C. D. Tavenor

I don't know a lot about coding but I know enough to know buggy, slapdash code is a bad idea, AI or not

One of the best signs in 2025 that I'll get along with someone is when they say the words "I loved Clair Obscur: Expedition 33"

It's the greatest story told in video game form to date and is profoundly, philosophically, existentially relevant

I stand by that claim 100%

The novel "The Water Knife" by Paolo Bacigalupi

I've been meaning to read The Water Knife by @paolobacigalupi.bsky.social for years and I am so glad I've finally dove in this week. Hooked already.

Can the war on coal still be won? Ten years ago, the U.S. was on track to phase out coal by 2030, thanks to the Sierra Club. Now Trump and AI are delaying the fuel’s decline.

US coal generation has collapsed from about 50% of electricity in 2005 to just 14% today. It’s one of the fastest energy transitions in modern history. Operating a coal plant now costs more than building new wind and solar in every state. buff.ly/lhSKS7D
#ShareGoodNewsToo

Yeah I'm starting to understand a bit better. The different channels to subscribe to and what not. It feels weird not seeing lots of familiar faces from my days back on Twitter but I'm sure I'll rediscover some of those folks and find new people too!

That's what I'm hoping! Feels like Twitter when twitter was good. I love the lack of ads.

First stop on the "restarting social media" highway: launching a Substack?

I've had people ask me a lot over the past few years whether I would have written my first novel differently if I'd known about ChatGPT.

Well here are some brief musings on the question.

open.substack.com/pub/cdtaveno...

Happy to be back. I think? We shall see. I've enjoyed having my brain disconnected from algorithms (for the most part) but I think I know how to engage these spaces more meaningfully this time around.

Also I'm avoiding Twitter and Facebook like the plague they are 😜

What's next?
✨🔥Shadows of Endari, a new five book epic flintlock climate fantasy series. Book 1 releases in March.

What else about me?
Nonbinary. Lawyer. Love board games. Also a sometimes editor. I'll always talk about the craft of writing.

Oh and climate change is an existential threat. FYI.

Author of...
🤖 First of Their Kind (and its sequels)
--novels about Theren, the first synthetic intelligence and their effort to exist in a world that doesn't understand them. Also space.

Editor of...
🌍 The World's Revolution, a climate fiction anthology project. It's a whole lot of fun.

I've been off social media for the past nine months and I'm deciding to return via BlueSky (and maybe Instagram? Undecided)

I feel like a newbie to social media all over again! Perhaps that's a good thing.

So hello!

Looking to connect with folks regarding all things SciFi/Fantasy.

About me ⏬

More to come soon. Stay tuned 🎉

I've been off social media for nine months.

I'm slowly returning to it, albeit I'm a very different way.

Looking forward to reconnecting with old faces and hopefully finding a few new folks too!

The good news is, disconnecting from social media meant...

Finishing Shadows of Endari 1, 2, and 3.

An image of the book cover for A Valley to Harness on the left, and on the right, a photo of Christian Boswell, with text announcing him as the narrator for an audiobook for A Valley to Harness.

So @jabartlesauthor.bsky.social, I hear A Valley to Harness is being turned into an audiobook? Ain't that fun... 🌍

Centering uncertainty in #climate #fiction was central to my novel. One of the earliest ideas I knew would be in the story was to keep the ground physically moving under the characters’ feet so even the earth itself wouldn’t be a stable thing to fall back on.

Keeping climate stories close to home--keeping then focused on the experience of the characters--that's one of the strategies employed by @jabartlesauthor.bsky.social in A Valley to Harness to near absolute perfection.

I think my initial answer is to keep the stories very, very character-driven, focusing on the individual experience of the climate crisis rather than trying to be precise with future predictions.

To some extent, part of the real crisis of climate change is the uncertainty itself!

I keep exploring a few thoughts regarding writing future climate fiction:

(1) given the volatility of the present moment, what's the approach to writing near-future stories where present circumstances could change so quickly as to impact the setting of the story you're writing?

Anyone ever read Klara and the Sun?

What an adorable and thoughtful novel through the lens of an "artificial friend." (Aka, an AI designed to be friends for a sick thirteen-year-old girl).

A subtly speculative fiction novel, and short (~300 pages). Philosophical in all the right ways.

A graphic of the book cover for A Valley to Harness. It says "The climate crisis is here, and no refuge is safe." It then highlights a quote from a book review from Book Life, saying "Fans of genre-defying spec-fic with thought-provoking worldbuilding and deceptively complex characters will relish A Valley to Harness." The graphic features a QR code directing to the book's sale page, and other text notes that the book is on sale for $0.99.

He's an incredible author, and his story deserves to be read.

All three books, on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09FTGLDW8

A Valley to Harness, at other retailers: books2read.com/u/b6gJ26

So, for the next month, Gaia Awakens, Nature Erupts, and A Valley to Harness are all on sale for $0.99 each.

If you're a reader of climate fiction, I hope you'll give them a chance.

Especially A Valley to Harness! I truly enjoyed working with @jabartlesauthor.bsky.social as he wrote the book.

Their stories bring me hope. I fundamentally believe they've brought others hope, too.

Climate fiction takes seriously the crisis we face. It also explores its solutions, often through a lens of hope.

Now, more than ever, we need stories that inspire us to collectively create a better world.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the types of stories we need to be telling, given the current political state of the world.

Over the past few years, I've had the opportunity to work with dozens of authors on The World's Revolution. They're all incredible people and storytellers.

A Valley to Harness by Jason A. Bartles is a novel in the World's Revolution climate fiction series of stories. The novel takes place in a utopian valley in the Poconos that harbors a series of devious secrets by the ecofascist Militia and the not-so-green corporation, SustainAble. Will Henry, Colson, and Brisa learn to work together, or will their different agendas prevent them from uniting against corporate greed? Cover art by Sarah MacCready.

The World's Revolution #clifi series is on sale starting today!

$0.99 each until March 24
including the ebook of my Editor's Pick novel
A VALLEY TO HARNESS

books2read.com/u/b6gJ26

Right now, I have The World's Revolution as my climate fiction project.

It's such a fun world to share with people---climate fiction but also there's nature-powered superheroes and it's an anthology with stories from like twenty authors!

Also evil corporations!

Whenever people ask what I write, I often mention climate fiction, even though my works fit more into SciFi and Fantasy as a whole collected set of writings.

But I truly want my writing to be more reflective of climate fiction.

I fundamentally believe capitalism broke our ability to *truly* enjoy art, both the creative act and the experiential act, because it convinced us every experience needed to be commodified.

An image of the book cover for A Valley to Harness, by Jason A. Bartles, featuring the shadowy visages of three characters behind foliage.

In light of all the gloom in the world, we need to talk about optimistic works of fiction to help inspire us.

Well, let me introduce you to A Valley to Harness! Full disclosure, I was the book's editor, but it is a truly wonderful climate fiction story.

There's so much good talk about not using AI to write, but what about WRITING books about AI?

Meet Theren, a synthetic intelligence, who is just...

1. Trying to be loved by humanity and go to space
2. Playing some chess
3. Nonbinary

Let me introduce you to my 2019 debut, First of Their Kind!