The Medal #author David Ryan

 … the strange thing that happened was I realised sport wasn’t my life. I realised that I had an abundance of sporting talent, but I took it for granted because it meant more to my fans than me.

Against the backdrop of community football, the heir to a sweeping family fortune and the son of a prominent bikie gang leader forge an unlikely brotherhood. With their families locked in a long and bitter feud, the football prodigies push each other – and the game – to new heights.

But in the brutal world of sporting competition, friendship and rivalry can quickly become indistinguishable.

When jealousy and ambition spark a devastating on-field accident, their bond is instantly shattered. As anger and guilt take hold, the sportsmen are confronted with the truth that friendship can be forged and fractured by the same forces: ambition, pride and a desperate need for validation. It isn’t just about who’s the better footballer; it is a deeper battle against the lives their fathers have planned for them.

To salvage what remains of their friendship, they must face a final test of forgiveness – one that may cost them everything.

In the high-stakes world of Australian Rules Football, the price for being the best is high. When all hope seems shattered, can meaning be found again?

To connect with David ....
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-ryan-author/
https://hemburybooks.com.au/author-david-ryan/ 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Good morning, David Ryan. Welcome back to Yellow Shelf, David.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Hi there. Good to see you again.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

It is great to see you. You have been incredibly busy since we last spoke, which wasn't that long ago.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Wasn't that long ago at all?

SPEAKER_00 0:17

I know. Your latest book, The Medal, is out. Tell us all about it.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

The Medal is a story about Billy and Lenny, who are exceptionally good footballers, and it's set in the backdrop of a country football league. Billy's the to a sweeping family fortune, and Lenny's the son of a prominent uh bikey gang leader. And despite this, they forge a really unlikely brotherhood. But under the shadow of their family's bitter and contentious past, uh, they push each other to elevate their game to new heights. They're very, very good footballers. But for Lenny, winning the medal is more than just a reward for his talents. It's the ticket he needs to gain the type of lifestyle that Billy leads. And in the brutal world of sporting competition, their friendship and rivalry become virtually indistinguishable. Their jealousy and ambition ultimately leads to one of them having a tragic incident which leaves him paralyzed. And the incident changes both of their lives forever. And the book essentially is a story about how they then confront their anger and their guilt to discover whether or not their brotherhood is strong enough to survive this ultimate test or whether their rivalry has in fact destroyed their brotherhood in a nutshell. That's what the story is about.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Yeah, and you know, I was looking at the book and I was thinking, you know, this is specifically about a certain football code here in Australia, but you know, this book is is about like sporting communities and that idea uh around, you know, you've got sporting talent and you've got like um people individuals from different backgrounds.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Yes, yes. It look, it it's set against a football background, could it, but it could be transferred into any sort of situation where there's I mean it's the it's the interesting I I liken it to what I used to um do, which was uh work with organizations on a thing called game theory. And what game theory is, is the situation in which people make choices based on what they know about the previous circumstance. And that can apply anywhere. You know, it applied to the Bay of Pigs when um the Kennedys were negotiating with Russia, the the the impact that knowledge has on the next choices you make, and this book's very much around exploring the consequences of that. Now it happened to be within the context of a football game, but it could apply anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Yeah. And do you want to tell us a little bit about um, you know, you as an author, because you and I spoke a few months ago about your previous work, The Butterfly's Daughter. Um any anyone watching for the first time learning about you, tell us a bit about you and tell us a bit about your previous work.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Uh well, uh the the the me is uh essentially originally a chemical engineer uh who discovered that he enjoyed people in organizations much more than he enjoyed chemistry. Uh I ended up becoming a uh a psychologist, uh, which made for a very uh interesting mix. And after I retired, when my phone stopped ringing uh for people asking me to help them out, I did a PhD. Um, and the PhD was in the area of creative writing. Um, for a chemical engineer, uh, that was one of the ultimate challenges. Um, I remember uh my supervisor said to me, now you've got to write in the voice of creative nonfiction, and I had no idea what creative nonfiction was. Uh I looked it up and I found the guru of creative nonfiction. He said uh it is uh telling true stories creatively. And I thought, well that didn't help me very well, but it's a very apt description. Uh and so I learned the trade in a way uh on on the run. Um, I was assisted by the fact that I have uh an exceptionally talented daughter who's a three times published author, and just coincidentally, I asked her to edit for me the medal. Uh, I started by saying you've got to edit uh as me as the writer rather than as dad. I do not want you to say, oh dad, that's really a nice piece of passage. Uh be brutal. Um, she adopted that role with a plong. Uh but look, in the process, it was fascinating because I had more than an editor. I actually had a mentor and I had a trainer and a teacher, and she was very good at that. And so the the medal benefited enormously from her input and editing and and and the like.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Yeah. Oh, what a blessing. What a blessing to have that in your world. I mean, that's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Lucky, very lucky, father, as it turns out.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

