[alansplace]

Originally Posted by Abtacha

That "date" is merely a guess.
As of now even Jim doesn't know the actual release date (as of his post on February 14).
He posted about this on the official Forum.
The manuscript is due June 1, after that it will take a few more months so it looks like about fall-ish

Edit:
The June 1 Part is after the second to last quote in the linked post.

...and here's the complete post from that link. Thanks to Abtacha for locating it and posting the link.

Quote from: viktorkaros on February 14, 2012, 01:27:44 PM

When he reports it on the "Official Website" and talks about LARPing as his new hobby and not working on a novel it becomes everyones business...

Jim responds:

Actually, man, it isn't anyone's business but my own, and that of the people with whom I share my life.

As the inestimable Mr Gaiman has written, I am not your bitch. I am not a slave chained to a keyboard somewhere, expected to produce original material to the beat of a metronome. I'm not your family. I'm not your friend. I'm a guy who writes stories, and then you decide whether or not you like them enough to pay for them (or steal them). It isn't my job to bring sunshine to your April. It's my job to write stories. That's the extent of my concrete relationship with you, man.

Look, you're probably a decent enough guy. I get that you like the material. I would love it if I had the drive and energy and capability of writing a Dresden File every month. My God, man, if I could do that I'd be making more money than any professional athlete alive. Why WOULDN'T I want that?

But see, here's the thing.

I can't do that. Not "I choose not to do it" or "I could if I gave up enough free time." Can't. It is not possible. The sky is not green, gravity does not pull you up, and I can't write a novel in any amount of time I damned well please. It takes time. Sometimes it takes less time, sometimes more, but it takes time.

Wait, let me clarify that: I probably /could/ turn out something every month if I really, really wanted to do it. But it wouldn't be a Dresden File--it'd be pulp serial, something like Mack Bolan or The Executioner--action, plot, maybe some sex, not much else.

A few things have changed which have slowed my writing pace. First, I started getting involved in other projects: there was the TV show, there are the graphic novels, the RPG and mostly the accursed short stories. Those are a huge time sink for me, because I really suck at actually producing them. Seriously, they're harder to put together than novels, and eat up a BUNCH more time for their size. I've just finished the last short piece I'm going to write for a while, so hopefully that will help.

Second: In the last three or four years as the series has gotten more popular, it's gotten more attention, which means that I have as well. There is a constant stream of interviews, appearances, tours, events, charity requests, autographings and so on. That doesn't happen forty hours a week, but it sure as hell eats up way more time than it did when I was writing Death Masks or Blood Rites.

Third: The process of writing itself has changed for me. As I learn more about the craft, my process has become more involved and it takes a little more time to write up to the standards that I set for myself, and I at least try to keep setting them higher, to keep learning and growing. I can't make it happen any faster and still call it my best effort.

Fourth: I'm just plain tireder and older than when I got started. My self-discipline is greater, but my energy is probably less ferocious than it used to be. I could turn Dresden into Mack Bolan, from a mental-stamina standpoint, but I don't think I'd much enjoy it, and I doubt most of the readers would, either. My wrists and hands hurt a lot more quickly than they used to when I sit down at the keyboard. It isn't a huge deal, but it does put a limit on how much time I can sit and concentrate.

Fifth: There are way more miscellaneous demands on my time than there used to be, as I've gotten older and taken on more responsibility and stuff. Things like, for example, spending an hour of keyboard time writing frustration-driven fan-relations posts to the web site.

As for LARP being a "new" hobby, I've been doing it since I was 18 years old. I LARPed before I started writing, I LARPed when I was in school (and working 2 to 4 jobs on the side to help support my wife and child), I LARPed after my first book was published, I LARPed after my second series got sold, and I LARPed a couple of weeks ago. I plan to be LARPing when I retire. From breathing.

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I just tire of him not meeting his deadlines because he is busy throwing paper balls at people and screaming lightening bolt...."

Jim responds:

I also scream numbers and things like "SHIELD MAGIC" and "I SET YOUR CYCLE TO DEATH!" And I wave light-up boffer weapons around!

I would tell you that I'm sorry about you being tired about deadlines but that statement, coming from someone who only reads the final product, is just too funny. My publisher is way more tired of it than you. Heck, I don't really enjoy that kind of enormous pressure myself.

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Furthermore at least George R. Martin was at least man enough to address the concerns of his fans if not a fan by acknowledging what was going on and making some sort of statement...

Jim responds:

Yeah. It's way more manly to throw language like that around from the safety of internet anonymity, I guess.

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While I do not expect Jim Butcher to be my bitch to quote the article listed above but I do expect him to act like someone who has a job and stop hiding behind his over zealous fans who wish to defend him with conjecture and Oh you are being mean to Jim stop ... you are so mean ... oh my god ... your so mean stopppp ... So yeah I stress my opinion again ... if Jim or his publisher would make some sort of official statement then I would be happy ... even if that statement was we are not going to publish another DF book EVER ... I just appreciate people with jobs to act like they have one and stop advertising what they are doing to waste time... i.e. LARPing..."

Jim responds:

To repeat what I have said more than once, for the record, the manuscript is due July 1. The publisher has not, so far, told me when they plan to publish the finished book. So now you officially know as much as I do about it.

See, the great thing about being a writer is that I really don't have to do anything I don't want to in my career. I don't have a job. Jobs have things like insurance, regular paychecks, and security. I don't have any of those things. If readers stop liking me, or liking my work, or get too furious with me because I'm not dancing fast enough to the tinkle of their hurdy-gurdy, they stop paying me. If the publisher gets too sick of me, they stop taking contracts. If I get too sick of all the miscellaneous hostility I encounter as part of the environment of my success, I can leave the writing business altogether. Heck, Shannon's career is moving along quite well. I could be a full time kept man!

I'm glad you have your opinion. It's ill-considered and self-centered, but it's your opinion. I'm not considering it at all seriously because it's sullen and insulting, but it is definitely your opinion.

Tell you what. If you just can't stand the way I do what I do, and you just can't get enough of the kind of book you like, fast enough, do what I did: Decide to throw away any chance for a steady paycheck or building a successful conventional career, spend ten years working a full time job without getting paid for it, and learn to write books of your own. The odds are about 30k to 1 that you'll ever be able to support yourself, and there is no way to learn to handle the fallout of unexpected success except to have it happen to you--but do that.

And after you've done that, come talk to me about your production schedule.

Alternatively, you can express your displeasure with me by not buying what I write, if you want. And that's cool if you do, man. You and I do not have a contract, implied or otherwise. That's me and Penguin. I want to write a book that you like and which makes you happy to read. I seriously do. But what I do won't make everyone happy, no matter what I do, and I know that. No hard feelings if you decide that what I do isn't for you.

But I'm not the one who formed your expectations. You did that. And you didn't even inform me that you expected me to have a book out, exactly like you wanted, every April without fail, no matter what was happening in my life, before you started writing upset posts about it. That doesn't seem very reasonable.

I share bits of my personal life on Twitter and sometimes here because people seem to enjoy it and it makes them happy for some reason. I don't get that, because I'm just one more nerd at a keyboard in his Jedi Knight bathrobe. But I like making people happy when I can.

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and again I applaud George R. Martin for making some sort of statement ...

Jim responds:

Here's my statement:

I didn't come over to your house, sit down in your living room and start telling you about how fun LARPing is--you came looking for more from me, and I elected to share it. I'm not responsible for adhering to your expectations--you make those, not me. You have absolutely zero interest in my contracts or my deadlines, because you aren't the one taking risks in the hope of reward. That's my publisher and me.

And my personal life is really none of your goddamned business.