Charlotte Mendel and Clyde Boyer talk about their time travel books.
Charlotte and Clyde were introduced through the Climate Fiction Writer’s League and have since engaged in a series of climate conversations and mutual admiration sessions. Both authors used time travel as a lens to look at our current climate crisis, providing a realistic look at our current mess, but also a path to better, possible futures.
Clyde Boyer: Let’s start with Reversing Time. This isn’t your standard YA novel, and I think that’s a good thing. The concepts and emotions in this book are complex and there are no easy resolutions or answers. But, I think young people are much more sophisticated than many writers give them credit for, and I believe this climate story will resonate. It’s a great novel, so either read it first than read this interview or vice versa…but read this book. Let’s get started.
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Reversing Time paints a really compelling picture of a possible future. Egalitarian. A society not just better tuned to nature, but aligned with nature. Is reconnecting with nature a precondition for building a better future?
Charlotte Mendel: I hope there are no preconditions to an individual’s desire to contribute to the quality of their own lives. The desire to survive and thrive burns in all of us, and the realization that our future depends on transitioning away from fossil fuels—changing our main energy sources to renewables—is the only condition for building a better future. However, perhaps this realization is a little easier for people who love nature.
CB: In your experience, do you believe young people are more receptive to climate fiction? What unique qualities or mindsets do they bring to the conversation?
CM: The short answer is, no. I am still trying to figure out who is more receptive to climate fiction, what makes them more receptive, and what type of climate fiction best inspires people to make changes in their own lives—but at least I’ve figured out that age isn’t a factor. I think there is a huge, growing tsunami of people who are increasingly receptive to the idea that the choices we make in our lives really do matter, and soon a critical mass will be reached that will demand change at the governmental level. At that point the government will speed up the process of policy change, resulting in laws (like carbon taxes) that force the remaining—unreceptive individuals—to change as well.
I have had the privilege to meet passionate environmentalists ranging in age from 7 to 90. I have also had the lesser privilege of meeting the utterly indifferent, who occupy the same huge age range. I am not sure why this is so, because it is the younger folks who will suffer the brunt of the catastrophe if the world fails to meet this challenge. But as a middle-aged person, I am driven to change partly because I am conscious of having been part of the problem for much of my life. I spent my youth travelling and stuffing my face with meat. I didn’t know about climate change, and don’t waste time blaming myself, but I am very anxious to address the damage my generation did.
CB: When writing climate fiction, how do you strike a balance between delivering a compelling story and conveying an important message? Which aspect, the story or the message, do you prioritize?
CM: If you make the climate crisis as sexy an enemy as Voldemarte or Captain Hook, and the people fighting it as heroic and identifiable-with as Superman and James Bond, then the important message is the reason why the story is compelling.
CB: As an author, what challenges do you face when addressing complex scientific concepts in your writing? How do you ensure that young readers understand and engage with these ideas without feeling overwhelmed?
CM: Overwhelmed is a great choice of word, as it reflects what so many people feel about the issue. In fact, the whole thing boils down to one, simple goal: reduce/stop using fossil fuels. That’s it. That’s the problem. You don’t need to know anything else. If our energy comes from fossil fuels, then everything we consume—our food, clothes, the hot water in our showers—all contribute to the problem. So while we wait for our energy sources to switch to renewables, let’s reduce our consumption, thereby reducing fossil fuel use, and forcing the corporations to switch to renewables faster. It really isn’t rocket science.
CB: There is a great scene in Reversing Time, where the protagonist, Simon, is exposed to two destructive world views on the climate crisis; one of denial and one of resignation. These views are deeply personal and rooted in all sorts of behaviors and patterns and fears that make us human. Facts and charts don’t seem to address these negative behaviors. How can fiction help us address these behaviors in a positive way?
CM: I am not sure that I know how to address them in a positive way—I am working on that! I do know that the issue isn’t partisan. The ‘leftie’ assumption that they’ve got a better attitude towards the climate than the right is simply not true. It doesn’t take much digging into the lives of politicians on both sides to see that there’s little difference in their average footprints. We need everybody on board to fight this huge issue that will affect everybody, so when the left co-opts the climate crisis and links it with their beliefs about abortion, racism, sexism, or whatever—they are alienating the right and obstructing the possibility of change.
Any set of beliefs that obstructs change is equally problematic. As far as I’m concerned, if you think abortion should be illegal but you want to fight for the future of the human race—I love you much more than someone who believes in free choice and flies to Thailand for their holidays. Fiction can help address obstructive behaviours on both sides of the divide by the simplistic, age-old method of honouring the heroes (those who fight climate change) and demonizing the obstructors.
CB: There is a threat of violence throughout Reversing Time, from the bullies who chase Simon after school, to the thugs from the oil companies, to even his parents and their domestic struggles. Is violence inevitable in the struggle for building a better world?
CM: Gosh, huge question! I feel very confused about this myself. Gandhi didn’t think violence was inevitable to build a better world, and he’s the hero Simon most identifies with. In my current book, the heroine starts to assassinate billionaires who are trashing the planet. Her young, gentle lover is horrified by this terrorism, until he goes to a party one day and overhears two billionaires discussing the underground bunkers they are building to escape the disaster their lifestyles have helped to create. They discuss how they might control the guards who would be needed to, “shoot the desperate hordes” trying to get into their bunkers. This scene is based on a real conversation between real billionaires, published in The Guardian. When I read this article, I felt pretty violent. But I’m no Gandhi.
