Butcher has stated that if he writes Dresden exclusively he will burn out on it, so he is going to do what he did with Alera and alternate writing Dresden and the new series.

 

Which is entirely understandable, considering just how insanely long the series is gong to be. I imagine that's part of why he's been writing more short stories over the last few years too.

However, like any fan of the series, I wanted him to finish writing and publishing Cold Days about five minutes after I finished reading Ghost Story.

 

Yeah, Butcher has an amazing work ethic. He has a long line of annual Dresden Files releases. Not too long ago he was banging out an annual Codex Alera novel too. Two novels a year is top tier work. Not to mention all the short story work he does.
He can and has handled it.

Best for us all that he starts another successful project.

 

On the subject of ages, all I can say about Luccio's age is that Harry and Thomas had a conversation about how she grew up in the reign of Queen Victoria. And she said something similar directly to him. There was also talk about how she posed for several painters in her native Italy, presumably nude.
All of this happened in Small Favor, if recent reading serves me well.

 

She's around 200.

 

Because of his signing tour Jim has many opportunities to say something we don't know from books. Spoilers for some GS unresolved mysteries ahead:

Spoiler

At first he said that Lasciel appeared in Ghost Story and later admitted that both Lasciel and Lash showed up. This pretty much confirms without stating it outright who was the Shadow and the Voice.

 

Spoiler

Except the voice is Uriel. They all but outright confirm it. "Lies. Mab cannot change who you are." is Uriel's 7 words to balance the lie told to Dresden. That's why Dresden starts laughing when he hears it. He realizes that the whole thing was a setup to get him to that moment and just can't help but laugh at the insanity of the whole thing.

Lasciel is almost certainly the Shadow, especially if JB has confirmed she's in the book.

Lash on the other hand, as far as I can tell, does not actually "appear", though she is mentioned. Lash is almost certainly the parasite Demonreach claims kept his heart beating. She doesn't make any direct appearance (unless she's somehow the ghost girl that calls Dresden a monster), but she does technically show up in the book.

Edit: Added spoiler tags cuz I totally didn't realize we were in the ghost story forum.

 

Spoiler

“I still don’t understand,” I said. “How does me coming back to haunt Chicago for a few nights balance anything?”
“Oh, it doesn’t,” Uriel said. “I can only act in a mirror of the offending action, I’m afraid.”
“You . . . just get to whisper in my ear?”
“To whisper seven words, in fact,” he said.


And a voice—a very calm, very gentle, very rational voice whispered in my ear, “Lies. Mab cannot change who you are.”
I struggled and twitched my fingers. “Five,” I muttered, “Six. Seven. Heh.” I couldn’t help it. I laughed again. It hurt like hell and it felt wonderful. “Heh. Heh.

Oh, son of a bitch. I even had a long argument with someone about what he was counting because I missed that.

 

Spoiler

I agree entirely that Lash is the Parasite, which raises some fascinating questions about how she survived, came back, etc etc, but I was under the impression that Lasciel's influence and power were severely restrained when Harry sank her coin into the cement beneath his summoning circle? Seems to me that shadowing Harry unnoticed for who knows how long and then influencing his decisions, again unnoticed, would take a fair amount of power.

And speaking of the coin, we don't of its fate after the destruction of Harry's apartment, although it could easily still be sunken into the ground, I suppose...as usual, I guess I'll have to wait til Cold Days.

 

No. After White Night he gave the coin to Forthill I think.

 

Lash is a separate entity to Lasciel. Where the coin is has absolutely no influence on what Lash can do.

 

Spoiler

Maybe or Lash as the Parasite is also doing whispered for Uriel. It would be a nice "mirror of the offending action" to have her undo what Lasciel did. Anyway, the point is Lash is in GS, which means she's back. The rest is just details.

 

True enough.

Now if only we had more details on what Inez really is, then I'd be happy.

 

The Bitten by Books Q&A session. There are Ghost Story spoilers.

Spoiler

Are the Fomor around to stay for the next half of the series or will they be a ‘one (or two) shot pony’?
That’s always the problem with doing away with almost any given enemy–someone always rushes in to fill the power vacuum that forms. The Fomor aren’t polite enemies, like the Red Court. They’ll be around a while.

