Why did you choose not to reveal the name of your main character?
There were a few reasons for this. Firstly, as much as she’s probably the most moral character in the book, she’s still not exactly what people would define as “good.” She may have wanted to let Rupert P go, but she didn’t really put much effort into doing that. And by the end of this story she’s still a little bit of a coward. She’s willing to confess her sins and name names, but she still will not tell you her own name because she does not want to implicate herself in this crime.
Another reason we don’t find out her name is because she’s writing this whole story down on the internet as a sort of tumblr post, so she’s protected by the anonymity of the internet, as so many fans are. The anonymity gives her the freedom to tell us all the real, ugly details that happened.
And finally, not giving her a name is just one more way to make the character a cipher for readers. She’s someone whose shoes they can walk in, and relate with.
What kind of research into fandom and fangirls did you do? Particularly that extreme, utterly dedicated level of fandom.
I read a lot about what girls were doing in order to see their favourite bands. Because it’s one thing to listen to their music and quite another to try and meet them. A lot of the things I read about ended up in the book, and actually, in doing this research, a lot of the unfortunately nasty thing these boy bands do to their fans ended up in the book as well. But most of the research was primary. I was a dedicated fangirl in my teen years. I know what it’s like to wait outside a hotel with a bunch of other fans.
Kill the Boy Band has such an agreeably mad plot, how did it all come together? Did you want to write a book about fandom and then it snowballed from there or did you specifically intend to write a book about a group of girls who abduct a boy band member?
I didn’t set out to write a book about fandom. My mission was to write a dark comedy. It was only after I realised that boy band fangirls were the perfect fit for this kind of story that the idea for Kill the Boyband really took off. I recognised these girls as my own people, so I knew I could tell their story with honesty and respect. And humour… and darkness.
I got a real Ryan Murphy (creator of Scream Queens) vibe from Kill the Boy Band especially in its humour - where did you get the inspiration for the quite dark, twisted jokes?
Thanks so much, I take that as a huge compliment. If I may be so bold, I think that both Murphy and I may get our dark comedy inspiration from the same source: Heathers. The 1989 movie is (in my opinion) the best example of American black humor, let alone the best example of black humour involving teenagers. Scream Queens took a lot of cues from Heathers (the Chanels’ names, their pastel-colored clothes). That show was right up my alley.
Did anything major - like the identity of a certain important individual in the second half of the book - change around while you were writing or was it all set in stone from the off?
Everything changed around. For me, it takes a few drafts before the characters come to life and begin to distinguish themselves. A couple of characters didn’t even join the story until a few drafts in. I think it’s only after you get to know the characters better that you begin to understand how the story should unfold, not the other way around. Characters dictate plot. Once I have a character down then I know where the story’s going.
What’s next after Kill the Boy Band? Are you writing another YA book?
I am indeed. I’m tackling another absurdist contemporary standalone, but this one may be as sweet as Kill the Boyband was sour. We shall see.
Goldy Moldavsky’s Kill the Boy Band is available from the Guardian’s bookshop
