One of the many magical things that happened at Readercon this year, and which subsequently popped my poor brain like an overripe grape, resulted from being exposed to a new type of “punk”… solarpunk!

For those of you who don’t know, all the sub-genres bearing the -punk suffix share a set of characteristics. Steampunk, cyberpunk, afropunk, clockpunk, atompunk…you get the idea. They all harken to a certain maker mentality, an edgier vibe of ingenuity and do-it-yourself-ness. 

Here’s what Wikipedia says:

Also referred to as eco-futurism, solarpunk is a literary and visual movement that addresses the problems I frequently face when attempting to write science fiction. It’s hard to project our current course as a species forward without arriving inevitably in a world of scarcity and decay. In otherwords, dystopian. Yawn. 

Not to say that compelling dystopian stories can’t be told. I’ve read The Hunger Games. I’m not so much bored with the premise as I am worn out by it. I read for enjoyment, to escape into a fantastical world, not a dark, depressing place where I can’t get enough to eat. 

It’s why I can only tolerate so much horror, and why I avoid grimdark like the plague. A number of sub-genres have sprung up to embrace entropy and the worst aspects of our baser natures. Or is that the best of the worst in us? Either way, not for me.

I see, or at least I want to see, a more positive future. Just as I turned to science fiction in my teens for its sense of adventure and discovery, I’m unwilling to turn to it now when that spirit is absent. Solarpunk subverts the cyberpunk future of technology that overwhelms our humanity, and puts human beings back into the equation, as makers of a brighter world.

Not a perfect world, mind you. Solarpunk has the potential to nestle within dystopian settings as well as supplant them. The stories solarpunk tells will still be human stories, perhaps all the more human for the acknowledgement of how connected to the environment we are, how dependent on it for our survival. 

Consider this example of solar punk micro fiction from Romie Stott, who led the solarpunk discussion at Readercon:

“California’s property-tax-funded electrical collectives worked like fire departments, ready to rush batteries and generators onto the grid when weather events took buildings’ self-powering systems offline. It was a skittery, nerve-wracking job, and Elena loved the adrenaline.”

From her blog, Postorbital: very short science fiction by Romie Stott (and worth a visit! Very inspiring).

I intend to give this a try. I have a deep fondness for all the “punk” subgenres, and this one hacks more than just the sun. It hacks hope. It hacks optimism. It hacks a brighter tomorrow. 

Won’t you join me?

Get inspired with these articles:

Solarpunk: a new movement sees the future in a positive light

Solarpunk, the LGBT Community, and the Importance of Imagining Positive Futures

The Solarpunks Tumblr Blog

Interview with Adam Flynn on Solarpunk


Innovation Starvation by Neal Stephenson 

A Solarpunk Reading List on Goodreads

Solarpunk: Notes toward a manifesto


Renewable energy from living plants!

by Bradly Robert Parks
You can find more of his writing here.
And in case you missed the panel on Solar Punk, here it is.

Readercon is, as their site states, "an annual conference devoted to 'imaginative literature' — literary science fiction, fantasy, horror, and the unclassifiable works often called 'slipstream.'"

I'll tell you what Readercon is from a BSFW perspective: networking mecca. It's your chance to mix with successful, experienced writers and listen to them talk about the fine points of craft. It's your chance to meet some of your favorite authors, editors and agents in a convention devoted exclusively to literature. No movies. No TV shows. Just literature.

Ask any of the members who have been there; me, Cam, Jonathan Hernandez, Marcy Arlin, Ian M and others. They'll tell you about the transformative experiences, the cathartic moments, the bursts of inspiration.

If you want to know more, the Readercon website has all the deets. This year, it's taking place from July 10-13 in Burlington, MA. Membership is only $65 until June 16. For a convention, that's a steal. World Fantasy—which is in Washington DC this year in November, if you're interested —is $265, just for membership. So check it out and join us!

June words are busting out all over!

Please join us in tracking your words on the BSFW Daily Writing Challenge spreadsheet! How else are you going to know how many words you wrote this year? (51,564 so far!) How else are you going to make daily progress on your ongoing projects?

You can do it all with just a modest goal of 250 words each day! Imagine! It takes so little time. You probably spend more time on Facebook or Instagram than it would take for you to knock out 250 words, and the feeling of accomplishment trumps anything social media has to offer.

If you're already signed up, as several of you are, I encourage you to write and track. It feels so good to enter that little 3 (or 4!) digit number, get a point for the day, and add to your chain of uninterrupted days of writing.

If you're not signed up, contact me through the Meetup group and I'll happily get you started!

Brad

The BSFW Daily Writing Challenge is an ongoing spreadsheet that serves only one purpose: to keep you writing every single day. And what do you get for that? Points, that's what! It's surprisingly motivating. It will only cost you 250 words per day.

The August tab is up and ready to go. If you're not already participating, you should be. To get on board, email Brad.

How would you like your stories to appear alongside podcast luminaries like Tim Pratt, Christina Yu and Jonathan Lethem? Well, you could if you submitted a story to the BSFW podcast, Kaleidocast.

We're looking for stories written by members of BSFW, flash fiction (1,500 words or less) and short stories (up to 7,000 words). If you have longer stories, feel free to submit, and we can break them into multiple episodes or do “giant” episodes. Flash and shorter stories will be grouped into episodes. 

Stories must have either been already published elsewhere, or have been through at least one round of critique in the group and edited based on the comments received.

PLEASE BE AWARE: when your story appears in ANY public media, including this podcast, it is considered published, so you will no longer be able to sell first north american serial rights to your story. This article explains it rather well. The best works for this podcast will be either already published, or written for this podcast. If you plan to self-publish later, this won’t matter, but if you’re planning to submit to magazines, agents or publishers, you need to know.

Stories will be protected under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 3.0 Unported license, which would only allow others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit the author, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.

We'll leave the submission period open until we have enough stories for season 1. Details on how to submit are available in the Pages section of our Meetup page. We look forward to seeing your submissions!

Do you have a story that's ready to go out to publications? Looking for an appropriate market? Give The Grinder a try.

In spite of a rather clunky interface, the genre publication listings are extensive, and offer a number of novel filters, such as Story Subject and Market Qualification, which allows you to filter by SFWA Recognized and Nebula Winning, among other qualifiers.

Another useful feature is the user community's reporting of turnaroud times for story submissions. You can have a good idea ahead of time how long a publication is going to hold on to work before you send it. Give this new resource a try!