B.B. Browning

BB Browning (AKA Barbara Browning Carrio) was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in various Midwest towns and cities as the family moved here and there due to her dad's career. As a child, she liked writing and English. Her fifth-grade teacher told her she should be an English teacher or do something with English and writing. She couldn’t see herself as an English teacher or a reporter shouting questions at someone, and creative writing didn’t seem practical. In college, she opted for what seemed like the more reasonable route, earning a B.S. in marketing management from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) and later an M.A. in mass communications (and journalism) from the University of Denver. In between, she worked primarily in advertising, marketing, communications, and publications.

Along the way of doing her best to work in the normal world of mostly boring tasks (though, thankfully, not 100% boring), she began to write. She co-authored a couple of books in education and schooling, but she has always had creative stories running around in her head. Curious Stories from Wash Town is her first published fiction book.

You can find some of the works she co-authored in her former life of working in education and so on under Barbara B. Gaddy, one of her grown-up names.

What was the inspiration for Curious Stories for Wash Town?

A kid who gets in trouble because of his thoughts. That’s Bo Snickley. He doesn’t act on any of the more roaming thoughts, but he gets in trouble anyway.

Thoughts have a life of their own. They run here and there, in and out of our minds, doing what they do. Sometimes we let them grab us, which can be good or bad. Bo is mostly a good kid, so he doesn’t let any really bad thoughts get into his brain.

Kids should let their thoughts roam into the world of creativity and silly ideas and fun ideas and zany ideas. There are writers out there stuck in boring classrooms somewhere. Maybe they could survive it all much better – and thrive – if they had an outlet for their creative ideas.

What else inspired you?

My mom. She was my greatest fan. She always encouraged me to be funny and silly and to write.

She also hated snakes and spiders – and, worse, worms. You won’t find worms in Curious Stories.

I also love making up names for characters. A name pops into my head and then I see if a story pops into my head around that character.

I had a pretty great childhood. It was filled with social anxiety because I moved all over the place growing up but there were lots of old people around who thought I was amazing, like my grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-aunts and great-uncles. A couple of these people are sprinkled throughout the book. But you may see them more in future stories.