Interview with J Wilby-Palmer on her debut novel, ‘Where Were You When the World Ended?’

Former BBC radio journalist, Leonie Guguen talks to J Wilby-Palmer, about the release of her debut novel, ‘Where Were You When the World Ended’.  It’s a science-fiction story set 70-100 years in the future, and looks at the intertwined lives of eight characters fighting to stay alive during the apocalypse.

So, Jane, well done, debut novel, how does it feel?

A bit surreal actually. I always planned to get some of my writing published one day, just never expected it to be at 5 in the morning on a Monday!  There’s been a lot of demand for more of my writing since I started posting stories online and the book has sat with me, well, for years.  My old University tutor’s parting advice to me as I left my Creative Writing degree course was to not fret about the small things. That’s why it’s taken so long to get the book out there in the public – I’ve never been happy with it.

Speaking of how long it took you… it says in your dedication that it took nearly 20 years to write – is that right?

Ha! Yes, but before you start thinking I’m the slowest writer that ever lived, there’s a reason for that.  I first started writing it when I was around 12/13 and would share my ideas with my high school friends.  I pretty much wrote the whole thing by age 15, but then my writing style was never that good, well not good enough, for publishing at that age, and I knew it.  Later, I went to the University of Leeds to read English and in that first year I rewrote the novel to a publishable standard.  But my major issue has always been copyright.  The first draft was too much like Harry Potter – kids in a boarding school using magic, and although it transported them to a post-apocalyptic future – it still was too close. That said, I knew that the idea had worked, so was keen to write a story for a similar audience.  From sharing the rewrite online, I got chatting to a film director who was filming in Hawaii around 2003.  When my characters appeared on a famous ABC TV show the following year, I got really disheartened.

So what changed? Why did you go back to it?

I think some people are born writers.  I’ve always written something – be it a diary, poetry, something funny, or something that takes my breath away.  Writing enriches my life, it always has done.  When I finished my law degree in 2009, the natural move was to train as a solicitor but my boyfriend asked me a couple of years later, “What makes you happy?”  It took some time to figure out what actually made me happy.  I’d been so intent on training to be a solicitor that nothing else mattered.  Originally I’d always wanted to be a journalist but had ended up working in a law firm.  Journalism meant travelling, and having an 18 month old baby meant that dream had to go.  So I took the “easy” option and studied law.  Sure I was good at it, but it wasn’t what made me happy.  In 2012, I went back to University, did a Creative Writing degree course and got a Distinction.

So, let’s talk about the book.  It says here that it follows the lives of eight people about to face the worst day of their lives.  Is that it? Do they all die?

Ha ha – no! This is the first novel of a five part series, and it’s so much more than a simple story about people experiencing the apocalypse.  On one level you have a story about eight characters experiencing the end of days, but on another, you have a ridiculous amount of hidden meaning.  For example, my main characters are all selected by a superior evolutionary human race to start again.  This race, the Ethereals, travel to Earth on a mission to get the main characters off the planet before it goes “kaput”.  The idea for the Ethereal race is based on Darwinism, and survival of the fittest.  Alongside that, you have the backdrop of the world-ending events which are described in the Book of Revelations as the Seven Bowls; there’s a whole host of biblical references which are subtle.  Before you ask, no, this isn’t a Christian novel, but it adds a different dimension to the story which some readers will relate to.  Oh, and there’s also a dodgy human race who are hell bent on wrecking all the best-laid plans!

Why end of the world? Why sci-fi? You don’t strike me as a typical sci-fi writer.

I’m not.  I’m much more interested in people, and the way people react to certain events. It’s the characters that make this series of books readable. Putting them into a sci-fi context gives me the most flex when it comes to writing about difficult situations.  Having characters 70-100 years in the future means I get to create the scene. I absolutely love it. I really get into the characters.

How?

Well, take for example, David Matthews in the book.  He’s a British police officer who has relocated to South Africa from London to be with his wife and two children.  Then, one normal, sunny day, a tsunami hits Cape Town, and devastates David’s world.  To write about a tsunami and how it affects people is terribly difficult.  From a research perspective, it’s easy – after the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 and the Japanese tsunami in 2011, eye witness testimony is readily available.  But to translate that into your character is gut-wrenchingly hard, and I cried writing David’s chapters.  To portray a realistic experience, you have to put yourself in a character’s shoes.  Even thinking about David now brings a lump to my throat.  It depressed me.

Ok, well, let’s move on from David.  Do you have a favourite character?

In ‘Where Were You When the World Ended?’ it is Petros Giordano.  He’s my modern day Steve Jobs.  He’s the technological wizard who created the psi-kick, and has so much money he doesn’t know what to do with it.  He questions donating money to the disaster relief – how much is enough – a question I’m sure we’ve all asked ourselves from time to time.  What is so fascinating about Petros is that he is a disabled character; he is confined to a wheelchair, yet manages to live an independent life due to the advancement of modern technology.  He lives on a floating house in the Caribbean, but prefers a rickety old rowing boat when he goes fishing. Despite all his money, and the advancement of science, he still can’t do what he wants to do - to walk again.

Floating house? What gave you the inspiration for that?  What about the psi-kick?

Oddly enough, I used to work for a floating property developer so my research is accurate when it comes to the floating house specifications! The name for ‘psi-kick’ hit me when I was driving one day and I was so excited I had to pull over!  The psi-kick is the future version of the mobile phone – users spend a day inputting all their personal preferences into the phone – it’s really a robotic personal assistant which predicts your needs.  As opposed to mobile phones now beeping when you get an appointment reminder, this one crawls up to you and doesn’t stop annoying you until you realise you’ve missed your appointment!  Creating all the futuristic inventions was a lot of fun – I got to run them past my other half who is a graphic designer who gets involved in showcasing new technology to schools. 

It all sounds impressive.  When is the next book out?

I’m aiming for March 2016.  The second book is more or less written now, it just requires a heavy edit.  The ending to the second book is epic.  I’m so excited!

Finally, where can I buy ‘Where Were You When the World Ended’?

It’s on Amazon (worldwide) and downloadable to kindles, smartphones, tablets and computers. 

All the royalties I’m making from the sale of the first book on kindle are going to the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee).  I thought it would be a great way to raise funds to help those affected by the type of natural disaster featured so heavily in my story.  Not only am I enjoying the positive feedback received on the book to date, but there’s a certain amount of fulfilment from knowing the royalties are going to a worthy cause.