We're in the Storm
We're in the Storm: A Chat with Curtis Ippolito
I’m almost always working on a novel, but my most recent one has been circling my head in a holding pattern. And so, lately, I’ve been writing short stories.
I love short stories and, as is typical of a lot of writers, the form is how I was trained. It’s the go-to model for writing workshops and classroom texts because, if a novel is a 12-round boxing match, then a short story is the knockout punch. Quick and powerful and, in just a few pages, life-changing.
Coincidentally, the writer Curtis Ippolito (fresh off winning the 2025 Anthony Award for Best Short Story!) reached out to me a month or so ago about the new anthology he’s edited, On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology.
I read the collection in one night. It’s powerful and, at only fifteen stories, concise, centered around different environmental disasters, opening with a fire and closing in a flood. Does that sound like a fun read? Not at all! But it works, in no small part because, as Curtis told me, the writers refused to give in to tragedy:
I think that gets at the heart of what we were trying to accomplish with this anthology. This isn’t a Marvel or James Bond movie. None of the characters in these stories are saving the world or fixing climate change: they’re trying to save themselves and their loved ones, which for me, makes the stories raw and relatable. We set out to show the nature of this existential crisis, seen through the eyes and challenges of everyday people.
Striking a balance was a crucial part of the process. We wanted to highlight all those elements that might seem conflicting — inevitability, terror, hope, tragedy, and humanity — because that’s where we are right now. The global situation with climate change is extremely fraught and uncertain, but at the same time we know what caused it, what is exacerbating it, and the steps we need to take to mitigate its destruction. What we lack from our world leaders is the will to do anything about it.
Thirty, forty years ago, scientists were saying humanity could avoid the consequences of climate change if we acted now (then). Well, now, scientists are saying we are experiencing the beginning of those consequences, but there’s still hope! We can still avoid experiencing the worst of them if we act now, there’s still time. I see those same conflicts, the mixed feelings and themes in these stories. People are doing the best they can to survive already, and then you add in having to escape or battle a wildfire, flood, or crooked politicians, and all that uncertainty will make one character go in one direction and another in a completely different direction.
As I read through the anthology, I was struck by the variety of voices, and how different each was.
Although I am gleefully a hip hop head (trust me, I’m going somewhere with this), jazz was the formative music of my life. It redefined me, was all I listened to for years, and I couldn’t imagine anything better. One thing, among many, that I loved about jazz was the way that a single song often allows musicians to take turns improvising, stepping forward with their instrument and showing off their style and skills (rappers later adapted this via posse cuts and cyphers).
A well-curated anthology is the literary form of this music. A chance for writers to play off the same themes, and provide a showcase of approaches, conflicts, characters, all within self-contained worlds.
I’ve contributed to some anthologies and edited others. And, despite my glowing admiration in those previous two paragraphs, editing an anthology can be a gigantic pain in the ass. Fortunately, Curtis didn’t seem to have any issues wrangling fifteen unique, powerful voices - including Meagan Lucas, Puja Guha, Richie Narvaez, and more - even if he won’t take credit for it:
All credit goes to the Rock and a Hard Place crew. They do such a great job of being thoughtful and socially-conscious in general, and especially when they do these special editions. They had the idea to do a climate change crime fiction themed issue and approached me about guest-editing. I was intimidated at first and had to think about it. Like, was this project too big for me? It took a day or two for me to realize that I was the right person. I have a passion for the environment and for crime fiction. I am grateful they asked and so glad I said yes.
I can’t say there was one issue or challenge during this process. The team at RHP is such a well-oiled machine, and the editors are each talented writers in their own rights. Anything I needed or suggested, there was someone who jumped up to assist. This is a solid crew with passionate, considerate editors who take great care with writers’ work. If we did have any challenges, they were the typical things, such as meeting production deadlines and the like.
One of the curious things about being an American is the grateful allowance of distance. We’ll maintain a blissful unawareness of our foreign policy, even as the cruel cuts have disastrous, deadly consequences. We, gallingly, take no action on other children being shot to death, aside from desperately hoping our own don’t suffer the same fate. And we ignore the oncoming effects of climate change, rejecting science for the sake of comfort.
People should be frustrated and angry at how our leaders have continually not just let us down, but sold us out to make themselves and their cronies rich. To know that we’re in it, all you have to do is listen to meteorologists or the reporting after a devastating weather event and notice how they are now including the layer of how climate change is contributing to or exacerbating these events. For instance, fire has played a natural role in shaping habitats and plant communities in Southern California for millions of years, but because of the effects of climate change, present day wildfires are occurring more frequently and burning hotter than ever before. So, the native plants that have evolved to resprout after a fire are now getting incinerated. Look at some of the biggest weather events we’ve experienced in the last year or two to see how we are in it now.
And still, we don’t have to accept this.
Our political and business leaders around the globe can still decide to accept responsibility for the destruction they’re allowing and enact real measures that will curtail greenhouse gases and reverse the toxic levels of cO2 in our atmosphere. Or they can continue to do what they’ve always done and put profit over people’s lives.
It’s not too late, but we have to act now.
On Fire and Under Water is one of the few books that’s a necessary read, something very little published work manages to accomplish.
If you love the peculiar art of short stories, you should read it.
If you’re concerned about climate change or the current political climate, and you feel alone or powerless in this regard, you should read it.
If you want to read a collection that captures America’s current attitudes in an unflinching, but not unsympathetic manner, you should read it.
If you realize the storm is upon us and you need a moment of shelter, you should read it.
On Fire and Under Water will be published this Tuesday. You can preorder it HERE.
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You know that Slow Horses series on AMC? The one based on the acclaimed series by Mick Herron? I reviewed the latest in the series, Clown Town, for The Washington Post, and you can read my review HERE.
I’ve reviewed a mix of popular and not-yet-known writers for the Post, and it’s always more difficult to review popular authors. For one thing, you have to see them through your own lens, and convince a fairly sizable group of devoted readers that your lens is justified, all within 800 words. Any criticisms will be countered, any compliments will have been previously given. As is the case when you’re writing anything, you have to have the confidence that this is a story you’re capable of telling,
I was a bit nervous about taking on this assignment, but I ended up proud of my review. I hope you enjoy it.
It's giveaway time! This newsletter I’m giving away a copy of One Fire and Under Water. And the winner is:
ale______dman@ymail.com
Congrats, and I'll send you an email with more information soon!
Isn’t it weird that I barely talked about myself? I think it’s weird. Let me fix that by saying, hey, you should totally order my most recent thriller! That feels better.