I handed off a rough draft of Volume One of my book at the writer’s retreat. Now I can think about other things and then get back to writing.

One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot is a hopeful vision of the future. We live in authoritarian times. But fighting against authoritarianism, though necessary, is not sufficient. We need to supersede it.

And that’s where the vision of solarpunk comes in. People living in harmony with the world, but with all the things we have learned as well. Solarpunk artwork tends to be green and sunny, but the biggest difference between the solarpunk world and ours is the reduction in short-term thinking and profiteering.

Wikipedia on solarpunk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solarpunk

Some books:

On the weekend, I went to a wonderful writer’s retreat, my first, where many members of the Write Now Club were, plus a few more writers! It was organized by the incomparable Akosua Brown, and was hosted at The Carriage Loft in Hamilton, Ontario.

The Carriage Loft is in an 1870s garage, basically, set up as an event space. It’s beautifully restored and comfortable, with the upstairs set up as a large open working space. 

The hosts provided amazing food and arranged comfortable sleeping quarters. We had discussions and presentations and lots of writing time.

And on the Saturday evening, we went to Supercrawl in Hamilton. I was expecting a couple of pubs and maybe a burger. But no! It was a huge exuberant crowded street festival, somewhere between the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair and the CNE Midway, arranged along James St. I saw a lot of literary and artistic booths.

It was a wonderful weekend. 

I had great food, met great people… and got the rough draft of Volume One of my book done!