Now that Harry has used magic in this book without and tailismans, will he be a stronger/more adept wizard with his magic in the next book?
Harry really hasn’t gotten all that much stronger since the series started. He’s gotten more efficient, more skilled, and smarter, and inasmuch as that makes him more powerful, that will continue. I mean, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger…

Oh wait.

Can you give us any hints as to the part Demonreach will play later on in the series?
Can. Won’t.

I’ve been wondering, is a magic-users longevity/ability to repair themselves due to their use of magic, or is it because they are able to access magic at all?
It’s because they /use/ magic.

Charity Carpenter was able to use magic at one point; will she have an extended life?
Not unless she takes it up again, which would be extremely difficult and which she doesn’t want to do.

And is the longevity tied to strength levels, as in do stronger wizards live longer?
Indeed. In the Dresden Files universe, magic is the essence of creation itself. Constant exposure to it through use changes the person who uses it in a number of ways, not all of them as obvious as physical recovery and longevity. The more exposure, the more dramatic the changes.

How did Mac get his bar declared ‘Neutral Territory’ under the Accords?
He knew the right people and filled out the right paperwork–sort of like becoming the legal owner of a suppressed assault weapon. You can get one in almost every state, if you know the right way to go about it.

My question is, Knowing that you can’t write what you don’t feel (much like magic!) how do you keep the characters and venues fresh and exciting?
Actually, you /can/ write what you don’t feel. I do it all the time. There are days when I don’t want anything to do with Dresden and his stupid life, but hey, there’s a deadline. Other days, I’m rushing to get into a chapter, I wanna do it so much–and I can’t tell what kind of day it was when I go back and read it later.

Is the Merlin’s staff a special staff of office, like the Blackstaff, with special abilities?
There are very few objects that have “special abilities.” I’ve only shown about five of them, in fact, including the Swords, the Blackstaff, and the Noose.

The Merlin is referred to as the most powerful wizard on the planet several times in the series. Is this just speculation, or is the Merlin position filled through some sort of test of power and skill?
The Merlin is a wizard who can give an order that probably 80 or 85 percent of the other wizards in the world will follow, including most of the Wardens. He’s also the CEO of the White Council’s financial holdings. He /is/ the most powerful wizard in the world, based on THAT if nothing else.

You don’t get to be the Merlin without also being the guy that the rest of the Senior Council thinks can take them out, if it came down to a conflict–they’re the ones who select a new Merlin from among themselves. Langtry regards direct, open conflict as a failure to use all his other options, when it comes down to it, and when he does fight he does it fast and hard and is utterly without fear–see the end battle with Peabody’s pet in Turn Coat.

Comment from Jim:
Guys, I hope you understand that there are some questions I’m simply not going to answer except in the books–all the questions of the “what is going to happen next” nature. I’m going to skip them in favor of answering them the fun way. (i.e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8zwCMZ4P3Q#t=00m35s)

It’s been a while since I re-read Changes, but my last recollection of Bob’s whereabouts were hidden on the Water Beetle. How’d Butters get his hands on the skull?
From Murphy.

When I was reading Curses (the new short story), I couldn’t find any internal clues to its timing in the series. Between which books does it fall?
Curses takes place between, I think, Proven Guilty and White Night.

How did Harry explain to Molly the shelf in his basement with the skull and all those well-read steamy romance novels, and did she believe his answer?
He didn’t. You might not have noticed this about Dresden, but he is often cryptic and unwilling to come across with random bits of information. Molly spent years staring at the damned thing, thinking it was some kind of obscure test.

Does Kincaid have the ability to “choose” like Faerie changelings (i.e Meryl/Fix/Lily)?
All scions do, though if they never twig to the fact that they ARE a scion, it’s their actions that make the Choice for them. Kincaid made his Choice a long, long time ago.

Does the DFRPG actually get published within the Dresdenverse, is it as successful as it is in the “real world”, and will it ever get a cameo appearance within the books?
I’m not sure if I’m gonna get quite that incestuous yet. The causality loop of something like that could tear a hole in spacetime, and I’m not sure that would be good for the environment.

What’s the range of influence for the Fallen in the coins? How far can they extend themselves away from their Denarian hosts?
Oh, their range is very, very limited, to this one little planet.

Bob the Skull mentioned he’s wired now, does that mean that Bob or a Familiar like Bob(Say for the RPG) could actually act like a Wizard’s TV, Computer and/or game console albeit running on Romance novels?
Potentially! Though that’s sort of like using, oh, one of those liquid-nitrogen-cooled supercomputers to run a FPS game on. Sure, it would work /great/, but there are probably lots and lots of more useful things it could be doing.

