The Dresden Files

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I had a dream Saturday morning that all the people in this thread were stuck in a house together. Especially odd in that I have no idea what most of you look like.

Well, you certainly know
what I look like, this:



By the way, I like your hat
as it looks well-used.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Well, you certainly know what I look like, this:



By the way, I like your hat
as it looks well-used.

My hat is... well, more like well-abused. Ah, the places it has been. I'd tell you, but then... you know the rest.

Ha. If I met a man that looked like Harry Dresden (or rather, McGrath's Harry Dresden) he'd never get rid of me. Okay, that sounded a little more psycho than I intended. Harry Dresden is the only book character that... never mind. Let's just say, if Harry had been in that dream with the rest of us, I'd still be sleeping.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

My hat is... well, more like well-abused. Ah, the places it has been. I'd tell you, but then... you know the rest.

Ha. If I met a man that looked like Harry Dresden (or rather, McGrath's Harry Dresden) he'd never get rid of me. Okay, that sounded a little more psycho than I intended. Harry Dresden is the only book character that... never mind. Let's just say, if Harry had been in that dream with the rest of us, I'd still be sleeping.

[Nyssa]

Hubby informed me, tonight, that Cold Days has just made Jim Butcher one of his favorite authors of all time! He's not quite half way through the book as yet (45%).

[alansplace]

Help George by passing the info below this banner around.


Quoted from Goodreads...yes, the info that follows!

An Update and a Favor
So you all know that I can't sell the JP stories, and that's fine by me-- I write them entirely for the love of the story, and of the Potterverse. HOWEVER, I am not above rallying you, my favorite readers, to assist in some of my own selfish causes.

Pictured: me and one of my selfish causes...

As a writer of unpublishable novels, I am always on the lookout for ways to plug my writing into the winning of marvelous freebies (as opposed to standing on street corners with a sign reading "WILL WRITE FOR FOOD!"). My latest is a "cutest love story" competition, sponsored by a local spa here in St. Louis, in an effort to win a very expensive date-night for my lovely and long-suffering wife-- without whom the James Potter stories never would have existed.

So, I wrote the story of how we got together. It's quite a good little story, if I do say so myself. It was chosen as a top five finalist. And then, annoyingly, the true nature of the contest became known:

It's one of those whichever-gets-the-most-Facebook-likes-wins things.

So I took the challenge to my nearly 7000 JP Facebook fans. They earned me... er... well, a couple hundred votes.

Not quite the turnout I was expecting, and not enough to win the wife her big date.

So I am coming to you, my loyal Goodreads friends. If you have:

1) enjoyed the JP stories and would like a painless way to say thanks,

2) like a somewhat implausible, albeit true, romantic story,

and 3) want to prove Goodreaders are better author's friends than the 90% lazy Facebookers (no offense to the 10% who responded, whom I love eternally!)

Then simply go to this link before February 14th, 2013, read our little story, and "LIKE" it.

And I'll be honest: at this point it's almost as much about beating the other leading couple, whose story is somewhat insipid (in my never-to-be-humble-opinion) and who are obviously-- somehow!-- trolling votes from every corner of the cyber-ether.

Thanks much, all!

And as for James Potter and the Morrigan Web, the story is coming along slowly but quite surely. We are past Christmas now, and descending the inevitable plot-roller-coaster toward the crashing, somewhat shocking climax.

Tell you what, if we win this little contest with your Goodreads help, I'll post an exclusive preview here, for your eyes only.

How's that sound?

Thanks in advance, everyone!

[alansplace]

Sound level is low, you may need headphones or earbuds.





The below video was Uploaded to YouTube on Nov 27, 2011 by Priscilla Spencer.

A snippet from Jim Butcher's "Ghost Story," done in monologue form for an application. Once the one-minute required monologue was recorded, I turned around and recorded the full scene I wanted to depict, albeit cutting and tweaking a few lines to make the monologue treatment smoother. I am as hopeless an overachiever as I am a nerd.

By the way the audio is just great on this video

[DuckieTigger]

One question I want answered: Why does Toe-moss Raith say Empty Night! ? It never gets explained right. First I thought Harry uses it too, but in later books only Thomas uses it.

