Q&A with Chris Vick, author of The Last Whale
We are always delighted when an opportunity to ask an author a few questions comes our way. Chris Vick kindly answered our questions about his latest book, The Last Whale. An environmentally themed book with inter-generational stories intertwined.
What a tremendous book The Last Whale is. Can you tell our readers a bit about the story?
Climate activist Abi and her AI computer Moonlight are on a mission to save the planet. When they uncover whale song recordings made by Abi’s great-grandfather, a whale hunter, Moonlight discovers a pattern…the songs are a map to a future that could rescue the whales and save the world.
Where did the idea for this book come from?
When I’m not being a writer I work for Whale and Dolphin Conservation (whales.org) and there we are looking at the role whales play in the ecosystem and how important they are in carbon cycling. We need whales! They can help us stop global warming. So that was the ‘key.’ But the story came from my own family, as I’m half Norwegian with whaling ancestors. And I’ve been inspired by the young generation of eco activists, like Greta. All these things went into the mix.
What research did you undertake to ensure accuracy and experiences in the story?
Lots of whale science research, and I have seen lots of whales in the wild. I spent some time in Norway too, a lot of the action is set there. But I took some liberties with the facts too, to make the story work as well as it can.
The inter-generational characters add so much depth to the story- did you draw from family or friends for these characters?
Oh yes! My uncle worked on a whaling boat in the 1950’s, and my mum has a wealth of stories. The main character of Abi, is based in part on my daughter, who is just as head strong and passionate when she gets her teeth into a ‘cause.’
Girl, Boy, Sea. was nominated for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal- does this shortlisting affect your writing in new ways?
Interesting question. It perhaps gave me some confidence; particularly to pursue an idea that calls me, even if it’s a bit unconventional.
How long do you like to spend researching and writing a book? What fuels your writing- caffeine, chocolate, deadlines?
I seem to be in a pattern of one book every two years, but of course that includes editing time, author visits, pursuing ideas that I then abandon before committing to one, and much more. And you can’t rush it. If a deadline looms, then the only way is to cut down on everything else to make sure there is ‘space’ for writing.
Caffeine definitely fuels the writing, because my clearest and most productive time seems to be early, before my mind and day get cluttered with other things.
Do you have ideas for future books? Do they also have an environmental theme running throughout?
A fair few ideas. They don’t necessarily have environmental themes, though they do focus on nature, wild places and wild animals, which is sort of the same thing, but also not. The story and the characters always seem to dictate the theme of the story, rather than the other way around.
What do you hope readers will take from reading The Last Whale?
In a word, ‘hope.’ And a feeling that they have been immersed in the world of the story and have some sense of the ‘wild.’ But mostly, yes, hope, that we can make the world a better place.