A new website called StoryQuake.org transforms daily seismic data from the USGS into AI-crafted fiction, debuting with the sci-fi comedy "Ryan Random and the Mall of the Multiverse."
"Over 20 television shows I developed actually made it to air. I penned roughly 60 additional pilots that never got produced. I lack the millions now to bring them to life. But I do have earthquakes. Plenty of them."— John Derevlany, Creator of StoryQuake & Veteran TV WriterCULVER CITY, CA, UNITED STATES, July 17, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — When a TV pilot never gets produced, what becomes of it? For the vast majority of writers, it simply collects digital dust on a hard drive. For seasoned television writer and producer John Derevlany, it gets turned over to the most unpredictable showrunner around: the planet itself.
StoryQuake.org represents a fresh narrative experiment, one that converts daily earthquake data from California into unique fictional works.
Every day, seismic information is harvested from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) feeds and processed through a custom-built algorithm. This system translates raw tectonic numbers—covering magnitude, location, and even the decimal points of Richter-scale data—into a host of immediate creative choices. These choices determine the story’s genre, mood, characters, length, and precise degree of strangeness.
These real-world seismic directives fuel a generative AI writing engine, which rests on a thoroughly human base: a comprehensive story treatment, a character universe, and original hand-illustrated artwork, all created by Derevlany.
From Fault Line to Plot Line: How the Algorithm Works
To connect solid geology with imaginative storytelling, the platform’s backend directly maps live physical measurements to narrative variables:
* The Tectonic Trigger: StoryQuake’s backend constantly watches USGS data streams for seismic activity in California.
* The Richter Blueprint: A stronger magnitude might set off high-stakes cosmic danger, whereas a small tremor could inspire a lighter, character-focused comedy. The event’s coordinates and decimal digits mathematically determine plot twists, settings, and structural disorder.
* The Human Foundation: The algorithm’s results are tightly controlled by the pre-set limits, rules, and artistic materials of the creator’s own universe.
StoryQuake’s first series, Ryan Random and the Mall of the Multiverse, originates from an unproduced TV pilot. It follows a luckless security guard working in a 4,500-store intergalactic shopping center—a workplace comedy where the surroundings can suddenly vanish into nothingness.
"Across thirty years in television, I either co-created or developed over 20 shows that actually reached the air, and I wrote somewhere between 60 and 80 pilots that never got picked up," says Derevlany, whose portfolio includes "LEGO Legends of Chima", "Wayside", "Gerald McBoing Boing", and the forthcoming animated action-comedy "Wildcat". "I don’t have a studio, a crew, or millions of dollars to produce them. But I do have earthquakes. Lots of them."
Giving AI a "Random Spark"
Derevlany frames StoryQuake as an effort to provide AI with the one element it fundamentally misses: the unpredictable spark that fuels human creativity.
"Great ideas aren’t manufactured—they’re triggered by the world surrounding us," Derevlany says. "StoryQuake ties machine-made stories to something tangible and physical: the ground beneath our feet. The Earth shifts, and a story emerges."
New stories appear on the site as California’s faults determine, with each literary piece connected back to the specific, verifiable USGS earthquake event that created it. Recent titles generated by the planet’s movement include "Everything Must Slide!", "The Full Price Prophecy," and "The Stall of No Return."
StoryQuake was built by Derevlany with programming assistance from his son. The site openly and clearly documents its methodology—presenting a unique, collaborative mix of human authorship and algorithmic creation at a time when AI’s role in creative fields is fiercely debated.
About StoryQuake
StoryQuake is an independent storytelling project that leverages daily California earthquake data to produce serialized fiction from human-designed story worlds. Its debut series, Ryan Random and the Mall of the Multiverse, is currently being published at https://storyquake.org/.
Media Contact:
* Contact: John Derevlany
* Email: jd@storyquake.org
* Websites: https://storyquake.org/ and https://johnderevlany.com/
John Derevlany
StoryQuake.org
+1 424-738-0002
jd@storyquake.org
