NEW RING OF FIRE SERIES ENTRY FROM THE LATE ERIC FLINT AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR JODY LYNN NYE

A young gentlewoman, Margaret de Beauchamp, finds her fate twisted into the lives of the up-timers when she meets the Americans imprisoned in the Tower of London. In exchange for her help, Rita Simpson and Harry Lefferts give her a huge sum of money to keep her family’s manor and its woolen trade from falling into the hands of the crown and its unscrupulous minister, Lord Cork. But Margaret’s troubles are not at an end. Her family’s fortunes are in a downward spiral. Her trip to Grantville brings unexpected dangers and a possible up-time solution.

Inspired by books in the Grantville library, Margaret has an idea to restore her family’s fortunes with an innovation never before seen in fabric design. With the help of Aaron Craig, an up-timer programmer using aqualators, water-powered computers, they teach her father’s craftsmen to create a combination machine loom that can produce a new type of woolen cloth. The ornate and perfect patterns quickly trend among the nobility. However, the Master Weavers of the county’s Weaver’s Guild aren’t happy about being overshadowed by the changes to the status quo, and take their grievance to Lord Cork, who is still looking for the people who helped the Americans escape from the Tower.

Cork isn’t interested in squabbles between mere tradesmen, but he is very interested in taking over the new calculating machine that is fueling the upsurge in the de Beauchamp fortunes. He sends agents ordered to stop at nothing to secure it for his own ends. Margaret has to protect her new business, and prevent anyone from discovering that up-timers are in the country to assist her, but she still has to deal with an uprising at home.

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Celebrations help us to mark moments in time that are meaningful, some for religious reasons, others cultural and historical. New York Times bestselling author Jody Lynn Nye has written about holidays from many points of view, in this world, in another; in the past, present, and future. What holidays—and holiday stories—have in common is that people choose to come together for these festive events to discover joy and mystery.

Gathered together for the first time, these eleven fantastic tales showcase the wonder and mystery of Christmas, Passover, Lammas Night, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Mardi Gras, and Valentine’s Day.

Have a happy, magical holiday season!

Keith Doyle has made it to graduate school! In between classes and hanging out with his magical friends, the Little Folk, he has a new job as a copywriter for PDQ advertising agency, working on a campaign for a revolutionary electronic device. His plans for the party to end all parties on Hollow Tree Farm are coming along nicely. Things are not so rosy for the Little Folk. They’re being haunted not only by malevolent spirits passing through their cellar, but a Big Person who has discovered Keith’s supposedly well-camouflaged invitation to all creatures magical. Keith finds himself in danger trying to keep out of the hands of the industrial spy to protect not only the trade secrets of his client’s firm, but his friends and their home. Can Keith’s ingenuity and his limited magic keep the elves from being revealed to the world? Will the party ever take place? Will Keith ever get his hands on one of those wonderful devices?

New York Times best-selling authors S.M. Stirling, Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Jody Lynn Nye return with four novellas. The cat-like Mrem, our heroes, battle the deep reptilian intelligence of humanoid dinosaurs in a Bronze Age world. After the extinction asteroid does notstrike Earth, the dinosaurs keep evolving–but so do the mammals. We mammals have achieved humanlike shapes, but now it’s cold‑blooded, magic‑using reptiles against the hot‑blooded, hot‑tempered descendants of cats.

Listen to the author discuss the book here on the Baen Free Radio Hour.

HERE THERE BE DRAGONS

The dragon, breathing fire and darkening the sky with its huge batlike wings, fearsome yet fascinating, touches something deep in the human soul. Tales of the fabulous reptiles fill the legends and lore of all peoples, all nations, all times.

