The Cove

Silas and Munro are off on a class visit to Peggy’s Cove, about 45 minutes west of their home in Halifax, Canada. Along the way, Silas sees how the landscape has been manipulated by man’s insatiable need for energy. Huge tidal generating stations have been constructed along the coastline in an effort to curb the country’s need for oil. Sea life in some of these areas is now non-existent.

Tidal power could provide great potential for creating large amounts of electricity in the future. It’s not yet widely used, but some view it as a more reliable source of renewable energy as the tides are predictable compared to the sun and wind. In OurGlass, I have made an effort to mention both the barrage method of tidal power generation (involving a gate system to trap the water’s outflow) and the floating generator (involving a turbine being submerged into an ocean’s current). Both are still in the development stages and their impact on marine life is still being assessed. There is no silver bullet in solving our need for energy.

On their own, these methods of power generation will not fulfill man’s total energy needs, but they could play a very important supplemental role in man’s future demands for electricity.

Writing R & D

It’s funny how a project can begin with a certain direction in mind and begin to morph as it progresses. OurGlass wasn’t originally a novel set in the future. As I’ve decided to advance the story fifty years, it’s important that I paint a picture of what changes may have taken place.

First off, the health of Earth’s environment is a key factor. I’ve been paying attention for some time now (as many people are) to new ideas and technologies that crop up from time to time to help negate the effects of climate change. For one, developments in renewable energy receive a lot of attention in OurGlass. Society has also weaned itself off of oil to a large degree.

The importance that plants will play as a natural offset to CO2 emissions will also be included in my story. I’ve been reviewing the pile of magazines that I’ve saved over the past two years (Discover, Wired, Scientific American, Newsweek, etc.) and they are treasure troves of information. You won’t see me on Hoarders anytime soon because of my love of saving magazines, but once again I’m reminded of the value of tucking away items for future usefulness.

The next several posts will present some of the findings I’ve made and what I might include as I write this novel.

Now, where did I put that little piece of string I was saving…?

Shall We Begin?

Well, my writing process is well underway. I should correct myself in saying it’s partly a “re-writing process.”

When I proposed this project to my advisory panel, I indicated to them that I had about 70 pages of the novel written. My writing skills have improved while attending college this past year. After looking at what I had written, there was plenty of room for improvement. That being said, I have decided to make several changes as I go forward. The heart of the novel is the same, but two of my main characters, Silas and Munro, will now become brother and sister instead of just classmates. I feel this will make for a stronger bond between the two in the challenges they will face later on in the story.

There are more changes I plan to make later on and I’m excited and confident that each of them will make for a better story.