Charles W. Botsford, PE -- Writer/Artist/Engineer

Writer, Carver, Musician. Charlie Botsford writes, carves wood and rock, and plays French Horn and didgeridoo.

        The website, Abbotwriter, is so named for Jack Abbot, the protagonist of Abbot’s Solution, the first novel in the God Wars series. The Abbotwriter pages show photos from scenes of Abbot’s Solution, Essex, and other novels, and of course many of Charlie’s rock and wood carvings. Below are Charlie’s science fiction novels, short stories, and technical papers either recent or in process.

Publication and Awards

2024 Southwest Writers Contest — The Leader, a 3000-word SF short story and the first ten pages of Essex, a 91,000-word SF novel placed first in their respective categories in the 2024 Southwest Writers Contest. Southwest Writers published both works in the anthology, Mosaic Voices, available in paperback on Amazon (September 2024). These works join Homecoming, a 5500-word SFF short story, which is also award winning.

Novel in Progress — The iBrain War, Mergend Rising 

It’s near future Los Angeles, a year after the iBrain War, and things go very wrong for Carol Wynston, Max Dellarosa, and teenager Jimmy Hammund. Carol, conscripted by Army Intelligence, to develop an effective implant anti-virus program, finds herself, and the impregnable facility she works in under attack. Max is ambushed and nearly killed while conducting a seemingly routine roust of an implant gang in LA. Jimmy, self-proclaimed master of the universe, defends himself from a cyber and physical attack. Mergend, the world’s surviving crime syndicate, and thought to have been eradicated, is behind it all. Thus begins The iBrain War, Mergend Rising which engulfs all humanity. The three must battle Mergend to stop it, and its young woman boss, from creating a hybrid human species that would enslave humanity, at least those who survive. Status — 42K words.

Latest Technical Paper — A Gigawatt a Day Keeps the CO2 Away 

Globally, we’re adding about a gigawatt (GW) daily of renewables (wind, solar, and energy storage). By 2030, we’ll be on track to add 3GW daily. Will that be enough to mitigate climate change effects and keep the world below a 2C global temperature rise. The paper looks at the economics of renewables, the track we’re on for a 100% renewables future by 2050, and missteps we need to avoid along the way. Status — published at Energy Central, February 2024.

Engineer. Charlie is a chemical engineer (MSChE, PE, California), who has extensive experience with electric vehicle charging infrastructure, energy, and air quality issues. He was a principal architect and project manager of the West Coast Electric Highway (68 DC fast charging stations in Oregon and Washington). Mr. Botsford has written 45 technical publications on EV charging infrastructure, energy, and air quality. Abbotwriter posts links to those publications, along with photos of EV chargers, wind turbines, and Alaskan glaciers. The About page tells of Charlie, Abbot, Emma, and other fictional and non-fictional characters. Blog topics include: Writing/carving, Philosophy/Consciousness, and Energy.

All photography by Charles Botsford except where noted