The Jim Butcher Files: Dresden . Codex Alera . Cinder Spires & More

[alansplace]

By: Jim Butcher

When I was seven years old, I got a bad case of strep throat and was out of school for a whole week. During that time, my sisters bought me my first fantasy and sci-fi novels: the boxed set of Lord of the Rings and the boxed set of Han Solo adventure novels by Brian Daley. I devoured them all during that week.

From that point on, I was pretty much doomed to join SF&F fandom. From there, it was only one more step to decide I wanted to be a writer of my favorite fiction material, and here we are.

I blame my sisters.

My first love as a fan is swords-and-horses fantasy. After Tolkien I went after C. S. Lewis. After Lewis, it was Lloyd Alexander. After them came Fritz Leiber, Roger Zelazny, Robert Howard, John Norman, Poul Anderson, David Eddings, Weis and Hickman, Terry Brooks, Elizabeth Moon, Glen Cook, and before I knew it, I was a dual citizen of the United States and Lankhmar, Narnia, Gor, Cimmeria, Krynn, Amber—you get the picture.

When I set out to become a writer, I spent years writing swords-and-horses fantasy novels—and seemed to have little innate talent for it. But I worked at my writing, branching out into other areas as experiments, including SF, mystery, and contemporary fantasy. That’s how the Dresden Files initially came about—as a happy accident while trying to accomplish something else. Sort of like penicillin.

But I never forgot my first love, and to my immense delight and excitement, one day I got a call from my agent and found out that I was going to get to share my newest swords-and-horses fantasy novel with other fans.

The Codex Alera is a fantasy series set within the savage world of Carna, where spirits of the elements, known as furies, lurk in ever facet of life, and where many intelligent races vie for security and survival. The realm of Alera is the monolithic civilization of humanity, and its unique ability to harness and command the furies is all that enables its survival in the face of the enormous sometimes hostile elemental powers of Carna, and against savage creatures who would lay Alera in waste and ruin.

Yet even a realm as powerful as Alera is not immune to destruction from within, and the death of the heir apparent to the Crown has triggered a frenzy of ambitious political maneuvering and infighting amongst the High Lords, those who wield the most powerful furies known to man. Plots are afoot, traitors and spies abound, and a civil war seems inevitable—all while the enemies of the realm watch, ready to strike at the first sign of weakness.

Tavi is a young man living on the frontier of Aleran civilization—because let’s face it, swords-and-horses fantasies start there. Born a freak, unable to utilize any powers of furycrafting whatsoever, Tavi has grown up relying up on his own wits, speed, and courage to survive. When an ambitious plot to discredit the Crown lays Tavi’s home, the CalderonValley, naked and defenseless before a horde of the barbarian Marat, the boy and his family find themselves directly in harm’s way.

There are no titanic High Lords to protect them, no Legions, no Knights with their mighty furies to take the field. Tavi and the free frontiersmen of the CalderonValley must find some way to uncover the plot and to defend their homes against merciless horde of the Marat and their beasts.

It is a desperate hour, when the fate of all Alera hangs in the balance, when a handful of ordinary steadholders must find the courage and strength to defy an overwhelming foe, and when the courage and intelligence of one young man will save the Realm—or destroy it.

Thank you, readers and fellow fans, for all of your support and kindness. I hope that you enjoy reading the books of the Codex Alera as much as I enjoyed creating them for you.


—Jim

enjoy

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by alansplace

enjoy

Okay, how much is he paying you!?! And why are you adding even more books to my never ending TBR pile!?! Although, I think these may have been there already....never mind that, its still all your fault!!!!

[alansplace]

just finished my second time through Turn Coat and, as it was the first time, it's one of my two favorites of the series. now on to another short story, Love Hurts. then on to Changes, my other favorite.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

Okay, how much is he paying you!?! And why are you adding even more books to my never ending TBR pile!?! Although, I think these may have been there already....never mind that, its still all your fault!!!!

i remember a while ago you asking me, 'what's swords and horses?' so i'm pretty sure that theses 6 books are already on your tbr.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by alansplace

i remember a while ago you asking me, 'what's swords and horses?' so i'm pretty sure that theses 6 books are already on your tbr.

Yes, they are. I realized that as I was typing and, it is all your fault!!

[CWatkinsNash]

I'm reading a couple of books before I start #5, but I'm very much looking forward to it. I wanted to start it right after Summer Knight but that never works out well for me, so I made myself wait.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

Yes, they are. I realized that as I was typing and, it is all your fault!!

complain, complain, complain!!

[CWatkinsNash]

Complaining about too many books on MR should be a bannable offense.

You don't even wanna know how many books are in my TBR. Especially now that I'm about to merge my 5 calibre libraries, at which point I'll be forced to face the fact that I may have a slight ebook obsession. The Dresdens are always near the top, though.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I'm reading a couple of books before I start #5, but I'm very much looking forward to it. I wanted to start it right after Summer Knight but that never works out well for me, so I made myself wait.

when nyssa started this thread i decided to re-read the series. i've done so, back-to-back with the short stories and novellas interspersed where they fit in (i'm on book 12 of the 13 and only have the novella, 'aftermath' and the latest novel, 'ghost story' left). i've loved the experience and i feel that old 'darn it, i hate for this to end, as then i'll have to leave this group of people and their world'

[alansplace]

Taken straight from Jim’s mouth:

The story of Harry going to print isn’t a terribly complicated one. I wrote my first book when I was 19.

