Writing on the edge of reality

As a journalist covering the global space sector, I’ve spent years reporting from the 'edge of reality' – where science meets imagination, and sometimes vice versa.

I’ve had the privilege of interviewing dozens of amazing astronauts and, while their missions and motivations always differ, one experience unites them all. The profound, emotional impact of seeing Earth from orbit.

As well as sparking my own career, that view – the 'Blue Marble' of Apollo lunar astronaut fame – helped catalyse the modern environmental movement in the 1970s.

For many years I’ve also written extensively about the science of climate change. From rising seas and extreme weather to reporting from landmark international conferences on sustainability. 

The evidence is overwhelming. Yet mostly, in everyday life, the so often danger feels remote. Facts alone, however, don’t often stir the soul.

A one-degree temperature rise? A few millimeters of sea level? These sound trivial – until they flood your home, destroy your crops or make communities unlivable.

Our human brains aren’t wired to feel urgency from statistics but I believe fiction can bridge the gap between scientific consensus and human experience, exploring what lies beyond the data and what life could be like.

A novel can show not tell. It can make the consequences climate change real – not in charts or headlines but in lived, personal stories. So that’s why I’ve written a thrilling speculative fiction novel.

Flood Waters Down sees the Fens of eastern England vividly reshaped by the effects of anthropogenic climate change, societal fracture and greed. It’s not dystopian just for dramatic effect. It’s grounded in science and extrapolated from today’s trajectory.

We say we understand the climate crisis. But do we feel it?

In today's world I believe climate fiction and speculative fiction have a role to play. Not as escapism but as a tool – to challenge, warn and, above all, connect.

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Posted in response to Guardian Editorial (21 March 2024) which can be viewed on this link - The Guardian view on climate fiction: no longer the stuff of sci-fi

Flood Waters Down is on the road to publication - further details contact Clive Simpson