Names always come from somewhere (unless they don't... but that's a very in-depth discussion for another day). When we decided we were going to have our own publishing imprint, we gave it the name Altrix Books. Readers of The Chronosmith Chronicles and its predecessor will know why — but if you're new, you might not.
So, what is an "altrix"?
Well, there are two answers.
One of those answers is: it's a book. A very specific book, and a very very big book. Tor Fasa, one of the four primary players in The Chronosmith Chronicles, compiled that book — with a little bit of outside help. Essentially it's a book that, ideally, contains everything: everything that was, is, and will be. Such things take time, of course, so there are a few corners yet unfilled-out.
There are also a few sections that are completely wrong.
When the Chronosmiths rode the Time Winds into their new universe — our universe — a lot of the Altrix was no longer accurate. That sort of thing will happen across universes. As the Chronosmiths explore these new worlds, they'll cross-reference it against Fasa's Altrix, digging out the erased truths of history and amending their own records as they go.
You can learn more about the Altrix from our blog post on Tor Fasa, and see it in action in After Vincent, the first book of The Chronosmith Chronicles.
The altrix is also, it happens, a type of sea snail. This wasn't something we thought especially hard about, but it did come in handy when it came time to design a logo. Note the design you see on our books and social media by Ginger Hoesly — do you see it now?
Altrix Books will probably never hold as much as the Altrix itself (we're only a small publisher, after all!), but we're looking forward to bringing you fact and fiction from all across the galaxy.