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The following biographical details,
information about Scott's novel The Crush and answers to frequently
asked questions have been provided by the author.
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Born
on 14th June 1974, in
Macksville, NSW and now
living in Adelaide, Scott
Monk is the author of
three novels. His first
book, Boyz'R'Us
was published in 1996.
Scott began writing at
the age of 13 as a class
assignment set by his
Year 8 English teacher.
Little did she expect
that he would produce
a 220-page manuscript
- then ask her to mark
it!
After several failures,
he wrote Boyz'R'Us
when he was 19. It was
published by Random House
when he was 21 and won
the Royal Blind Society's
Talking Book of the Year
Award for younger readers.
His second novel, Raw,
published when he was
23, is one of very few
young adult novels listed
for study for the 2001
Higher School Certificate
in NSW.
His latest offering, The
Crush, is about a
15-year-old rugby league
player who falls in love
with his enemy's girlfriend.
Not content on just being
an author, Scott joined
The Advertiser
newspaper in 1996 as a
cadet journalist. He has
written several hundred
stories since about murders,
shootings, celebrities,
the nude Olympics and
a pig that went to council.
In 1999, he won South
Australia's Young Journalist
of the Year Award for
his commitment to youth
affairs. He currently
works as the Education
Editor at The Advertiser,
where he produces a weekly
four-page section and
manages three staff.
Scott's loves include
Indian food, photography,
cricket, chocolate, movies,
thunderstorms, frogs,
going to the gym and bodyboarding.
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Why
do I write young adult
fiction?
Because when I was younger,
most novels I was taught
at school were outdated.
Some story-lines were
set in World War 2. With
respect, that is an important
part of world history,
but modern teenagers struggle
to identify with many
characters not from their
own time. I was one such
teenager. I was a good
student, but a bored one.
I wouldn't read, although
I could read. Many books
were written by females
for females. As a teenage
guy, I found little connection
with such books. I wanted
to change all that. After
being inspired to start
writing, I aimed to write
teenage fiction for Australian
teenagers. The characters
had to be flawed, not
superhuman and struggle
with the same problems
every teenager faces.
What is your opinion
on modern boys' literacy
problems?
A lot of blame is unfairly
placed at the feet of
teachers. However, I believe
this is wrong. Good reading
habits are inherited from
parents. Parents need
to be good reading role
models. If a young male
doesn't see their father
read, then they won't
either. The only time
they will see their father
read is usually when he's
flipping through an instruction
manual or come tax time.
So a teenage guy sees
reading as a chore or
work. However, if a father
is a good reading role
model and reads regularly
in front of his children,
then they will develop
the same reading habits.
There is another aspect
too. Some books for teenagers
are just plain boring.
I don't like read boring
books, so why should they?
Should young adult
books be popular or quality
fiction?
Neither and both. If a
teenager, especially a
guy, reads a book then
that's a great thing.
However, there shouldn't
be just pulp fiction or
high class quality fiction.
Young adult fiction should
be both. In other words,
something that is interesting
and exciting but challenging.
Students and young people
should walk away from
a book, ready to argue
its good points and its
bad points. Let's create
more critical readers.
The tricky concept
of morality - should books
have moral messages?
Books should not preach.
Teenagers will turn away
from such books. However,
authors should show the
consequences of a character's
actions. If a character
shoots a bad guy, then
they cannot just end the
book on a happy ending.
There are laws of the
land to obey. Also, characters
cannot "win" at everything
in the end of a novel.
They have to lose a few
too. Life's like that.
Seeing the hero win the
girl, the footy grand
final and the best and
fairest medal, as well
as save the world in his
spare time makes me cringe.
It's that "superhuman"
ending that action films
are infamous for.
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When I was 11, I had a crush
on a girl in my Year 7 class. She had long brown
hair that would brush my shoulder in maths and a
shy laugh that was extremely infectious. For weeks,
I built up the courage to ask her out on a date.
I had no idea what a date was, but I was keen to
find out - not to mention what kissing a girl was
like.
Finally, one rainy Friday morning, my mates urged
me to do ask this girl out. "C'mon. You'll never
know if she likes you unless you ask her," they
said.
Nervously, I walked through the aisles of books
of the school library and approached the girl. She
was sitting next to her best friend, who immediately
started giggling when she saw me.
With a face redder than my zits and tongue screwed
up more than a rinsed rag, I finally blurted out
the question, "Will you go out with me?"
But instead of the yes I'd prayed for, the girl
I'd liked just laughed. And laughed. And laughed.