What happened to Georgia? (since the short story Aftermath)
Turns out you can’t turn the child of two active werewolves over to your average babysitting service.

Are individual BC vamps capable of feeling affection for those they cared about in life and could they hold back from eating them if they really tried? Maybe go to the blood bank instead? I know vamps as a whole don’t do this but actions of individuals from the other courts like Thomas not killing Justine in BR and Susan dying for Maggie seen to imply it’s not all black and white.
Oh, it’s possible a BC vamp could feel something toward those it knew in life, but those feelings wouldn’t really motivate it toward a given behavior. If it’s hungry, it feeds, and if it happens to be eating its own child from life, it might think ‘Ah, I recognize that one. Interesting. This should probably be upsetting me, but it tastes so /good/…’

If the blampire had a rational, cynically self-centered /reason/ to keep someone alive though, it certainly would, and it is entirely possible that some blampires have enough of a sense of enlightened self-interest to preserve a few mortals that have proven useful. Until they don’t.

Will we be seeing more of Fitz in the future books?
I think it’s unlikely, but who knows. Supporting character have surprised me before.

We know now that the Carpenter clan is looking after the littlest Dresden, but we never actually heard from Michael and Charity in the last book. Did they know about the events of Ghost Story (i.e., Harry’s returning as a shade, thus proving his ‘death’), and if so what was their reaction to it? Do they blame Harry for what happened to Molly?
We’ll see.

Do you ever suffer from bouts of maniacal laughter while writing these books?
Nah, I mostly only do that when answering questions from readers.

How many more novels do you foresee in the Dresden Files?
20ish of the case books, like we’ve seen so far, and a big old apocalyptic trilogy to capstone the series.

Could you use the NeverNever to travel to other planets like Mars for example?
You can’t get much farther out than the moon, in terms of moving through normal space–and it’s /hard/ to get that far.

I wanted to ask about the girl at Dresden’s grave. Was it Mab or Leah? Or was she someone else?
Mab and Demonreach both made sure they had a proxy present in those two conversations at Dresden’s grave.

Dresden’s pentacle necklace — can anyone besides Thomas and Harry have access to his mother’s information? Or does it have to be someone in his bloodline?
That one is all about bloodlines, hence the use of a ruby.

What are the odds of Daniel picking up a sword? That would be so bad ass! =D
Chance plays no part in the selection of a bearer for a Sword.

You are great at incorporating pop culture into your stories. Does this come naturally or do you have to work at it?
I have to work at it: I have to tone it down.

Is it more difficult to write Molly now that she has face so much?
Um, yes… sure, it’s more difficult, yeah. I mean it certainly isn’t like I cackle to myself and enjoy it a lot more or anything like that…. really. Honest. Hey, would I lie to you?

Will James Marsters return to read #14? He is Harry, and I hear his voice in my head when I read the books.
That is perhaps a question better directed to James. I certainly hope that he does so.

Also, I just wanted to let you know that I do think about you and Harry every time I visit a Burger King. What would Harry think of the new BK minis?
He would think them something of a puzzlement. I mean, why eat a mini-hamburger when you could get an /actual/ hamburger?

How was Peabody able to mind control Luccio in turn coat if she was a few hundred years old? You mention in earlier books that after a certain age wizards are set in their ways and any tampering of the mind causes it to break.
Luccio wasn’t in an aged body. Part of that resistance to tampering is the establishment of neural pathways in the physical brain. Hell, Luccio was a lot different from her previous self in a lot of ways even without tampering.

How come harry never uses ventas servitas anymore?
Hasn’t felt a need for it–wind is easy, flashy and intimidating, but it’s sloppier and not as reliable as using force in an actual dangerous situation.

Harry uses fire. Harry uses force. He used to use wind and though it’s not his forte he occasionally uses earth. How come there is no water magic in the books?
There’s water magic all /over/ the place, but part of its nature is that it flows in accord with the natural world, permeates it, and doesn’t call attention to itself. Harry uses water magic all the time without realizing it, as do the Alphas, and Listens-to-Wind is probably the premier water mage of the White Council.

Where are the coins kept? Does Father Forthill keep them at St. Mary’s or are they sent to the Vatican?
Neither.

