by webmaster | Mar 13, 2006 | Welcome | 50 comments

Hi. I’m Eric Flint, a writer of science fiction and fantasy. This web page was set up for those people who might be interested in finding out more about my work than they can obtain from book covers or blurbs.

a complete bibliography of all my writings, either solo or in collaboration with other authors, and the projects I’m editing, which right now consist of major re-issues of the writings of James H. Schmitz and Keith Laumer;
a short personal biography
regular updates on forthcoming books and work in progress;
regular updates on where I’ll be making public appearances;
various means by which you can correspond with me if you choose to do so;
and whatever odds and ends might strike my fancy. (And, hopefully, yours.)

Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you enjoy my web site.

50 Comments

Tom Dooley on March 24, 2006 at 7:20 AMHi – More of a question than a comment…. I wondered what happended to the Cannon Law book – I thought it was scheduled and then it wasn’t?? Is Baen Books having 2nd thoughts about the series or ? I was more interested in the Cannon Law snippets than the Ram Rebellion snippets – I’ll probably buy both books but I found the Ram Rebellion tougher to plow thru reading …. too many characters to keep track of at least while reading semi-disjointed snippets.Cheers, Tom
webmaster on March 24, 2006 at 8:43 AMNo, Baen is not having second thoughts. I don’t know that I have ever seen a publication schedule for CL. The snippets you were reading were from Andrew’s draft he turned into Eric. Eric still needs to take a pass through it. — it hasn’t been turned into Baen yet. What Eric was doing was being nice, and previewing. Same thing he did for Bavarian Princess.
— Ye Loyal Minion
Eric on April 26, 2006 at 8:05 PM1635: THE CANNON LAW will be coming out in October.Eric
Paul Rennie on May 15, 2006 at 5:51 PMHi Eric: Noticed you posted snippet 39 of SGH twice while ignoring The Cannon Law. Doubtless you have, in your infinite wisdom, a devious, sneaky, writerly reason for this particular abberant behavior. Probably some new method of making us loyal readers suffer for our fix. OK, I’m suffering, more or less in silence (whine, gibber, whinge).
Bye
Paul
Joshua Wachter on May 19, 2006 at 11:00 AMI was wondering about Course of Empire and the rumors I have heard about a possible sequal. Can you either confirm or deny the rumors of the go ahead for a sequal. And if you do have the go signal. When would you possibly be able to squeeze writing it into your busy backlog of future works?Thanks!The Deposed King
Jim on June 4, 2006 at 2:24 PMI’m fairly new to this website, but I’ve read all the books and most of the gazettes. Has the Bavarian Crisis been snippeted already? Second, is this Bavarian Crisis the same as the Ram Rebellion? (I think it isn’t.) Thank you, and have a good day.
Leonard Escudero on June 30, 2006 at 3:03 PMI’m not a story writer, so I’m just going to send this as an idea for either a twist to a future story, or basis for a short story:one of the Grantville Gazette stories implied a spy satellite was caught in the Ring of Fire event. So, how many airplanes would have been in the air at the time? Where would the poor pilot have tried to land? If the plane (anything less than a jet) managed a safe landing, would he/she be held as a witch, or otherwise locked up if not outright killed. What about a medi-vac helicopter? Would the evil Cardinal gotten hold of the pilot and aircraft? If a full passenger jet aircraft were caught in the RoF, what then?Just an idea.
