Recently, I was lucky enough to interview our school librarian, Mrs Finch, about her brilliant debut novel ‘The Wig Files’.
Prior to the interview, I had read the novel just the day before, so I could not believe that I had the chance to speak to a book’s author the day after reading it. It was an absolutely wonderful and precious opportunity.
‘The Wig Files’ is a book about a brave earwig, Eric, who is a secret spy who is sent on missions by the Wig ministry. The story follows him as he tries to solve a very intriguing mystery, all the while trying to prove himself as an excellent agent. The book is filled with clever puns, hidden secrets, unexpected twists, and characters which can be incredibly endearing, duplicitous, and hilarious (notably Horatio the silverfish).
Naturally, to begin, I asked Mrs Finch about why she chose to write a mystery book about earwigs, rather than other insects. From my experience at least, spy books about earwigs are far from common, so I was very intrigued. According to Mrs Finch, “I used to live in an old Victorian house and there was an earwig on the windowsill. It did a backflip, and I thought, ‘God, that’s a great manoeuvre!’” Coincidentally, at the time, she also had “an arrangement of documents that were about spy gadgets,” which she combined with her interest in earwigs. After having researched into earwigs, she decided that they were “just perfect for insect spies”.
Whilst reading the book, I couldn’t help but notice a multitude of references to very specific insect knowledge. Therefore, I then asked Mrs Finch about her research process. She explained that it was firstly “about six months of research into insects,” and the reason behind it was in order for the language and references to be “unique”. Personally, I absolutely loved this – I adored the puns such as ‘Wigipedia’ and ‘Earwig-o, earwig-o, earwig-o’.
There was also a very helpful glossary at the back of the book, detailing the definitions of lesser-known words and phrases, which I found very helpful. From my perspective, it must have been very challenging to write from the perspectives of insects, as basically every sentence would have required a lot of research.
“I think in a book, there has to be a part of you in it”, explained Mrs Finch. She says that her writing was influenced by many aspects of her own life, such as her work experience at the home office and as a librarian, her meditation class, and her relationship with her son. “I think it’s me on a plate.”
When reflecting on what she hopes readers will take away from the book, she quoted her opening line, a famous quote by Thomas Eisner. “‘Bugs are not going to inherit the earth. They own it now, so we might as well make peace with them.’ I think that’s the message that I wanted – the love of nature, and how every creature is significant in some way.” She also added that an important message of the book is to “have confidence in yourself”, and also “to have fun with things that you want to do.”
It was absolutely wonderful for me to have had the opportunity to interview such a brilliant author (made even more wonderful, as she is our librarian). A huge thank you to the lovely Mrs Finch, for taking the time out of her day for this interview. That being said, what are you waiting for? It’s time to delve into the fascinating world of earwigs with ‘The Wig Files’, available to purchase on Amazon. You’ll have a blast – it’s an ear-resistible adventure!
