On Earth as It Is on Television: A Novel

“Jane’s novel subverts the classic first-contact story to explore humanity’s responses to uncertainty in the modern age… [an] energetic & contemporary debut will appeal to fans of family-focused sci-fi like Mike Chen’s Light Years from Home.”— Library Journal

The arrival of spaceships can bring up a lot of big questions: What does it mean that we're not alone? Why did aliens come here? Who knew beforehand? Where.... are the aliens going? Wait... They can't just leave! Without inviting us into their galactic federation—or at the very least obliterating us! 

In Emily Jane's debut—a rollicking paean to what it means to be alive in the 21st century—the fleeting presence of alien vessels, & the certainty that humans are not alone in the universe, sparks intense uncertainty as to our place within it. 

Blaine has always been content to go along with whatever his supermom wife and television-addicted, half-feral children want. But when the kids blithely ponder skinning people to see if they're aliens, & his wife announces a surprise road trip to Disney World, even steady Blaine begins to crack.

Half a continent away, Heather floats in a Malibu pool and watches the massive ships hover overhead. Maybe her life is finally going to start. For her, the arrival heralds a quest to understand herself, her accomplished (and oh-so-annoying) stepfamily, & why she feels so alone in a universe teeming with life.

Suddenly conscious & alert after 20 catatonic years, Oliver struggles to piece together his fragmented, disco-infused memories & make sense of his desire to follow a strange cat on a westward journey.

Embracing the strangeness that is life in the 21st century, On Earth as It Is on Television is a rollicking, heartfelt tale of first contact that practically leaps off the planet.