Super excited to share with you all our new non-fiction project: Green New Worlds: A Quick Guide to Sustainability through Science Fiction and Fantasy, by Mexican academics Ricardo Victoria-Uribe and Martha Elba González-Alcarez.
Ricardo and Martha joined the Luna family for Worlds Apart: Worldbuilding in Fantasy and Science Fiction, winner of the BSFA Award 2022 for Best Non-Fiction, with the article "No elf is an island. Understanding worldbuilding through system thinking".
With this project, Ricardo and Martha wanted to create an accessible way to teach about sustainability. As lecturers, they understand the importance of explaining concepts in a practical way, so let's hear it from Ricardo:
"The idea is to offer the reader an introduction to what sustainability is, some of the main concepts and main areas of study, and how SFF can be used to explain said concepts in a more approachable manner. We aim to present these topics in an amicable way, rather than in a technical one, for the reader that wants to know more about sustainability but finds the current literature a tad daunting. We believe this is a good way to raise awareness within the SFF community and thus, hopefully motivate it to take action and make the changes in their own spheres of action to turn the current situation. Every little helps.
This book is drawing from my experience as a SFF fan and lecturer of sustainability, always looking for ways to explain myself and the topic to my students, as well as Martha’s encyclopedic knowledge in terms of SFF literature pragmatism to keep the book from getting too technical or too specialized. More importantly, she is an avid, voracious reader and is a fountain of SFF wisdom from books I haven’t even read.
As for our collaboration, together has been a challenge in the good sense. We have different career backgrounds (one is and Industrial Designer and the other a Pharmaceutical Chemist), different works (one is an academic, the other works in the private sector), different schedules, live in different cities. But what we have in common is a longtime friendship of more than a decade, similar geeky interests, such as anime, videogames, and reading books. Martha is the beta reader for Ricardo’s fantasy novels, so there is a work dynamic already established within the friendship.
Sustainability’s relevance is such, that different career backgrounds and different tastes in terms of SFF, allow to see matters with different angles and improve the current knowledge, as well as aiding to develop new ideas and possibilities. Every time we talk about the subject both learn new things from each other and about the specific topics we are writing on. Working together for this book proves that we can both contribute to this field, providing with different viewpoints, aiming to reach a convergence point that will allow more people to understand the basics of sustainability and its impact in an entertaining way."
About the Authors
Ricardo Victoria-Uribe (also writes as Ricardo Victoria) is a Mexican writer and lives in Toluca, Mexico. He studied Industrial Design at the School of Architecture & Design of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, where he currently works as a lecturer focused on sustainability. He has a Ph.D. in Design from Loughborough University. He’s a founding member of Inklings Press, an indie publisher of short story anthologies of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and horror. His short story “Twilight of the Mesozoic Moon”, co-written with Brent A. Harris, was nominated for the 2016 Sidewise Awards for Alternate History. His horror stories “Bone Peyote” and “The Sound of Madness” were featured at The Wicked Library Podcast. Other short stories have been featured in anthologies by Inklings Press, Rivenstone Press, and Aradia Publishing. He co-authored a chapter on world-building and system thinking in the book “Worlds Apart: Worldbuilding in Fantasy and Science Fiction” from Luna Press Publishing which won a British Science Fiction Award. Since he has been writing the “Tempest Blades” science fantasy series, published by Shadow Dragon Press, an imprint of Artemesia Publishing, LLC. It currently is composed of three novels, with a final fourth, and short story collection in the works. He is a fan of anime, the 80s’ Saturday morning cartoons, Japanese RPG videogames, toys, and mythology, which clearly influences his writing. He also likes dogs. He has been an Associate Member of the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association) since 2022.
Martha Elba González Alcaraz - Mexican writer, lives in Zapopan, Jalisco. Studied Pharmacobiologist Chemistry at the School of Chemistry of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico. Holds an MBA from the University of the Valley of Mexico. She has published two stories with Inklings Press as one of the first authors featured in their anthologies. While she works in the medical device industry, she also works as freelancer proofreader and translator. She is currently working on a short story collection. She co-authored a chapter on world-building and system thinking in the book “Worlds Apart: Worldbuilding in Fantasy and Science Fiction” from Luna Press Publishing which won a British Science Fiction Award. An avid reader with a keen interest on epic, long stories and classicals, with some of her favorite books being “The Three Musketeers” and “The Neverending Story”. Also, a fan of anime and Japanese RPG videogames.
Martha and Ricardo have been friends for several years, in which Martha has beta read both his novels. This is the second collaboration as co-authors.
Green New Worlds will be out in 2024, and you can follow the progress in the monthly newsletter.