Solarpunk discussion

Welcome my future Solarpunk friends! I started reading Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers and realized this topic deserved a group, so I created one. I live in Texas and love dogs. Mostly I read horror/dark fantasy so this will be a lovely counterbalance.

Hi Lena, thanks for the invite! Love the group rule, by the way, haha. I’ll try my damndest to not be an asshole. :)

Hello, everyone. My name’s Adam. I mostly read horror but manage to dash in a dose of SF every now and again. I’d like to do it more often but I’m still very new to reading for pleasure and trying to catch up with all the greatness in the horror genre (still have about 2,000 Stephen King books to go!). My favorite SF author is an indie guy named, Peter Cawdron. I might not be reading as much as I do if I hadn’t come across his stuff when I did, so he’s special to me. As for Fantasy, I will break into that as soon as I get through my immediate tbr list, but I hear The Stormlight Series is fantastic.

Welcome Adam! I’m behind on King too but I’ve made my way to the Tower, that took about two years. It’s taken me almost that long to finish the first Stormlight book, lol. But I don’t think the rest will give me such trouble - fingers crossed.

So Say We All!

Greetings and salutations everyone!

Some people call me "The Space Cowboy"; some call me "The Gangster of Love".

Or you can just call me Erik.... but raise your hand if you wanted to call me Maurice. Hmmm, not many hands. Guess no one remembers Steve Miller any more.

Oh well... terrible first impression music anyhow.

I read a great deal of genres, with history being my usual topic and sci-fi or fantasy being a more distant 2nd place. I need breaks from the educational stuff, and they can help me escape reality for a little while. And even pass drug tests afterwards.

Thanks for the invite Lena... I promise to behave.

Lol, Erik I think a little modern reggae fits in well. Your opinions and historical references make for a better reading experience for all.

Hey! My name is Stephanie, I'm 22 years old, and I live in South Carolina. I mostly read Young Adult, and I'm trying to branch out and read something different. I've tried to read SF before and it kind of just bums me out, lol. I read a lot of fantasy and realistic fiction.

Welcome Stephanie! I’m hoping that most of these stories will be generally positive, inspiring, and fun.

Hi all! I'm Fiona, 32, based in New Zealand :) I read a few different genres, maybe leaning towards science fiction or serial killers crime - but as dark as it might get its gotta have that layer of hope of some sort. Looking forward to some good discussions!

Hi all, I'm Graeme and I've had a long standing love affair with fantasy and science fiction.

Thanks for inviting me Lena.

Welcome Graeme and Fiona! Glad to see Antipodean representation.

Hi everyone, I'm Elaine I live in Ireland. I read mostly urban fantasy and paranormal and some literary fiction as well. I haven't read much science fiction but I'm looking forward to checking this stuff out.

Hi Elaine, welcome aboard.

Thanks for joining Elaine!

The name's Adam - another one! And I write sci-fi of the dystopian variety, but my series arc is gradually going to go from dark to light, as the power and beauty of the sun is revealed! Or something like that, ha.

Yes Adam, let in the light, lol!

Thanks for the invite, Lena!

Hi everyone! I am Marie and I live in the U.S. (Florida). I love horror mainly, but I also love fantasy along with some science fiction. I am happy to be here and looking forward to interacting with everyone on here.

Hi Adam, Marie welcome to the group.

Marie! Thanks for joining, you’re the best!

Hi Lena. Thanks for inviting me in your group. I'll try my best to be active and participate in discussions.

Hey everyone. I'm Taniksha. I'm 18 years old who is way too obsessed with books. I can surely say that books are my soul mate for life.
My most favourite genre is YA and fantasy. I'm trying my best to expand my tastes and read books from every genre.
I'm looking forward to discuss about books with you amazing people. Namaste. (I'm an Indian, btw, if you haven't guessed it). :-D

स्वागत हे Taniksha! I’m trusting google translate there, lol. I’m so glad you joined and look forward to chatting over Books.

Hi Taniksha, welcome to the group.

@Lena. It's correct. Don't worry. You're adorable. :-D
@Lena@ Graeme. Thank you for welcoming me in this group. :-)

Hello, everybody. I'm Steve, currently living in Oklahoma City, OK. I'm a musician, and an avid reader of all sorts of genres from history and science to horror and pulp noir. I'm also a grandfather of five beautiful granddaughters!

Welcome Steve! I’m an omnivorous reader too.

Hi everyone im Matt from Michigan. Im a corrections officer and a huge Star Wars dork lol. I enjoy reading fantasy, SF and horror but around the start of fall I get really into books about football. I like to start multiple books at the same time and never quite finish them until months later( im sure some people can relate). @Lena Thanks for an invite to the group I cant wait to get involved in some interesting converstations.

Thanks for joining Matt! I like juggling books too.

Hi all! I'm Sara and I usually polyread & lurk on forums because I have found I am terrible at keeping up with group reads (but still sign up anyway). I read anything and everything (as long as it piques my interest) - but SF&F is my comfort genre.

