'Catching a shark in Barbados inspired my Yorkshire-set science fiction book'
It was more than 25 years ago now but the memory of catching a shark on a fishing trip in Barbados has stayed vividly with Peter Wedderburn. So much so that the incident inspired his recently-released debut eco-thriller Piscium, a work of science fiction triggered by musings about what would happen if something that didn’t belong made its way into our rivers.
The tale is about genetically engineered fish escaping into British waterways, with much of the story set on a sprawling Yorkshire estate. Though these days 74-year-old Peter lives in the outskirts of London, for a time in the 1980s, he called a caravan in Sheffield his home. "I got to know the area quite well and one of the places I used to visit was Ladybower Reservoir,” he says. “That was really what I had in mind as a piece of water when I was writing the book.”
Towards the end of the Piscium, there is a nod to Ladybower’s history; the flooded villages beneath its waters and the church spire that would occasionally reappear during drought years, when water levels dropped low enough to reveal the remnants of the past.
Peter, whose son-in-law is Yorkshire comedian Rob Auton, is a former publishing executive and race director who organised major running events such as the Hampton Court and Kingston Half Marathons. After years of writing as a hobby, now he’s semi-retired, he has made it his focus.
“Sadly life seems to get in the way – business, children growing up, and you get periods where you feel very busy and don’t write so much and periods when you’ve got time and the pen or typewriter or keyboard comes out,” he reflects. "I’m really pleased to have moved on from being a long-time writer to being an author.”
It all started with Biro scribbled stories in exercise books whilst Peter was at Enfield Grammar School. At Middlesex University, he then took a degree in Humanities, majoring in English and Psychology, before going on to edit the student union magazine. His subsequent career spanned twenty years in magazine publishing, before Peter, who has run 27 marathons, then started an events company and later moved into race management.
“Wherever I go, I find stories waiting to be told,” he says. “People in the street inspire curiosity-where are they going, what are they thinking? And then there’s always the ‘what if.’ In a world increasingly dominated by ecological strain and technological overreach, this story (Piscium) just wouldn’t let me go. Writing is my way of exploring those ideas that spring to mind.”
He has high hopes for the book. "I’m really pleased I’ve achieved the publishing of the book and I’m hoping Piscium will get some traction,” he says. “It’s nice to have got it out there...If it goes well, I have got a potential sequel. I’m also talking to an ex-Guardian writer who is interested to see if we might be able to turn it into a TV script because it’s a very visual book in the way I’ve written it.”
To purchase the book, visit peterwedderburn.com