The 1632 Slushpile
"Slushpile" is publishing trade jargon referring to the pile(s) of unsolicited submissions to a periodical. In the "Continuing adventure" of the Grantville Gazettes according to Flint, the unsolicited stories began shaping the background thought in the series milieu, and the magazine "idea" was born whilst he tried to recoup some of the time costs involved in examining the fan-fiction. Also, he judged some of the tales to be professional quality, and indeed, incorporated many of them into about half of Ring of Fire. The flagship novel was written as a stand-alone literary work, an experiment with the new Assiti Shards story premise, and was but one of three such universes planned by Flint in 2000. However, the sensation and interest engendered by the 1632 novel's publication subsequently caused the other works to be delayed while the 1632 series was developed. The other books in the overall Assiti Shard series currently under contract are
- Time Spike, with Marilyn Kosmatka, published in May 2008.
- By Any Other Name, with Sarah Hoyt, first draft completed; Eric Flint scheduled his part of the writing for 2007–2008 in October website announcement.
- 1776, a solo novel, original name was 1781; production overdue and delayed.
1776 supposes George Washington and Frederick the Great are transposed to ancient Rome's Crisis of the Third Century; By Any Other Name, takes place in several different time frames including a transposition of the Assiti themselves into Elizabethan England; and Time Spike involves transpositions of various populations into the unpopulated late Cretaceous era (145–65.5 million years ago).
The "1632 Tech Manual" forum has had a large role in developing the overall series as its discussions revolve around the course of likely events, reactions and developments as the fictional town of 3,000 souls transplanted into the middle of the religious based Thirty Years' War.
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