1998 - 06/1998 Meeting

Page Created: 09/18/10. Last Updated: 10/25/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 03/28/08.

MICHAEL FLYNN

Novels:

Eifelheim

Fallen Angels (with Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle)

Falling Stars

Firestar

In the Country of the Blind

Lodestar

Rouge Star

The Wreck of the River of Stars

The author's literary agency maintains the following page: http://www.spectrumliteraryagency.com/flynn.htm.

MEETING SUMMARY:

Meeting Date: June 13, 1998.

Meeting Site: Borders Books, Garden State Plaza, Paramus.

Official Attendance: 37.

Meeting Program: Talk by Science Fiction Writer.

Notes:

Meeting Memories:

Newsletter Account:

The June 13, 1998 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held at Borders Books & Music in the Garden State Plaza, Paramus, New Jersey. This was the first time the Association met in this particular store and the layout was perhaps the best of any of the bookstores to have hosted the group.

Roy Greenberg led a meeting of the Final Frontier at the store at 6:30 PM. The subject was recommended reading among the STAR TREK books. He passed out two handouts. One was a listing of STAR TREK books currently in print. He noted which ones were by former S F A B C speakers, which ones he considered noteworthy, and which ones represented his personal top ten. The other hand out was an interview with Pocket Books STAR TREK editor John Ordover which appeared in the NEW YORK PRESS the week of June 10-16, 1998. Roy explained why he considered the annotated books to be outstanding. Eyal Mozes and Pamela Webber were among those who praised other works.

Author Michael Flynn was introduced at 8:00 PM. He said that his interest in science fiction began at an early age, with his father telling bedtime stories to Michael and his brother. It was not until later in life that he realized that his father had not been making them up, but had been relating stories he had read in science fiction magazines.

Michael Flynn began writing stories of his own at a very young age. His mother gave him support and encouragement. She not only read the stories, she saved them. Years later his brother discovered these early works and showed them to Michael. Michael "was amazed at his early efforts--not to say appalled." His first published work was in his high school paper. This was not a particularly difficult feat as he was the editor and had pages to fill and no submissions.

He then gave a short plot synopsis of his novels. IN THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND is a secret history in which Babbage's mechanical computer has been clandestinely built and allows a small group to secretly run the world. THE NANOTECH CHRONICLES is a collection of stories about the uses of nanotechnology. FALLEN ANGELS, co-authored by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, is about a gruop of stranded astronauts who must travel cross country through a hostile, technophobic America to the Kennedy Space Port to return to their Space Station. They are assisted in their travels by a resistance movement of science fiction fans. FIRESTAR and ROUGE STAR are the first two parts of a trilogy about a woman determined to create a defense against asteroid collisions with the Earth.

The idea for FALLEN ANGELS came from editor Jim Baen. Baen had wanted Niven and Pournelle to write it, but they were contractually prohibited from doing another collaboration until the handed in a completed manuscript to another publisher. A book by Niven, Pournelle, and someone else was not legally a Niven/Pournelle collaboration, however. Mike Flynn became the "someone else." Flynn write the first draft with Niven and Pournelle doing the rewrite. While he was still working on the first draft, Niven and Pournelle solved their problem with the other book, finished it, and turned their attention to FALLEN ANGELS. The result is that the beginning of FALLEN ANGELS is mostly Flynn and the ending of the book is mostly NIven and Pournelle.

The FIRESTAR trilogy was originally conceived as a single novel covering 50 years. When he ws 400 pages into the book and had covered only 5 of those years, the plan changed. The final book in the trilogy is now being written. It is already big enough that he is considering breaking it in two.

The author then turned his attention to his short story collections, THE FOREST OF TIME AND OTHER STORIES. He pulled out his nanotechnology optical enhancer--his glasses--and flipped through the book, giving either a brief plot synopsis or reading a short section to the audience.

One thing Mr Flynn apparently enjoys doing is to mix genres. "House of Dreams," which is up for the Sturgeon Award, is a hard science erotic ghost story. He has also written a hard science mummy story and an interplanetary Western (which includes the line, "He's dead, Jim.)

Among the humorous moments was he recounting of a conversation with agent Eleanor Wood. She informed him that she had sold the rights for one of his books in Italy for a six-figure sum. When he discovered that it was in lira he asked what that was in real money. She told Michael that he would be able to take his wife out to lunch.

Michael Flynn was warm and approachable and a pleasure to have as a guest.

We thank Charles Garofalo for bringing refreshments, Roy Greenberg for leading the Frontier, Ernest Lilley for bringing copies of SFREVU, Bruce Wallace for help with the clean up, and Pamela Webber for handling the sign ins. The after meeting spot was the Forum Diner on Route 4.