An Inside Look with Sally J. Pla
(Author of Stanley Will Probably Be Fine)
*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.
*I ran a series of interviews for Season #TWO over the summer of 2017. It was great to get back to these conversations, that I decided to run Season #THREE during the 2017/2018 school year.
*Thank you to Sally J. Pla for being the NINTH author of the third season. I truly appreciate it.
*Here are links to the first FORTY-ONE interviews…
SEASON #ONE
SEASON #TWO
*This was a favorite read of mine from this past summer. I had read The Someday Birds by Sally Pla and thought it was such an incredible story. I was excited when I received an ARC of her next novel. It brought me a full summer afternoon of reading pleasure.
*Sally was kind, gracious, and giving with her answers to the questions. It is an honor to post her responses with my "Inside Look" feature.
*Here is a link to my review of Stanley Will Probably Be Fine
*Thank you Sally for writing this story for readers and taking the time to share your thoughts with us here on the blog...
Stanley Will Probably Be Fine
by Sally J. Pla (Released February 6, 2018)
How did you come to know Stanley?
He just started speaking to me one day. Seriously, this is how it happened. He said, “Help! Over here! I’m trapped inside this, er, dog crate!”
So I said, “Oh my gosh, I have three sons who used to trap each other inside our dog crate when they were younger – it was just one of many of their brotherly torturing games. But: what are you doing in there?”
He thought for a moment. Then he said, “The same thing you yourself always did as a kid. I’m… worrying.”
We took it from there.
What do you think is Stanley's most admirable quality?
He himself would tell you that his vast stores of comic-book-trivia knowledge is his most admirable quality.
But I think it’s courage. Stanley is anxious about almost everything. But he gulps and sweats and goes out there and tries. That takes a special sort of bravery.
Is there anything you wish Stanley would have changed or done differently in his story?
Life would have gone easier for Stanley if he’d been able to speak up for himself with both his classmates and his family. But that’s how it goes.
What do you think Stanley can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what he went through?
Because Stanley recounts his rollercoaster of ongoing predicaments in a funny, detached kind of way, I hope kids see he’s just a kid like them, albeit contending with the world in a slightly different way because Stanley has ‘super’-senses.
Stanley’s got an actual disorder called sensory processing disorder (SPD). Many people have it to varying degrees. You are hyper-aware of EVERYTHING, so the world feels too intense, like a sensory assault -- too loud, too tight, too much, too bright. Many people on the autism spectrum have these types of sensory issues. If your brain’s working overtime, trying to process so much sensory overload, it’s no wonder that anxiety and fear and even occasional meltdowns are the result. It can be hard for classmates, on the outside, to understand and empathize with this.
How did you research Stanley and the circumstances he found himself in?
As for the sensory overload sequences: It was super easy for me to write them straight from personal experience, heh heh. Very easy for me to convey that terror!
As for John Lockdown: In the book, there are super-scary surprise safety drills at Stanley’s new middle school – everything from fire, flood, tsunami, tornado, heart-attack-defib, armed intruder – you name it, they drill it. All this adds to Stanley’s stress -- as it does in reality to many kids, and teachers too.
There was a wonderful principal at our old K-8 school, but he’d announce active shooter drills over the intercom by saying, “John Lockdown is IN THE BUILDING!” I have to admit: This phrase deeply freaked me out. My sons would play a James-Bond-Style game of chasing each other around our house with imaginary revolvers, pretending to be “John Lockdown.” It was their way of processing. This whole book, in a sense, is my (and Stanley’s) guide to processing such modern-day anxiety triggers.
As for the comic TRIVIA QUEST portion of the book, I researched a lot. It was big fun, delving into the history of comics. I had read a lot of my brother’s comics as a kid, and I’d followed my sons’ interest and fandom. But I hadn’t fully appreciated the history, going back to the 1930s. I still have only cracked the surface and don’t claim to know much (certainly not as much as Stanley), but I geeked out enough to become a big fan of creators old and new. (If I start naming them, we’ll be here all day.) (But you guys DO know from whom my main character gets his first name, right?)
Do you and Stanley share any similarities?
Like him, I also was borderline mute as a kid, unless I was with my “safe people.” I liked all my classmates and desperately wanted to be liked in return, but I wasn’t exactly sure what the rules were, and the daring, wild stuff they liked to do terrified me. I just wanted a friend who would stay home and read books and draw pictures with me! Much safer that way! Let’s just say Stanley shares some of these proclivities!
I also liked trivia, just like Stanley. For me, for a while, it was facts and stats about the history of the NHL (Don’t ask why. I have no idea why.) I think when you’re in middle school, you can feel so unimportant and unsure of things. And sometimes these “special interests” are a way to say, “Well, at least I have some knowledge over this ONE, particular, controllable thing.”
What was the hardest scene to write about Stanley?
Stanley’s older brother, Calvin the bully, has a serious mishap. Stanley is the only one around who can possibly help. Getting Stanley’s reactions right, in this situation, was hard. In crisis mode, time does a weird warping kind of thing, where it speeds up and slows down simultaneously. I wanted to try and capture that. And Stanley has such conflicted feelings about his brother.
Who do you think was Stanley’s biggest supporter and why?
Liberty Silverberg, the somewhat exotic new kid from next door, has moved around and seen a lot, in her wild nomad life with her mom. Liberty doesn’t have narrow notions of how people should or shouldn’t be, because she’s seen enough different people. She accepts and likes hanging out with Stanley, and wants to help him win the TRIVIA QUEST. She helps him get out there in the world a bit, and be a survivor, like her.
I really love that Liberty.
Why do you think children create “imaginary friends” or
“heroes” in order to deal with their reality?
Maybe this isn’t the ONLY reason. But certainly, a big reason is loneliness. A kid turns to imaginary friends and heroes, when the real ones don’t show up.
Stanley’s dad, mom, and grandpa are too preoccupied to notice him much. His brother bullies and ridicules him. His best and only friend has pulled away, now they’re in middle school. Stanley needs somewhere to turn. It’s no wonder “John Lockdown” mysteriously shows up.
What do you think Stanley is doing at this present time?
Stanley, today? Hmmmm…. I like to imagine Stanley in his twenties, with a special-needs teaching certificate, joyfully teaching art classes and other stuff to kids. Sharing an apartment with his pal Liberty. Let’s say they have cats. And he’s making very successful comics on the side. (In fact, now he’s starting to sound a little bit like artist Steve Wolfhard, this book’s amazing illustrator! I’m a big fan of Steve!)
But if Stanley’s a teacher, let’s let him work in a different school. I think he’s had enough of “Peavey Middle School of Panic!”
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