New short story – Anarchy on the Atlantic Express
Back in October I took part in a writing residency where I wrote a whole 14,000 word solarpunk short story in the view of the public at the University of Birmingham. I wrote a far-future story about a crime that happens on the maiden voyage of the first transatlantic train, inspired by Murder on the Orient Express. The free anthology with the story has just launched – alongside an hour long podcast about my process – over at Phil Holyman’s website.
Phil is amazing, and he and his partner Gareth have put so much time and love into this project. I’m so excited to listen to all the podcast episodes and then go and read the creative works by those writers. It was such an honour to be part of this project, and I hope my story has a far greater life beyond this – it’s definitely a world I’m going to be returning to!
After two decades in developmental hell, the Atlantic Express is finally making its maiden voyage. But what does this mean for American society as we know it? Ecologically speaking, we’re all on the same page RE: the saintly moral goodness of the new line (apart from the baffling Flat Earthers who still think the train is somehow going to tip off the edge of the disc). The reduced emissions and endless environmental benefits have been much mythologised.
But are we really and truly prepared for the new normal here? If this thing doesn’t do a Titanic and sink into the ocean, I estimate that we’ll be marking the end of commercial international flights within three years.
Soon, New Yorkers will no longer be able to hop across the pond on a day’s notice for a Star Nova concert. If you want to get discount tix to see your latest bubblegum alter-queer post virginal hyperpop obsession in the archipelagos of Amsterdam, you’ll have to:—
(i) secure access to the (strictly advance, exclusively corporate) Atlantic Express booking system
(ii) block out a spare week for the round trip from your busy freelance DJ lifestyle
(iii) cough up the funds for the frankly extortionate price point.
So, yes, maybe the planet is saved and sustainable tech has won a huge victory in the name of hospitable life on this planet. Perhaps our future descendants will be able to survive without air masks and heat pumps one day. But who has really lost here??? We have. I will die if I cannot support my pop baby-girls. Ever since the beloved algorithm brought Star Nova into my life, she has needed me!! What are a few little carbon emissions in the face of that?
And here’s a reel I filmed in the week I was writing the story:
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11th May – Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival panel with Ravena Guron & Busayo Matuluko, 12pm
15th May – In conversation with Emily Barr and Ravena Guron, Waterstones Covent Garden, 6pm
17th June – An Evening of Poetry, Music and Writing with the Queer Writing Group, Coventry, 7pm
Monthly workshops at Coventry Queer Writers
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Finally, it’s just been announced that Heartstopper is ending with a movie!
