Author Topic: News about Peace Talks (no spoilers) and other things from Westercon/Spikecon  (Read 12448 times)

Offline KurtinStGeorge

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 4202
  • Oh no, there goes Tokyo
    • View Profile
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.





   
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.

Groucho Marx

Offline 123Chikadee

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 215
    • View Profile
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. :)

Offline morriswalters

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 2547
    • View Profile
priscellie filmed one in Utah.
Quote
Yes, WesterCon in Layton, Utah. I’m filming them.

Offline KurtinStGeorge

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 4202
  • Oh no, there goes Tokyo
    • View Profile
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.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2019, 07:11:42 AM by KurtinStGeorge »
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.

Groucho Marx

Offline 123Chikadee

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 215
    • View Profile
Hm, I may have to check that out.
Wow, go Priscellie! So the TV show is an almost sure thing?

Offline Regenbogen

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 1138
    • View Profile
 :)
@KurtinStGeorge
Thanks for the info.
I hope for a release date in the next days.

Offline Mira

  • Needs A Life
  • ***
  • Posts: 24038
    • View Profile


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..

Offline KurtinStGeorge

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 4202
  • Oh no, there goes Tokyo
    • View Profile
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.     
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.

Groucho Marx

Offline 123Chikadee

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 215
    • View Profile
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.

Offline Dina

  • Has Collapsed Into a Singularity of Posts (a.k.a, "The Dina")
  • ***
  • Posts: 105314
    • View Profile
Thanks Kurtin! You gave us a lot to think about.
Missing you, Md 

There are many horrible sights in the multiverse. Somehow, though, to a soul attuned to the subtle rhythms of a library, there are few worse sights than a hole where a book ought to be. Someone has stolen a book (Terry Pratchett)

Offline Mira

  • Needs A Life
  • ***
  • Posts: 24038
    • View Profile
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.

Offline MoroccoMole

  • Participant
  • *
  • Posts: 56
    • View Profile
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 )
I like a man who grins when he fights.

~Winston Churchill On Enthusiasm~

Offline CrusherJen

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 100
    • View Profile
Here are the links, if anyone wants them:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0g8lea8YYA

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJtUE81eD3M

Thanks for the vids, Priscellie!

(I love Jim's blue hair!)

"An errand is getting a tank of gas or picking up a carton of milk or something. It is not getting chased by flying purple pyromaniac gorillas hurling incendiary poo."   --from Blood Rites

Offline AndiSue

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 153
    • View Profile
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.

Offline KurtinStGeorge

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 4202
  • Oh no, there goes Tokyo
    • View Profile
I wasn't taking notes, just posting from memory.  Anyone is free to watch the videos to get the exact wording.
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.

Groucho Marx