In Death Masks, Shiro mentioned the Jade Court of Vampires. Are the going to make an apperence in any of the upcoming books?
It’s possible they might appear in some minor way sometime, but they’re basically isolationists. They aren’t hopping any planes to Chicago any time soon.

As of right now (knowing this could change) [8/8/11], are the Dresden books on schedule for July releases from now on or are you going to go back to April releases?
The next book hasn’t been scheduled yet. I don’t know the answer to that question.

Any “second series” in the works so we can get two Butcher novels a year, like Dresden and Alera alternated and, if so, when/what will it be?
I’m working on a fantasy trilogy, I think, right now, but I’m not sure when it will be done.

I remember you saying in a con appearance that made it to YouTube that you got the Dresden license back early for TV. Any plans/discussions you can talk about regarding the future of Harry on the small (or possibly big?) screen?
Nothing worth mentioning. There are almost always inquiries and possibilities, but 99 percent of them fall flat. I’ll make an announcement of some kind when a check clears.

Also, a personal note: YOU BASTARD! YOU’RE GOING TO LEAVE US HANGING WITH A TEASE LIKE THAT AT THE END FOR ANOTHER FRIGGIN’ YEAR!! You get off on torturing us like this knowing that we love you all the more for it, don’t you?!
I respectfully refuse to answer the question.

Years ago you posted your method of developing a novel –“The Butcher Arc Method” for lack of a better name. I was wondering if you still use it to craft your stories, or if you have modified it over the years?
It’s startling to me that anyone would dignify my goofy process with a name. But then, it’s kind of a goofy name, so I suppose that works.

Yeah, I’m pretty much a creature of habit. It ain’t broke, so I won’t try to fix it.

Is Mollys progression & endgame fairly planned out already in your notes? Or are you adapting her as the stories are written?
I have a good idea where she’s going, though that’s subject to change if I come up with something more fun.

Are there any other powerful spirits in the world like Bob who could contend with his experience and council?
Indeed.

John Marcone has been on the fence for most of the series. Sometimes he does the right thing, sometimes the wrong. Will there be a book where he goes full good guy or bad guy?
I think it’s safe to say that Harry will never get a clear read on Marcone. Sharks aren’t good or evil. They’re /sharks/.

I say this, of course, only because I miss the recently departed Shark Week.

Great series!! I love the characters and snarky sense of humor. I’m not caught up with all the books though. I did hear that this new book could also be enjoyed as a “stand alone”. I hate to read out of order but am really looking forward to this one. Would I be better off to continue the series or can I read (and understand) Ghost Story now?
Oh, I think this is the LEAST stand-aloney book of the series. Skipping ahead to it will get you a lot of stuff that is inexplicable.

Is there any similarity (beyond the obvious) between the red gemstone that Harry received from Lea in Changes and the red gemstones that Lord Raith and Lara Raith have been seen wearing in the past, and if so, can you elaborate at all?
They’re rubies. The Raiths like rubies because they think they go with the dark hair and silver eyes to make them look stylin’. Maggie the Elder used a ruby because she wanted to create something that could only be used by someone with her blood.

Given Bob’s comment in the latest book about Spider Man being real somewhere, along with your generous Creative Commons policy on derivative fiction set in the worlds you’ve developed, I’m sure you realize that you’ve opened the floodgates for absolutely any imaginable combination of crossover fanfic. So my question is: What is the most ridiculous, strange, worrisome or unlikely crossover you can imagine with Harry?
I am so not going there.

Who the heck is Air?
A friend who was playing on AmberMUSH back in the early 90s, who ran a really fun plot centered around Mab getting uppity with the sprogs of the Princes of Amber and/or Chaos.

Lash was apparently able to gain free will from harry, a mortal. Can mortals potentially grant free will to other supernaturals like vampires and faries?
That’s… a spectacularly complicated question, really.

Lash didn’t gain free will, per se. Lash gained individuality, became a singular entity, self-motivated and distinct from the personality of Lasciel the Fallen. That personality was strongly influenced by Dresden, who believes very strongly in individual choice and responsibility, but doesn’t necessarily equate to free will in the sense of what mortals possess.

You might note that Lash essentially committed suicide with her “free will.” A choice which rather strongly resembles another choice a few books later in the series.

