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The Dresden Files => DF Spoilers => Topic started by: KurtinStGeorge on July 07, 2019, 04:24:21 AM
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I wish I could tell you that I had some spoilers that I would post in another thread but Jim was pretty tight lipped about Peace Talks, but he did have some interesting things to say. Unfortunately, the audio on my cell phone video decided to crap out on me, so I don't have any video to post on YouTube, but that doesn't matter very much because I can give you the relevant information in this post.
Jim made a comment, which may have been a joke, that he had finished Peace Talks on Wednesday night. He said this during the opening ceremonies of the Con on July 4. However, he wasn't joking this morning when he said he will be starting to write the next Cinder Spires in two weeks. So I think it's safe to assume Peace Talks is all but wrapped up.
(This next part isn't specifically about the Dresden Files, but it strongly relates to future Dresden books.) When asked about how he's challenging himself to be a better writer; because Jim had just told an audience member that a writer should always try to do just a little more than they are already comfortable doing in order to improve, Jim said a recent rereading of The Aeronaut's Windlass felt to him like he had been a kid playing with action figures who smashed them together multiple times in order to have fun. He wants to tell The Olympian Affair; the next Cinder Spires book, in a smoother and more compact style than he's accomplished before. He said the same thing applies to future Dresden books. The word count on Peace Talks is 211,000 words, and that number could still go up a little further. (I assume he meant through rewriting a scene here and there.) He wants future Dresden Files novels to be shorter.
(More writing stuff, but again relevant to future Dresden Files.) Jim said that he didn't realize how much losing his dog Frost had hurt his writing ability. He said it wasn't until he had a new dog and the cats that sit around him when he writes that his word count started to rise from 250 words a day after Frost died to about 4,000 words a day he can currently do.
(Finally, something specific about Peace Talks.) In a panel Friday afternoon about writing combat scenes, Jim said the best combat scene he's ever written may be the one he just finished for Peace Talks. He said "Peace Talks gets apocalyptic; with a small a."
Jim had a couple more more things to say, but they were specifically about the Cinder Spires books, so I'll post them in that section of the forum.
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Ooooh that sounds like it was an interesting panel. I bet people will upload videos of it later on. Hm, maybe Butcher or someone on the publishing staff will post a release date after the con? But, yeesh that's a lot of words and I'm so happy about that. :)
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priscellie filmed one in Utah.
Yes, WesterCon in Layton, Utah. I’m filming them.
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There are a few things I forgot about.
Jim was talking about how you introduce and describe characters within a book so a reader who is new to the series won't feel lost, and he let it drop that near the beginning of Peace Talks Marcone has one of these "soft introductions," so near the end of Peace Talks when Marcone is "making big moves" it will make sense. So there's one character we know will play an important role in PT.
There will be a trailer made for Peace Talks as there was for Skin Game, only this trailer will be filmed in the style of a Marvel trailer for the Avengers.
A new Dresden Files TV series is in development. I believe the company Jim mentioned that would be producing is Temple Hill and Twenty One FOX is somehow involved. If Jim meant 21st Century FOX I think they were bought out by Disney. Jim said it would probably be some kind online distribution, and how everyone (in the TV business) wants to fill the hole Game of Thrones has left. If or when it goes into production, Priscellie would be on set as Jim's representative.
Finally, there are talks underway for a Codex Alera TV series, but nothing has been finalized yet, so Jim can't make an official announcement.
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Hm, I may have to check that out.
Wow, go Priscellie! So the TV show is an almost sure thing?
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:)
@KurtinStGeorge
Thanks for the info.
I hope for a release date in the next days.
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The television show is what got me here in the first place... Shorter books just makes sense, considering the length he plans for the series and the other subjects he wants to tackle... Sorry for
his loss, Frost... It does hurt a lot..
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Hm, I may have to check that out.
Wow, go Priscellie! So the TV show is an almost sure thing?
Almost is the key word. If you know even a little about how TV series and movies go from concept to reality, you know nothing is ever firm until a show gets aired.
I think the success of Game of Thrones; not talking about the final season, just in overall terms, in generating fan interest, drawing in viewers who don't normally read fantasy novels, and the buzz that was created in the media and culture in general, has probably been a real help in promoting the Dresden Files as a TV series, despite the failure of the first TV series.
