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On The Table Read Magazine, “the best book magazine in the UK“, quarterback and author, Mike Boryla, talks about what inspired him to write his autobiography, The Case Of The Disappearing Quarterback, and his writing process.
Written by JJ Barnes
I interviewed Mike Boryla about his life and career, the experiences that inspired him to write his memoir, and the creative process that went into The Case Of The Disappearing Quarterback.
Tell me a bit about who you are.
My name is Mike Boryla. I am a former Stanford University All American quarterback and Pro Bowl quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. I am seventy two years old. I am happily married to Annie. We have four sons and are living large here in Colorado.
I am a Renaissance man. I am also a historian and I studied the fall of Rome for five years. I believe that the United States is the new Rome. It has become perverted and morally decayed just like Rome. The NFL football players are the gladiators that are being maimed and killed for the entertainment of the big fat American NFL fans.
I have been writing five mornings a week every week for twelve years. I write in coffee shops all over the world. I am a coffee shop writer. My favorite coffee shops are the Starbucks in Paris down the street from the Moulin Rouge, a Victorian House across from the harbor in Cape May and the ferry building in San Francisco.
I am an attorney. I graduated #2 in my law school class. I also obtained a Master’s Degree in Taxation which is an advanced law degree.
Ten years ago I morphed into a playwright and stage actor. I am a highly trained Stanislavsky method stage actor. I have performed my one man play The Disappearing Quarterback fifty times in Philadelphia and Denver. I also stage directed the musical version at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in the world famous Denver Performing Arts Center.
When did you first want to write a book?
When I was nineteen years old, my sophomore year at Stanford University in 1970.
When did you take a step to start writing?
I had a writing block for thirty eight years. I desperately wanted to write creatively but couldn’t. I didn’t know why.
I finally got completely and totally away from my psychopathic father. I started writing like Shakespeare three weeks later. Once I got away, I stated writing twelve years ago and I haven’t stopped. It is a lesson to everyone.
How long did it take you to complete your first book from the first idea to release?
My one man play The Disappearing Quarterback took two years to write and get on stage. One year later I turned it into an audiobook entitled The Disappearing Quarterback. It is available on Amazon and has a five star rating.
How long did it take to complete your latest book from the first idea to release?
It took ten months from first idea to release on January 11, 2023 by West Bow.
What made you want to write The Case Of The Disappearing Quarterback?
I wrote The Case of the Disappearing Quarterback because America is in the midst of a horrible famine. This of course is the “famine of the word” described in the Book of Amos. In every major city in this land people are fainting, collapsing and falling on the ground because of the “famine of the word.”
I wanted to tell young people that it is important to “leave their mothers and fathers, cleave to their spouses and the two become one flesh.” This is described in the Book of Genesis. LEAVE… CLEAVE… TWO BECOME ONE FLESH… This is what my wife Annie and I did in April of 1985. It changed my life.
What were your biggest challenges with writing The Case Of The Disappearing Quarterback?
There were no big challenges in writing it. It was a complete total joy. I wrote the book in six weeks.
Who or what inspired you when creating your Protagonist?
I am the Protagonist. It is my autobiography.
Who or what inspired me to create your Antagonist?
At the time I finished The Case of the Disappearing Quarterback, I had twelve football friends who had died of football related injuries. Primarily they died of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
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What is the inciting incident of The Case Of The Disappearing Quarterback?
Three inciting incidents in the book are:
Meeting and marrying my wife Annie;
Being mentored by Father Bakewell at Regis High School. Father Bakewell was the multimillionaire heir of the Bethlehem Steel fortune, who took a vow of poverty and gave up all that money to teach us at Regis High School; and
Two ceramic 3 D printed artificial knee surgeries in 2018.
What is the main conflict of The Case Of The Disappearing Quarterback?
Surviving NCAA and NFL football and living a happy productive life when so many of my football friends are dying.
Did you plot The Case Of The Disappearing Quarterback in advance, or fly by the seat of your pants?
I had a vision and outlined it. I then decided to write a 20,000 word novella, the same size as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Once I got to 20,000 words, I wrote the ending.
Did you get support with editing, and how much editing did The Case Of The Disappearing Quarterback need?
I had the top Christian publisher Zondervan’s wholly owned affiliate West Bow do the editing. They were an absolutely wonderful editor. I had originally written in screenplay format to be made into a movie, which THGM Writers helped me learn how to write.
West Bow spent a tremendous amount of time teaching me how to turn the script into novel format. They helped with everything. I worked with three different editors. I needed a huge amount of editing support and they gave it to me. Thanks West Bow!
And THGM Writers helped me immensely up my game also with editorial support. It feels great to be supported.
What is the first piece of writing advice you would give to anyone inspired to write a story?
Write from the heart. Write like it is the last book that you will write in your lifetime. Don’t write like it is your first book. Write like you have been told by your doctor that you have an incurable disease and that you only have three months to live. Then write what will be your last words of your time on earth.
Can you give a hint about any further books you’re planning to write?
Yes. I will be writing about King Tut’s DNA and his father Pharaoh Akhenaten the monotheistic pharaoh. I will be writing about the three billion people on planet earth who have King Tut’s and Pharaoh Akhenaten’s R1b DNA.
And, finally, are you proud of your accomplishment? Was it worth the effort?
I am very proud of The Case of the Disappearing Quarterback. It took me twelve years and fifteen thousand hours of writing five mornings a week to become an expert in writing.
Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers writes about the amount of hours it takes to become an expert in a particular area. It took me fifteen thousand hours of writing various scripts to learn the skills to write The Case of the Disappearing Quarterback in six weeks. It was very much worth the effort.
Pop all your book, website and social media links so the readers can find you:
- My just launched website is https://www.thedisappearingquarterback.com
- West Bow’s page: https://www.westbowpress.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/844890-the-case-of-the-disappearing-quarterback
- THGM Writing’s page: https://thgmwriters.com/blog/murder-mystery-autobiography/
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