A Chat with Eric Flint

CO: The River of Time is a new world for you, what type of world is it, fantasy, sci-fi alternate history?

EF: Alternate history, of the type that’s sometimes called “pure” alternate history. What I mean by that is that there is no time travel or science fictional element involved at all, beyond the change in history itself due to a single changed event.

CO: What can we expect from this book, what themes are you exploring?

EF: The book is the first in a series, so it establishes the themes but doesn’t finish them. In essence, what I’m dealing with are what changes in American history might have occured if the relocation of the southern Indian tribes (especially the Cherokees) had happened differently, and in such a way as to lead to the formation of an Indian nation in the central area of the continent – more precisely, something of a hybrid nation with whites and blacks also involved – that was strong enough to resist the later pressure of US expansion in the middle of the 19th century and begin to effect the development of US history as a whole. To give just one example, what ramifications would such a development have had for the Texas Revolution in the 1830s?

CO: Is this an ensemble cast or is there a single main character? And can you tell us a bit about the people who’s eyes we’ll be seeing the world through?

EF: It’s betwixt and between. Sam Houston is the central character, but he’s more of a first among equals than The Hero of the story. There at least half a dozen major characters. Most of them are historical figures like John Ross and Major Ridge, the two central leaders of the Cherokee, Andrew Jackson, James Monroe, Tiana Rogers, Robert Ross, etc. The only more-or-less purely fictional major character is Patrick Driscol, who is, second only to Houston, the major character in the story.

CO: How does writing the first book in a series differ from later books?

EF: Well, first of all, it’s a lot easier in terms of the level of research required. I still need to do a lot of research, of course, to situate the story properly in the period. But once the first book is done, there are enough changes in history that I no longer have to make sure that every single minor detail is accurate, since things will have changed anyway. Beyond that, the first book in a series of any kind has to establish the setting, plot premises, and characters. Once you get past that, you can move on to spend most of your time and effort just telling the story.

CO: When you are ready to work in a new world or even on a new story in a familiar one what are the steps you go through before you hand it over to the publisher?

EF: No different than any novel, really. Keep in mind that I did not write this novel “on spec,” as writers call it. (That means you write the story first and then try to sell it.) I had a contract for it ahead of time, and part of the contract involved the publisher accepting the plot outline I submitted. Thereafter, the editor handled the final manuscript the same way any manuscript would be handled.

Article Author: theco

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