The NBL Pocket Podcast

June 30, 20211 hr 40 min

Basketball

Author of 'Ball Boy' - Paul Shirley

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Episode Notes

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:

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

Paul Shirley(90%)basketball(95%)Ball Boy(80%)