We try to stick to our “no more than once a week” posting pattern out of respect for your overstuffed inboxes, but I think you’ll see why we had to deviate. Jim’s publisher has revealed Chris McGrath’s gorgeous cover art for the second of the two Dresden novels coming out this year, Battle Ground!
Battle Ground (Dresden #17) hits stores September 29th, just 2 1/2 months after Peace Talks (Dresden #16) on July 14th! You can preorder both installments in this year’s “Dresden Duology” and support independent bookstores at our storefront at Bookshop.org, or choose from a wider array of vendors at the Jim-Butcher.com Store!
Visit Jim-Butcher.com every Tuesday this year for weekly Drops of never-before-seen artwork, microfiction, interviews, contests, sample chapters for Peace Talks, or other tasty tidbits in our celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Dresden Files. Join our new mailing list and follow @jimbutchernews on twitter to ensure you don’t miss a moment, and check the announcement post to catch up on prior Drops. We’ll see you next week!
We have a lot of great stuff happening this week, including a gorgeous new jewelry piece and a virtual convention appearance this Friday! And don’t forget: We also have a cosplay contest running, a series read-along on Goodreads, discounts going on the first three Dresden novels, and a mini-giveaway of coloring pages in exchange for support of your community (see below). And if you haven’t seen the Peace Talks trailer yet, check it out now and send your reaction video to yearofdresden@gmail.com.
Now let’s get into the news!
SILVER LININGS
The Bad News: Badali Jewelry’s stone supplier sent them the wrong color for the Limited Edition Demonreach Pentacle.
The Good News: The stone they sent is GORGEOUS, and its wintry blue and pink opalescence is a perfect fit for Molly!
The Badali team conjectured, “Maybe Molly heard we were in need, and she sent some mischievous sprite to change a digit in the supplier’s color code and make a stone just for her. We hear you loud and clear, Molls! Badali Jewelry is thrilled to offer a second limited edition piece for 2020: The Winter Lady’s Ice Opal Pentacle.” Order yours today!
As for the Demonreach Pentacle fans voted on back in February, the stone supplier is already working to rectify their mistake, and Badali anticipates it will be available for sale early this summer.
PRH VIRTUAL CON
Jim joins a bevy of fabulous Penguin Random House authors this Friday at the PRH Virtual Con! Jim’s events:
Geek Geek Revolution, 5pm ET: In this twist on the popular trivia game show, authors ask the questions and fans provide the answers for the chance to win a prize pack of books! Participate at the Unbound Worlds FB group. (Note: Admission to the group is moderated. Join early to avoid bottlenecks!)
The Great Fantasy Debate Preview, 7pm ET: A preview of a brand new webseries! The creative team will discuss what’s in store and present the first mini-debate between Jim, Pierce Brown, and Naomi Novik. Free registration on Eventbrite.
SHOP BOOKS, SHOP BOOKSHOP!
We’re making it even easier to support indie bookstores with your purchases through the Jim-Butcher.com store! We’ve added Bookshop.org to our list of affiliate partners. Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores.
We’re in the process of updating our official store to include these new links, but in the meantime, you can buy Jim’s books at our storefront on their website! A portion of each sale goes to support independent bookstores, and another portion goes to our website to help cover our hosting fees. Everybody wins!
IN BRIEF…
Good News for Blaze! She’s back home and in recovery. She offers her thanks for the outpouring of love and healing vibes.
Haven’t seen the Peace Talks Trailer yet? If not, we’re still collecting reaction videos for an upcoming compilation! Film yourself watching it and send the video via WeTransfer to yearofdresden@gmail.com.
The Dresden Files Read-Along on Goodreads continues this week with White Night.
And that’s it for today!
Visit Jim-Butcher.com every Tuesday this year for weekly Drops of never-before-seen artwork, microfiction, interviews, contests, sample chapters for Peace Talks, or other tasty tidbits in our celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Dresden Files. Join our new mailing list and follow @jimbutchernews on twitter to ensure you don’t miss a moment, and check the announcement post to catch up on prior Drops. We’ll see you later this week for the Virtual Con.
We had such fun with our Fanart Contest that we want to honor another section of the Dresden fandom’s creatives: cosplayers and cosplay photographers! Read all the rules, then submit your Cosplay Contest entries to yearofdresden@gmail.com by May 12th.