And David, um tell us. I mean, I think I've heard a sneak or a little whisper that there might be more writing in the future for you.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

I'm uh I'm currently doing a third book, uh a story essentially set in a small country town, once again based around uh football, but again, you know, it could be uh anything. Uh in Australia, football is very much uh the lubricant of community, though, and that's the reason, you know, especially in country uh Australia. And so it's a very useful way of looking at how communities operate and and the like. And in fact, the PhD uh I wrote was on the connection between communities and Australian rules football, uh, in in Victoria, in particular, where uh if you don't follow a football team, you don't have a personality. Um but the third book is set uh it's a week within the life of a country town which is rocked by a football scandal. Uh, but when the local reporter starts to delve a bit more deeply into the background, he uncovers something a heck of a lot more sinister than just a football match fixing um uh event.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

Sounds intriguing.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

I'm hoping it does. I'm hoping I'm hoping I can translate. I mean, it's an interesting thing about you know, as an author, um hoping that you can actually uh um uh translate the characters that are so clear in mind into something that uh other people can uh can associate with.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Yeah. And David, just on from that, it got me thinking, what sort of writer are you? Are you someone who kind of locks yourself away? Do you go to writing retreats? Do you write every day? Are you structured? Like share that with us.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Uh look, I'm very I'm very loose when it comes to, so let's start with the back end. I'm I'm very loose. I I write when I am inspired to do so. Uh I do a lot of writing in my sleep. Um, and uh and that is a a very interesting thing because things are often so clear in your mind in the night, um, trying to actually remember what those things are. But I would write probably every day. Um, not structured, you know. I'm not one of those who who um you know wakes up and immediately picks up the uh picks up the computer. Um, but I write when I uh feel really good about it. Um I I I suffer, if I suffer anything, it's I I want to try and write it perfectly the first time.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

And uh and that's something I share with my daughter, and we kind of laugh about that quite a lot, um, which probably restricts sometimes that free flow of uh of of writing. But look, I'm I'm overcoming that. Yeah, I'm uh I'm enjoying what what I found is I'm enjoying the writing now, you know. So so the outcome is not the the important bit. Yes, it's it's actually the you know the yeah, the sharing, the writing, yeah, journey. Yep, exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Oh, that's wonderful. Well, David, you know, I'm gonna want you to come back when your future work is out. I I love the books you've delivered so far. It's been wonderful to chat to you again.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

So I'll be. Yep, I really enjoy it.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

And David, if we're curious about you and we're curious about the book, point us in a direction like on socials. I'm gonna put some links in the show notes. Yeah, I'm on LinkedIn. How do we how do we how do we connect with you?

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Yeah, the best thing is to catch me on LinkedIn. If you search for uh David Ryan, you should find me on there. Um, that'll give you a bit more about my background. Uh I love um a bit of art. There's a bit of art and photography on there as well, but uh essentially it's uh it's you know the classic LinkedIn uh things about me.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Good. I will put that link in the show notes as well as some links, you know, publisher and uh as well as um some links on where individuals can get the book if they're curious. Thank you so much, David. All the best.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

It's lovely to catch you again. I look forward uh for the third time. That'll be fabulous.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

See ya.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Bye for now.