The 1632 series is, so far at least, my "magnum corpus." The novels and anthologies which comprise this series are my most popular works, and I've written more of them than I have of anything else. As of today, eight novels and six anthologies have appeared in the series—see the appendix for a list of all the titles—with a lot more coming.
Most of what I write in this series are novels, but I've also written some short fiction. Included here is the first short piece I wrote, "The Wallenstein Gambit," which was my story for the anthology entitled Ring of Fire, which basically serves as the third book in the series. I use the word "short" advisedly, since "The Wallenstein Gambit" is long enough to be considered technically a short novel.
The other three stories are much shorter. They are the first of the Anne Jefferson stories, which I write for the paper editions of the Grantville Gazette anthologies. A fourth Anne Jefferson story, not included in this anthology, is contained in the paper edition of Grantville Gazette IV, which came out in June 2008.
These stories began as something of a joke between me and my publisher, Jim Baen. Jim designed the cover for the paper edition of the first Grantville Gazette in blithe disregard for any of the stories that were in the volume. When I pointed that out to him, after he showed me the cover, he very cheerily told me that he figured it was my job to fix that problem.
So, grumbling a bit, I did. The result was "Portraits."
So it went, from there. Jim would design a cover and have an artist do it—that's Tom Kidd, who has done most of the covers for the series—and then it would be up to me to write a story that illustrated it. It was quite a challenge, because I had to work within very tight constraints. The same model was used for all the covers, which meant that I had to use the same character, once I established her as Anne Jefferson in the first story.
So why would Anne Jefferson in a white dress be included as part of the night watch? Well, you'll find out in "Steps in the Dance," the story I wrote for the second volume. Why would she be posing for another and different portrait with an artist also on the cover—his hands, anyway? You'll find out in "Postage Due," the story for the third volume.
As time went on, I found myself enjoying the challenge. Alas, with the fourth volume, it's now over. Jim died in June of 2006, and he'll no longer be around to play his side of the game. So, I'll have to do the best I can on my own, trying to figure what sort of perverse cover would have tickle his fancy, partly for it's own sake and partly to goose his author.
If you'd like to see the original covers for which these three stories were written, by the way, you can see them on Baen's web site www.baen.com. Select "Catalog" from the menu, then select "F" from the alphabet of authors, then select "Eric Flint."
Better yet, you can buy them.