iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 29/09/2026

"Spin" is out now in Arcane Intelligence from Raconteur Press. Heaven and Hell run soul-collection like rival spy agencies, and Ash, a demon case officer, is sent to catch the honest angel leaking their secrets. link.amazon/B0ceC4it5 #Fantasy #SpecFic #BookSky

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 25/09/2026

"Relay" chapter 2 is up. Mara finds people who don't want to be found — her newest job is hiding a whistleblower carrying a piece of the machine that runs London. New chapters every Friday, free: thmercer.com/l/relay #SciFi #SpecFic #BookSky

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 19/09/2026

Relay is serializing now. Mara finds people who don't want to be found, by listening for the flinch in a stranger's voice — until a whistleblower job hands her a piece of the machine that runs London. New chapter every Friday: thmercer.com/relay #SciFi #Dystopian #BookSky

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 10/09/2026

"The Woodsboro Correspondence" is out in Slayer (Dragon Soul Press). Calvin Rourke writes an apologetic letter about strange happenings in his home, not realizing that he himself is the strange thing happening. books2read.com/DSPSlayer #UrbanFantasy #BookSky

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 04/08/2026

If you read Space & Time No. 153, "Working As Intended" is on the Readers' Choice ballot for flash fiction. A vote would mean a lot — one per email, winners get the new Linzner Award. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

docs.google.com

153 August 2026 · S&T Readers Choice Ballot

Welcome to the Space & Time Readers Choice ballot! For each issue, readers are invited to vote for their favorite story and favorite poem. These votes help us celebrate the work that resonated most wi...

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 04/08/2026

Out now: "Working As Intended," my flash story in Space & Time No. 153 (Aug 2026, "Sharpen Your Tools"). El treats creation like shipped code — until an angel shows up with an incident report he didn't see coming. authortunitiespress.com/b/153

authortunitiespress.com

Space & Time No. 153: August 2026 — Sharpen Your Tools

Choose your edition:Ebook · Standard Print · Large Print · Dyslexia-Friendly PrintThe Hermit steps away from the noise not to abandon the world, but to return with clearer vision, steadier hands, and ...

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 17/07/2026

"Flinch" is in Forgotten Fronts Wyrd Warfare, out today from Raconteur Press. Clark sees the shimmer before every shot fired at his squad — the men who call him a coward don't know what it costs him. amzn.to/4wakQQg #SpeculativeFiction #WyrdWarfare #ShortFiction #MilSF #IndieAuthor

Cover of Wyrd Warfare Forgotton Fronts, Edited by Chris DiNote. Featuring a large moth carrying bombs surrounded by airplanes.

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 16/07/2026

Inside: a postdoc chasing a signal, a soldier doing the math on survival, a man tracking his country's collapse in a spreadsheet, and a mother fighting for a mind the state calls a server bill. Four ways of asking the same question — what do you owe a system that's stopped deserving you?

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 16/07/2026

📚 IT'S LIVE. Moral Arithmetic is out today. Four stories about the quiet choices people make when the systems they serve stop deserving them. Read it now: thmercer.com/moral-arithm... #SpecFic #IndieAuthor #SciFi

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 09/07/2026

Scalzi's been a real influence on my own writing. Sharp voice, big ideas, never takes himself too seriously. If that's your kind of speculative fiction, this is a ridiculous deal for the value.

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 09/07/2026

📚 Humble Book Bundle: The John Scalzi Collection — Old Man's War & More Pay what you want, and support charity in the process. This bundle has 22 books: the complete Old Man's War series, the Interdependency trilogy, Redshirts, Starter Villain, and more. www.humblebundle.com/books/john-s...

humblebundle.com

Humble Book Bundle: The John Scalzi Collection: Old Man's War & More by TOR Books

Discover your new favorite author with this bundle of books from sci-fi humorist John Scalzi! Pay what you want and support World Central Kitchen!

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 06/07/2026

Fun publishing footnote: I'm not listed as an author on the Amazon page. Anthologies cap bylines at 10, and with the editor credited, I landed at 11th. My story's still very much in the book — just not in the byline soup. 🐙

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 06/07/2026

🐙 NEW: "Fluffy, Horror of the Deep" is out now in PET MONSTERS (Raconteur Press). A boy hides a glowing, tentacled creature from parents too distracted to notice either of them — until it turns out to have somewhere else it belongs. 📖 amzn.to/4gRWSnT #SpecFic #IndieAuthor #ShortStories

Cover of Pet Monsters, featuring a hairy green monster and a boy on a skateboard.

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 18/06/2026

Looking for SF to read early? There's a BookSirens bundle of speculative fiction ARCs up right now — including my own collection Moral Arithmetic. Free reads, honest reviews appreciated. booksirens.com/bundle/scien... #SpeculativeFiction #ScienceFiction #ARC #BookSirens

booksirens.com

Science Fiction ARCs You'll Love

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 08/06/2026

My employer gives one paid volunteer day a year, but only from an approved list. Every org on it delivers service; none does advocacy. You may spend your day on the symptom. You may not spend it on the cause. New essay: thmercer.com/2026/the-sid... #Pride #LGBTQ

thmercer.com

The Side That Costs Nothing

Once a year my employer gives me a paid day to go be useful to someone other than my employer. Volunteer Time Off, they call it. There is one condition: the good has to come from an approved list.

