We talked to Steve Willis, joint author of Fairhaven, a prize winner in the 2023 Green Stories Novel Prize. Here he is with Ed Milliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Here’s our Q&A with Steve
What inspired you to write Fairhaven – A Novel of Climate Optimism?
Most climate fiction is dystopian, apocalyptic and doom-laden. I wanted to take a different approach. Prior to COP27, I worked with Denise and a group of other writers, and we produced No More Fairy Tales’ Stories to Save our Planet, a collection of optimistic climate stories meant to start conversations and encourage action. The following year, Fairhaven was inspired by several of the short stories in that collection, and I worked with my co-author Jan Lee (pen name of Genevieve Hilton) to make it into a cohesive novel. The book was previewed at COP28 in Dubai and launched in Hong Kong the following spring.
An interesting offshoot of Fairhaven was our book, Defying Futility – The Fairhaven Stories. In this book, the protagonist of Fairhaven shares the short stories she’s written about real-life disasters – if they had gone otherwise. In this world, the Titanic still sinks, but everyone is saved; the Sichuan earthquake still happens, but a local man discovers an ingenious solution to reduce the toll. These stories are metaphors for global warming: something that seems inevitable but which we can address when we work together for change. We presented Defying Futility at COP29 in Baku and launched it in Hong Kong.
Will Fairhaven be at COP30?
Yes, Genevieve Hilton (a.k.a. Jan Lee) will be attending COP30 as a reporter for Earth.Org, and will be speaking about Fairhaven, optimistic climate fiction, and the power of popular media to impact history. We’re also planning a panel discussion with Kim Stanley Robinson, author of Ministry for the Future, perhaps the best-known work of climate fiction.
How much of Fairhaven is real life?
The problems are real and the solutions are real (although they are not yet deployed at the scale they are in the book), but the characters are all invented. Penang is a real city with a real flooding problem, and Fairhaven would be a potential solution at the ‘largest scale possible’ end of the spectrum. There are teams in the Arctic now conducting re-freezing work like that done by Kenji in the book.
Where did the climate solutions come from?
Many of the solutions are based on large industrial sites that I’ve visited – offshore oil platforms, forests, biochar plants, or fishing harbours. And several of the solutions come from my work at Herculean Climate Solutions, a company set up together with Jerry, another experienced engineer based in Malaysia. Some have been deployed in real life, and the biggest, most radical solutions have been used as the bones and structure of Fairhaven.
What’s it like working with a co-author?
We have a great complimentary set of skills, because we both come from the corporate world, but from opposite sides – I was out in the field and Genevieve was back in the boardroom. So we have completely different perspectives on what it would take to solve a problem.
Our writing process requires a lot of give and take. We discuss the overall story arc together. Then, we’ll each develop draft texts that we discuss in detail, cutting, changing, redirecting to guide the narrative in the direction it needs to go.
The process is entirely virtual: we met for the first time in real life the day before the book was launched. We met on LinkedIn and wrote the entire book via Google.
Do you plan any sequels?
We have already completed the second book in the Fairhaven series, and we’re in the process of writing the third. The books will cover the period up to the year 2062 – when efforts will have been made to address the problems, using adaptation, mitigation, political and social approaches.
Do you have questions Book Clubs could use?
Great question. Here are some questions I suggest to get conversation flowing. We will be posting a book club guide on our website in the near future.
- How do you think the future depicted in Fairhaven will match or not match the real future?
- Do you suffer from climate anxiety? If so, how do you address it?
- Fairhaven depicts people taking action to address the climate crisis. What action could you take in your own work or life? If you haven’t done it already, what’s stopping you?
- At the beginning of Fairhaven, there is a major internet failure. How would you cope? What do you think would happen after a day? A week? Or more?
- Early in Fairhaven, Grace’s young relatives say that they’ve learned about climate change in school. What did you or your own children learn about climate change in school? Do you think it should be taught – and why or why not?
- Who would you choose to play Grace, Hans and other characters in a TV adaptation?
Speaking of TV adaptations – any chance?
We’re eager to get the books onto Netflix or another streaming service as a TV series. Unfortunately, many adults no longer read books. But more than 400 million have seen ‘Don’t Look Up’ on Netflix, which is a climate allegory. We’d like to reach the same audience with a positive outcome novel of persistence, determination and grit, and show them that there can be an interesting, decent, liveable future.
We’ve had initial conversations with several people in the industry. If anyone has a contact, cousin or connection we’d love an introduction.
Are any of your books available as audio books?
We are currently planning an audiobook version of Fairhaven and we’ll let everyone know as soon as it’s available!
What are your writing influences?
I’ve read plenty of sci fi, comic books, graphic novels and watched a broad range of TV shows and movies. These include HG Wells, John Wyndham, Clarke, Asimov and many others have shared both visions and warnings of what the future might hold
Stories are a central part of how society works. Messages, ideas and values are shared through a multitude of different media approaches. The climate crisis is not a mainstream interest. But it is a mainstream issue.
If the wider public is to be reached and engaged, the media that they use is the way to reach them, and these days that is through social media, TV and movies. And to make a TV series or a movie, you need a book.
What do you do when you’re not writing books?
As my day job, I work with companies to identify climate solutions that fit with their business and capabilities. It is encouraging to see how keen people are to deal with the climate crisis.