What twist has the series taken that even surprised you? I am constantly surprised by the twists and turns.
The whole Lasciel’s coin plot was something I instigated on the spur of the moment back in book 5, and which isn’t over yet. Lots of things happen that aren’t specifically spelled out, but which can be woven into the overstory plot that I’ve been pursuing. I expect new stuff will continue seeping out of my subconscious and prove to fit pretty smoothly into the outline.

one of the first books that brought me to the dresden files was small favor. my question is will we be seeing any of the denarians make a return.
Yeah, the Denarians are going to be around a while longer.

we saw what happened to molly during harrys six month absence in ghost story is there a chance of a short story/s of the charecters time during harrys absence?
Not sure about stories with Molly in them, during the “dead time.” We’ll have to see what happens in the future, but I’m becoming more and more heavily taxed, timewise, and I would prefer to focus on the novels.

After Harry defeated He Who Walks Behind, how did he make contact with the Leanandsidhe to bargain for the power to face Justin DuMorne? I think that's the only part of that story you haven't covered yet.
With relative simplicity, since she’d basically been lurking about near him, unseen, from the time he was born.

She judged everything that had happened to him a valuable learning experience, up until the point where DuMorne wanted to break into his skull. She couldn’t take on the Walker directly, but once that obstacle was out of the way, she appeared to ickle Harry right quick.

So far you have done short stories/ short novellas focusing on Marcone & Thomas, Will you do any other short stories on other characters of the book? and which ones?
We’ll have to see what kind of time I have available. All the short stories have been the absolute bane of my writing schedule. Seriously. Novels are /far/ less taxing.

PLEASE don’t interrupt your Dresden writing, but do you have any plans to delve into another sword-and-horses fantasy series in the future since you say that is your first love and Codex Alera did so well?
On the contrary. If I don’t interrupt my Dresden writing with other projects, I will lose my ever-loving mind. Moreso, I mean. I know that it’s a very different experience from the reader end, but I have to spend months of work-time there every year. I get tired of that world. Going to other worlds is the only way I’ve found that lets me go back there happily.

So yeah, I’ll be doing something else. I’m not quite sure what yet, but I’m leaning strongly toward a fantasy trilogy that is meant to be a set up for my Epic Epic Fantasy Epic Which Will Be Epic, and which I want to write one day when I’m good enough and when I grow up.

Have you decided when you will end Dresden Files? If so, will there be a character that you would likely spin-off from the series?
The series will end after 20ish books and a big old apocalyptic capstone trilogy. I have no plans to continue after that, or to spin-off from the Dresden stories, unless I have to… I dunno, pay my gambling debt or something.

Stories end. Or they aren’t stories. And I already have enough story ideas in my head to keep me working until I’m approximately 135.

hey Jim, Kincaid has been one of my favourite characters since he first appeared in Death Masks. So I was wondering why did you chose him to be Harry's shooter?
Harry chose Kincaid because he needed someone he could trust to get the job done. Not so much because Kincaid is /good/ as because Kincaid is /ruthless/ and reliable. If he said he’d do it, Harry knew he would.

Also I was wondering if you ever play any free to play mmorpgs?
I don’t play any MMORPG regularly, these days, though I occasionally show up on City of Heroes just to beat up pseudo-Nazis as Harry Dresden.

Would you ever want to write another superhero book and, if so, what hero would you want to write and why?
Hi, Pam!

I’d love to write more Spider-Man and, lately, some Captain America, because I just love the characters and because I think I could tell a good story with them.

Alas, I think it’s unlikely to happen, both because of pay issues and because I wouldn’t have the freedom to do what I wanted to with the materials. That’s the great part about writing your own ideas. No one can come along and censor them for the sake of the ongoing value of the property.

I saw on the Forum you’ve written the first sentence of the next book. Have you gotten a few chapters along in it, already?
Nah. Working on a fantasy novel. But once I know the first sentence, the rest is just basically typing. Really. Honest.

What kind of magic does Martha Liberty specialize in?
Thaumaturgy, specifically information-gathering. She’s got legions of contacts in the Nevernever and the mortal world alike.

Is the musky, stale smell that Harry detects every time Cowl opens a Gate to the Nevernever relevent?
Probably not. Pay it no mind.

Will we be seeing Drakul at any point?
Indeed.

Is there any pop-culture that specifically doesn’t exist in the Dresdenverse, aside from the books themselves? For instance, does Harry curl up at night with the latest Anita Blake novel and then leave them for Bob when he’s done?
Well, he doesn’t, but he /could/. The Dresden Files world is mostly like ours, allowing for differences for dramatic effect, fun fantasy material, and author fallibility.