Now Christopher Stasheff looks into the Dragon’s Eye – and also through it. With Mike Resnick, Diane Duane, Jodi Lynn Nye, S.M. Stirling, William R. Forstchen and others, he introduces the king who was transformed by magic into a dragon, and the price his daughter has to pay to release him from his curse…the ghost of a silver dragon, who came to save a village in peril…one dragon who was a close friend of Charles Darwin and another who had a fateful meeting with Napolean…and more…

First entry in a new series with three big all new linked novellas from multiple best-sellers S.M. Stirling, John Ringo & Jody Lynn Nye, and Harry Turtledove! After the extinction asteroid DOESN'T strike Earth, the dinosaurs keep evolving—but so do the mammals. We mammals have achieved human-like shapes, but now it's cold-blooded, magic-using reptiles against the hot-blooded, hot-tempered descendants of cats.

In a heroic, bronze-age world similar to 300, the Mrem Clan of the Claw and its sister warbands are expanding their rough-and-tumble territory, but now they face the Lishkash, masters of a cold-blooded empire of slave armies and magic. It's mammalian courage and adaptation against reptile cunning in a clash of steel and will that will determine which line shall inherit the Earth.

Sequel to A View from the Imperium. Jeeves in space! Rollicking adventure featuring a seemingly dense, lovable nobleman and his indespensible, droll aide, Parsons.

Lieutenant Lord Thomas Kinago sets out from the Imperium homeworld for the Autocracy of the Uctu, a galactic region with a geckolike overlord known, eponymously, as the Autocrat. Thomas is ostensibly on a pleasure cruise with his cousin Jil to enjoy the pleasures of the Gecko culture. (Jil is herself fleeing a spot of trouble in the Central Worlds after she rebuffed the unwanted amorous interest of a local crime boss) 

In fact, Thomas is on a mission for the mysterious Mr. Frank, the head of the secret service, to discover how prohibited goods, including a small fighter ship, are being smuggled into the Autocracy. His crew’s overt assignment is to find out why legitimate shippers are being detained at checkpoints, sometimes for months, without explanation. As usual, Thomas’s reputation for sudden enthusiasm and goodhearted mayhem precede him. It is all his trusted aid Parsons can do to keep his leader on course.

Thomas’s newest interest is superstitions, and he is driving everyone to distraction by telling fortunes, and even inventing a new method or two. Yet while the Autocrat, a new and fairly young Uctu female, finds Thomas a curious diplomat, she also rather likes him—much to Parsons’s relief. It seems Thomas needs free passage within the Uctu home system before he can investigate the illegal contraband trade. What’s more, the smuggling ring is quite determined to cancel Thomas’s visit before he can cancel them.  As usual, it’s up to Parsons to find a way to lead his hapless master to victory—or at least keep him from getting himself killed by a very determined enemy.

Listen to the author discuss the book here on the Baen Free Radio Hour.

In January of 2011 we started posting free short stories we thought might be of interest to Baen readers. The first stories were "Space Hero" by Patrick Lundrigan, the winner of the 2010 Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest, and "Tanya, Princess of Elves," by Larry Correia, author of Monster Hunter International and set in that universe. As new stories are made available, they will be posted on the main page, then added to this book (to save the Baen Barflies the trouble of doing it themselves). This is our compilation of short stories for 2015.

As is usual with such copyrighted material from Baen, the contents may be copied and shared but NOT sold. All commercial rights are reserved to Baen Books.

Holl, Keith Doyle’s best friend, has finally tied the knot with his beloved, Maura in the Little Folks’ new home, Hollow Tree Farm. Keith has good news of his own: he has started on an internship as a copywriter with a Chicago advertising agency, coming up with slogans and designs for new products, but the project he is really enthusiastic over is chasing air sprites in a hot air balloon. Unfortunately, one of the agency’s client businesses is using the Little Folks’ land as a dump for toxic waste. Holl’s young cousin Dola sees them do it, but they see her, too. To prevent anyone else from finding out, then men kidnap her and Holl and Maura’s new baby, Asrai. All of the Little Folk are called in to hunt for them. Keith reaches out to the new and wonderful air creatures he’s found in hopes of bringing the baby and her brave guardian back to the farm.

