Date Published: 11/18/2025
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Narrator: Nathan Westhoff
Run Time: '6:37
Determined to get his prototypes back, he enlists the help of a professional hurricane surfer, an Alaskan oil worker, and a French salt farmer. But he's no criminal mastermind, and they soon find themselves caught between a growing hurricane and a surprise algae field.
Will Moro succeed? Will they beat the hurricane surfing world record? And how exactly does one farm salt?
It's a hopeful climate heist—a solarpunk blend of Ocean's Eleven, The Martian and Michael Crichton.
Interview with Todd Medema
Could you tell us about any research trips you took for this story? Which places did you visit, and what made them essential to your writing?
All of the locations in the book are places I’ve lived in or visited. I decided to write the book using locations I was already familiar with, because I think personal familiarity can really add these beautiful little details that make a story richer and more believable.
What's the strangest thing you've ever had to research online for your book?
Why corporations suck so much. I wanted How to Surf a Hurricane to contain a message of hope, and a big part of that was figuring out why things feel broken today. Which led me down a whole rabbit hole of how corporate case law in the past 100 years in the US has turned corporate structure into the fundamental destructive and extractive model we know all too well today. And that led me to research all sorts of hopeful alternatives, like worker-owner cooperatives… which eventually led me to working with a local arts organization to help them become an artist-owned cooperative!
What research (history, mythology, science) goes into your world-building?
Everything I can get my hands on! Agriculture, geology, meteorology, boat design, business law, philosophy, you name it. The first draft of How to Surf a Hurricane had over 100 footnotes, but my publisher recommended I cut them because “heists don’t have footnotes,” so I turned them into a wiki that’s available on the book’s website.
Have any of the people you've known, past or present, left a lasting impression on your writing journey? If so, we'd love to hear about a memorable experience that stands out to you.
My high school creative writing teacher, Vincent Eisman. His “can do” attitude played a big part in making me feel like I could tackle big creative projects: I asked if I could do NaNoWriMo, and he was willing to let me skip the class’s syllabus for a whole month to try and write a novel, giving me plenty of feedback and encouragement along the way. It’s amazing how much of a difference one good teacher can make!
Do you write in the same genre all the time?
How to Surf a Hurricane is actually a bit of a genre crossover: Part heist, part science fiction, part solarpunk, part family drama. Even a touch of romance!
If so, have you ever consider writing in another one?
Yes. I really love writing across genres. It’s probably bad for my book’s sales because stores don’t know which section to put it in, but there’s a wonderful freedom in ignoring expectations and just writing what you enjoy!
Which character, supernatural or human, do you enjoy writing the most and why?
I think that nature as a character is absolutely fascinating. This is something I’m still learning to explore in my own works, and hope to explore more in my upcoming anthology based on Solarpunk Pen Pals.
Todd studied Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University. He worked on self-driving cars and board games before discovering a passion for clean energy. He spent four years working on grid-scale battery storage and now offers Product Management consulting to clean energy companies.
Todd spends his free time playing games, climbing rocks, and gleefully riding his electric bike everywhere. He is currently working on expanding the Hurricane universe.
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