(Damn, another thing I forgot to tell everyone.) When Jim was introduced to the person; Jim didn't say their name, who would be the head writer to adapt Jim's novels for TV, that person said, "I would really like to see the book series completed before I begin writing the TV episodes." Jim said this statement caused him to drop what he was drinking. Actually, seeing the problems that occured in Game of Thrones after the show runners ran out of books to adapt, I can understand why this person feels that way.
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Oh, ok that makes more sense then, thanks. I just write stuff and post it when I'm satisfied with it.
Yeah, I can totally understand wanting to have a series finished before adapting it. I don't know why people don't do that more often.
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Thanks Kurtin! You gave us a lot to think about.
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Almost is the key word. If you know even a little about how TV series and movies go from concept to reality, you know nothing is ever firm until a show gets aired.
I think the success of Game of Thrones; not talking about the final season, just in overall terms, in generating fan interest, drawing in viewers who don't normally read fantasy novels, and the buzz that was created in the media and culture in general, has probably been a real help in promoting the Dresden Files as a TV series, despite the failure of the first TV series.
(Damn, another thing I forgot to tell everyone.) When Jim was introduced to the person; Jim didn't say their name, who would be the head writer to adapt Jim's novels for TV, that person said, "I would really like to see the book series completed before I begin writing the TV episodes." Jim said this statement caused him to drop what he was drinking. Actually, seeing the problems that occured in Game of Thrones after the show runners ran out of books to adapt, I can understand why this person feels that way.
Yeah, the main problems with the last two seasons of Game of Thrones is they went for two short seasons of shock and awe big battles and crazy plot twists that in the end made no sense. What made the first five seasons so great was the complexity and the fact that G.R.R. Martin remained involved in the adaption of his novels for television.
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Great summary KSG. I think you caught all of the relevant stuff. Search Westercon + Butcher if you want to see Priscelles videos ( P1 and P2 )
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Here are the links, if anyone wants them:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0g8lea8YYA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0g8lea8YYA)
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJtUE81eD3M (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJtUE81eD3M)
Thanks for the vids, Priscellie!
(I love Jim's blue hair!)
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When Jim was introduced to the person; Jim didn't say their name, who would be the head writer to adapt Jim's novels for TV, that person said, "I would really like to see the book series completed before I begin writing the TV episodes." Jim said this statement caused him to drop what he was drinking.
I'm sorry, but you've got it a little wrong there. What Jim said was "We’re in development now. The writer that we’re working with said “Hey, I can’t possibly do this until I’ve read all the books,” and I dropped my drink right there in the board room."
I transcribed his solo Author Spotlight Q&A and am currently working on getting it posted to WOJ.
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I wasn't taking notes, just posting from memory. Anyone is free to watch the videos to get the exact wording.
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Thanks Kurtin for the post. Thanks CrusherJen for the links.
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Here are a couple of other links to a panel Jim was on called The Taxonomy of Villains. These were posted on Jim's website so I thought I would share them with everyone.
See if you can tell when Jim became annoyed with one of the other panelists, as he mentioned during the Q&A session. I noticed it during the talk, but I had a straight on view so it was easy for me to see Jim getting tense, though he did lighten up, as he said in the Q&A.
Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ew9mTdRA_U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ew9mTdRA_U)
Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDndEr66aJM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDndEr66aJM)
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Thanks for these, I've never really watched them before. I'm kinda curious what got JB so tense.
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One thing Jim mentioned that I hadn't heard before was his discussion of the Merlin as not a villain because Jim knows his whole story. He said, paraphrasing, that the Merlin was the kind of guy you wish was on the other team and something about "I will make you ready."
This has implications for the theory that Harry going to Chichen Itza was part/one of the Merlin's plan to kill the Red Court "root and branch." I mean, what's the best way for the Merlin to get Harry to do something? Probably to forbid it.
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I'm glad you spotted what Jim said about the Merlin, I totally forgot he said that.
For a long time I have thought that if the Merlin wanted Harry to attack the Red Court, it wasn't because he thought Harry would destroy them, it was so Harry would create enough damage before going down, the White Council would be able to mop up a weakened and disorganized Red Court. Essentially Langtry set up Harry and company as suicide shock troops, thus (attempting) to kill two birds with one stone.
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Huh, that's pretty sneaky. Why hadn't I thought of that sooner?
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Woo, discovering these videos makes my Sunday! Alright, off to watch them!
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Any epic GoT style uber series had better cast James Marsters for something in it...
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Any epic GoT style uber series had better cast James Marsters for something in it...
