Some may think that switching careers from an environmental meteorologist to novelist is rather bizarre. After all, one is all about science and the other…well, isn’t. Hard facts verses imagination and fictional worlds. The laws of physics verses magic. It appears that these two careers have nothing in common. But they do. I’ve used my meteorological training and knowledge to aid me in building my fictional worlds.
Take, for example, my dystopian novels, Inside Out and Outside In, the characters all live in what is basically a giant metal cube. They’ve not only lost contact with what or who is outside their world, but they can’t even remember why they’re living “inside.” Their world is completely self-contained and has no outside resources. So how do they survive?
Here’s where my environmental meteorology background came in handy. In order for the Insiders to survive, they will need, at the very least, clean air, water, and food. My knowledge of air scrubbers and filters helped me “design” a system that would keep the air clean as it circulates through the levels of Inside. With only a limited amount of water, it, too must go through endless cycles of water treatment so I “created” a waste-water treatment plant to remove waste and convert it into fuel and fertiliser for the vegetable plants and fruit trees, which also aids in cleaning the air.
Because of the limited space, I decided the Insiders would only raise sheep, because they are able to provide wool for clothing, meat for protein, and milk for the Insiders. I discovered glass would be perfect for my world. It can be shaped into practically anything and if it is broken, it can be melted down and reused over and over and over. Paper, though was a big problem. It requires too many resources, chemicals, and water to produce, so I gave everyone a marker and wipe board and added indigo plants to the garden.
As I worked on the story, other problems arose. For example, what happens when a person dies? If there is nothing going out or coming in, what do they do with a dead body? And, before you go there, NO I didn’t do a Soylent Green. Instead, I created Chomper. A huge machine that chomps and crushes things down very small to also be used as fertilizer. Chomper also made a pretty good threat—obey the laws or you’ll be fed to Chomper!
Building the world of Inside required a great deal of research and planning, but I’m a big believer in being accurate even though I’m writing fiction. I’m also quite proud of how the world turned out. Everything in it is reused, recycled, repaired, and repurposed. From an purely environmental viewpoint, it’s not a dystopia, but a utopia.
Find out more about Maria V Snyder and her books on her website. Her latest book, Shadow Study, is out now in paperback - buy it at the Guardian bookshop.