Your novel Girl Out of Time is chock-a-block full of action, fantasy, time travel, glimpses of futuristic worlds and alien ones—all wrapped up in a story of everyday human challenges, from bullying to teenage love to the nature of friendship. When you set out to write Girl Out of Time, what was the source of your inspiration/vision? Did a specific concept or goal nurture the rich ideas and imagination coursing through your book?
CB: Chock-a-block full of action has to be my favorite new description. Thanks, Charlotte! You probably picked up on this in our conversations, but I’m pretty enthusiastic about a number of different topics from regenerative practices, biomimicry, positive youth development, reconnecting with nature, space travel, and science as a source of awe. Girl Out of Time was an opportunity to weave these concepts together in a story I really wanted to read. And, of course, there had to be aliens and time travel and lots of flying. That was some real wish fulfillment there.
If I had a specific goal at the beginning, it was to inspire my audience with positive visions of what a sustainable society might look like. If young readers can envision a radically better future, and even more importantly, their own role in that future, they are more likely to work for it. This is especially true for young readers, I believe.
CM: There are so many beautiful descriptions of nature in this story, and all the main characters observe, enjoy, and/or work with nature in various ways. Was this a conscious decision on your part—to describe nature in order to evoke a sense of its incredible beauty to the reader? What role has nature played in your own life?
CB: Absolutely. I wanted the reader to be immersed in Anna’s world and to tap into all their senses; not just sight, but sound, smell, and tactile sensations. There is a website that uses AI to score a book on different attributes, vividness, passive voice, etc. Girl Out of Time scored in the 96th percentile for vividness. I thought that was pretty cool…useless…but cool.
In biomimicry, we are trained to carry a nature journal wherever we go and to just sit and observe our surroundings — quietly and with no agenda. At first, you just see nature as one big thing, then slowly, as your field of perception begins to relax you start to see patterns, movement, varying shades of color, and life dancing all around you. It’s kind of magical. It’s also something I tried to capture in Girl Out of Time. Like the great Hall of Fame baseball player Yogi Berra once said, “you can observe a lot by just watching.”
My own relationship with nature has evolved over time, but it has always been a source of awe, even as a kid growing up on a ranch in Idaho. There is a passage in the book where the main character, Anna, looks up into a night sky so dense with stars she could almost sense their movement, “the heavens spinning slowly above her in an arc.” I had that same experience when I was young. A kind of disorientation like vertigo and a diminishing of self.
Like most kids on a farm, I ran away the first chance I could get. I became involved in technology and design and began building complex systems. It was fun and challenging, but I felt such a hole in my life. About seven years ago, I helped a friend of mine on a regenerative farming project in Africa, and it was if someone had opened the window and let the fresh air in. I went back to school for Biomimicry and have spent the last seven years reconnecting to nature. I’ve learned nature is a model for doing things in a better way; a mentor. There is so much we can learn if we just listen.
CM: There are two alien creatures in Girl Out of Time; the black shadowy aliens and the white spectres with the strange eyes. Although the white spectres are associated with fear for most of the story, by the end the reader realizes that both your creations are fundamentally ‘reasonable’. Do these creations represent or reflect any aspect of our own culture?
CB: I didn’t think about that when writing Girl Out of Time. When I created these alien characters, I looked at them from a biological lens primarily, not a cultural one. I asked myself how a creature would evolve on an alien landscape with hypergravity and eternal night. I looked to biological models here on earth for how these creatures could communicate, move, and sense the world around them. The shadow creature was really a thought experiment on envisioning a viable life form. But, the white spectres were something else… Spoiler alert: I wondered if it was possible to create a tense, action-oriented story, where there are no villains or bad guys, but a pervasive sense of mystery. I loved the idea of creatures who existed outside our sense of time who helped shape possible futures. They are gardeners trimming and pruning and managing complex ecosystems of time very much in the same way as Uncle Jack and Dr. Gloria manage ecosystem complexity on the Armstrong Regenerative Research Farm.
CM: Girl Out of Time entertains, and it also provokes thought. If you were to choose one, single message that you would like your readers to take away from this story, what would it be?
CB: If there is a single message it would be this. We need to move beyond the current narrative on climate impacts and fear to climate engagement and agency. Kids need to be able to envision a better future, one so compelling that they’re willing to do what it takes to get there.
If there is a secondary message, it would be something along the lines of “get outside and get out of your head.” Reconnecting with nature not only helps us feel part of something bigger (awe), it helps lower stress, improve our immune systems and mood, and can even help us concentrate more effectively. It’s like a prescribed medication without the cost and nasty side effects.
Find out more about Reversing Time and Girl Out of Time.
Clyde Boyer is a social entrepreneur and former farm kid who has spent his life working with underserved youth and migrant populations and building learning hubs in Africa and Latin America. He is also a frequent public speaker and an advisory board member of SXSW EDU. A practicing Biomimic, he believes nature is the best teacher in solving many of our world’s issues.
Charlotte Mendel is a mother, author, teacher, and a modest homestead farmer. Her first novel, Turn Us Again, won the Atlantic Book Award for First Novel, the H.R. Percy Novel Prize, and the Beacon Award for Social Justice. Her second novel, A Hero, was shortlisted for the 2016 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and was a finalist in the 2016 International book Awards, in the General Fiction Category.
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