webmaster on June 30, 2006 at 3:22 PMLeonard, please, come join us in the 1632 conferences on Baen’s Bar and we’ll talk with you about it. but the short version is “no planes were caught.”— Loyal Minions
warm38spl on July 15, 2006 at 9:18 AMI was reading “The Hub Dangerous Territory” A Baen ebook, which you edited (afterwrok copyright 2001) and the ebook ends right in the middle of a sentencs. Any clue as to where I can go to finish the story (“The Deamon Breed”/”The Tuvela”? ARGH!I was unaware of ebooks. My wife is not happy with my new discovery.wade
Trevin Matlock on July 17, 2006 at 12:34 AMWade, I just checked the Baen Free Library and the whole story is up there as part of The Hub: Dangerous Territory. The Demon Breed is one of my favorite Schmitz stories. I know it well. “The meeting is closed.” is the last line of it.-Trevin
warm38spl on July 17, 2006 at 11:43 AMWell, since I posted my comment here but I cannot respond to the email I received because of “spam blockers”I guess I gotta do something stupid like post the response here. This is a DUMB way to run a website.The eBook that I downloaded was from http://worldebookfair.com/Baen.htm It is a FREE *.pdf file and I got to page 149/149 and the middle of a sentence. (I guess you get what you pay for. ARGH!) So, back to the original question: Any clue as to where I can go to finish the story (“The Deamon Breed”/”The Tuvela”? ARGH! I HATE it when that happens! 8-)wade
webmaster on July 17, 2006 at 1:18 PMWade, Baen doesn’t produce PDF’s of e-books. They produce six OTHER formats, but not pdfs. Those pdf’s on that site are entirely STOLEN from the Baen Free Library.Please go to http://library.baen.com and download a good version of the book.Also, we’re not responsible for the spam blockers put up by other people.Sorry.— Loyal Minions
Mary B on July 24, 2006 at 8:02 AMHi, I just discovered the snippets here and was able to go back as far as I could figure out from the links but where, oh where, do I get the earlier snippets of the Golden Harbor and Cannon Law? I just love reading the ebooks and the snippets (got lots and lots of them from the Baen web site) but I still need that hard copy book when it is printed. In the meantime I really, really, (well, you get the idea) gotta see the beginnings of both those books. HELP!!!Mary B
Trevin Matlock on July 25, 2006 at 7:58 PMHi,
The place where all snippets are collected is http://thefifthimperium.com/ then click on “Book Samples”.Trevin
Mary B on July 27, 2006 at 12:56 PMThank you very much for your response to my question. I found what I was looking for.
I am eagerly awaiting more 1632 books – also, wasn’t there some allusion made a while back to some other ‘assiti shards’ books in the queue? Are they still a twinkle in someone’s eye?Thanks again.MEB
Scott C on August 4, 2006 at 7:30 AMDay before yesterday I went to the local bookstore to pick up a couple of things to read. On an end cap I found a book called 1632 and noticed that it was selling for $3.99. I figured what the heck. If I didn’t like it, I’d only wasted $4. I don’t usually like alternate history books.This is one of the most engrossing books I’ve read in years. I couldn’t put it down and just finished it this morning. I wanted it to go on, and you can’t know how happy I am to see that it does. Excellent story and excellent writing. I’ve got my copies of 1633 and 1634: TGA on order now.
Wes Brummer on September 1, 2006 at 10:03 PMHi Eric,
Just started reading your book 1632 and I really enjoy it. I use a text to speech reader because it is just too hard to read print. I see it (sorta) but my eyes fly all over the place and the concentration is too much. For years I’ve thought about how cool it would be to run a “paperback” version of an audiobook publishing company. The boos would be in MP3-CD and packaged in heavy stock paper with paperback-style artwork on front. The price would be about the same as a trade paperback. Old and news works not already licensed for audio could be targeted. Well, I never won the lottery so that idea stayed a fantasy. But time and technology has outpaced that idea. Podcasting and downloadable audio is making MP3 audiobooks more accessible. Instead of desktop publishing you now got desktop broadcasting.I’ve always enjoyed Baen books, but even with text to speech the books are hard to get into. Audiobooks simply need a human voice. I’ve enjoyed podiobooks.com and wondered if Baen books could do something similar. That is a subscription service for audio versions of selected books as well as the magazine. Not only visually impaired sf fans would benefit, but a HUGE potential market of mobile users.I bought the hardback copy of Far Side of the Stars, not for the printed edition, but for the audio MP3 CD of the book. (I gave the printed book out as a Christmas present). I now wish there were audio versions of the earlier books in the Commander Leary series. I know they are in the free library but it would still be worthwhile for the books to be in audio. What can I say, I’m a completist. The same goes for your 1632 books. If a later book in a series is in audio, then some effort should be considered to get earlier books in audio. It would make a great set.I know that the economics of going back and puting “free library” Baen books in audio — wven downloadable audio — may not be worth the cost — at least for a commercial publishing house. But (here I go cautiously) not for a podcaster/fan who wants to make the book accessible for other fans who have trouble reading.I’ve been reading up on copyrighting, book contracts, asking permissions, and aquiring (audio) rights, and licensing. The more I read the less I know. There are so many steps and so many details to cover. I’ll admit some if it is over my head. Plus there is a whole world of unscrupulous publishers out there that have screwed authors – I got that off the SF Writers of America website. So it is no wonder that the few times I’ve wrote this idea to an author I got either no answer or, at best, a terse reply. With all the rip-off publishers out there I ofter wonder if it is better to just drop the idea. Be happy reading the audiobook I *can* get. But then I think how Baen books have all this neat stuff that deserves to be put into audio — so the circle starts again.So I’m not sure what I’m asking. I guess I am curiouse about what you think about audio versions of your books. Are there any available? There are several audio samples of Baen book, but are there complete versions available? Maybe Baen books *could* podcast serialized chapters of audiobooks and the Universe magazine to paying subscribers. (Baen Pod? Actually I like Pod People or Poddy Mouth). It could open up new possibilities for new customers.Finally, I got to tell you. It took me a while to finish Pyramid Scheme. But it would make a *great* podcast book. The story is fun. The chapters are short. There is lots of dialogue so it could be done in multi-voice. And with all the gods and dragon and sphinx voices some really cool voice effects could be thrown in. *Someone* should podcast that book.Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. Wes B.
