Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a working writer in Johannesburg, South Africa. I’ve published three novels, The Book of War, Walk and The Excavations. The Book of War won the MNet Literary prize for best debut.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Excavations, a History of the End of the World.
Sometime in the 1980s, my friend and cousin, Ian Roberts (actor and front man of the Radio Kalahari Orkes) visited my half-brother, Lochart Whyle,in Botswana. Ian borrowed a 4 by 4 from Lochart and travelled into the desert. He met a group of San bushmen and shared some adventures with them. On his return to Johannesburg, Ian wrote for seven days and seven nights and then he brought me what he had written. It was called Dig and was aimed at the screen, but it looked to me like a book. Dig was the story of the end of the world, a tale so strange and shocking that it has been whispering to me, as it has to Ian, ever since. Over the years we have written it, separately and together, in various forms. In 2013, with Ian’s permission, I wrote it as a novel, The Excavations.
In 2014 Jacana, who published The Book of War and Walk, agreed to publish The Excavations. Then Maggie Davey “left the building for a time” and I became despondent and a little arrogant. With the contract ready to be signed, I took the novel to Umuzi where Fourie Botha was interested but unable to fly its outrages past his committee. Jacana were, justifiably, not happy with me. The project was dead, and I shifted gear from arrogance to despond. At the end of 2015 I bumped into Maggie Davey at an art exhibition. She was back at Jacana. I told her I had not found a publisher. Suddenly the “wonderfully strong and completely captivating” book was under consideration again. But fate was only flirting. Jacana’s second answer, couched in the kindest terms, was no.
This is the age of Trump, however. The climate is changing, nothing is impossible, and there’s a whiff of extinction in the air.
The Excavations will be FREE TO DOWNLOAD, on Kindle only, on May 30 and 31, 2017.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so, unless it’s unusual to earn a living from it.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Recently, Cormac McCArthy.
What are you working on now?
Promoting the Excavations.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Um … I’m hoping Awesomegang will prove to be awesome.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Never give up.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Forgive my language but I do like Richard Ford’s “take no shit if you can possibly help it.”
What are you reading now?
The journals of the Goncourt brothers.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m exploring a couple of ideas …
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
They would need to be long books, probably history.
Author Websites and Profiles
James Whyle Website
James Whyle Amazon Profile
James Whyle’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account