Ah, so it looks like Butcher and his publishers might have decided to run with a longer-than-one-year schedule for writing each book.

I'm fine with that if the goddamned copy editors stop sucking. Typos and grammatical bobbles on printed pages bug me, and Dresden has more of these than almost anything I've read. The tight one year release cycle is one reason for it.

 

From Jim's blog December 7th

 

I forgot to add this. Shame on me.

_____________________________________________________________

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:18 pm

“what gifts will Harry’s child have? Like he isn’t gonna save said child-no matter what!”

Who says she’ll have any gifts at /all/? Under the circumstances, the gift of life is already pretty darned miraculous.

“Jim, will we need to wait until next April for the next book to find out about what happens to Harry and his friends, or will the short stories that are coming out sooner tell us what happened?”

Most of the short stories take place well before the events of Changes. The exception to that is “Aftermath,” which is a full novella told from Murphy’s POV, and it gives you some information about what happened to a few of the folks who went on the Chichen Itza mission.

“Hi Jim - Thanks for doing an online Q&A for the benefit of people like me who weren’t able to make it to any of the signing events.”

You’re welcome.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:30 pm

“Jim, What made you come up with the series? was it a dream etc.”

It was a college assignment, originally, in my Writing a Genre Fiction Novel class.

“James Marsters does an awesome job on the audio books. Do you ever offer input to James about certain characters regarding how you think they should sound or is that all James?”

It’s all James.

“Your website says you already know how your Dresden series will end. I was wondering, when you started on this great adventure, did you know how many books you would write and how many subplots you would create? How far from your original story have you ventured?”

I originally planned for 20 books, but it took me 12 books to fit in the events of what had originally been planned for 10. So, it might take us 22 to 24 books to get to the big old honking apocalyptic trilogy which I’m planning to use as a kind of capstone for the series.

“Does Eb know about Thomas?”

Harry doesn’t know, one way or the other.

“Would like to know so that (kidding here) becasue I so want to throttle you for leaving us with the cliff hanger…. WAAAAAAAA. (had to get that off my chest; Loved Changes and I want the next book, NOW).”

Cliffhanger? What cliffhanger? Cliffhangers are when you DON’T know what happened to the character, or how they will get out of their predicament, or how the story is gonna end.

The story of Changes, the rescue of Maggie Dresden, finished. Harry set forth to rescue his daughter, no matter if it cost him his life–and it did. The story got told, it wrapped up more storylines than any two or three other books in the series, and ended. Of course there’s an issue of “where does the story go from here,” but honestly, how is that different from /any/ of the past ten Dresden Files?

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:39 pm

“And secondly will the Dresden File’s come faster now the Codex Alera is finished, or do you have some other loveliness in the pipe line for us??”

Dresden won’t be coming out any faster than it has been, or I’d probably burn out on it. I’m writing two Dresden books back to back right now as it is, and I more or less worked straight through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, this year. I hope you’ll understand if I’m not really eager to add on extra workload.

Not dead sure what my next project is going to be yet, but I’ll definitely be doing something new. I need to handle Dresden 13, GHOST STORY, first.

**



Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:42 pm

“Now you are just torturing us. ”

I’m a professional. It’s what I do.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:48 pm

“Lessons from the past has you leaving hero’s in declining orbit.”

Um, dude. That was in a book that was halfway finished, has not yet been finished, and isn’t published. I’ve always kind of had difficulty in drawing a lesson from a book I haven’t read, but maybe I’m a little slow or something.

“I guess the question is is Harry only “mosty dead” or should we be rifling through his pockets for spare change?”

Book 13: Ghost Story

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:51 pm

“Would you ever consider writing another novella from Thomas’ perspective?”

Oh, absolutely. Probably will, in fact, write up a short piece or novella about what Thomas has to do to pay off Lara for saving Molly at the end of Changes.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:52 pm

“When Queen Mab heals Harry to become the Winter Knight does she also heal his burned hand?”

No.

Mab digs scars.


**


Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:56 pm

“Grrr for the non-answer to my Thomas question. Ah well, I expected as much. *sigh*”

See above, re: technical difficulties. Also, I’m typing as fast as I can. There are a LOT more of you guys than there are of me.

Though I will point out that I’m simply not going to answer any questions which will be more fun to read about in the story. That’s lame for everybody.

Oh, and as far as my appearance schedule goes, you can check it out at http://www.jim-butcher.com. If it isn’t on the schedule, I’m kinda not planning to be there.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:01 pm

“1.) Are we going to find out for certain (not speculation) who hired the hitman in Changes?”

Absolutely.

“2.) Are we going to find out where the Hexenwolf belts came from in Fool Moon?”

Several folks have already worked it out, actually. The pieces are there if you want to put them together, though eventually I’ll state it outright.

“3.) When will Harry finally get the whole truth about his past? (As in his mom, grandfather — who they REALLY are/were?)”

I doubt he’ll get much more truth than any of us do. As far as who people REALLY were… well. What Harry knows so far is all accurate. I’m really not sure of the direction of this question.

What? Professional assassin for the White Council and powerful wizardess who consorted with the White Court aren’t interesting enough?


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:09 pm

“I am interested in knowing if we will ever get back to Mouse’s comment about “winning” Harry. I’m totally mystified. ”

It might help to know that while Mouse and Lea are both using the same word, winning, they are talking about entirely different meanings of it. As a result, Lea was mystified, too.

“I am also highly intrigued by the Gray Council showing up as 12 in number.”

Thirteen, actually: Harry was already there.

“So we found out who 2 of them were, i’d like to know how many of the rest we already know and how many of them haven’t been formally introduced to us yet.”

Hang on, counting… You already know six of the folks who showed up at Chichen Itza, excluding McCoy and Vadderung.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:15 pm

“I have two questions, First are you still into and attending NERO?”