Gerhard on September 2, 2006 at 7:59 AMI was wondering where the apropriate place would be to notify people who’d be able to fix them about leaps of logic in one of the Grantville Gazettes?Cheers,
Gerhard
Noah Katz on October 23, 2006 at 1:19 AMYou might want to correct the Baltic War snippets to 1634, instead of 1624.
Bret Hooper on November 26, 2006 at 9:19 PMIn Amsterdam, what could Jeff Higgins & friends do on a foggy night to make it more interesting for bored Spanish sailors, using a small boat, a 4″ paintbrush, a quart or two of kerosene or turpentine, and matches? Or with a brace and bit, bore a hole thru the hull, squirt in some kerosene, then a bit of gasoline, and light it.
getMP3AudioBooks.com on December 11, 2006 at 7:03 PMAre any of your novels or short stories available in audiobook form? Publishing as an industry is growing but is in segments like mp3 audio books for business, niche marketing, and fiction. There are lots of download sites and outlets for your book recording, and we have a distribution arrangement if you are interested in exploring this further.
Sean on December 12, 2006 at 1:52 PMso i just finished the arkansas war… i liked it (looking forward to the continuation of the story) – but there were a couple things you blew…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_ConstitutionSenators werent elected…There was something else – but i cant remember. Oh, and my grandmother was Chickasaw, and from the stories i’ve heard my guess is you got that part pretty well dead on 😉
webmaster on December 17, 2006 at 2:26 PMSenators WERE elected. They were elected by their state legislatures. They didn’t stand to POPULAR elections until Oregon began the process, followed by Nebraska. It wasn’t until the 17th that Senators were popularly elected _everywhere_.==loyal minions
David on December 21, 2006 at 11:05 AMSenators were not “elected”. Elections implies popular mandate, Senators had none…any more than a State Insurence Commissioner does who is appointed by the legislature or the Governor. Also, not all Senetors were elected by their legislatures, they were often appointed by the state Governor.To this day the Senate is the most undemocratic of insitutions and a real flaw in the US Constitution. It should be eliminated.David Walters
Mark L on December 22, 2006 at 11:18 AMDavid:The United States is not intended to be a democracy. It is a republic. The undemocratic nature of the Senate was realized by the Founders. It was a feature — not a bug. The Senate is intended to be reactionary — to slow popular fancy, to allow time for reflection.Other nations have one-house parlimentary systems. None of these governments — in their modern forms has existed as long as the United States’s government under the present Constitution. Many have proved highly unstable. I’d say there is something to be said for the structure of the present government, including the Senate and Electoral College, based on the longevity of the government it created.
Julian Thomas on January 10, 2007 at 9:35 PMDear EricI am an oldtimer (59) and a long term fan of James Schmitz’s stuff based on “Agent of Vega”, Telzey stories (“The Universe against Her”) and more recently the “Witches of Karres (since I was a teenage. I very recently bought “Eternal Frontier” which was 100% new to me. My favorite in this book is the epomymous novel “The Eternal Frontiers” and I am delighted to discover the free stuff from Baen. My main motive in sending this E mail is to convey to you my great delight in James Schmitz’s portrayal of Jill Hastings – in “The Eternal Frontiers” – as a soldier and surgeon who makes breakfast – see page 619.Now what about Jack Vance?Best WishesJulian Thomas
Audio Book Online Store on January 12, 2007 at 2:26 PMI urge you to consider making an audio version of your book. If and when you do, please contact me and I’ll list your book at my online store.There are many folks with eyesight issues who ‘read’ audio books. And of course, with mp3 and iPods… being a mobile society is going to require books be made available in multiple formats and media.Deborah
Jae Taylor on January 15, 2007 at 9:00 PMCame across this blog while looking for something else. Never realized the intensity of science fiction afficiandos.