Coloring Pages
Running low on things to binge on Netflix? Fresh out of animals to cross? Feeling more schooled by your kids than the reverse? We’ve got you covered. Adam Mathison-Sward can’t operate his tattoo parlor during the lockdown, so he’s used some of his downtime to produce a quintet of Dresden images ready for coloring! We’re sharing these three pages for free, and if you like what you see, we’re offering two additional coloring pages in exchange for donations in support of your community.
Make a donation in any amount to your local food bank, or give back to the Dresdenverse small business community by buying a piece from Adam’s shop or Badali Jewelry or pledging to Adam’s Patreon. Forward your receipt to yearofdresden@gmail.com, and we’ll send you two more coloring pages to show our gratitude! Click to embiggen.
If you’d be interested in seeing a full Dresden Files coloring book, let us know! And if you’re looking for more goodies to help pass the time in quarantine, Penguin is still offering ebooks Storm Front, Fool Moon, and Grave Peril at reduced rates. Get the links in last week’s post.
Support Badali Jewelry!
Our friends at Badali Jewelry are facing a rough patch due to the cancelation of much of the 2020 con season. If you’ve been eyeing a piece, they’d greatly appreciate your support! They’re also selling gift cards and accepting direct donations via GoFundMe. Please help us ensure high quality, officially licensed, handcrafted-in-the-USA fandom merch stays in business. And hey, Mother’s Day is coming up, and Margaret LeFay’s ruby pentacle would be a fabulous gift for any mama geek…
Healing Vibes for Blaze
And finally, in the moments before this story was posted, we learned our beloved Blaze (here cosplaying as Queen Mab) has COVID-19 and has been hospitalized due to complications with pneumonia. Those who frequented the Jim-Butcher.com forums will undoubtedly recall her boundless generosity, her kindness, and her uproarious sense of humor. Please join us in sending her and her family your love, your healing energies, and your best wishes for a speedy recovery, as we send our love to all those in our community impacted by the virus.
And that’s it for this today!
Visit Jim-Butcher.com every Tuesday this year for weekly Drops of never-before-seen artwork, microfiction, interviews, contests, sample chapters for Peace Talks, or other tasty tidbits in our celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Dresden Files. Join our new mailing list and follow @jimbutchernews on twitter to ensure you don’t miss a moment, and check the announcement post to catch up on prior Drops. See you next week!
This week is a bit scattered, but it’s SCATTERED AWESOME, so who are we to complain? We’ve got some great book deals, delightful new art, and some behind-the-scenes photos for the making of the trailer!
April Fool’s Redux
Last week’s prank of a re-release of the Peace Talks trailer with “improved” visual effects was ridiculously silly (you all watched the real trailer first, yes?), but the fun didn’t stop there! Before the day was done, illustrator and tattoo artist Adam Mathison-Sward was already hard at work on a tribute to a previous April Fool’s prank: our 2011 “announcement” of the Li’l Harry Adventures children’s book series. We thought they were too perfect not to share! Check out his (fake) covers for the (fake) spinoff.
You can check out all our previous April Fool’s pranks here:
2019 — Jim Talks Peace Talks (which was apparently subtle enough to be quoted straight by at least one online news source)
TODAY ONLY: the Parallel Worlds anthology, which contains the Goodman Grey-POV short story “Monsters,” is on sale for 99 cents! Find out what happens when our favorite amoral shapeshifter pulls a job for John Marcone.
Note: Co-editor LJ Hachmeister is currently working on the front lines as a registered nurse at an ER in Denver, helping stem the tide of Covid-19. All her books are also now on sale for 99 cents, so if you dig fantasy, military sci-fi, and space opera, it’s the perfect time to grab a copy of her work! And if you’re looking for another awesome urban fantasy to tide you off until Peace Talks, pick up the “Grave Report” series or “Dangerous Ways” by her co-editor R.R. Virdi.
You can also still snag the first three books at a reduced rate, and this week we’re adding Skin Game for $2.99! If you have friends who are stuck at home because of social distancing and on the lookout for a new series, now is the perfect time to catch up!
Storm Front at $2.99:
Grave Peril at $5.99:
Fool Moon at $3.99:
Skin Game at $2.99:
Upcoming Books Update
Library Journal has given Peace Talks a starred review! Their verdict: “With many familiar faces returning and lots of magical action, this latest from Butcher will have fans rejoicing at the return of Chicago’s only professional wizard.” –Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Library System, Northampton
Also, Battle Ground is now preorderable in audiobook! Note: If you’re an Audible subscriber and want to preorder using credits, please make sure you’ve logged into Audible beforehand. It’ll only give you the “buy with Audible credit” option if you’re already logged in.