I think Jim is right that Marsters is probably too old to play Harry now, but he would make a great choice for Marcone.
Of course, he should also do the voice of Bob the Skull.
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Any epic GoT style uber series had better cast James Marsters for something in it...
He's too short for Harry, but... maybe that isn't critical thing? I mean, it makes the big-Harry/little-Murphy interactions even funnier, and his size gets mentioned often enough, but usually in the context of "no mortal is big/strong enough to go mano-a-monster with X..." Also too old for first-few-books Harry; I presume a TV series won't have the de-aging VFX budget we saw with 70's-era Fury & Coulson.
Eb? He's a bit young, but aging is easier.
He could do Morgan really well! Or Marcone.
Not sure about Michael... Maybe?
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Thank you for the links!
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KurtinStGeorge, it seemed like he was getting annoyed with the other male (Daniel someone) writer early on. About 3 and a half minutes into the first video he is already displaying signs of disagreement and annoyance. But yeah it certainly is obvious in the Q&A - by the time we get there he is clearly in almost complete opposition. Which mostly seemed fair enough, although as Jim acknowledged it was a bit combative for a writers panel.
To my mind though, that disagreement in ideas and strategies is where those talks are best. Because it shows there is no "right way" - it is up to you and what works for you and for your fanbase niche. You get to the really interesting ideas (the things the writers are really passionate about) during those more energetic debates, y'know friction creates fire type of thing. I suppose he could have been less obviously annoyed but quite a few times I sympathized!
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KurtinStGeorge, it seemed like he was getting annoyed with the other male (Daniel someone) writer early on. About 3 and a half minutes into the first video he is already displaying signs of disagreement and annoyance. But yeah it certainly is obvious in the Q&A - by the time we get there he is clearly in almost complete opposition. Which mostly seemed fair enough, although as Jim acknowledged it was a bit combative for a writers panel.
To my mind though, that disagreement in ideas and strategies is where those talks are best. Because it shows there is no "right way" - it is up to you and what works for you and for your fanbase niche. You get to the really interesting ideas (the things the writers are really passionate about) during those more energetic debates, y'know friction creates fire type of thing. I suppose he could have been less obviously annoyed but quite a few times I sympathized!
I agree with you, the disagreement of ideas was probably the best part of that panel and sometimes the best part of any panel of authors. While I was there I found the guy in the teal (I think) dress shirt to be somewhat overly earnest in the way he expressed his point of view, and maybe just a little annoying. He is an editor and works with a lot of local (Utah) writers while Jim and the other people on the panel are writers. So while teal shirt probably works with a lot newer writers (I think that was mentioned in the intro that didn't get filmed), Jim and the others have probably written forty something novels between them, so I tended to listen them a little closer.
Not that teal shirt was totally wrong, newer writers may need more direction and an good editor may be able to help them, but really experienced writers learn when they can go against the grain and when the rules they've been given don't apply.
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Thanks for these, I've never really watched them before. I'm kinda curious what got JB so tense.
I haven't watched the panel so I don't know what the trigger was, but he says in his solo Q&A that he accidentally got glutened and that his body processes gluten into rage.
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I think Marsters is too old to play even Marcone... he looks pretty old in the Runaways. Maybe that's just the way they are presenting him, but he is 20 years older than when he was doing Buffy. Plus, Marcone should be at least a little Italian looking.
He's way too short and old for Dresden.
Don't like him for Morgan... Morgan is supposed to be huge.
Love him as Bob!!!
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He can pass for an Italian without problems
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Personally, my opinion on casting is basically: the best actor or actress available who can play the role well. Matching the physical description is basically just a bonus. It's not like someone being a dead match for Murphy would necessarily be able to play Murphy convincingly.
I just want an adaptation that understands and respects the source material and stays true to it, without feeling like they have to reinvent or "improve" certain parts of it.
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I've never been that convinced Marcone is even Italian and I'm pretty sure we have WoJ that Marcone isn't even his name.
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He says as much in Even Hand.
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Personally, my opinion on casting is basically: the best actor or actress available who can play the role well. Matching the physical description is basically just a bonus. It's not like someone being a dead match for Murphy would necessarily be able to play Murphy convincingly.
I just want an adaptation that understands and respects the source material and stays true to it, without feeling like they have to reinvent or "improve" certain parts of it.
I 100% agree with this. As long as however plays Harry is taller then whoever plays Murphy and they are good actors then I see no issues.