William Cowell on January 18, 2007 at 12:19 PMHello Eric,Well I see a lot of comments here, but I do not see the basic one – so I guess that leaves me to say it. A hearty THANK YOU for all the work you do with the Baen Free Library.Bill Cowell
Ora Stallard on January 19, 2007 at 6:25 PMA comment on your 1632 series. I have not noticed anyone else commenting on the similarities between your 1632 series and a single novel written by Robert Adams. You have obviously surpassed Mr. Adams ,who wrote primarily ,the Horseclans series in the 1970’s. I would like to see how someone could incorporate the far east into the series, but will remain a loyal fan of the series as well as your Rivers of War series.
Mike Snyder on February 22, 2007 at 8:29 PMHow are you doing on 1781?
David Ward on April 13, 2007 at 5:07 PMSir:I read your partial article on DRM at Baen’s website. I enjoyed it immensely. I read Lewrockwell.com everyday to get my news and further my study of human action. I have no other affiliation with LRC than being an avid reader. However, I would like to suggest that you submit your article/essay on DRM TNSTAFL (Bob Heinlein! :D) to Lew for consideration. I know it would be appreciated by the people that frequent the website.Thank you for your consideration.Sincerely,David Ward
Robert Krawitz on April 25, 2007 at 9:19 PMIs there going to be more Assiti Shard material, or is everything going to stay in the 1632 universe?
jim summerlin on April 26, 2007 at 8:57 PMWhat are general plans for incorporating North America in the 1632+ Universe? So far it seems that the English King has given control of NA to the French who have sent a force to take over all colonies there, English, Dutch, etc. There is a sequence in 1634 TBW involving Adm. Simpson in a discussion of a Florida invasion. I may have missed other references to NA along the way. So, what gives, have you any thoughts, clues? I am guessing that eventual changes in England, France and Holland will have impact on the NA colonies and historical developments there. Is this a valid surmise? I am enjoying the series immensely. Alternate history is so intricate and requires such attention to detail as to consequences of all actions.
Mark L on April 27, 2007 at 8:25 AMThe Florida invasion discussed in “1634: TBW” involved Andy Jackson’s invasion of Florida in our universe in 1814. Gustavus Adolphus raised it as an analogy of the situation he was facing with the free city of Hamburg. Had nothing to do with the Granvillers invading it in their timeline.
jim summerlin on April 28, 2007 at 9:31 AMCorrection. Scanned 1634 TBW, have not had time to fully read it, got mistaken impression of Florida reference. Mea culpa. Still interested in fate of North America in 1632+ Universe. Is there anything that can be revealed at this point, or do we all just await developments?
Stig-Lennart SÃ¸rensen on May 19, 2007 at 2:37 PMHi!
I bought the 1634:TBW on monday, got the book on friday, finished it today saturday. GREAT BOOK! I think the books are getting better and better. As a Norwegian I first patroitcally sniffed at the idea of a second Kalmar Union, but you are right at that time there were no national feeling in any of the Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark). Norway was an independent nation after king Harald the Hairfair united the nation in 827 until the decline which set in after the Black Plague in 1392 and simultaneously the royal line died out.
In Norwegian textbooks we call the period 1814-1905 nationalromanticism (not really nationalisn as we were never a nation with empirical aspirations), a more a kind of gentler, free-spirited, patriotism inspired by the French and American revolution), which set in after we were ceeded to Sweden in 1814.
It is interesting to speculate where the Second Kalmar Union would be today if it had happened in our world, a nation encompassing almost twenty million people, with oil and gas resources just offshore, high-tech industries and a common language and history going back to 1634.
BUT sure, my patriotic ego wouldnt mind seeing some swedes being outwitted by clever Norwegians in some of your future books! :)Stig,
Timothy Kirby on June 6, 2007 at 9:54 AMHi Eric,
Hey, you really need to see about anyone interested in making your 1632 Ring of Fire book into a movie. Matthew McConaughey for Mike Stearns part. Use Pamela Anderson for Gretchin’s part. I think it would make a great movie.
Bob Counts on July 18, 2007 at 1:22 PMI just read your reasons against DRM. It made more sense than all the meadow muffins for DRM. I never have been a fan for DRM. one reason is that most DRM systems do not work on Linux operating systems. Secondly, the DRM systems in place are written hurriedly, cause more problems from a user perspective than the material, they are trying to “protect”. I shot, they are not worth the hassle.