Actually, I helped out a little with the founding of an organization made from a group of chapters who broke away from NERO to found their own gaming system. It’s called Heroic Interactive Theatre, and you can find out more at http://www.heroicit.net.

We still game at the same site with the same folks, but we’re using a different rules system.

“Second, Is Toot-toot’s increase in size due to his actions, or the title and followers he has acquired doing Harry’s bidding?”

It’s due to /Harry’s/ actions, mostly. Toot done hitched his star to Harry’s wagon. As a result, he’s taken actions he never would have taken on his own, some of which had major consequences. Toot has effectively become a much more powerful being than he was as an independent dewdrop faerie. The physical growth is a reflection of that fact.

I mean gosh, where do you think the Sidhe came from in the first place?


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:21 pm

“1)i just saw a post in the last 2 days about Lionsgate possibly working on a Dresden film. I know you briefly touched on the topic of a film at your Seattle signing, but can you confirm if this is a new development in the last couple days, i.e. there could be a Dresden film in the works?”

I’m just the writer, man. Lionsgate doesn’t really keep me up to date on their business, now that they hold the option. Heck, they did not so much as comp me a copy of the DVDs.

If there is a movie in the works, it’s news to me. I’ll find out about it when there’s a press release, just like everyone else.

It’s certainly possible that something is moving, but I find it unlikely that anyone short of a Lionsgate employee or well-placed industry insider would have information like that.

I’d chalk it up to (yet another) rumor until there’s something more solid to go on.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:22 pm

“Do you have any intention of including more material from Greek/Roman mythology?”

Indeed I do.


**


Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:27 pm

“In most, if not all of the previous short stories/novellas you could easily miss them without missing anything in the main books, will this hold true for Aftermath? Yes I am trying to gauge how important the story is so that I can speculate on what will happen in Ghost Story”

If you read “Aftermath” it should reduce some of the system shock that’s going to happen in Ghost Story.

The events of Changes… well, /changed/ /everything/ in the story world. You get to see the first of many, many dominoes starting to fall in “Aftermath.” Pay attention to Will. He might be nearsighted, but he’s got great vision for the big picture.


***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:32 pm

“Could Uriel have chosen to help Harry if he had wanted to, or is there actually some universal limit that prevents him from directly influencing the world in such overt fashion?”

A little of both. Technically, it was /possible/ for Uriel to act directly, but the consequences would have been extreme, both for him and for the mortal world–to the point where you’d have to be moderately insane to do it. Or else, really, really committed to some kind of personal moral compass that was 90 degrees off true.

The last angel to do that is a little notorious.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:33 pm

“So, does it every worry you that Harry will be come a characterture of a character?”

Constantly.


**
Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:34 pm

“Is there any chance of Huginn and Muninn (Odin’s crows) showing up in the future?”

They already did.

**
Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:36 pm

“Was Sirothrax a major dragon like Ferrovax or a minor dragon?”

He was the real deal, though he was in some ways the weakest of the remaining great dragons.

Ferrovax wouldn’t have given a damn about some nobody minor dragon being slain.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:38 pm

“Are there any plans for a spin-off series following Molly or the Knights of the Cross or any of the other supporting characters that doesn’t directly involve Harry Dresden?”

Not at the moment–though it might be one of those things I run desperately back to a few years after I finish the Dresden Files, frantic to pay of my… gambling debts or… or mob creditors or something.

**


Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:40 pm

“DO you have any plans, in any possible future, of holding some sort of fight-to-the-death to become a beta? Can I put my name in that hat?”

Fifty quatloos on the earthling!

There’s kind of a waiting list. Folks drop off the Beta list occasionally, and I go back to the waiting list to invite whoever is there. There hasn’t been much turnover, the past couple years.


***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:43 pm

“Could a single mortal vessel be the Knight for both winter and summer?”

Very. Briefly.

Matter and anti-matter reactions come to mind.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:50 pm

“Slightly more curly question; do you think fanfiction has a place in Dresden’s world?”

Check it out here:

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/i...5307.msg0.html

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:53 pm

“Was the White Council and the Red court ever at war before this last one? what kind of diplomatic relationship did they have? friendly? peaceful? trying to kill each other at ever other turn?”

Mostly it was small-scale conflicts between individuals. The Red Court has pretty much been headquartered in South and Central America, generally, while the White Council stuck to the wealthier nations of Europe, the US, and the upper end portions of Asia. It moderated the potential for conflict, though individuals fought in outlying areas where those general borders overlapped–places like Chicago.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:01 pm

“Is the Eldest gruff ever going to make another appearance? And in a match of Him and Lea vs Ferrovax, who would you bet on?”

Ferrovax would crush them both, if they had time to get ready, got to pick the time and place, and pulled out every resource at their disposal. It would be brief and brutal, like watching Tyson in his prime, when the fights were all 30 seconds long, except replacing his opponent with a 15 year old blind girl.

There’s just no comparison, there. Lea and Elder gruff are deadly beings. But Ferrovax is a force of nature. MAB would be loathe to take on Ferro, at least head-on.

***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:08 pm

“How dead is Kemmler? About as dead as Justin, maybe?”

Oh, at least that dead.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:11 pm

“I don’t remember reading that the Doom of Damocles on Molly was taken off, so due to Harry’s current situation, what is going to happen to her?”

Good observation. It was never removed from Molly, and without Dresden around, there is no one speaking up for her and intervening with the death sentence already passed on her.

As for what is going to happen, well… we’ll see.


***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:13 pm

“I’ve occasionally tried to have this question pop up over the years, and Small Favor answered some of it, but not all — do you have (and are you willing to share) the names of all 30 of the Denarians worked out?”

Yeah, I’ve got them written down in a notebook somewhere. I go pull it out whenever I’m doing Denarian plots. I’ll only share them as they become relevant to the story.