I could've died. Quietly, I backed away, never to
receive an answer.
I understood at that early age how painful a crush
could be. And it was even more painful as I sat
next to that girl for another four months, listening
to her giggle at me.
My latest novel, The Crush, deals with doomed
first love as well as several other contemporary
themes for teenagers.
It is the story of 15-year-old Matthew Cassidy,
who is a bit of a legend rugby league player from
the poor side of town. An all-round nice guy, he's
captain of a football side that has won only the
wooden spoon year after year. However, under his
leadership, they have a crack at the finals. This
will boost morale, not to mention Matt's chances
of being picked by one of the hungry talent scouts.
It is also the story of Matt's first crush. Blue-eyed
Kelly Sinclair is the most wonderful girl he has
seen. She thinks he's funny, talented and a true
friend. He thinks he's in love. However, Kelly already
has a boyfriend - Matt's mortal enemy and footy
opponent, Aaron Blackwell.
The third storyline deals with Matt's relationship
with his mother, whom he adores. But she's been
hiding a secret since his birth. His dad's a jailed
bank robber - and not dead like she has been telling
him for the past 15 years.
The title, The Crush, means many things.
It means a romantic crush, the crush of a hot and
sweaty rugby league scrum, the crush of failure
and the crush of high expectations that don't come
true.
I find a lot of novels focus on romantic love -
boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy
and girl live happily forever after. However, there
seems to be very few novels about the truth of teenage
love - that a large percentage of it is unrequited.
I myself went through a lot of it as a teenager.
I had crushes on some of the most beautiful girls.
But no matter how sensitive and caring I was, I
just could not impress them. So that part of Matt
is me in The Crush.
The football aspect of The Crush reflects
my love of rugby league but is also a subtle criticism
of its culture and how commercialism has changed
it. Matt holds all the ideals of fair play. However,
he has opponents who don't respect this and set
up their own set of rules. In a way it is a reflection
of democracy.
It also looks at the violence in the game and how
a lot of emphasis seems to be placed upon being
tough to be a man in western society. Violence that
occurs on the footy field does not stay on the footy
field. It is carried off the field in some cases.
Matt challenges this notion of male initiation.
He has been brought up by women his entire life.
It is also a reflection of how modern male teenagers
are torn between this old concept of masculinity
and new masculinity, which is supposed to be more
sensitive and artistic.
The original idea behind The Crush was to pass on
my love of rugby league to a new generation of readers.
However, the deeper I got into the characters, I
realised that the themes of love, fairness, hope,
despair, family, masculinity, goals and rebellion
against tyranny came to the fore.
It's along the same concept as my two earlier novels
- Boyz'R'Us and Raw. However this time, my main
character is a good guy from start to finish. I've
tried to stay away from hard-bitten anti-heroes
this time because there seems to be proliferation
of them now. It's back to basics with normal kids
with normal problems, trying to find normal solutions.
I try to have a balance when I write any of my novels.
I want a book that is accessible to all readers,
including reluctant male readers. I also want a
book that carries serious themes and issues that
a teacher can discuss in a classroom setting if
they choose to.
One of the most frequent questions I get asked as
an author is where do I get my inspiration for all
my stories. The simple answer is I'm a media junkie.
I read newspapers, watch TV news bulletins and listen
to the radio. A certain news item may trigger off
an idea for a scene or a chapter.
Sometimes writing is like a jigsaw. It's a combination
of images and situations that my characters walk
through.
For example, in The Crush, there's an open
air concert on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera
House. That was inspired by a real life concert
for the farewell of Crowded House.
Another place for inspiration is my job as a journalist.
This has seen me over some very weird events, such
as a little piggy that went to council and the Nude
Olympics.
The mosh pit was taken from a real life story I
had to cover for my own newspaper, The Advertiser,
in my role as a journalist. Teenagers with blue
hair were jumping in a sea of hands and hitting
beach balls all over the place. A scene at the footy
was based on a couple of matches I watched in 1999
involving my beloved (and now defunct) South Sydney
Rabbitohs.
The mentions of The Laughing Skull Bandit was from
a real life story I had to write about. An armed
robber stormed into a suburban Adelaide post office
wearing a black mask with a white skull. I called
him the Laughing Skull Bandit because that's what
his clothing looked like. The Crush took
14 months to write and approximately eight drafts
before the final version. I aimed to add more elements
of comedy into this novel because I wanted it to
be a "lighter" novel but with strong themes.
I hope that I've achieved this and that all young
people, librarians and teachers will enjoy it.
Scott
Monk
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