My First Time...with Amy Lilwall

Author and lecturer Amy Lilwall spent five years teaching English in France before moving back to Blighty in 2015 to complete her PhD in Creative Writing. It was while teaching at the University of Kent and preparing her thesis novel that her debut, The Biggerers, came to fruition. Now teaching at Falmouth University, Amy will be joining us at The Riff Raff on Thursday 12th July.

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Here's the blurb for The Biggerers...

'Everybody became a bit mean. A bit individual. Units. That's all humanity could say for itself – well, it couldn't actually, because it was made up of too many, um, units. And then there were the elderly, who could never bear to be so isolated, yet isolated they were. It was cruel, really it was. And kids – not that many people had them any more – they seemed to be born sitting in one of those egg-shaped chairs, only seeing what was right in front of them.

So, the government asked a doctor, that famous one, to get a team together and figure it all out. He did. Everyone got a playmate. Well, everyone who wanted one, could buy a playmate. About a foot tall, they stood, naked (except in winter), very affectionate, not too intelligent. Mute, but cute - exactly what every home needs. Something to love, little units of love.

The Biggerers is set in a dystopian future where our two heroes, Bonbon and Jinx, spend their days gathering stones and feathers for their basket, and waiting to be fed by their owners. But it’s not long before getting sick, falling in love and wondering why they can’t eat with a spoon pushes them to realise they are exactly the same as their owners…only smaller.'

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Describe the exact moment you decided to write your book.

I was watching TV with my cat. He wanted to have his ears tickled but I had no way of asking me. I realised that I provided one of his main sources of pleasure and he had no control over whether he would receive it or not. It was then that I thought how interesting it would be to create a world where the same dynamic occurred between big and small humans.

What’s the one thing you wish you’d known before starting to write it?

That it would