Post by Charleson MamboYeah, not all dead here. Even if I can't seem able to get into a
cyberpunk writing headspace lately. I have been busy working on
worldbuilding for other projects. And helping to run a few local
fandom cons.
The hard part about cyberpunk writing today is we are now all cyberpunks. Even housewives are cyberpunks. They've got smart phones with better capability and computer power than original Star Trek tricorders and communicators combined, and streaming data, use bluetooth headsets and drive armored vehicles (they like to think so) called SUVs, shop via computer for all sorts of exotic things, post digital pictures on online forums like its no big deal. They are all doing, casually, the things we worked so hard to do ourselves nearly 20 years ago.
Post by Charleson MamboWhat's everyone else been up to?
Not writing fiction, actually. Or not much. Mostly non-fiction articles about Peak Oil. And how to live post-oil without panicking. The cheapest and most fuel efficient answer to peak oil and avoiding wars over the last drops? Bicycle. The solution to bicycles lack of distance reach and exhausting the rider? Top Gear, Season 12, Episode 8, Vietnam Special. Watch it. It will all make sense. Mondo Enduro and Long Way Round episodes 4-8 also explain better. There's good reason, besides the end of cheap oil and the expense of renewable synthetics. The roads themselves are paved with tar, which is oil, which is going away. You can make roads out of concrete, but those crack when heavy trucks drive on them, and then weeds get into the cracks and the slabs shift and it stops being a road and becomes really dangerous obstacle course. Pretty soon roads are overgrown and look like something from Yokohama Kaidaishi Kikou (Cafe Alpha OVAs are all up on YouTube and the manga is online too). Two wheels or walk. That's the post oil future. Oh, and horses if you have the water and land to spare for pasture. Bicycles are cheaper and less trouble. Since the roads are going to go away with the oil, we'll be riding through overgrown greenery instead of what we've gotten used to. Many things are changing. Many things.