It was horrible. Really bad.

I wrote another. And one after that. And then I took three novels worth of experience, and rewrote the first one!

And they were still terrible.

I wrote my fourth novel (or fifth, depending on how you look at it), breaking away from standard fantasy to write this paranormy X-files like thing.

A real stinker. Big time. But evidently THAT was when I had started putting together enough craft skills to overcome the lack of inborn talent.

I wrote the first Dresden book for a writing class. I wrote the second one for the next semester, then started on the third one. I submitted the manuscript for the first Dresden to several agents and editors and got rejected and/or ignored pretty much unilaterally. The rejections varied from standard form letters to actual letters that were vaguely encouraging as they crushed my hopes and dreams, to one downright insulting rejection.

That took about two years.

Anyway, after that, I started trying to make it out to conventions to actually meet the editors and agents I was trying to get in the door with. I actually had to slink past literal Klingon Convention Security to get into one limited-acess meet-the-editors coffee thing, because their sign-up process for it was totally unfair, so I decided that it was morally acceptable to go around it. I did get to meet a few people that way, and while it didn’t pay off at the time, it is paying off now, as I try to get more things written and more projects going.

Anyway, after some of that, I decided to take the advice of a friend — go out and track down the specific people I wanted to do business with. I decided who it needed to be based on a fairly simple premise. Laurell Hamilton was writing material a lot like mine. Ricia Mainhardt had liked Laurell’s stuff enough to represent her. Maybe she would like my material too.

So I applied to Ricia’s agency and got rejected.

Not to be deterred, I found out which convention she was going to be at, and went there with a fistful of questions from the LKH mailing list, using them to strike up a conversation with Laurell and Ricia. Laurell was really nice to me for no darned reason at all and asked me along when everyone went out for lunch. I met some other writers, a couple of editors and another agent over lunch. By the end of the day, Ricia had offered to represent my work, and another agent (Jennifer Jackson, in fact) had asked to take a look at some of my other work.

I got to have this conversation with Jennifer Jackson (my current agent after parting ways with Ricia) that day at the convention: Hey, why are you interested now? You just rejected me like two months ago?

“Well yeah,” says Jennifer. “But that was before I met you.”

Ricia read the first Dresden manuscript, thought it fine enough to send out, and had it sold to Jennifer Heddle at Roc about six months later. Reportedly, the esteemed Ms. Heddle was wavering until she heard that I had three books already finished, and then she was a lot more interested.

Bottom line, you have to put in a lot of work to get your writing quality up and running. And you have to keep on writing the whole while. Then you have to learn the market, both on the business end of things and on the reader end, so that you can put together a good picture of who you should go after. Building contacts at conventions and so on doesn’t hurt.

But finally, I think, you have to have the attitude of a successful writer. Rejection shouldn’t discourage you. It’s just a part of the day, like a thunderstorm or a car horn. It happens, it isn’t personal, and if you get stopped cold at one door, you might be warmly welcomed at another. Be polite, friendly, and well informed. Do your homework. Read agent and editor guidelines. Figure out who is producing stuff like yours, and go after those people. Tell them that you targeted them specifically, and tell them why. That kind of forethought is professional behavior, and it will impress them.

Breaking into print is an arduous and discouraging process for darn near everyone who makes it in. Sure, there’s always someone out there who writes a novel and has it go ballistic their first time out, but there are people who win the lottery too.

Here’s the secret of how to get published: keep going.

There is an enormous weedout factor for wannabe writers. The good news is that you aren’t competing with every published schmoe out there. You’re only up against the rest of the wannabes, and it’s like the old axiom about being chased by a grizzly bear. You don’t have to run faster than the bear to get away. You just have to run faster than the guy next to you.

Keep trying when the guy next to you quits in disgust. Keep writing when the girl next to you sobs and throws her manuscripts into the fire. Keep conducting yourself like a professional, and you’ll get someone to believe that you are one.

If you’re lucky, maybe even yourself.

enjoy

[alansplace]

a rogues jim butcher gallery

[siraks]

phew, finally finished grave peril just now.

not sure if i'll go onto the next right away as there are some other books i've wanted to get to but lately my reading has been slow so who knows. i may just jump into book 4 and keep going.

enjoyed grave peril and there was a lot going, some good stuff and i like how the books progress.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by siraks

phew, finally finished grave peril just now.

not sure if i'll go onto the next right away as there are some other books i've wanted to get to but lately my reading has been slow so who knows. i may just jump into book 4 and keep going.

enjoyed grave peril and there was a lot going, some good stuff and i like how the books progress.

i sure gotta' agree with that. i'm just about to finish changes (i'm re-reading the whole series) and i'm blown away again!!

[alansplace]

i just finished re-reading changes and am now in the middle of the last story in side jobs, aftermath (which is kind of a bridge between changes and ghost story). i'm looking forward to starting ghost story and i only just (the end of july) read it, but i'm looking forward to this refresher read very much

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by alansplace

i just finished re-reading changes and am now in the middle of the last story in side jobs, aftermath (which is kind of a bridge between changes and ghost story). i'm looking forward to starting ghost story and i only just (the end of july) read it, but i'm looking forward to this refresher read very much

What are you going to read once you're done with Dresden?