Jim

***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:17 pm

“Does the same apply to hellfire/soulfire. What would happen if Harry were to take up Lasciel’s coin and then try to use soulfire and hellfire together? Would that result in Harry dying horribly?”

Those are different. They’re really two sides of the same coin–but they can’t really exist together like that. They aren’t explosively reactive, but they aren’t additive, either. Which one came into the person to be used would depend on the person who was using it, and what they were using it for.

Angelic types have access to both. Which one they use is partially what determines what /kind/ of angels they are.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:19 pm

“With the light-hearted joke where the characters were cast as Lord of the Rings roles who would you put as Gimli?”

Sanya.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:23 pm

“Jim, were you on a cruise recently? My daughter sawears she met you or your non-so-evil twin ona a boat from Baltimore to Florida a few weeks back. I told her she was crazy, buttt…”

I have no reason whatsoever to go on a cruise, man. I don’t particularly love poolside/sunshine activities, and I get hideously motion sick playing first person shooter video games that bob around too much. If I want to get tanked on Dramamine, I can get where I’m going a lot faster in a plane or car.

So no, that wasn’t me. But when I had the long hair and beard, I looked like every other Renaissance Festival guy.

Jim

***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:29 pm

“I seem to remember at a Q&A a few years ago, you said Tera West would be showing up in Book 13 aka Ghost Story. Is this still happening, or has her character been shuffled down the line a bit due to the change in total number of case file books?”

My first answer is “bump her down a couple.” But on the other hand, it might be interesting to see her again in this book.

We’ll see what happens.

Jim


**


Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:38 pm

“Have you ever related Harrys character (not appearance) to someone in real life?? I dont know why, but his funny, sarcastic responses always remind me of Hugh Lauries character in “House””

Oh, I could so totally see Hugh Laurie playing Dresden in a movie. Though I think he could do an excellent Marcone, as well.

***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:46 pm

“Hi–I have a question about Mouse that I hope is okay for you to answer. I have a hard time picturing what Mouse looks like, other than he is large and has gray fur/hair. What current dog breed does he resemble?”

Mouse looks very much like a Caucasian Mountain Dog–a breed developed by the Soviets for military/security use. They’re frigging enormous and bred for aggression and intelligence.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/...12e8024363.jpg

http://www.europuppyusa.com/images/d..._info/34_1.jpg

http://www.littlebearcaucasians.org/...ada-020106.jpg

and the pic most like the image in my head:

http://www.bdxmsc.gov.cn/yzjs/Upload...2511135048.jpg


***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:49 pm

“Is it safe to say, that since Bob is a romance addict, he was a womanizer back when he was in his human form?”

Bob never /had/ a human form. He’s a spirit of intellect (which gets confused with “air spirit” in some writings, I believe because air was the element that symbolized the intellect, intelligence and logic).

Bob’s origins are the subject of upcoming storylines, so I won’t get too far into them–but he’s always been a being of spirit, never mortal.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 3:07 pm

“Does Dresden’s current condition mean that the Knights power has flowed back to Mab?”

That’s one of those questions that will be more fun to answer in the book.

But merely being dead does /not/ necessarily get you out of promises to Mab all by itself. I mean, come on. Like she’s never heard THAT lame excuse before…

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 3:09 pm

“Is it just coincidence that the Blue Beetle and the Water Beetle are both Beetles or is there a batman (batmobile, batboat, batjet) scenario going on in the background?”

It was more about Thomas poking fun at Harry by naming his cruddy old boat after Harry’s cruddy old car.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 3:17 pm

“Jim–someone else asked this as well, but I couldn’t see an answer: Little Chicago wasn’t mentioned in Turn Coat, and was barely mentioned in Changes… was it destroyed in the fire? Did the FBI notice it? It’s it gone for good?”

It was made of (mostly) pewter. The rest was plastic. Harry hadn’t taken steps to make it less destructible (which would have interfered with its function anyway–it was built to be sensitive, not tough). There was just no way it could have survived the fire. And no, the FBI didn’t confiscate it.

Changes is, in many ways, about loss. About encountering it and feeling its pain. That happens to all of us, sooner or later. There’s no avoiding it.

The real question is, how do you pick up the pieces and keep going, afterward.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 3:22 pm

“Hm, will we see more of Harry Subconscious in any of the books (he is somewhat of a favorite character for me) and will we ever met Mike the Jesus of mechanics?”

We’ll run into id-Harry again, sure. I really ought to have Mike make an appearance, sometime. Let me check the schedule…

“I’ll sneak in a second question to since you worked so much with The Dresden Files, have you ever literally dreamt about something in the Dresdenverse?”

Probably, but my dreams tend to be really hectic and fractured. I mean, one of my dreams is like trying to watch TV while a monkey flips through a hundred channels as fast as he can. I seldom remember them.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 3:33 pm

“What is your favorite gaming system? XBox, PS3 or WII? And what is your favorite game of all time?”

I game on a PC, mostly, though XBox takes second place thanks to Halo.

“And are you thinking about doing a Dresden Files game?”

Since I don’t have the time, knowledge, or resources to create my own video game, no. There’s this huge misperception that authors get to allow movies to be made or not made, where we turn our thumb up or down and that is the deciding factor.

The real deciding factor is whether or not anyone who is in the appropriate business is interested in using my material.

Even small television audiences are an order of magnitude greater than very successful book audiences. I might have an audience of a couple of hundred thousand people, tops, who read Dresden books, now. When the show first aired, that audience was more like 50-75k.

On its slowest nights, the television show had more than a MILLION viewers. Usually more. Television producers very, very rarely think in terms of “getting a book’s audience for their TV show.” Most book audiences aren’t large enough to do more than form /part/ of a core of viewers–and they’re more likely to be actively /hostile/ to the show, since TV rarely matches up with the books that inspired it.

