The Big Idea: Griffin Barber

They say writing can be a good outlet for grief, but feelings might get complicated when the person you’re grieving was supposed to co-author the book you’re writing. Despite author Griffin Barber’s deep, personal loss of his mentor and friend Eric Flint, he managed to complete 1637: Pilgrim’s Passage in a way that would make them both proud. GRIFFIN BARBER: This book was a hard one to write THE END on. Not because I had to do all the research that any good alternate history requires, but because I wrote it without Eric Flint’s steadying hand and reassuring presence. Sure, I’d written novels without Eric before, but those of been in my own worlds or in worlds with other co-creators along for the ride — the whole ride. This was something different. I had to deal with the process and process my grief at losing my friend and mentor. Eric and I worked out the outline for 1637: Pilgrim’s Passage shortly after 1636: The Peacock Throne came out in 2021. We didn’t have a contract, though, and…