a character
who's deeply and very, very troubled, and he is not
what you'd call a good guy. And we have seen him.
I'm sure that you have seen characters like Tomaso. He's
got a bit of an alcohol problem. He's not a
(06:16):
very good father, he's a terrible husband, he fools around, obviously,
unfaithful to his wife. He's got every issue you can imagine.
And he's not really a strong guy until maybe the end.
So he does make a bit of a metamorphosis, but
not enough. He can never quite get there because he's
(06:39):
just not the guy that can become a good guy.
And so it goes on. It's very important in the
story that he has these character flaws that cause him
to do all kinds of wrong things. But he's a
father and he's got three kids, so that's a whole
bunch of stuff that he has to address us. The
(07:00):
three kids are going to come back to you in
the sequel.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
How do you create a character like Tomaso bring it
to life? I mean, really put the energy and the
tenacity in him, and then when the book is over,
you leave him behind. No, it doesn't work that way.
You've got it. Tomaso's still got to be around even
today somehow, some way.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Well, you know, I don't want to give away the
end too much, but Tomaso is a wonderful character. But
not all characters can make it into the sequel, you know.
That's just the reality of what And of course you
have Miguel and she's just evil personified, and I believe
(07:44):
in that. I want people when they read the book
to see good and evil. You've got Brian Youngman, he's
just good. Maria she's just good, and Maria's you know,
they have problems, they have issues, they're not perfect people,
but they are absolutely people that you root for. Then
there's the Miguel character and you hate him more and
(08:05):
more as the book goes on.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
See, that's that's one of the reasons why when people
ask me, they see, how would you best describe this book?
Would they? And they go, is it a thriller fiction?
I go, no, no, no, no, it's a thriller. But
there's friction, and that's what I'm attracted to, the friction
of the fiction.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Well, thank you, thank you. It's a saga. It's a
family saga, multi general, generational, and as I say, it's
first about success. I mean, this family has remarkable success
in creating a massive company. That's the first thing about it.
Then of course there is love. There's a it's a
love affair. It's a bit of a romance as well.
(08:42):
And then of course there is violence. And that's because
we call it if you imagine, we say succession meets
the Narcos. But you can even go back to the
old J R. Ewing days in Dallas. It's a little
bit of that kind of a family soga with family issues.
And let's face it, families always have issues.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Oh see, now you bring up JR. You and now
I say, okay, Now, when this one Tequila becomes a
movie or a series on Netflix. Now I'm thinking Stillone.
I mean, I realize Stillone is old, but my god,
he could pull this off well.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Stallone would be magnificent obviously, another brilliant actor, and he
could definitely do it. But he is a little bit
past the aide that I would expect that Brian Yengman
would be. Now I think we need a new Stallone,
shall we say here? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (09:38):
So where do you find the time to write? Seriously, dude,
because you're a very busy guy, and I know how
much time writing takes out of your day.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Oh, it's amazing. This writing is a real mountain to climb,
There's no question about it. And what the irony is
that you know, I'm full time working as a lawyer,
and what I found is that I could come home
a little early at about five o'clock. We call it
(10:06):
cocktail hour, and instead of having a cocktail, I'd write
a chap for dinner. So I had to pace myself
in terms of timing, put it in towards the end
of the day because I was doing my job during
the beginning part of the day. And then, of course
it took a year to actually get that first draft out,
(10:31):
and then of course, there's all the editing that you
have to do and the effort to find a publisher.
So it really is a mountain to climb to write
a book. It's not easy. But I'm hoping to get
another two or three out there. I've got one in
the one finished and then another one started, so we'll
(10:53):
see how those go. Wow.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
So did you have a wine glass or a cocktail
moment where you went back into a chapter because you're
a little bit more relaxed. It's like, ah, I'm gonna
take a chance on this scene.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Yeah. The truth is that when you start to write,
and this is what I discovered, the writing takes over.
So you get into the writing and you just start
going and before you know it, the time has passed
and it's dinner time and my wife is telling me, hey,
get in here, so I have to stop. And I
never got that cocktail during the writing because I was
(11:29):
busy just and the characters take off, and they take
off in ways that suddenly they're controlling the story. I'm not.
It feels like so true, so true.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Where can people go to find out more about you? Tim,
Because I mean, ten minutes with you is just not
enough time. And I want them to really dive into
your words.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Well, Tim Ruben dot com. You have to spell the
name right, Tim r E you b e And like
the sandwich, Tim Rubin dot com is the best place
to go. You can also order the book there, but
you'll find out about me about the book, and there's
some reviews there. There's other media coverage, lots of information
on Tim Rubin dot com and of course you can
(12:08):
order it directly off of Amazon. And today's publication day,
so it's a big day for me.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
It's a big day of creative celebration.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Man. Well we're celebrating here. We'll please talking to you
from Kawhi right now.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
It's beautiful out here, that's what I heard. I'm sitting
here in a forest, so you can have your island.
I'll take my force, doesn't matter. We're in a place
of beauty.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Beauty. Natural beauty is very important. There's a lot of
natural beauty in Tequila. Trust me, you're in a lot
of beautiful places, not just New York, LA and Houston
and Miami. Here in the Caribbean and there that is
a beautiful place.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Wow, You've got to come back to this show anytime
in the future. The door is always going to be
open for you.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Well. I look forward to it, Arrow, and I thank
you so much for all the time and your questions.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Will you be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Okay, I shall have a great day