Thanks for the group invite @Lena - this genre sounds awesome!

Welcome Sara! Yes, this genre is awesome and deserved it’s own group of fans.

Hi there, David living in France. Been an SF reader all my life and soon to start a PhD about ecological critical utopias (think Ursula K. Le Guin, Marge Piercy, Kim Stanley Robinson and Robert Nichols). Just got into Solarpunk, liking it so far ;)

David wrote: "Hi there, David living in France. Been an SF reader all my life and soon to start a PhD about ecological critical utopias (think Ursula K. Le Guin, Marge Piercy, Kim Stanley Robinson and Robert Nic..."

Hi David, I live in Australia but otherwise, what he said. I'm writing a cli-fi novel.

Welcome, David and Linda! You guys sound amazing, I look forward to reading with you.

My name is Angel and I’m an adult education teacher who lives and works in Washington, DC. I have always loved reading science fiction, but had always struggled to find a vision of the future that I genuinely loved - until I found this genre. Looking forward to lots of excellent suggestions and discussions.

Angel thank you for joining! I hope you'll be reading Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World with us next month and there is still plenty of time for Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers.

Hi all, I'm the author of an upcoming solarpunk novel called 'The Carbon Coast.' I run The Carbon Coast blog as well as its sideblogs Solvoid Lunarpunk and Abyss Tidalpunk.

I also run a new ASMR channel (I've been part of the ASMR community since 2010) called SolarpunkASMR, with a relaxing solarpunk "scenescape" already online for you to get inspired by!

I am using New York 2140 for inspiration of what to do and not to do in my own novel, since mine just entered its third draft and it's beginning to take shape as an actual manuscript instead of a long blog of words. NY2140 is helping me discover what works in recent climate fiction as well as what would be very off-putting for readers. I'm excited to be part of this group, posted on Twitter by Sarena of Worldweaver Press! I'll continue to use almost-solarpunk books this group suggests to study and hone my sense of solarpunk writing with!

Connor, that is so exciting! Maybe we could do an ARC group read? I look forward to reading with you.

Lena wrote: "Connor, that is so exciting! Maybe we could do an ARC group read? I look forward to reading with you."

Absolutely, if at all possible from a budgetary and/or publishing angle. I would love to get advanced copies in the hands of this group. I should mention the book is about one third "lunarpunk" and one third "tidalpunk" (in other words, the nocturnal and aquatic variations of solarpunk), however, so it won't make for a purely ecotopian read. There's definitely danger and the stakes are definitely high.

Not sure what that means but I’d like to read it. Glass and Gardens inspired me to start this group so we could all read more positive stories in science fiction.

Hi Connor, good luck with your book. It sounds interesting.

Graeme wrote: "Hi Connor, good luck with your book. It sounds interesting."

Thank you Graeme! I'll browse the forums tomorrow to see if there is a place to talk more about the book is it's being written, to keep everyone up to date.

Welcome to Solarpunk! Thanks for joining Rebecca.

Hi everyone! I'm a Finnish sci-fi&fantasy writer/editor/translator and interested in ecological solutions. For some reason I haven't read solarpunk yet, but I already ordered a couple of books we're going to read. I might not be very active in the group, but I'll definitely try to keep up with the reading.

I'll be glad to see you here Christine.

I guess I've never contemplated just how many "flavors" of punk there are in literature. Interesting...

Indeed.

Hi, I'm Vedri, from Europe. I found out about solarpunk just a few months ago, so this group turned up at just the right time (thanks, Lena!). I tend to read mostly mysteries, and lately queer lit, with occasional dips into other genres.

Welcome Vedri! Glad you found us.

Howdy! Thank you for creating this group, first of all! I'm Jen, a writer and graphic designer from Iowa, in the middle of the USA. I found out about solarpunk a couple years ago, but at the time it seemed mostly like an art-driven concept. It wasn't until recently that I realized there were stories out there! I have Glass and Gardens, Solarpunk Summers on order at my local bookstore, and I can't wait to dig in.

This genre is a bit of a left turn for me. I'm primarily interested in urban fantasy. Some of my favorite authors are Seanan McGuire, Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, Tanya Huff. Great to meet you all, and looking forward to chatting with you more!

You’re going to love it Jen. We’ll be starting Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World in the 10th, hope you can join us there too!

Jen wrote: "Howdy! Thank you for creating this group, first of all! I'm Jen, a writer and graphic designer from Iowa, in the middle of the USA. I found out about solarpunk a couple years ago, but at the time i..."

Jen, you'll be happy with at least a bit of my upcoming solarpunk novel. It of course features "eco-city" elements, but since you mentioned you're into urban fantasy, there is at least a portion of the population who reside in a future Las Vegas where the sun never shines (for an environmental reason.) There is also one group of people who are particularly inclined to behave according to the old-world (read: modern-day) sense of urbanity. These people as well as the other groups and the story in general have a tangible sense of fantasy, so by extension, there's a solarpunk novel on the way which features some degree of urban fantasy!

Conor let’s keep that to the writers/publishers section.