Author of 'Ball Boy' - Paul Shirley
Episode 186, Jun 30, 2021, 12:29 PM
Paul Shirley returns to talk about his new book 'Ball Boy'. A story about community, purpose and basketball.
Buy 'Ball Boy' via Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Ball-Boy-Paul-Shirley/dp/0578800357/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=ball+boy+paul+shirley&qid=1625055904&sr=8-5
Twitter:
Joseph via @nblpocketpod and Paul via @paulthenshirley
Patreon:
patreon.com/nblpocketpodcast
Booktopia:
https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/c/2324741/607517/9632
Join us on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/nblpp
Questions for Paul Shirley:
Buy 'Ball Boy' via Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Ball-Boy-Paul-Shirley/dp/0578800357/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=ball+boy+paul+shirley&qid=1625055904&sr=8-5
Twitter:
Joseph via @nblpocketpod and Paul via @paulthenshirley
Patreon:
patreon.com/nblpocketpodcast
Booktopia:
https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/c/2324741/607517/9632
Join us on Twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/nblpp
Questions for Paul Shirley:
- You’ve had a change of life - what has inspired that change? The change mirrors closely Ball Boys main character doesn’t it?
- Before we talk about what you’ve DONE let’s talk about what you’re doing - what are you currently working on?
- Couple of square question: did you get an advance to write this or just a passion project?
- How and why did you decide on the size, cover art and text font and size of the book? Plus the decision to start every chapter on a fresh new page on the right hand side of the book; why?
- Why did you chose the opening lines that you did? They are your introduction, your first impression, how long did they take to cultivate?
- Pg.20 you punch in and change the style to look like a movie script - why?
- Bo-duh-lair - you have a conversation where two character pin down the pronunciation of a relatively difficult to pronounce location (which becomes a major character). I appreciated this. Was it your idea to give the reader a leg up like that?
- Who is the target audience of the book? Did you write with them in mind? Did you publisher ever remind you of the ‘economic imperative’ of serving a target audience?
- You’ve got a great command of the simile Mr Paul Shirley - “the color of unbuttered popcorn” and “their midriffs slide like charmed snakes” He began distributing quizzes like birdseed and he was an old man in the park”
- Collective noun - on Pg.31 you refer to them as a ‘crush’ of students…
- Intertextuality - Marie Kondo, Kobra Kai and Say Anything all get a mention - why?
- On Pg.64 I wrote ‘the Patra Patterson character is a bit of a wink to camera. She’s that edgy, funky girl (wise beyond her years) which has become a cliche, but I think the author skirted around that and in a way deconstructed that trope’ - what was your intention with this character? Did you have any fears about the way you constructed her?
- The mother character - Nicole Taylor - she has a story but Gray is the major character. The amount of ‘screen time’ she gets is probably 30-70 compared to Gray - were you mindful of that? It seemed to me you wanted to mimic that ‘TV teen drama’ Kids A-story, Parents B-story split…
- Your portrayal of her was quite unique, modern - why a love affair with guitarist John Mayer?
- The end of chapter 7 had a nice button to end the chapter “What if I were doing something else tomorrow after school?” - what was the process involved in writing nice button and endings to chapters? Were you as conscious to leave cliff-hangers as a JK Rowling?
- Why a latino main character? I had heard that the writer of The Sandlot movie wrote and modelled his main character ‘Benny Rodriguez’ after his high school bully as a cathartic exercise. Why did you do it?
- Pg.86 - read passage - What did Los Angeles ever do to you Paul Shirley? Is Hollywood corrupted by actors or are actors corrupted by Hollywood?
- Pg.98 - the nature of flirting - I thought this passage was quite daring - I believe it to my core and I think its great advice to young readers - dd you get any pushback over it?
- ‘Someone people see” - is one of Gray’s over-arching ambitions
- Pg.151 - You take a swipe at Star Wars - let’s explore this (1977 movies were for theatres not home video - the cracks are starting to appear) - If I’m not mistaken some time ago you were met with controversy after declaring The Beatles overrated - you also go on to cut down The Stones in this book too
- “Like a peach at the bottom of the pile” - nice saying did you come up with it?
- I loved the moment on Pg.173 when Grey is entering the game for the first time and its a big moment in the game and you write “a referee was waving him onto the court with the urgency of a man who wants to get home” - I like it because Im quite self-deprecating and ironic. It’s a reminder that while important as you think things are they’re insignificant to someone else - are you at all worried about being too ironic - Inifinite Jest author David Foster Wallace ‘irony is the song of the bird that’s come to love its cage’.
- CDs, use of the word 'wetback' and the inconvenient boner
- Pg.198 - Flirting and romance 101 - read passage - did you mean for this book to be instructional on such matters?
- Did you have a plan for this story/book Paul or did it grow and grow from repeated writing exercises (the get your characters in a hole and write them out of it)
- Pg.263 if this ever got turned into a move there’s your tagline - “He had a game to win. And a town to save. And a girl to get”
- Use or reiteration of the title ‘Ball Boy’ is typically a lowly title, but when are character is bestowed the nicknames it’s not because he’s a ball fetcher but with ‘balls’ or courage. Tell me about the decision to include or expand upon the title?
- SPOILERS - the final act or conclusion - one chapter we end on the critical moment of the game and spending vote and then we fast forward in time and the climax is done in retrospect. It’s a bold choice - very Spartacus - Grey does NOT get the girl - tell me about your thought process around this ending - I was left shocked and what I thought was undernourished but then when i realised I’d closed over the back cover of your book and was pondering it I’m assuming that’s the reader reaction to your ending you were hoping for…
- Legacy, appreciation, nostalgia, place and purpose are the major themes
- “Having fun is the best way to attract people” and (a tangible positive impact of your book’ cleaning out my microwave at work without proclaiming it to my colleagues