I was wondering at the end of the book it was a little unclear to me who kept Dresden alive. I think it was just Mab but was it the connection with the spirit of the island that kept his body alive until Mab arrived?
It was Mab, /plus/ Demonreach, /plus/ the parasite.

Considering that in Fool Moon, Harry was telling a demon minion pieces of his Name in exchange for information, how do the angels Harry meets in Ghost Story know his full Name?
The Archangel of Black Ops has considerably more access to information than some poor schmuck from Hell’s Accounts Receivable department. And intellectus, to boot.

Did Margaret LeFay plan for Thomas to be born on Feb. 14?
Nah that was just the natural tendency of the universe toward irony.

Is Kincaid’s separation from Dracul permanent, or is his working for Ivy just a vacation?
He’s a free agent. He goes where the contract work is. The advantage of working for someone like Drakul is long-term employment stability. The disadvantage is that if you don’t like it, you’ve got to grit your teeth and take it for at least a century until your departure clause kicks in.

Do Mouse's litter mates also have the same Foo Dog abilities and will we ever see them again?
Indeed. Even the ones Harry /didn’t/ rescue…

Harry entered Michael Carpenter’s house at the end of Ghost Story without an invitation. Was this because he was running around naked in his soul or because he previously had had invitations into the home? We note that Harry couldn’t enter other homes earlier in the book but was that because he truly believed he was a ghost and knowing that a ghost can’t cross a threshold his belief stopped him cold? (Extrapolating from the Leanansidhe’s information that the only limits on Harry at this point are the ones he places on himself)
The presence of an Archangel, essentially an executive VP of Creation, probably had something to do with it.

I am a huge Star Wars fan so would you ever consider writing a Star Wars novel?(And the Star Wars references in Ghost Story made me laugh so many times, thank you for that)
I don’t know if I’d be able to do what I wanted with a Star Wars novel. Other people’s intellectual property, especially something as monolithic as Star Wars, tends to place sharp limits on anyone writing it. It also tends not to pay as well. But with reasonable freedom to write and a standard author’s royalty, I’d love to, sure.

Would you tell us how a person gets choosen to be The Blackstaff of the White Council?
Heh. He picks up the Blackstaff with full knowledge of what he’s in for if he does. If you can find someone crazy enough to do that, and reliable enough to be trusted with it, he gets the job.

Why the change in narrator? (for the Ghost Story audio book)
After several scheduling issues that pushed the recording date to the absolute last moment, Mr. Marsters had personal issues that prevented him from doing the recording. I don’t know what they were, but it seems likely that it had to do with family. James has always been very clear that his family had priority over his career. He’s a great guy and I hope that it was nothing truly terrible that prevented him from being there.

Did you have any say in the selection process? (for the Ghost Story audio book)
Yes, after a fashion. We had to find someone with links to the SFF field, who was willing to work on short notice, in New York, over Memorial Day weekend, who could be found in under 18 hours.

Of those who fit that description, John Glover was the clear standout. He’s got a great voice and he played Lucifer in the series Brimstone, my very favorite rendition of the Prince of Darkness ever.

The thing I like most about your series is the combination of mythologies. Are there going to be more Norse mythology elements brought in besides Odin. (Norse mythology being my favorite).
Yes.

In “Ghost Stories” you made a gajillion references to star wars and half a gajillion to x-men and the justice league (I don’t mean to complain but they seemed to get in the way of Harries other fun sayings, like his fun spins on nursery rhymes or other fun stuff). Are those really the only things Harry likes? What about “Doctor Who”! The revival of that series has been amazing! Maybe Harry ought to get out of his shell a little.
Are you kidding? It’s dangerous out there!

Why is the next book called “Cold Days”? Didn’t you originally have it called “Winter Knight”? What was wrong with that?
Nah, it’s been Cold Days for years. I slipped a mental cog when asked on the spot for the title at a convention once.

And it was wrong because it isn’t the best title.

Are you a huge Star Wars fan?
The first movie I remember going to see was Star Wars. When Empire came out, my sisters checked me out of school, claiming I had a doctor’s appointment, blindfolded me, and took me to see it at the giant old opera-house theater in downtown KC. I had memorized Star Wars, word for word, BEFORE it was available on video tape.

