The Garden of Eden Anthology - Alpha (the audio version)
Read and listen to the Garden of Eden Anthology (BLAS #1)
In 2014, I got a bright idea (or a dim one depending on who you ask). I wanted to publish an anthology from various authors approaching stories set in the Garden of Eden. I put out a call, collected the stories, and published them in the aptly named Garden of Eden Anthology. My only request from the authors was that the main characters in their stories should not be Adam, Eve, and the Serpent.
This post introduces the anthology. Readers who want to experience the anthology can find it in print and e-book at Amazon and my author's website. You’ll also find it in all formats including audio at several venues.
Alternatively, you can subscribe to this Substack to read and listen to the stories, and gain access to other forthcoming content, for as low as $5/month.
Meanwhile, I offer you this introduction, named Alpha, as a preview. The audio reading is directly below the text.
Garden of Eden Anthology - Alpha
An anthology is like a box of chocolates. You put a call out and see what happens. In the case of the Garden of Eden, I was pleasantly surprised.
For all the trouble I went through to write the rules and post them, many of the submissions I received were in clear violation. No Adam and Eve, and for dear God's sake, no serpents. In this collection of stories, we have all three. I think you'll agree, the stories are spectacular.
We have other characters, too.
Roaches, for instance. Water Rats. Angels. Gnomes. And even the Tree itself. Yes, that tree. The tree. As a character.
Hey, I asked for absurdity. And, boy, did I get it.
Of course, the challenges of planning and publishing an anthology are tremendous. The joys no less. Right from the beginning, I had a cheerleader. As soon as she heard about my plans to take submissions for a Garden of Eden anthology, AmyBeth Inverness got excited. She was more excited than I was. It didn't bother me that she submitted her story, "The Genesis of the Incorporeum," in the final hour. It's only fitting that it should lead the short story section. Not because it is good - it is that (read it for yourself!) - but because it sets the pace for what is to follow. There's not a single disappointment.
If you find convenient serendipities here, don't be surprised. For instance, it's no accident that the first story you'll read is by an author named Adam.
My vision from the beginning was crisp, like a well-pruned garden leaf. I had established early on that I was going to publish a handful of flash fiction stories, a few short stories, one poem, and one essay. I figured I'd get plenty of fiction pieces, and I did. Alas, I could not publish them all.
Getting poetry and essay submissions proved to be somewhat more challenging. I wanted to publish two poems, but I stuck with my original vision and broke someone's heart. As far as essays go, I didn't get one submission. Not to be beaten, I asked John Vicary if I could publish his flash fiction story "Before Dawn Can Wake Us" as an essay instead. It had the perfect flavor of what I had in mind for that section, aptly titled OMEGA. As you read, you can easily envision the narrator delivering this monologue from a park bench anywhere in the world today. Right now, even.
One question that I often encounter as I discuss the Biblical Legends Anthology Series with potential readers is, “Does it remain true to the Bible?” The answer is proverbial. It depends.
Some readers want to know if all the stories adhere to a strict Evangelical interpretation of events in the Bible. In that case, the answer is no, they do not. Some readers may want to know if the stories are biblical in the sense that they convey any spiritual values. Some of them do. But not all of them. And let’s not forget that here, in the 21st century, we can’t even get people to agree on what “spiritual values” are, but I’ll refrain from going down that road. The truest way to answer the question is to say that some of the writers approached their stories from a Christian perspective while others did not. To be honest, I didn’t ask anyone about their background. I just wanted well-told stories and literary gems. If that sounds blasphemous, please forgive me.
But I do ask for your honest assessment. Not of me, but of the stories within. Give them a read. I’m sure you’ll like some and not care for others. After all, that’s what anthologies are about—the delivery of literary nuggets in a softshell.
Therefore, without further ado, I present to you these biblical (and not-so-biblical) nuggets.
Front Matter
I feel obligated to share the following information to protect the authors of the stories, myself as editor, and Garden Gnomes Publications as publisher.
All works in this anthology are copyrighted by the authors and authors retain all rights to their own creations. No part of this anthology may be reproduced in any manner - in print, electronically, or by any other technology existing now or in the future - without the express written permission of the authors of those works.
Copyright © 2014 Garden Gnome Publications
First Printing, February 2014; Second Printing, May 2023
Cover art by Alexandre Rito All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1535509411; 1535509414
All works included herein are fictitious. Any characters resembling actual persons, living or dead, or businesses, events, animals, creatures, and settings resembling real-world businesses, events, animals, creatures, and settings are purely coincidental, except of course the Garden of Eden and its legendary inhabitants. If any of them have a beef with the way authors in this anthology have handled their memories, they can take it up with the authors. The garden gnomes are merely middlemen.
Garden of Eden Anthology is dedicated to anyone and everyone who has ever looked, felt, tasted, or smelled like a garden gnome and their relatives, owners, assigns, foot props, and nearby tree stumps.