The point being that when Hollywood shows up, they offer to buy the rights and give you some piece of the business if it takes off. You get to say “yes I will take the deal” or “no I won’t.” But, at least for new authors, there’s very little negotiating room. You take the deal or you don’t. What happens to the property after that is generally out of your control entirely (with JK Rowling being a notable exception).

Most new authors jump at the chance to score an option deal, because 1) they need the money to do things like buy food and 2) because if the property /does/ get made into a product, it’s going to mean dramatic growth for his audience, even if the product blows–there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

If you blow them off, well. You run the risk of losing an opportunity that might never come again.

It’s always a gamble. Gambling, by its nature, means that the results are not wholly in your control.


***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:08 pm

“First, a big SLAP to all the folks posting spoilers! I just got the book today, dang it.”

Um, no offense here, but. Did you really expect an author doing a Q&A the week after a big release date WOULDN’T be talking about the new book? You kinda did it to yourself. Not fair to call out other folks on that one.

“Jim–I have seen the short story Aftermath mentioned a few times–is it out already? And where can we find it? (Is it in anthology?)”

It will be in the SIDE JOBS anthology, this November.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:12 pm

“You mentioned that all of the Knights of the Cross were of royal heritage. Why is this? Does being royal make you more qualified to be one of the Knights?”

It doesn’t make you qualified, so much as it makes you /responsible/. It’s a small but important distinction.

I’ve seen a well-done argument that defined goodness, in the Dresden stories, as power balanced by responsibility–and evil as power without accompanying responsibility to restrain and control it. I liked it.

Jim

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:19 pm

“The character of The Lady reminded me a great deal of Mab. Did you draw any inspiration for Mab from her? Or am I reading too much in?”

You’re reading too much in.

/Lara Raith/ is the one the Lady heavily influenced. Especially the later versions of the Lady, who didn’t have all the incredible magic power, but whose brain was still full of spiders and whose will and intelligence made her every bit as deadly an opponent.

Mab was probably most inspired, for me, by the White Witch and by Disney’s version of Maleficent.

***


Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:24 pm

“…until “Changes,” where we have several gestures described. Such as “I love you” in sign language for a warding gesture, and a ‘C’ shape for a newly-acquired icy spell. Did you create these symbols? Or are they existing in some mythology or another?”

I just kind of put them together. I don’t have anything particular in mind that I base them on, but I’m sure that (like everyone else) I occasionally draw from my memories of various stances and poses seen in movies, TV, comics, theater, etc.

These days, I kind of lean away from describing a shielding gesture as an upheld hand, though. Neo put a real strong claim on that one in the Matrix .

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:24 pm

“We’ve met and spent time with 5 out of the 6 fairy queens. Is there a specific reason that you’ve kept Harry from a face to face with Titania? Other than of course the obvious reason that she wants him dead.”

Yes.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:45 pm

“Have you ever had to balance a full time job with writing?”

Yes. Basically, the entire time up until I got published. During that time I was writing novels, a full-time student with a need to keep a 3.5 gpa to keep my scholarship, a part-time word-processor for hire, and a part time salesman/yogurt store clerk/campus tech support/local ISP tech support, moving from one job to the next over the course of my studies.

When I got dropped from the grad program, I started working full-time as an internet support tech. Still writing.

“If so, how did you make the time to do everything? And do you have any advice for someone trying to become a writer?”

I skipped an hour or two of sleep several nights a week, and worked clandestinely on my computer when I was doing tech support.

Check out jimbutcher.livejournal.com. It’s full of articles meant for aspiring writers. My really good advice is all over there.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:48 pm

“In the Dresdenverse, was HP Lovecraft On To Something like Bram Stoker, or was he just an author with a thing for odd adjectives?”

He was onto something. And, like Stoker, it got him killed.

**

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:50 pm

“Give The Sword of Love to Thomas then he could be called the Raith of God.”

Thomas already HAS a sword of love, ba dump-BUMP!

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:56 pm

“okay which would Harry say is better: the Who or Led Zepplin?”

No question: Led Zepplin. They wrote a song about the Pelennor Fields.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:58 pm

Guys, thank you very much for your questions! I think this is gonna be all the time I have today–but please feel free to drop by the forums at jim-butcher.com or to give longshotauthor a shout on Twitter.

I must go celebrate! With Burger King!

---------- Post automerged at 03:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:47 AM ----------

I forgot to add this. Shame on me.

_____________________________________________________________

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:18 pm

“what gifts will Harry’s child have? Like he isn’t gonna save said child-no matter what!”

Who says she’ll have any gifts at /all/? Under the circumstances, the gift of life is already pretty darned miraculous.

“Jim, will we need to wait until next April for the next book to find out about what happens to Harry and his friends, or will the short stories that are coming out sooner tell us what happened?”

Most of the short stories take place well before the events of Changes. The exception to that is “Aftermath,” which is a full novella told from Murphy’s POV, and it gives you some information about what happened to a few of the folks who went on the Chichen Itza mission.

“Hi Jim - Thanks for doing an online Q&A for the benefit of people like me who weren’t able to make it to any of the signing events.”

You’re welcome.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:30 pm

“Jim, What made you come up with the series? was it a dream etc.”

It was a college assignment, originally, in my Writing a Genre Fiction Novel class.

“James Marsters does an awesome job on the audio books. Do you ever offer input to James about certain characters regarding how you think they should sound or is that all James?”

It’s all James.

“Your website says you already know how your Dresden series will end. I was wondering, when you started on this great adventure, did you know how many books you would write and how many subplots you would create? How far from your original story have you ventured?”

I originally planned for 20 books, but it took me 12 books to fit in the events of what had originally been planned for 10. So, it might take us 22 to 24 books to get to the big old honking apocalyptic trilogy which I’m planning to use as a kind of capstone for the series.

“Does Eb know about Thomas?”