Dr. Shona Taylor, a specialist in environmental medicine, uses her training and a most unusual menagerie of animal assistants to solve medical mysteries. She has an Abyssinian cat who can detect environmental hazards, a dog whose system can synthesize vaccines, and an alien ottle named Chirwl. On Chirwl’s planet, visiting humans and the local population are both suffering from a mysterious epidemic of rapid aging. Shona has to discover not only a cure, but the source, before the entire colony dies of old age.

STAY ALIVE ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE MOON

What happens when you get the one thing you wanted most in life? Lonely 16-year-old farm girl Barbara Winton has been following one reality show for years. Then in an instant she goes from fangirl to participant when the call comes from Dr. Keegan Bright: She’s been selected out of a horde of applicants to join him on the Moon.

She’ll be one of his Bright Sparks, six students with expertise in STEM and plenty of their own ingenuity chosen to work with Dr. Bright and given big responsibilities to undertake new projects important to the growth of the colony. Her first task? Build a radar telescope using an entire crater on the far side of the Moon.

But Barbara soon learns that life on a burgeoning frontier outpost like the Moon is a far cry from safe, civilized Earth. The loner from farm country must find a way to weld a functional team out of fiercely independent thinkers. Not only are they a bit trickier to work with than farm robots, not only is the working environment incredibly dangerous—she also has to perform this miracle in front of millions of fans. . . .

Lexile Score: 770

Barbara Winton and the rest of the Bright Sparks, Dr. Keegan Bright’s team of young scientists, find themselves facing a challenge that will test all of their scientific skills and personal courage. They are competing in the first ever race to completely circle the Moon. The Sparks, and twenty-five other teams, have to count on one another as they face thousands of kilometers of unknown dangers, where even a simple accident can have fatal consequences. They form close friendships with racers from all over Earth, but also have to deal with former Spark, Pam, a mysterious and threatening figure whose departure from the Sparks program is shrouded in mystery.

While the Sparks compete in the race, Dr. Bright himself is part of a groundbreaking project to seek out rare minerals underneath a crater. On the far side of the Moon, in the airless, frozen depths beneath the lunar surface, disaster strikes. On the thinly settled Moon only the Bright Sparks may be close enough to help him. The young scientist find themselves not only racing for victory, but to save their beloved mentor.

Keith Doyle, believer in myths, goodhearted nerd, general busybody, and business major at Midwestern University, discovers to his joy—and horror—that a secret village of pointy-eared, magical little elves are occupying a vacant level of the library building. Their leader, The Master, tutors students to pass difficult courses. Marcy, the girl of Keith’s dreams, is already a member of the class. But the library is in danger of being torn down, thanks to a modernization campaign led by Keith himself. The students of the secret class hate him. Marcy is devastated. It looks as though the elves’ home will be destroyed. Keith and the Little Folk need one another. The only thing that can save Keith’s social life is elven magic. And the only thing that can save the elves is the magic of ... free enterprise.

Keith Doyle and Holl, one of the Little Folk, set off on an educational tour to find their roots. Keith knows his family comes from the south of Ireland, but Holl’s people lost contact with their relatives long ago. On a tour of archaeological digs, Keith recklessly falls prey not only to local smugglers, but magical beings who are far less friendly than the ones back home. Holl, who needs to secure a rare flower to permit him to marry his beloved, Maura, has no choice but to summon the Master, head of his village, and Diane, Keith’s girlfriend. Together, they must rescue Keith from his own folly and solve the mystery of the disappearance of the Little Folk...

The newest volume in the Million Dollar Writing series, Once More, With Feeling is a guide by New York Times bestselling author Jody Lynn Nye to revising your finished manuscript. Nye goes point by point over the topics you should review when working toward a final draft of a new book. From narrative hook to resolution, with discussions of formatting, resources, and numerous examples of problem-solving, this volume should be by the elbow of any aspiring writer.

