Release of the SplinterVerse anthology Earth(ish)

Like in many professions, writers have to hustle to get their stories out there. Though we would all love to be best-selling authors with household name recognition, the hard truth is that the vast (vast, vast, vast) majority of writers struggle to get even the occasional short story sold or novel published (unless they do it themselves.)

So, when I was asked by a publisher to write a story for their anthology, I not only jumped at the chance, I reveled in knowing that I didn’t have to wait months for a decision whether my story would be included – it was already earmarked for the book! That moment was a huge milestone in my writing career, and I am grateful for the opportunity.

And, after five minutes of obscene grinning, the aftershock settled in and pressure slammed down. This story would have to be good. It would need to be worthy of being in this collection. Where would I start?

Earth(ish)

The anthology itself has a pretty cool theme that comes directly from the publisher, Splinter Press. This imprint is unique in that all the books it has published are connected via the same fictional universe that they call the SplinterVerse.

In the SplinterVerse, immortal beings have arrived on Earth far in the future and have brought with them time travel technology. But each time future humanity tries to use this technology to reach a different era in its past, a new, separate pocket universe is created. But these attempts are always fully successful and the resulting size of pocket universe can vary wildly from only including Earth, to the Earth and moon, to the inner planets, to the full solar system—but nothing beyond that.

The new pocket-universe Earth is an exact duplicate of the real Earth (Earth Prime) at that time but diverges along its own timeline path. These new Earths at worst exist alone in total darkness to at best exist in our solar system but with nothing else around. No stars or constellations. No Milky Way. No other galaxies. Societies transform and adapt while environments and ecosystems change, leading to many new and interesting worlds—all of them Earth.

"Commercial Break"

My story "Commercial Break" takes place on an iteration of Earth that initially splintered from Earth Prime in 2050, so not too long from now. At the time of the Splinter event, scientists—including my protagonist Eleanor “Ellie” Newton-Woode—thought the elusive Planet Nine had finally been discovered beyond the Kuiper Belt. They built and sent a probe called Marlowe with lots of specialized instruments to investigate.

After the Splinter, however, stars vanish and society panics. Governments fall and the world is in chaos until the oligarchs of the world finally use their vast resources for good and rebuild society. But it’s not without a price. And since profit is all they know, such becomes the focus of the new government.

Now it’s 40 years later and a new object joins the solar system’s few planets in the night sky. They want to know what it is, but science has been shelved for decades, and the best option exists with Eleanor Newton-Woode, now 95 years old, and the Marlowe probe. But society hasn’t been kind to Ellie, and she’s learned the lesson the oligarchs taught: she wasn’t going to do this for free.

Publication

It took me roughly four months to write "Commercial Break," going through many iterations and revisions—including a couple of title changes—before finally submitting my final version. The publisher then reviewed my story, along with all the others, for several months after which I received their feedback.

Four editors each had thoroughly reviewed and marked-up my story. Seeing all the notes—and there were hundreds—made me wonder if the story was good enough. In actually reading each one, I understood what they wanted. Many suggestions were small items that improved the story. Other edits improved how my story fit within the shared universe. One edit was actually to include an easter egg connecting my story to another story in the anthology!

After more editing and another round of revision with the publishers, "Commercial Break" was ready to go. After a final review of the proof—which included a fabulous illustration of one key moment in the story—physical production of the anthology was underway.

Final Product

The Earth(ish) anthology contains over twenty short stories and dozens of illustrations. It is available as an e-book, in paperback, or in hard cover. The quality of the stories is outstanding, and Earth(ish) would be a fine addition to any speculative fiction library.

All editions are available for sale at: https://splinterpress.com/products/splinterverse-anthology