Harry doesn’t know, one way or the other.

“Would like to know so that (kidding here) becasue I so want to throttle you for leaving us with the cliff hanger…. WAAAAAAAA. (had to get that off my chest; Loved Changes and I want the next book, NOW).”

Cliffhanger? What cliffhanger? Cliffhangers are when you DON’T know what happened to the character, or how they will get out of their predicament, or how the story is gonna end.

The story of Changes, the rescue of Maggie Dresden, finished. Harry set forth to rescue his daughter, no matter if it cost him his life–and it did. The story got told, it wrapped up more storylines than any two or three other books in the series, and ended. Of course there’s an issue of “where does the story go from here,” but honestly, how is that different from /any/ of the past ten Dresden Files?

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:39 pm

“And secondly will the Dresden File’s come faster now the Codex Alera is finished, or do you have some other loveliness in the pipe line for us??”

Dresden won’t be coming out any faster than it has been, or I’d probably burn out on it. I’m writing two Dresden books back to back right now as it is, and I more or less worked straight through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, this year. I hope you’ll understand if I’m not really eager to add on extra workload.

Not dead sure what my next project is going to be yet, but I’ll definitely be doing something new. I need to handle Dresden 13, GHOST STORY, first.

**



Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:42 pm

“Now you are just torturing us. ”

I’m a professional. It’s what I do.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:48 pm

“Lessons from the past has you leaving hero’s in declining orbit.”

Um, dude. That was in a book that was halfway finished, has not yet been finished, and isn’t published. I’ve always kind of had difficulty in drawing a lesson from a book I haven’t read, but maybe I’m a little slow or something.

“I guess the question is is Harry only “mosty dead” or should we be rifling through his pockets for spare change?”

Book 13: Ghost Story

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:51 pm

“Would you ever consider writing another novella from Thomas’ perspective?”

Oh, absolutely. Probably will, in fact, write up a short piece or novella about what Thomas has to do to pay off Lara for saving Molly at the end of Changes.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:52 pm

“When Queen Mab heals Harry to become the Winter Knight does she also heal his burned hand?”

No.

Mab digs scars.


**


Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 12:56 pm

“Grrr for the non-answer to my Thomas question. Ah well, I expected as much. *sigh*”

See above, re: technical difficulties. Also, I’m typing as fast as I can. There are a LOT more of you guys than there are of me.

Though I will point out that I’m simply not going to answer any questions which will be more fun to read about in the story. That’s lame for everybody.

Oh, and as far as my appearance schedule goes, you can check it out at http://www.jim-butcher.com. If it isn’t on the schedule, I’m kinda not planning to be there.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:01 pm

“1.) Are we going to find out for certain (not speculation) who hired the hitman in Changes?”

Absolutely.

“2.) Are we going to find out where the Hexenwolf belts came from in Fool Moon?”

Several folks have already worked it out, actually. The pieces are there if you want to put them together, though eventually I’ll state it outright.

“3.) When will Harry finally get the whole truth about his past? (As in his mom, grandfather — who they REALLY are/were?)”

I doubt he’ll get much more truth than any of us do. As far as who people REALLY were… well. What Harry knows so far is all accurate. I’m really not sure of the direction of this question.

What? Professional assassin for the White Council and powerful wizardess who consorted with the White Court aren’t interesting enough?


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:09 pm

“I am interested in knowing if we will ever get back to Mouse’s comment about “winning” Harry. I’m totally mystified. ”

It might help to know that while Mouse and Lea are both using the same word, winning, they are talking about entirely different meanings of it. As a result, Lea was mystified, too.

“I am also highly intrigued by the Gray Council showing up as 12 in number.”

Thirteen, actually: Harry was already there.

“So we found out who 2 of them were, i’d like to know how many of the rest we already know and how many of them haven’t been formally introduced to us yet.”

Hang on, counting… You already know six of the folks who showed up at Chichen Itza, excluding McCoy and Vadderung.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:15 pm

“I have two questions, First are you still into and attending NERO?”

Actually, I helped out a little with the founding of an organization made from a group of chapters who broke away from NERO to found their own gaming system. It’s called Heroic Interactive Theatre, and you can find out more at http://www.heroicit.net.

We still game at the same site with the same folks, but we’re using a different rules system.

“Second, Is Toot-toot’s increase in size due to his actions, or the title and followers he has acquired doing Harry’s bidding?”

It’s due to /Harry’s/ actions, mostly. Toot done hitched his star to Harry’s wagon. As a result, he’s taken actions he never would have taken on his own, some of which had major consequences. Toot has effectively become a much more powerful being than he was as an independent dewdrop faerie. The physical growth is a reflection of that fact.

I mean gosh, where do you think the Sidhe came from in the first place?


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:21 pm

“1)i just saw a post in the last 2 days about Lionsgate possibly working on a Dresden film. I know you briefly touched on the topic of a film at your Seattle signing, but can you confirm if this is a new development in the last couple days, i.e. there could be a Dresden film in the works?”

I’m just the writer, man. Lionsgate doesn’t really keep me up to date on their business, now that they hold the option. Heck, they did not so much as comp me a copy of the DVDs.

If there is a movie in the works, it’s news to me. I’ll find out about it when there’s a press release, just like everyone else.

It’s certainly possible that something is moving, but I find it unlikely that anyone short of a Lionsgate employee or well-placed industry insider would have information like that.

I’d chalk it up to (yet another) rumor until there’s something more solid to go on.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:22 pm

“Do you have any intention of including more material from Greek/Roman mythology?”

Indeed I do.


**


Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:27 pm

“In most, if not all of the previous short stories/novellas you could easily miss them without missing anything in the main books, will this hold true for Aftermath? Yes I am trying to gauge how important the story is so that I can speculate on what will happen in Ghost Story”

If you read “Aftermath” it should reduce some of the system shock that’s going to happen in Ghost Story.

