Wunderkind wows
William Kostakis is the award-winning author
of Loathing Lola, the side-splittingly funny story of
Australia’s newest reality TV star, fifteen-year-old 
Courtney
Marlow, with a love story, some mystery, betrayal, cuss words
and Lola to boot. We chat with him about his
debut novel, and what it's like being the newest literary young
gun.
Loathing Lola tells some home truths about
the workings of reality television. How did you come to find out
about this side of the industry?
I’d pretend to be an expert on the workings of reality television,
but I’m really not. The year after I left high school, when
I was drafting Loathing Lola, one of my old teachers was featured
on a TV show. He had a crew following him around, so I’d
always make up dodgy excuses to drop by my old campus and observe.
That gave me a sense of what working with a television crew was
like… always watching what you say, always being on your
best behaviour, never dropping the F-bomb… As for the production
side of reality programme development, I wanted to give the novel
an air of authenticity, so I did research the behind-the-scenes
process of bringing reality programming to television. But I tossed
Courtney into a world she doesn’t fully understand, so my
research only shows up in brief instances – if she knew
the exact goings-on of the television world in the beginning,
then she’d have no lesson to learn, and learning lessons
is half the fun. It makes for better reading than advanced camera
theory, that’s for sure.
Are there any reality TV shows you do enjoy,
or would like to be on?
I’m not really a fan of reality TV shows. I grew up with
the worst of it, Big Brother, The Simple Life, Newlyweds…
all horrible. As for being on one… no, no, no. I’m
not narcissistic enough to think my everyday life warrants a TV
show, let alone an interesting one. I mean, as exhilarating a
television-viewing experience watching me sit in a lecture, or
at my desk writing a novel would be… And plus, I don’t
think I’d trust myself to be on my best behaviour all the
time (see: F-bomb).
Photo by Rebecca Cook
Why did you choose a female central character?
Was it a challenge for you to ‘get inside’ a teenage
girl’s psyche?
Originally, there were three male and three female lead characters,
all competing for words on the page. It was written in the third-person,
so I’d be stepping into the novel and commenting on the
action… it was just getting too complicated and post-modern,
and a lot of the characters were redundant. The story is one that
deals with grief, insecurity, vulnerability, exploitation…
all themes that seem more suited to a female lead and a softer
voice. Courtney was already a central character in earlier drafts,
adopting her voice seemed like a natural progression for the story,
and it kept me from adopting the role of intrusive narrator. It
was challenging at first to find the voice, but I had a string
of female friends and a female editor to run it by, and they were
brutally honest when I wrote something that didn’t ring
true to the character and teenage girls in general.
Do you have more story ideas featuring Courtney,
Katie, and Tim?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I have part of one scribbled on the palm
of my hand right now. These are characters I’ve been writing
about in some form since Year Six, so I’ve always been thinking
about other adventures, settings and complications. That said,
are all these ideas enough to write another book? Maybe, maybe
not. I’d love to write about them again, but I’d want
that story to match or exceed the original.
Your
style of writing is quite casual, I found it similar to the recent
novels by Rebecca Sparrow. Which writers influence / inspire you?
Loathing Lola has been a work in progress for a long time and
adding layer upon layer upon layer to it made the version I “finished”
last year horribly complicated and overly-written. It was when
I made the decision to convert it all to the first-person that
this casual voice overtook the piece, it felt more accessible
and less laboured, and ultimately more relatable. I wasn’t
influenced by an author so much as just natural modes of speech,
but if I had to pick a huge inspiration – Terry Pratchett.
I think reading him growing up shaped my sense of humour.
How hard was it to secure your debut book
deal?
I did it the traditional way in Year Seven, I sent out a manuscript
to Penguin (400 typed pages… a bit much?), and in Year Eight,
I got a reply (‘A bit much.’). When I worked up the
courage to send it off again, this time to more than one publisher,
six months later, I got more than one rejection. Then I contacted
Pan Macmillan with a pitch for Loathing Lola – but as I
pitched it, I changed the idea. They expressed interest, I confessed
I hadn’t quite finished it, they signed me and gave me all
the time and support I’d need to write the best possible
book I could. It was a long process, difficult, frustrating, upsetting,
demoralising, but every second was worth it.
Are you enjoying the notoriety that comes
with being a new (and hopefully successful) author?
Clearly. I’m letting all the attention go straight to my
head, setting up my own website, sending out emails like I actually
matter, adding ‘oh, by the way, I’m a young author’
to the end of every spoken sentence… I have this theory.
See, I have… large, Greek facial features that are four
sizes too large for my head. So, if my head grows as my ego expands,
everything will finally be in proportion.
Would you like to keep writing young adult
fiction, or move into other genres?
I’m content with young adult for the moment, but I think
I’m gunna have to let my writing grow up with me. I’ll
always write for as large an audience as I can, my work will always
be accessible for anyone 15-up, but I think I’ve got to
write for the audience I can best speak to. Right now, it’s
teenagers, because I am one. In twenty years time, I don’t
want to be forcing relevance, working ‘Bulbasaur’
into every sentence just to prove how hip and relatable I am.
I’d feel like an impostor…
What’s your advice to other young
people who would like to become writers?
Read, write, read, write, and if someone tells you that your writing
sucks, take their criticism on board, but also take down their
name and address, so that when you do hit the bigtime, you can
send them a signed first edition copy of your novel with an expletive-laden
personalised message.
