Remembering How Eric Did It

Eric asked the Bar a question in July 2010 (“Medical Advice Wanted”). No one knew who was going to be injured when he asked the question, but when you’ve read up to a certain point in the series, there is no doubt who he’s talking about, and reading this was fun for me. Then I realized that I was reading it on the third anniversary of Eric’s death. I didn’t know him but many others who are part of this universe did.

Eric created something unprecedented with 1632. Originally conceived as a stand-alone novel, there were over 14 million words in the universe when he died and the words just continue to flow – and be published. In addition to dozens of novels, there are two separate magazines. The Grantville Gazette is no longer producing new volumes (but is available to purchase) and ended with 102 volumes. The new magazine Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond has 12 issues, plus two special issues, so far, and the next two issues are largely set. Over 200 authors have been published between the two magazines and Baen 1632verse novels.

And it’s all canon (albeit some a bit provisionally).

That’s astounding. Inconceivable, really. (I do hope you heard that in Vizzini’s voice.) This only happened because Eric opened his world in such a unique and generous way.

There are a string of new draft blog posts “from Eric” waiting to be published. Like this one, they are comments Eric made on Baen’s Bar, so they have been publicly available (for anyone who wanted to dig for them) for years. Topics including writing, being a writer, and a ton of different aspects of the 1632verse and how it has developed. Together, they shed an interesting light on the man who created this incredible universe

This post is different from those. This is Eric asking the “bar flies” on BaensBar.net (current url, not the one from 2010) for help solving a problem. I loved this because it’s a lot of fun to see Eric – a highly successful author – genuinely asking for advice from his readers and more junior authors in his universe. I didn’t copy any of the replies here (if you are really interested, it’s here) but it’s a good illustration of how he included others in what he did.

Eric Flint cannot be replaced, and will not be forgotten.

– Bethanne (Publisher, Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond magazine)

“Medical advice wanted”

07 July 2010 21:24 

I need to have a character very badly injured.  Ideally, the injury would put them in a coma for months.  Alternatively, put the person in a coma for a shorter time but when they wake up they aren’t functional.  That could be a result of other injuries as well, of course.

I need the character to survive, but it would be fine if there were some significant long-term disabilities.

Anyone who has any suggestions, please post them here.

Thanks, Eric

08 July 2010 00:39

This needs to be an injury brought on by sudden trauma, not an illness or something that develops slowly.

A massive brain concussion or some sort of brain injury would be ideal for my purposes, PROVIDED:

1) It takes the patient a long time to recover, measuring “long” on the scale of several months.  Several weeks would be too short, and a year would be too long.  The patient doesn’t necessarily have to be unconscious the whole time.  As long as they are so weak and out of sorts that they have no ability to understand what’s happening beyond what their caregivers tell them, that’s fine. 

2) Permanent physical injuries can be major, up to losing a limb or being partially paralyzed, so long as the paralysis does not eliminate sexual activity.  I’d prefer paralysis to loss of a limb. 

3) Permanent mental injuries need to be minor. They could be flamboyant — weird sounds, taste sensations, whatever — but not anything that affects the person’s intelligence or ability to reason once they’ve recovered.

Thanks, Eric