The events of Changes… well, /changed/ /everything/ in the story world. You get to see the first of many, many dominoes starting to fall in “Aftermath.” Pay attention to Will. He might be nearsighted, but he’s got great vision for the big picture.


***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:32 pm

“Could Uriel have chosen to help Harry if he had wanted to, or is there actually some universal limit that prevents him from directly influencing the world in such overt fashion?”

A little of both. Technically, it was /possible/ for Uriel to act directly, but the consequences would have been extreme, both for him and for the mortal world–to the point where you’d have to be moderately insane to do it. Or else, really, really committed to some kind of personal moral compass that was 90 degrees off true.

The last angel to do that is a little notorious.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:33 pm

“So, does it every worry you that Harry will be come a characterture of a character?”

Constantly.


**
Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:34 pm

“Is there any chance of Huginn and Muninn (Odin’s crows) showing up in the future?”

They already did.

**
Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:36 pm

“Was Sirothrax a major dragon like Ferrovax or a minor dragon?”

He was the real deal, though he was in some ways the weakest of the remaining great dragons.

Ferrovax wouldn’t have given a damn about some nobody minor dragon being slain.


**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:38 pm

“Are there any plans for a spin-off series following Molly or the Knights of the Cross or any of the other supporting characters that doesn’t directly involve Harry Dresden?”

Not at the moment–though it might be one of those things I run desperately back to a few years after I finish the Dresden Files, frantic to pay of my… gambling debts or… or mob creditors or something.

**


Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:40 pm

“DO you have any plans, in any possible future, of holding some sort of fight-to-the-death to become a beta? Can I put my name in that hat?”

Fifty quatloos on the earthling!

There’s kind of a waiting list. Folks drop off the Beta list occasionally, and I go back to the waiting list to invite whoever is there. There hasn’t been much turnover, the past couple years.


***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:43 pm

“Could a single mortal vessel be the Knight for both winter and summer?”

Very. Briefly.

Matter and anti-matter reactions come to mind.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:50 pm

“Slightly more curly question; do you think fanfiction has a place in Dresden’s world?”

Check it out here:

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/i...5307.msg0.html

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 1:53 pm

“Was the White Council and the Red court ever at war before this last one? what kind of diplomatic relationship did they have? friendly? peaceful? trying to kill each other at ever other turn?”

Mostly it was small-scale conflicts between individuals. The Red Court has pretty much been headquartered in South and Central America, generally, while the White Council stuck to the wealthier nations of Europe, the US, and the upper end portions of Asia. It moderated the potential for conflict, though individuals fought in outlying areas where those general borders overlapped–places like Chicago.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:01 pm

“Is the Eldest gruff ever going to make another appearance? And in a match of Him and Lea vs Ferrovax, who would you bet on?”

Ferrovax would crush them both, if they had time to get ready, got to pick the time and place, and pulled out every resource at their disposal. It would be brief and brutal, like watching Tyson in his prime, when the fights were all 30 seconds long, except replacing his opponent with a 15 year old blind girl.

There’s just no comparison, there. Lea and Elder gruff are deadly beings. But Ferrovax is a force of nature. MAB would be loathe to take on Ferro, at least head-on.

***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:08 pm

“How dead is Kemmler? About as dead as Justin, maybe?”

Oh, at least that dead.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:11 pm

“I don’t remember reading that the Doom of Damocles on Molly was taken off, so due to Harry’s current situation, what is going to happen to her?”

Good observation. It was never removed from Molly, and without Dresden around, there is no one speaking up for her and intervening with the death sentence already passed on her.

As for what is going to happen, well… we’ll see.


***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:13 pm

“I’ve occasionally tried to have this question pop up over the years, and Small Favor answered some of it, but not all — do you have (and are you willing to share) the names of all 30 of the Denarians worked out?”

Yeah, I’ve got them written down in a notebook somewhere. I go pull it out whenever I’m doing Denarian plots. I’ll only share them as they become relevant to the story.

Jim

***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:17 pm

“Does the same apply to hellfire/soulfire. What would happen if Harry were to take up Lasciel’s coin and then try to use soulfire and hellfire together? Would that result in Harry dying horribly?”

Those are different. They’re really two sides of the same coin–but they can’t really exist together like that. They aren’t explosively reactive, but they aren’t additive, either. Which one came into the person to be used would depend on the person who was using it, and what they were using it for.

Angelic types have access to both. Which one they use is partially what determines what /kind/ of angels they are.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:19 pm

“With the light-hearted joke where the characters were cast as Lord of the Rings roles who would you put as Gimli?”

Sanya.

**

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:23 pm

“Jim, were you on a cruise recently? My daughter sawears she met you or your non-so-evil twin ona a boat from Baltimore to Florida a few weeks back. I told her she was crazy, buttt…”

I have no reason whatsoever to go on a cruise, man. I don’t particularly love poolside/sunshine activities, and I get hideously motion sick playing first person shooter video games that bob around too much. If I want to get tanked on Dramamine, I can get where I’m going a lot faster in a plane or car.

So no, that wasn’t me. But when I had the long hair and beard, I looked like every other Renaissance Festival guy.

Jim

***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:29 pm

“I seem to remember at a Q&A a few years ago, you said Tera West would be showing up in Book 13 aka Ghost Story. Is this still happening, or has her character been shuffled down the line a bit due to the change in total number of case file books?”

My first answer is “bump her down a couple.” But on the other hand, it might be interesting to see her again in this book.

We’ll see what happens.

Jim


**


Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:38 pm

“Have you ever related Harrys character (not appearance) to someone in real life?? I dont know why, but his funny, sarcastic responses always remind me of Hugh Lauries character in “House””

Oh, I could so totally see Hugh Laurie playing Dresden in a movie. Though I think he could do an excellent Marcone, as well.

