Mike will continue to play that role for us in 1634: The Baltic War, and I’ll be very surprised if he doesn’t wind up writing his own stories—or becoming a full collaborator on a novel—as this series progresses. I expect the same will happen with some other people who have participated for over two years now in shaping the 1632 universe. I will certainly be encouraging them to, and doing my best to help the process.
I like to collaborate, accepted wisdom be damned. It’s probably not an accident that I tend to think of writing in musical terms. I’m quite sure that if I were a violinist or a pianist, instead of an author, I’d play at least as much chamber music as I would solo compositions or concertos.
Now, I need to publicly thank a number of people who gave Dave and me a lot of help in the way of technical advice and historical expertise. I can’t possibly name them all, but I’ll start by thanking the hundreds of people who have participated in the 1632 Tech Manual discussions for the past two years. Then, in particular:
Virginia DeMarce, who is a professional historian and a specialist on 17th-century Germany. (Virginia, by the way, is also one of the authors who will be appearing in the upcoming anthology—and with whom I hope to be collaborating on a novel before too long, following up on the story line she developed for it centering on the character of Veronica. Like Mike Stearns, I’m partial to tough old biddies.)
Andrew Dennis, for his advice on naval and historical matters.
Detlef Zander, who has been incredibly helpful in tracking down information for us in his native Germany. His assistance in providing us with diagrams, maps and photos of the north German ports, canals, rivers and the Wietze oil field was invaluable.
Bob Gottlieb, Rick Boatright, Drew Clark and Marcus Mulkins, who provided us with a great deal of assistance on matters relating to chemistry, steel production, medicine and antibiotics. Rick was also our radio expert, and guided us through the complexities of that part of the story.
Ralph Tacoma and Conrad Chu, for general advice on matters of engineering.
And, finally, I’d like to thank Judith Lasker. Not for any particular thing involving 1633, but just for the help and encouragement she’s given me for a long time now.