Crossposting this from a thread I started on the main spoiler board. I hope someone can ask Jim this at Eastercon. I'm putting the question behind spoiler brackets, since I don't want anybody to accidentally spoil himself for the end of Skin Game.
Hi Jim! Thank you for writing the Dresden Files! You are my favorite author and the only writer I know who consistently has gotten ever more awesome with each released book.
My question needs a little set-up, so please bear with me.
Over the last four books, the urgency of the plot and the intensity of the relationships between the characters have all accelerated considerably. Due to your writing policy of having most of an entire year pass between books, however, all those elements have had to be put on hold for Harry between each of those books, leading to a series of reasons why he can’t contact his friends for a full year. You broke with that mold at the end of Skin Game, with Harry being in a position where he is with friends and family and apparently free to act without too many constraints upon him.
My question is: Going forward, how are you going to resolve this tension between having both an accelerated plot and intensified character interactions and your policy of the one year gap between books, without losing crucial character scenes and plot elements to the time periods between each book?