***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:46 pm

“Hi–I have a question about Mouse that I hope is okay for you to answer. I have a hard time picturing what Mouse looks like, other than he is large and has gray fur/hair. What current dog breed does he resemble?”

Mouse looks very much like a Caucasian Mountain Dog–a breed developed by the Soviets for military/security use. They’re frigging enormous and bred for aggression and intelligence.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/...12e8024363.jpg

http://www.europuppyusa.com/images/d..._info/34_1.jpg

http://www.littlebearcaucasians.org/...ada-020106.jpg

and the pic most like the image in my head:

http://www.bdxmsc.gov.cn/yzjs/Upload...2511135048.jpg


***

Comment by ANSWERS FROM - JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 2:49 pm

“Is it safe to say, that since Bob is a romance addict, he was a womanizer back when he was in his human form?”

Bob never /had/ a human form. He’s a spirit of intellect (which gets confused with “air spirit” in some writings, I believe because air was the element that symbolized the intellect, intelligence and logic).

Bob’s origins are the subject of upcoming storylines, so I won’t get too far into them–but he’s always been a being of spirit, never mortal.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 3:07 pm

“Does Dresden’s current condition mean that the Knights power has flowed back to Mab?”

That’s one of those questions that will be more fun to answer in the book.

But merely being dead does /not/ necessarily get you out of promises to Mab all by itself. I mean, come on. Like she’s never heard THAT lame excuse before…

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 3:09 pm

“Is it just coincidence that the Blue Beetle and the Water Beetle are both Beetles or is there a batman (batmobile, batboat, batjet) scenario going on in the background?”

It was more about Thomas poking fun at Harry by naming his cruddy old boat after Harry’s cruddy old car.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 3:17 pm

“Jim–someone else asked this as well, but I couldn’t see an answer: Little Chicago wasn’t mentioned in Turn Coat, and was barely mentioned in Changes… was it destroyed in the fire? Did the FBI notice it? It’s it gone for good?”

It was made of (mostly) pewter. The rest was plastic. Harry hadn’t taken steps to make it less destructible (which would have interfered with its function anyway–it was built to be sensitive, not tough). There was just no way it could have survived the fire. And no, the FBI didn’t confiscate it.

Changes is, in many ways, about loss. About encountering it and feeling its pain. That happens to all of us, sooner or later. There’s no avoiding it.

The real question is, how do you pick up the pieces and keep going, afterward.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 3:22 pm

“Hm, will we see more of Harry Subconscious in any of the books (he is somewhat of a favorite character for me) and will we ever met Mike the Jesus of mechanics?”

We’ll run into id-Harry again, sure. I really ought to have Mike make an appearance, sometime. Let me check the schedule…

“I’ll sneak in a second question to since you worked so much with The Dresden Files, have you ever literally dreamt about something in the Dresdenverse?”

Probably, but my dreams tend to be really hectic and fractured. I mean, one of my dreams is like trying to watch TV while a monkey flips through a hundred channels as fast as he can. I seldom remember them.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 3:33 pm

“What is your favorite gaming system? XBox, PS3 or WII? And what is your favorite game of all time?”

I game on a PC, mostly, though XBox takes second place thanks to Halo.

“And are you thinking about doing a Dresden Files game?”

Since I don’t have the time, knowledge, or resources to create my own video game, no. There’s this huge misperception that authors get to allow movies to be made or not made, where we turn our thumb up or down and that is the deciding factor.

The real deciding factor is whether or not anyone who is in the appropriate business is interested in using my material.

Even small television audiences are an order of magnitude greater than very successful book audiences. I might have an audience of a couple of hundred thousand people, tops, who read Dresden books, now. When the show first aired, that audience was more like 50-75k.

On its slowest nights, the television show had more than a MILLION viewers. Usually more. Television producers very, very rarely think in terms of “getting a book’s audience for their TV show.” Most book audiences aren’t large enough to do more than form /part/ of a core of viewers–and they’re more likely to be actively /hostile/ to the show, since TV rarely matches up with the books that inspired it.

The point being that when Hollywood shows up, they offer to buy the rights and give you some piece of the business if it takes off. You get to say “yes I will take the deal” or “no I won’t.” But, at least for new authors, there’s very little negotiating room. You take the deal or you don’t. What happens to the property after that is generally out of your control entirely (with JK Rowling being a notable exception).

Most new authors jump at the chance to score an option deal, because 1) they need the money to do things like buy food and 2) because if the property /does/ get made into a product, it’s going to mean dramatic growth for his audience, even if the product blows–there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

If you blow them off, well. You run the risk of losing an opportunity that might never come again.

It’s always a gamble. Gambling, by its nature, means that the results are not wholly in your control.


***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:08 pm

“First, a big SLAP to all the folks posting spoilers! I just got the book today, dang it.”

Um, no offense here, but. Did you really expect an author doing a Q&A the week after a big release date WOULDN’T be talking about the new book? You kinda did it to yourself. Not fair to call out other folks on that one.

“Jim–I have seen the short story Aftermath mentioned a few times–is it out already? And where can we find it? (Is it in anthology?)”

It will be in the SIDE JOBS anthology, this November.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:12 pm

“You mentioned that all of the Knights of the Cross were of royal heritage. Why is this? Does being royal make you more qualified to be one of the Knights?”

It doesn’t make you qualified, so much as it makes you /responsible/. It’s a small but important distinction.

I’ve seen a well-done argument that defined goodness, in the Dresden stories, as power balanced by responsibility–and evil as power without accompanying responsibility to restrain and control it. I liked it.

Jim

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:19 pm

“The character of The Lady reminded me a great deal of Mab. Did you draw any inspiration for Mab from her? Or am I reading too much in?”

You’re reading too much in.

