I have been assimilated.
And not in any Borg or Dalek sort of way…no, this is far worse. I’ve been assimilated into the Hivemind Collective.
What is a Hivemind and how did we collect? It all started about three years back when members of the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers email list began discussing the possibility of collaborating on some projects set in shared universes that we would collectively create. Shared universes are the bread and butter of media tie-in writers; we’re the people hired to write the novels, short stories, and audio adaptations set in the established universes of such properties as Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Murder She Wrote, Monk, etc.
The Hivemind came about, if I remember correctly, at the instigation of the prolific Steve Savile, whose acquaintance (and friendship) I made when I wrote a story for the anthology he edited for Big Finish Books, Doctor Who: Short Trips, Destination Prague. He solicited volunteers and concepts for new young adult shared universes (universi?), and thirteen of us raised our hands to join in the fun. We originally began developing three separate ideas, each meant to be a series of YA novels. But as we worked on the project, the publishing industry was falling into this bizarre and ever dwindling spiral, and hopes of actually getting these things published dwindled with them. And, with the market for the types of books we write shrinking, we were finally forced to suspend work on these speculative projects and focus our respective energies on actually earning livings for ourselves.
But the Hivemind had merely gone into hibernation. Last year, thanks to the rise in ebooks and the possibility of inexpensive self-publishing, the collective revived and revised its plans. While one of the original fourteen was forced to drop out due to prior commitments, the rest of us agreed to jump in and bring out Latchkeys, a series of interconnected short stories published under the aegis of Crazy 8 Press (the ebook imprint of Hivemind members Robert Greenberger and Aaron Rosenberg, among others).
What is Latchkeys?
Matt Fisher was a normal boy–until he found the Door. The Door that led to the House. The House whose Doors opened into places all over the world–and into worlds that had been, and would be, and even never were. But Matt wasn’t the only one who’d found his way in. Now he had something the man named Twig wanted, something that could sow the seeds to everything’s destruction. This first book in the spine-tingling Latchkeys series sets the stage for more adventures with Matt Fisher and the rest of the Latchkeys Kids!
The first three episodes have been published and are available for download for the Kindle and the Nook at just .99¢ each:
Latchkeys #1: Nevermore, by Steven Savile
Latchkeys #2: The Ugly Little Bloke, by Robert Greenberger
Latchkeys #3: Nevermore, by Debbie Viguie
Each is a self-contained story…but also a piece of a bigger tapestry leading up to a sensational “Season One” finale.
I just finished writing Latchkeys #4 (from a story by Kris Katzen), Speakeasy: The Bootleg War (currently in production), which will be followed on a monthly schedule by:
Latchkeys #5: Speakeasy: Roscoes In the Night, by James Reasoner
Latchkeys #6: Time Limit, by Aaron Rosenberg
Latchkeys #7: Slipping Through the Cracks, by Brandie Tarvin
Latchkeys #8: The Beast, by Steven Savile
Latchkeys #9: Differences, by Lorraine J. Anderson
Latchkeys #10: Past Imperfect, by Chris Reynolds
Latchkeys #11: Future Tense, by Matt Forbeck
Latchkeys #12: Shades of Gray, by Ben Rome
Latchkeys #13: Emmett, by Paul Kupperberg
Check ‘em out. Get assimilated into the Hivemind yourself.
Tags: Aaron Rosenberg, Crazy 8 Press, Hivemind Collective, Latchkeys, Steven Savile