Climate Fiction (Cli-Fi)

Author Identity

I’m a climate fiction (or cli-fi for short) author. I was at Harbin Hot Springs, visiting with friends this past summer. In the course of our conversation, it came out that I had just finished writing my first novel. I described my book and also my next writing projects. My friends replied that I was a “cli-fi” author, and I instantly resembled that assessment. I asked them for clarification though, just to make sure that I was using the term correctly. Sure enough, they explained that we have a huge upsurge in the genre of fiction related to climate change and the impact of environmental shifts on the world. Not only does my writing qualify, my aim as an author is to bring about stories that reflect the magnitude of the times we’re living in! 

Wildfire Weeds

My first book largely explores the ways that humans have contributed to climate change. I wrote “Wildfire Weeds” in response to a growing issue of extremely destructive wildfire storms erupting in my beloved state of California. Exploring specifically the topic of mega wildfires, I shined my magnifying focus onto the ways that we are contributing directly to wildfire seasons throughout the dry West coast during Summer and Fall. I decided to write this book because I experienced a personal loss from wildfire. And, my fire wasn’t an unusual incident or a freak accident. Huge, devastating, and unprecedented fires are becoming a normal, expected part of wildfire season here on the west coast of the United States. I was able to use my fiction novel as a veritable non-fiction mouthpiece for real issues regarding wildfires that face us today. 

Future Projects

But, “Wildfire Weeds” was just the beginning. I feel clear that my intent as an author is to bring forth books that are intimately addressing climate change. I don’t just want to dig into fires, I want to examine the many ways that humans are impacting the environment. I hope to thoroughly consider the ways that climate change affects people now. I also truly desire to bring a perspective of how we can make direct action changes now so that we can be resilient into my writing: we deserve to have access to the resources to thrive.