Dear Cherished Friends, Family, Fellow Authors, and Beloved Readers,
It occurred to me that it’s been a while since I’ve written an ‘Update from the Author.’
I have been writing and submitting diligently, but while my river overflowed last year, this year, it has been a mere trickle. Some years are like that, I suppose, particularly in one’s early career.
I have been working on another original novel, this one much different from the trilogy I’d been working on for several years – which I’ve decided to put on the backburner for the time being.
My latest novel, whose working title is “In Darkness We Are Revealed,” is written in the genre of Futuristic Sci-Fi Dystopian Young Adult Romance, which seems to be a very specific and niche genre, but I’ve found that many recent books have successfully positioned themselves in this niche. What sets my novel apart from others in the genre is that it has strong undertones of what is known as cli-fi – the diminutive of ‘climate fiction.’
The very beginning of my synopsis for this project reads:
The year is 2282, and the printing of books has been banned for over two centuries by the Toyoko Treaty, which made large-scale changes to all aspects of life on Earth in the name of saving a warming planet.
Of the books published before 2080, only the Hundred and copies thereof survive. Books are too rare and valuable to lend out, but Saola, an 18-year-old-girl of Thai ancestry, has always wanted to be a librarian.
Her dream comes true when she finds herself in the Underground, the last remaining place on Earth where books are kept in large numbers. The only catch? No one leaves the Underground, ever.
Saola, pronounced ‘sow-la,’ is named after a critically endangered species of deer, on the premise that it becomes popular to name children after extinct species at some point in the future.
A little more about the saola deer, from the World Wildlife Foundation: “The actual size of the remaining population is unknown. Its rarity, distinctiveness and vulnerability make it one of the greatest priorities for conservation in the region. The current population is thought to be a few hundred at a maximum and possibly only a few dozen at a minimum.”
In all likelihood, this species does not have enough genetic diversity to reform a stable and sizable population. A recent estimate placed the rate of extinction at 200 species a day. As a poet, all I can do is spread awareness of this alarming number, and mark their passing in verse. I am once again reminded of Zbigniew Herbert’s concept of the “arithmetic of compassion.” An excerpt of “Mr. Cogito Reads the Newspaper” is displayed below.
Allow me to sign off on a less somber note: Our dog, Muffin, will be celebrating her 15th birthday this summer. She is a happy dog, and so very sweet. She loves food, and would probably qualify topographically as a sphere if she ate any more of it. However much time we have left with her, we will cherish it.
May inspiration find you in unexpected places,
Caitlin Cacciatore
