Kelly McWilliams and Brianna Bourne are both authors of ‘End of the World’ books that debuted during the Covid-19 crisis—but they never meant to find themselves in this strange, exclusive book club. Now, The Nerd Daily’s brought them together to talk about their work, and the meaning of apocalyptic writing today.
Kelly’s book, Agnes at the End of the World, follows Agnes, a seventeen-year-old girl who escapes from a cult only to discover that the world outside has succumbed to a terrible pandemic. Brianna’s novel, You & Me at the End of the World, tells the story of two very different teenagers, Hannah and Leo, after they wake up to a silent, empty Houston with no inkling of what might have befallen the rest of humanity.
Before we jump into their conversation, be sure to attend Brianna and Kelly’s virtual event on July 20th 2021 at 4PM PST, which is hosted by Third Place Books.
What can visions of the world’s end teach us? And how do writers turn the bleakest of circumstances into engaging literature?
KELLY: Hi Brianna! I’m so excited to meet another end-of-the-world writer!
BRIANNA: Me too! Let’s dive into the questions! Readers, if you’re not familiar with the ins and outs of publishing, you might not know how long it takes for a book, especially a debut book, to grow from the seed of the idea to the product you see on the shelf. (It’s a long time!) Kelly—how long before the Covid-19 pandemic did you come up with the idea for Agnes at the End of the World?
KELLY: Four years ago, I was haunted by this image of a girl wandering an empty desert, pushing a child in a shopping cart. She looked like she’d been through something awful, but I had no idea what that awful thing was! Several drafts later, that lost girl turned out to be Agnes, fleeing a fundamentalist cult in the midst of a global pandemic.
Because Agnes is a spiritual trauma survivor, her world actually ends twice. Early in the novel, she runs from a cult that’s brainwashed her since birth, leaving behind the only world she’s ever known. She escapes into the wide world with only her younger brother, hoping the Outside world will offer something better. Tragically, the world that was supposed to save her is swiftly ending. It’s a double punch for her as a character, and a test of her resilience. In the end, she really has no choice but to believe in herself.
BRIANNA: Absolutely—and the world you’ve created is one of the most realistic and subtly terrifying imaginings of the end of the world that I’ve ever read. This is not some superficial “guy steals cars and dodges meteors to get to a government bunker” story—it felt so real.
KELLY: Thank you! I feel like our books are eerily similar. They’re both really character studies written in an apocalyptic—or seemingly apocalyptic—setting.
When did you conceive of You & Me at the End of the World? What inspired you to paint a picture of a post-apocalyptic (and, indeed, entirely empty) Houston?
BRIANNA: The first spark of inspiration came to me years ago, and weirdly enough, it was also a single image: A girl walking barefoot down an empty twelve-lane highway in sweltering urban heat. The concept fascinated me—what would it be like to be the last person in the huge city you’ve lived in all your life?
I also knew I wanted to write a YA love story where the two main characters get to be alone—really alone—for a solid chunk of time. No school, no parents, no expectations. When you’re a teenager falling in love, it so often has to squeeze in around all the pre-existing parts of your life. In the empty city, Hannah and Leo get to explore who they really are away from all of that—and explore what they want to be to each other.
The situation that Hannah and Leo are facing isn’t what you might typically think of when you think ‘dystopian,’ and neither is Agnes’s. How is your book’s pandemic different to our current pandemic? Which one would you personally rather live through?
KELLY: Agnes’s pandemic is quite different from what we’re seeing now. Basically, it’s a sci-fi pandemic. Infected people freeze into marble-skinned “red creatures,” and feel compelled to form statuesque nests with other people. Primarily, the bizarre pandemic serves as a metaphor. As a cult novel first and foremost, the book is very concerned with human relationships—both healthy and unhealthy—and the ways in which human beings come together or are ripped apart.
As for the question’s second part, I can say with absolute certainty that I’d rather live through zero pandemics!
BRIANNA: Same!
KELLY: I read your novel in April of 2021, and I have to say, your novel’s themes of emptiness and lonesomeness really struck a chord! How does it feel to bring this story into a world that remains, since Covid-19, “empty?”