So really, only a medium-sized fan.

Are you gonna be playing Bioware’s Star Wars The Old Republic?
If it is anywhere NEAR as cool as its trailer, YES.

How old were Eb and Maggie Sr when they first manifested a talent?
Same age as Harry–around 12 or 13.

How can Kusanagi be a Sword of the Cross when it predates the crucifixion?
Because the Swords are ideas and symbols as much as they are physical objects–maybe even more so. Kusanagi isn’t the original Kusanagi, Exaclibur isn’t the original Excalibur, etc. But their title, their /idea/ has been passed down from one generation to the next, much as the names of warships are passed down to the next generation of ships, with the new ship inheriting the titles, victories, and traditions of its forbears. The nails are passed on from one sword to the next, bringing bits of the metal of each sword that came before.

How many sisters does Thomas have?
I can’t find that notebook, grr. I think it’s nine. Papa Raith’s bodyguards minus one who is utterly bonkers and kept more or less in the attic, and Inari, the one who got away.

Would you suggest to other authors that they kill off some “good” guys (not necessarily the main character) to keep their series popular with fans?
I wouldn’t dream of it. Authors, by their very nature, are an independent, hardheaded and fiercely jealous lot, when it comes to their work. You don’t tell other people how to raise their kids, you know? At least, not if you want to be friends.

Would you consider writing a spin-off series with Molly, Maggie (grown-up), or Ebenezer (younger days) as the main character?
I’ve considered a series set during the French and Indian Wars, when Eb and the Merlin were Harry’s age, but if I ever do it that will be in the future, ten years out at least.

Is Harry still considered a Warden of the White Council now that he is the Winter Knight?


Ok, so like making promises and signing contracts is a bigger deal for wizards than pure mortals, is this why we have’nt seen any married wizards in the series?
Marriage is tough enough for regular folk. It’s that much more difficult for wizards who have to spend large portions of their life doing inexplicable stuff, who after a few decades find that they have little in common with much of the world in terms of life experience, and who have to constantly be aware of the threat of supernatural predators and the schemes of their fellow wizards.

There /are/ married wizards on the Council–most of them married to other wizards–but those tend to be the ones who have settled comfortably somewhere and who make it a practice to live their lives in peace and quiet and a long, long way from Harry’s neighborhood. In addition, most of the Council have been married at sometime in the past–and essentially gotten to stand still in time while their husband or wife grew old and passed. They aren’t eager to repeat the experience.

Having extreme power of any kind, whether it’s magic or political or monetary or military, is in many ways a very lonely way to live.

Oh and changing over of the stone table from winter-summer/summer-winter , well there are two hemispheres, are there two tables?
One table, but it goes where it is called.

Comment from Jim:
Okay guys, three hours of constant typing has only gotten me through about half the questions. I’m sorry I didn’t get to more of them, but y’all have me a wee bit outnumbered.

Thank you for caring enough to ask! I hope that you got some answers to some questions, at least, and we’ll have to do this again sometime!

Jim

Most of the smileys redacted due to image limits.

The first line of Cold Days has also been released, being something along the lines of

Spoiler

Mab has an unusual take on physical therapy.

Frequent paraphrasing leaves me unsure as to the accuracy, so take it with a grain of salt.

I thought the most interesting bit is the clarification regarding the graveyard, specifically

Spoiler

both Mab and Demonreach having proxies present.

 

Holy shit that's a lot of post to go through at this time in the morning. Interesting stuff, but yeah. Thanks.

 

That was great man. Cheers. Some confirmations on things from Ghost Story, some hints of things to come... I love this thread. I especially loved this answer on something so minor but now makes me lulz:

 

She probably has a notebook somewhere that kept track of all the different novels that rotated in and out of Bob's collection, hoping to crack the code.

 

Yeah, threads like this are one of the many reasons I come here... Interesting to note that this post seems to put my "Will Michael's God be the Creator?" question to rest... "Archangel... executive VP of Creation[note capital C]."

Not my favorite plot point, but he can still make it interesting. The series hasn't lost its charm like The Sword of Truth did when their creator was introduced.

And Tehan, knowing Bob, there probably IS a code, telling Molly exactly how to get Harry to stop being stubborn and make with the hot, steamy Molly loving that we all know (read pray) is inevitable.

 

Yeah, that one got mentioned on the forums a while back and confirmed by Jim. Very interesting.