P.S.: Thanks Alan, nice links to watch again.

[AlbertaCowboy]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

One question I want answered: Why does Toe-moss Raith say Empty Night! ? It never gets explained right. First I thought Harry uses it too, but in later books only Thomas uses it.

P.S.: Thanks Alan, nice links to watch again.

As I understand it, it's kind of a soft curse, the same way Harry sighs "Hell's Bells".
I think its a White Court expression.
(Hi everyone, figured I'd lurked long enough . )

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by AlbertaCowboy

As I understand it, it's kind of a soft curse, the same way Harry sighs "Hell's Bells".
I think its a White Court expression.
(Hi everyone, figured I'd lurked long enough . )

Congrats on de-lurking and joining the party!

I catch myself saying "stars and stones". I think I recall hearing a rumor of some sort that the "end trilogy" is supposed to be titled after the three phrases we're discussing here. Alan?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Congrats on de-lurking and joining the party!

I catch myself saying "stars and stones". I think I recall hearing a rumor of some sort that the "end trilogy" is supposed to be titled after the three phrases we're discussing here. Alan?

I just say f'ing hell when I get pissed at something. You can guess what the proper spelling is of the first word.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by AlbertaCowboy

As I understand it, it's kind of a soft curse, the same way Harry sighs "Hell's Bells".
I think its a White Court expression.
(Hi everyone, figured I'd lurked long enough . )

Mhh "soft curse". Interesting. It always sounds so innocent. Every time nothing happens. But then, it might just as bad as nothing good or useful happend. Next time I ask sooner. This has been bugging me for quite a few books now. Right now in Changes almost done - big battle going to start soon ...

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Congrats on de-lurking and joining the party!

I catch myself saying "stars and stones". I think I recall hearing a rumor of some sort that the "end trilogy" is supposed to be titled after the three phrases we're discussing here. Alan?

Three. Three? Three! I see where that is going. I think Jim tries to pull our leg with three. He already mentioned the closing needs to be three, as in trilogy.

Spoiler:

There is three swords. Why not four? Last I checked Jesus had four limbs to get nailed - but then maybe they saved a nail by combining the feet. Another three in worlds: Normal (mainly physical), Never Never (half-mortal spiritural), Never World (immune to mortal ??). We always see three generations - very seldom do we see four alive. Many parents are dead. Grandparents are also dead or non-existant. Old-mentor - old apprentice == new mentor - new apprentice. Once the apprentice takes on a new charge, their mentor's mentor is already gone. Jason dead, McCoy's mentor dead (it is never said directly, but he got inherited the books of his past mentors up to the real Merlin). With the longegivity of Wizards, why not see 4 generations alive?

There is probably more to three than springs to my mind right now. In the end, it is probably all wrong ...

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I just say f'ing hell when I get pissed at something. You can guess what the proper spelling is of the first word.

Well, but then, the language used by Jim is always pretty clean. The bad comes in without much cursing needed (not in a sense that we understand cursing).

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I just say f'ing hell when I get pissed at something. You can guess what the proper spelling is of the first word.

I used that very phrase several times while trying to sort out the Redshirts situation.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I used that very phrase several times while trying to sort out the Redshirts situation.

Why have to sort it out. I already did that and you know I'm correct. The title is just plain old Redshirts. The eBook says so and the listing is for the eBook.

My wife says bloody hell. When she hears me, she sometimes says language and I reply "Yes, it is language".

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Congrats on de-lurking and joining the party!

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I catch myself saying "stars and stones". I think I recall hearing a rumor of some sort that the "end trilogy" is supposed to be titled after the three phrases we're discussing here. Alan?

Yep, Hell’s Bells, Stars and Stones, and Empty Night are supposedly their titles.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by alansplace

Yep, Hell’s Bells, Stars and Stones, and Empty Night are supposedly their titles.

In what order though? Probably like that. Hell's Bells toll, stars and stones fall from the sky, once they are fallen down the night is empty (no more stars). Now the soundtrack can be provided by Metallica's For Whom The Bells Toll.