BRIANNA: It’s been so bizarre, honestly, so I’m really glad you felt like the book resonated with you. I’d built Hannah and Leo’s empty city as sort of a playground for readers, so they could safely imagine what life would be like if all the noise and business of their hyperactive world was peeled away. And then the pandemic came along and we could see empty streets every time we watched the news, every time we looked out our windows.
But the more I’ve talked to early readers about it, it sounds like our real-world issues are giving YOU&ME a depth and accessibility that wasn’t there before. Hannah and Leo have had huge parts of their lives suddenly stripped away, just like all of us have had in the past year, and I think that seeing Hannah and Leo confront their isolation might feel almost therapeutic for readers.
That sort of leads into my next question for you—I so admire how incredibly strong and steady Agnes remains, even as her world is thrown into total upheaval. Very early on, I considered making Hannah and Leo ‘freak out’ more, but it didn’t feel right to me. I think humans in general, and especially teens, are spectacularly adaptable, and can face horrifying situations with more courage and more resilience than you might expect. What do you think?
KELLY: I also went through lots of back and forth trying to figure out how much time Agnes should spend traumatized by her experiences vs. moving forward. In life, there’s no “pause” for us to work through traumas. We have to keep moving, and work through things as best we can. This is especially true for teenagers, who are trying to figure out what type of life they want to create at the same time as they’re going through sweeping changes.
BRIANNA: So true. (Also, I wish there was a pause button.)
KELLY: There’s a personal aspect of Hannah and Leo’s apocalypse that I’m absolutely obsessed with. Hannah’s committed her entire life to ballet, but of course, there won’t be any auditions held in empty Houston. And, at the start of the story, Leo’s clinging desperately to his image of himself as an under-achiever who avoids commitment at all costs—and that includes committing to a real relationship with Hannah, even at the end of the world.
Do you feel there’s a reason that post-apocalyptic stories might appeal especially to young readers? Is there a sense in which being a teenager is an apocalypse in and of itself?
BRIANNA: Oh, wow, yes. Now that you’ve pointed it out, I definitely think being a teenager can feel apocalyptic. You have to deal with so many things on your own for the first time. It’s the end of one world and the beginning of another.
Stories like yours and mine, where teenagers have to step up and deal with harsh situations without any adults around telling them what to do, can show just how strong teenagers can be. The average 17-year-old might not be dealing with an actual apocalypse, like our characters are, but the emotional struggles are definitely eerily similar!
KELLY: What are you working on next?
BRIANNA: I just finished drafting another Speculative YA novel, and I think it’ll appeal to anyone who loved THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END. It features a cinnamon roll boy, a STEM genius girl, and another delicious slow-burn romance. It’s slated for Fall 2022, and I’m SO stoked to start sharing details with readers—teasers will be dropping soon, so follow me on IG @brianna_bourne_writes!
What are you working on next Kelly? Because I need to read it NOW.
KELLY: I just finished a book called MIRROR GIRLS, which comes out February 2022. It’s the story of biracial twin sisters, one light enough to pass and the other obviously Black, who are separated at birth after the murder of their parents’ in the Jim Crow South.
BRIANNA: I’m so honored that I got the chance to meet you and chat about our books, Kelly. Thank you for asking awesome questions! MIRROR GIRLS sounds incredible and I can’t wait to read it!
KELLY: ‘End of the World’ book sisters forever! Thanks, Brianna, for your timely speculation and wonderful company!
BRIANNA BOURNE is the author of You & Me at the End of the World (Scholastic Press; Hardcover on sale July 20, 2021). When she’s not writing, she works as a stage manager for ballet companies around the world. Originally from Texas, Brianna grew up in Indonesia and Egypt and now lives in England with her husband and their two daughters. You can find out more about her at www.briannabournebooks.com.
KELLY MCWILLIAMS is a Seattle-based writer. Her novel, Agnes at the End of the World (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Paperback on sale June 8, 2021) benefitted from a We Need Diverse Books Mentorship. Visit her website at KellyMcWilliamsAuthor.com.
