Interview with Hannah De Giorgis, author of Threads in Time

02 Apr 2019

What can you tell us about your new release, Threads in Time?

Threads in Time is a dystopian sci-fi novel. At the heart of the action is twenty-two-year-old Lyndall Huxley, who wakes to find herself thousands of years in the future. It appears that something went wrong with the program she volunteered for, which used Einstein’s rules of relativity to send travellers forward in time. The ruins overrun by greenery couldn’t be further from the urbanized twenty-third century of Lyndall’s birth. She embarks upon a life-changing journey, but Lyndall cannot escape the tragic past that drove her to volunteer in the first place, nor the vital part she will have to play in the mission ahead – which, as it turns out, was never about traveling to the future alone. Far more hangs in the balance.

It is a fast-paced adventure story that offers a compelling depiction of two future worlds: the future London Lyndall comes from, which is over-populated, over-urbanized and yet globalization has regressed following the “Resource Depletion Crisis”; and the far-off future, where she wakes in what initially appears to be Earth circa 5000 AD. Here, it seems that instead of man having eclipsed nature, like in the twenty-third century, nature has eclipsed man. Yet it isn’t always clear which of these two contrasting futures is the dystopia. Perhaps for some readers, the far-off future with its future species of humans but apparent lack of technology is far more utopic than the urbanized “civilized” time of Lyndall’s birth…

It is a YA novel but with mature themes that make it perfect for adult crossover. If readers enjoy adventure sci-fi novels with a dash of romance and an intriguing twist, this is for them!

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I began to write stories from a very young age. I’ve always loved reading and getting lost in literature. I was enthralled when other writers could capture thoughts and feelings that seemed particular to me, but better than I ever could. There are so many writers that have inspired me – almost too many to mention. As a teenager, especially, I sought escape in books, so I suppose what really drove me to become an author was the desire to provide that sort of escape for others.

What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read?

It’s a bit of a random combination but they would have to be: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell; The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein; Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf; T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets; and, the childhood favorites (not one book, but a series!), J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books.

Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?

On the assumption that I can choose any past writer, living or dead, I would invite T.S. Eliot, as he’s my all-time favorite poet and I wrote my dissertation on him. I would ask what was behind many of my favorite lines – and, following the relativity theme, I would ask if his depiction of time was influenced by the theories of relativity!

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

There are so many wonderful elements to writing; it is both cathartic and creative. My favorite thing, though, would have to be the idea that the world we can potentially create is limitless – its only limit being that of the writer’s own imagination. For me, inhabiting a world that you’ve created (and made compelling enough to draw others in) is the purest form of escapism.

What is a typical day like for you?

I wake early every morning to give myself time to write before going to my day job. I live and work in central London so it’s quite a hectic lifestyle. I love exploring the city when I can, walking as much as possible to allow time to think, and discovering new sites I’ve never been to. I spend every moment I can spare writing my blog, poetry, short stories, and of course the Threads in Time sequel!

What scene in Threads in Time was your favorite to write?

My favorite scene to write was when Lyndall stumbles across the city of Florence, reduced in the thousands of years that have passed to haunting ruins overrun by greenery, and she realizes where she is in this future world, and how far the human species have fallen. For this scene, the two main inspirations were the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Shelley (which is the novel’s epigraph) and the infamous moment at the end of Planet of the Apes when Colonel Taylor sees the half-sunken Statue of Liberty and realises what has become of humanity. It was wonderful to try and put into words a moment that was both vivid and poignant in my imagination.

Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?

I try to live mindfully. It’s so easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the everyday – especially given the fast-paced nature of our current time, not to mention living in a busy capital like London! – so I think it’s important not to lose oneself in it. I keep myself sane by meditating and writing at every possible opportunity. I think the ability to sit quietly back and watch the world go by is increasingly overlooked and underrated.