/Lara Raith/ is the one the Lady heavily influenced. Especially the later versions of the Lady, who didn’t have all the incredible magic power, but whose brain was still full of spiders and whose will and intelligence made her every bit as deadly an opponent.

Mab was probably most inspired, for me, by the White Witch and by Disney’s version of Maleficent.

***


Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:24 pm

“…until “Changes,” where we have several gestures described. Such as “I love you” in sign language for a warding gesture, and a ‘C’ shape for a newly-acquired icy spell. Did you create these symbols? Or are they existing in some mythology or another?”

I just kind of put them together. I don’t have anything particular in mind that I base them on, but I’m sure that (like everyone else) I occasionally draw from my memories of various stances and poses seen in movies, TV, comics, theater, etc.

These days, I kind of lean away from describing a shielding gesture as an upheld hand, though. Neo put a real strong claim on that one in the Matrix .

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:24 pm

“We’ve met and spent time with 5 out of the 6 fairy queens. Is there a specific reason that you’ve kept Harry from a face to face with Titania? Other than of course the obvious reason that she wants him dead.”

Yes.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:45 pm

“Have you ever had to balance a full time job with writing?”

Yes. Basically, the entire time up until I got published. During that time I was writing novels, a full-time student with a need to keep a 3.5 gpa to keep my scholarship, a part-time word-processor for hire, and a part time salesman/yogurt store clerk/campus tech support/local ISP tech support, moving from one job to the next over the course of my studies.

When I got dropped from the grad program, I started working full-time as an internet support tech. Still writing.

“If so, how did you make the time to do everything? And do you have any advice for someone trying to become a writer?”

I skipped an hour or two of sleep several nights a week, and worked clandestinely on my computer when I was doing tech support.

Check out jimbutcher.livejournal.com. It’s full of articles meant for aspiring writers. My really good advice is all over there.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:48 pm

“In the Dresdenverse, was HP Lovecraft On To Something like Bram Stoker, or was he just an author with a thing for odd adjectives?”

He was onto something. And, like Stoker, it got him killed.

**

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:50 pm

“Give The Sword of Love to Thomas then he could be called the Raith of God.”

Thomas already HAS a sword of love, ba dump-BUMP!

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:56 pm

“okay which would Harry say is better: the Who or Led Zepplin?”

No question: Led Zepplin. They wrote a song about the Pelennor Fields.

***

Comment by JIM BUTCHER — April 14, 2010 @ 4:58 pm

Guys, thank you very much for your questions! I think this is gonna be all the time I have today–but please feel free to drop by the forums at jim-butcher.com or to give longshotauthor a shout on Twitter.

I must go celebrate! With Burger King!

 

Double post.

As much as I like reading these, I wish people would stop asking if he 'enjoys suffering' or 'is trying to hurt us'.

 

Hasn't been a lot of WoJ lately, but here's one that's interesting. In order to clarify this earlier post:

Jim later posted this when people began to misunderstand:

 

Not sure if this is the place to post it, but it's WOJ I guess.

From twitter: "Should finish it this weekend!" In reference to Cold Days.

edit: I skimmed this thread but haven't seen this (forgive me if it actually is in the thread) but in the Butcher forums I saw someone paraphrasing Jim, stating that the 'side effects' of magic i.e. interfering with technology, was periodic thing that lasts a century or so, had different side effects each time it moved into a new ... err 'phase'.

Example before it switched to its current side effect (interfering with technology) it gave people boils, before it gave people boils it had different side effect (there were a couple mentioned) and that after a century or so it would change side effects, so at some point in the future it would stop interfering with technology.

Anyone actually see/hear this quote from Jim himself?

 

I remember it, but if I recall correctly it was about interfering with the highest level of current technology or something like that. Meaning when all we had was a fire, using magic made it change a color. In the Victorian era magic had problem with steam engines, but in modern times it doesn't, changing to electronics instead.

 

Ahh. Cool. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

This is actually the first time I've seen this as an explanation for the changing techbane effect.

It makes sense, but I don't think Butcher ever phrased it like that. IIRC, all that has been confirmed by Butcher is that it does change, has changed, and in Ye Olden Times(tm) it curdled milk and gave people boils.

 

I checked it and apparently a techbane and these other effect are two different things, though both are magic's side effects that are changing over time. Still, I think my explanation holds true in case of destroying technology, since apparently it's something that was already a problem few centuries ago and we saw that an older technology, that didn't exist in these times, is still more reliable for the wizards.

Anyway, maybe Ryuugi Shi knows something more, since he's kind of an expert when it comes to WoJ.

 

Here's the relevant quote, and it's interesting to note that the latest change came about after WWII.

 

From Dresden's quote in GS I assumed that problem with technology was at least three centuries old, but I see it's a more recent problem. So if Dresden lives long enough he may be able to use spaceships without worrying about crashing on Mars.

Though knowing his luck this also will happen:

Like he has not enough problems with women as it is.

 

I can't remember where or why, but I got the impression from somewhere that magic changes along with what the popular beliefs of the era were? Held by either witches/wizards or the public at large?

With a lot in the dresdenverse being powered by belief, it might make sense.

Other than that, I have read in some fantasy books, Charles De Lint comes to mind, that with the dropping of the atomic bomb magic changed. Don't think that applies to this universe, but could have intriguing possibilities in the realm of fanfiction.

 

That would actually make sense. Not in the sense of the magic itself changing, but in the sense of the supernatural world realizing the normal world is a threat in more then the mob with pitchforks sense. This unconscious fear from wizards and normals alike feeds back into magic and the techbane effect starts taking place.

 

Still need to bring over the AMA stuff, but for now:

 

It was never clear to me - the Oblivion War is against evil, ancient beings from this world or is it connected to the Outsiders?

 

Spoiler

I see. That makes sense. It would also probably mean that Merlin was somehow involved in the creation of the Archive.