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 04/06/2026

Flattering that the scam knows my themes. Not flattering enough to work. The real Emily Robertson, who I'm sure is a lovely person, is not a scammer; she is, in fact, a real editorial director at Penguin Random House UK. Writers: real editors don't cold-email from personal Gmail accounts.

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 04/06/2026

Got my first fake publisher email today. "Emily Robertson, Editorial Director, Random House Worlds" wrote from Gmail to praise the "precision and restraint" of Moral Arithmetic — a book that isn't out yet. The AI scraped my landing page and pre-order listing and invented a literary critique.

Inquiry Regarding Your Speculative Fiction Collection and Upcoming Projects

Emily Robertson penguin<emilyroberson.pengiun.house@gmail.com>

Hello T. H. Mercer,

I hope you're having a great week.

My name is Emily Robertson, and I am an Editorial Director at Random House Worlds. I recently spent some time reviewing your work, particularly Moral Arithmetic, and I was struck by the precision and restraint in your storytelling, as well as the way you build emotional weight through systems, structures, and quiet human decisions.

There is something especially compelling in how each narrative thread explores individual resistance within larger institutional frameworks whether in research environments, corporate systems, or geopolitical pressures. The tone feels both intellectually rigorous and emotionally grounded, which is a strong combination for contemporary literary speculative fiction.

I would be very interested to learn more about your current and forthcoming projects, as well as whether you are represented by a literary agent. If you do have representation, I would be pleased to continue any discussion through your agent. If not, I would be happy to outline how the process typically works, should there be interest in taking the conversation further.

Subject to reviewing additional material, there may be scope for a broader discussion regarding potential fit within Random House Worlds’ literary and speculative fiction program, particularly for works that explore ethical systems, near-future realities, and human resilience in evolving technological landscapes.

If this is of interest, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Keep being awesome,

Emily Robertson
Editorial Director
Random House Worlds

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 04/06/2026

"The frog of war works both ways. The enemy is as much in the dark as you are." — General George S. Patton

An illustration of an anthropomorphic green frog depicted as a modern soldier, standing in a muddy military encampment with a tired, solemn expression. The frog soldier wears full camouflage combat gear, including a helmet, a heavy tactical backpack, knee pads, a knife strapped to its leg, and a grenade on its vest. It holds a detailed assault rifle with a scope and suppressor. A name tape on its chest reads "RANA," and a patch on its shoulder sleeve features a small frog icon beneath a U.S. flag.

The background shows a rugged, rocky outpost under a cloudy sky. To the left, a military Humvee is parked near a barrier of sandbags and barbed wire. In the distance, another soldier stands near several canvas tents, alongside a communication antenna mounted on a pole. The art style features clean comic-book-style line work and muted, earthy tones.

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 03/06/2026

Thrilled to share that my story "The Woodsboro Correspondence" has been accepted for Slayer, an anthology from Dragon Soul Press — releasing August 30, 2026! 🖤 More details and a preorder link coming soon. #SpecFic #ShortFiction #WritingCommunity #Anthology

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 30/05/2026

"A man with almost nothing gave part of it to a stranger who only pretended to need help. The camera was rolling. The warmth you feel watching is real, and that's exactly the problem." Poverty porn, depoliticization, and the shape of generosity when nobody's filming. 🔗 thmercer.com/2026/a-quart...

thmercer.com

A Quarter for the Bus

A man named Michael sits in a wheelchair on a Harlem sidewalk with a plastic cup in front of him, asking everyone who passes if they can spare anything. He needs a hundred and ninety-five dollars by n...

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 07/05/2026

20 years! Oh, my. Feeling old now.

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 03/05/2026

If we're living in a simulation are we human brains or fully synthetic beings? Are we some of each? Does it matter?

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 23/04/2026

Ben Tomaszewski catches everything within arm’s reach without ever quite believing it’s a pattern. On the Orange Line one Tuesday, a briefcase falls into his hands, and the rest is ordinary decency, unless you’re standing far enough back to see the whole board. thmercer.com/2026/within-...

thmercer.com

Within Reach

Dust jacket In this story by T. H. Mercer, quiet magical realism meets the texture of a life in D.C.: a man with a small, perfect gift does the obvious right thing, while the while the story drifts si...

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 19/04/2026

An eight year old boy find an eldritch horror in his basement and decides to adopt it as a pet. What does he name it?

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 19/04/2026

Love the vibe. I'm here for it.

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 18/04/2026

After years of ideas and drafts, I’m finally finishing and sharing my fiction. Writing hopepunk speculative short stories to practice craft before a longer project. Letting people read my work again has been surprisingly energizing — feedback + progress = joy.

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 18/04/2026

What's a piece of SF that changed your model of how people behave under pressure — not dystopia, not utopia, just accurate? Building a reading list.

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 17/04/2026

British author median income fell 60% in real terms between 2006 and 2022. ChatGPT shipped in 2022. One of these things did not cause the others. Essay: thmercer.github.io/2026/the-fun...

thmercer.github.io

The Funeral Was Last Decade

Writing communities are at war over artificial intelligence. The villain is satisfyingly legible: a technology that ingests human creativity and produces cheaper approximations of it. If you write…

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 17/04/2026

Writing speculative fiction in 2026 means the near-future keeps arriving before you finish the draft. Still not a reason to stop writing it.

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T. H. Mercer @thmercer.com · 16/04/2026

Just launched a site. Speculative fiction and essays — near-future, sometimes far. Stories where things get hard and people find ways to be better than expected. Starting small. Come along if that sounds like your thing. thmercer.github.io

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