A dear friend and I used to swap books ( OMG that’s piracy )and when we were swapping books I never bought so many books in two years than I did in the last 20. Neither of us had large amounts of disposable income, so one of us buy the first of a series and the other would buy the second. He would buy a copy of a book from a writer I had not heard and the same for myself. This led us to buying more books for each other. It was the classic snowball effect. I know I am speaking of printed materials. The same would have been true about electronic books as well,because if we could not swap back and forth, none of us would have even bothered with that author and moved on to somebody else. IT WAS THE FACT WE COULD TRADE THAT INSPIRED US TO BUY MORE BOOKS. Not the other way around. DRM is a waste of time. If an ebook comes “protected” in DRM. I will move on to the next title. I will not live long enough to read all I would like to read, why fight a book with DRM?Respectfully
Bob Counts
bob on July 27, 2007 at 3:39 PMI tried to access the rivers of war site and get some wierd error message that says:It doesn’t look like you’ve installed WP yet. Try running install.php.
Bob on September 9, 2007 at 5:01 PMThis hang-up on stainless steel is distracting. Stainless steel is not necessary for a burgeoning chemical industry; glass will do quite nicely.Gun cotton (nitro cellulose)can be easily made with nitric acid and ordinary cotton and nitro glycerin from nitric acid and glycerin. Combining the two gun cotton and nitro glycerin yields a very stable explosive called gelignite. Glycerin can be easily made from the methylization of lynseed oil with methyl alcohol and potassium hydroxide. You end up with with glycerin and bio-diesel. 1634 becomes green!The Grantville Public Library would a have a book called “Henley’s Twentieth Century Fortunes in Formulas”. I know my small town Library did. It tells you how to make everything from paint to cosmetics to explosives to pharmaceuticals all in about 1500 pages! This book needs to be secured as a National Asset. This book contains the knowledge for a complete 20th century manufacturing base.
David on September 14, 2007 at 1:18 AMCuriosity as I haven’t been able to find it anywhere. Are you going to do any more books in the Rivers of War series? I’m curious about a possible sequel to The Arkansas War.
Alex on September 14, 2007 at 2:02 AM#42 – David:
Yes, Eric is under contract to continue the Rivers of War series, with future books published by Baen.— Another loyal minion
dcott on October 5, 2007 at 7:56 AMAny chance of seeing new additions to the library in fall ’07?
Gentlemen crash on October 19, 2007 at 12:29 PMAnalyzing humor is like dissecting a frog Few people are interested and the frog dies of it — E B White (1899-1985)
Rick Thomas on November 2, 2007 at 1:04 PMI would like to take this time to thank you for the webscriptions, the ARC’s, the free library at baen.com, and your just great books. I live in Korea, supporting the U.S.military here and the stuff you have done mentioned earlier is the only way that I can get the best s/f and fantasy published today. I greatly enjoy all of your books and I hope that the great writing never ceases.
Rickie McArthur on December 31, 2007 at 2:06 PMHello Eric,First, as I am sure your have heard many times, the 1632 novels are great, thank you for many hours of enjoyment. Forgive me if this has been asked before… are there any plans to produce these novels in some audio format? I am visually impaired and listening to unabridged books on tape or CD is very relaxing and enjoyable. I’m sure there are many others who would also benefit and enjoy your books in audio formats.Thank you, Rickie
rtrumpi1 on December 20, 2008 at 5:18 AMI just finished 1635: The Dreeson Incident. I am sorry to say that it is not , in my opinion very good. I have read and collected all of the 1632 series as well as most of your other works. This one spends so much time on the inner workings of some pretty uninteresting families that there is no time for plot. Bad guys shoot minor grantville character. Everybody gets away but some irrelevant clown who gets shot by a kid who rides a motorcycle. This starts purge of other bad guys for 20 pages. No details. Boring and trite. PLEASE GET BACK TO THE LEVEL OF THE PRIOR NOVELS.
- rboatright on December 20, 2008 at 5:26 AMYou can expect that the next book will be an Eric Flint solo novel.Rick
arthurpianta on December 28, 2008 at 11:40 AMI have to say that your John Brown reminds me of another alternative history book, which is called Fire on the mountain, in which Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry suceeded. And do you intend to make use of either John Charles Fremont or Garibaldi in your alt? I would dearly like to know. And might you know of anyone who might use Garibaldi in an alt? Perhaps as the commander of the Federal army?

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