Attending your first convention as a professional writer? Don’t know what opportunities are out there for you? How do you get invited? How do you approach editors? How do you deal with fans who love your book and those who haven’t read it yet? Jody Lynn Nye and Bill Fawcett have answers to the questions you don’t even know you have. From how to approach a convention committee to how to handle yourself on panels and signings, this book will give you an expert’s perspective on how to make the most of a convention.

Book Three in the View from the Imperium series from humorous SF master Jody Lynn Nye. Lieutenant Lord Thomas Kinago and his trusty constant companion, the unflappable Parsons, are back. And this time they've got a planet to save.

The Zang, an elder race of the galaxy, may be a shrinking population, but they're also intelligent, curious, and powerful. What's more, they practice a most unusual art form: they bonsai star systems. Eager to witness this first hand, Lieutenant Lord Thomas Kinago, accompanied as always by his personal assistant Parsons, sets out on a several-week jaunt to see the Zang destroy a moon to enhance the beauty of a star system. 

But the trip is sidelined when Kinago's uncle offers to take him to the seldom seen human homeworld, Earth. Unable to resist, Kinago goes along, only to find on his return that the planet he's just visited may be in danger of being eradicated. Earth lies within the protective sphere of the Zang, but enemies of the Imperium are lobbying to have Sol system turned over to them.

It is up to Kinago and Parsons to save Earth. Kinago has the key, but will he be able to persuade the Zang to spare the human homeworld before it's too late?

PERFECTION IS A DANGEROUS ILLUSION

Where does your mind go when you fall asleep.

To the Dreamland, where seven Sleepers dream the ever-changing landscape drawn by trillions of sleeping minds from the Waking World. Where form follows function, so a hovel today may be a castle or a cave tomorrow. Where the people battle nightmares with only the strength of their will and sanity.

Juele is the youngest and most promising new student to enter the strange new world of the School of Light. At this legendary institution, she will learn how to master illusion, the highest form of art in the Dreamland. Her talent has excited the interest of many of the senior students, the professors, but most important of all, the Idealists. They are the elite of the Illusionists, a tightly knit group of talents who admit Juele to their mysterious circle in the Ivory Tower.

Her mentor, an Idealist named Rutaro, has embarked upon a project to surround the Castle of Dreams with an image of perfection, in which Juele will play a key role. But other students who are jealous of Juele's good fortune set out to pervert Rutaro's design. What they have in mind bears no resemblance to reality. The worst part is that no one, not Rutaro, nor the King, the ministers, or even Roan, the King's Investigator, seems to notice that the government of the Dreamland is plunging into deadly chaos. Juele is faced with having to find the reality within the fantasy with the only skill she has at hand: illusion.

The Wolfe Pack is military SF with a twist!

The auxiliary scout platoon known as the Cockroaches contains all the outsiders and oddballs the Galactic Defense Force doesn’t want to have to deal with, but can’t find a way to discharge from the Space Service. They’re savvy, street-smart, wise (if not book-learned), intelligent, survival-oriented, and completely unconventional. Lt. David Wolfe is their new CO: young, idealistic, and gung-ho, but even he has a secret that forced Central Command to shift him out of the line of fire.

The Cockroaches get sent on what ought to be a simple courier mission to the greatest amusement park in the Galaxy, and end up defending the population from a ruthless enemy in the only way the Cockroaches know how: unconventionally!

Dr. Shona Taylor, a specialist in environmental medicine, discovers that a mysterious epidemic is killing the entire population of colony worlds. With the help of her special menagerie, including a cat that can detect environmental hazards, a dog whose system can synthesize vaccines, and an intelligent alien named Chirwl, Shona is determined to stop the epidemic in its tracks, but the people causing the epidemic have set her up to take the blame, spreading the rumor that she is an Angel of Death. Can she find a cure before the disease kills again and puts her and her menagerie in danger?