Support this website by preordering both books from our store!
Trailer: Behind the Scenes
Each moment in the trailer went by so quickly, it was hard to appreciate all the work that went into each setup! Here’s a glimpse behind the scenes, thanks to photographer Yrene Ramirez. Click to embiggen.
Production Design team Wade Morrison and Kris Stone unload a set wall
Shelby Smith transforms Katalina Otter into the Winter Lady
Jessica Vergon applies her own femme fatale aesthetic to Birgit Ludemann (Lara)
Shelby Smith sets Mab’s pale foundation on Liz Fenning
Shelby Smith makes a Svartalf of Katie Baker
Jason Bernardo (Harry) dons his Winter finery
Art Director Kris Stone fastens Ramirez’s warden sword on Sergio Lopez
Adam Gregor (Ebenezar) waits for his call
Queens of Winter staying warm: Katalina Otter (Molly) and Liz Fenning (Mab)
Katalina Otter (Molly) in a mysterious setting…
Birgit Ludemann (Lara) and Jason Bernardo (Harry) rehearse blocking
Birgit Ludemann (Lara) works her wiles on Jason Bernardo (Harry)
Director Priscilla Spencer addresses the cast
Production Designer Wade Morrison surveys his handiwork
Katie Baker (Evanna), Katalina Otter (Molly), and Adam Gregor (Ebenezar) relax between takes
Liz Fenning (Mab) gets into character with Katalina Otter (Molly) and Christopher Showerman (Marcone)
Liz Fenning (Mab), Katalina Otter (Molly), and Christopher Showerman rehearse their blocking
The camera crew check light levels around Liz Fenning (Mab)
Sergio Lopez (Ramirez), Adam Gregor (Ebenezar), and Wade Morrison (Chandler) represent the White Council
Sergio Lopez (Ramirez) stands in for light levels
DP Jeremy Royce discusses a shot with 1st AC RJ Siu
Producer Stephen Gibler admires the Peace Summit tableau
Priscilla Spencer directs the actors
Molly, stay at least 5 feet from Thomas at all times! Katalina Otter and Kamy Bruder
Jason Bernardo (Harry) rests between takes of the dumbwaiter shaft shot
Kamy Bruder (Thomas) and Jason Bernardo (Harry) rehearse blocking
DP Jeremy Royce sets up the Blade Runner eye effect
Director Priscilla Spencer watches the camera team’s work alongside Suzanne Solomon and Amy Gruss
Costume Designer Tonya Nelson paints on more blood
A goofy moment between takes for Kamy Bruder (Thomas) and Jason Bernardo (Harry)
Jason Bernardo (Harry) and Kamy Bruder (Thomas) chat on set
Kamy Bruder (Thomas) in a storyboarded shot that was cut for time
Director Priscilla Spencer talks through the intimate scene between Jason Bernardo (Harry) and Birgit Ludemann (Lara)
Jason Bernardo (Harry) and Christopher Showerman (Marcone) receive instruction between takes
Jason Bernardo (Harry) and Christopher Showerman (Marcone)
Jason Bernardo (Harry) films the spinaround shot
Haven’t seen the official book trailer for Peace Talks yet? See it now, or see it again!
And that’s it for this week!
Visit Jim-Butcher.com every Tuesday this year for weekly Drops of never-before-seen artwork, microfiction, interviews, contests, sample chapters for Peace Talks, or other tasty tidbits in our celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Dresden Files. Join our new mailing list and follow @jimbutchernews on twitter to ensure you don’t miss a moment, and check the announcement post to catch up on prior Drops. See you next week!
NOTE: In our traditional April Fool’s posts, we endeavor to make them credible at the beginning, then crank up the nonsense until the joke becomes obvious. But these days, the idea of knowingly spreading misinformation (even when comically false) sounds exhausting. So here’s our notice ahead of time: This is 100% silliness! Hope it lightens your day. (Also, if you haven’t seen the Peace Talks trailer, you DEFINITELY want to watch that first.)
April 1, 2020
The Peace Talks trailer debuted Tuesday, March 24th to enthusiastic reviews, but today, director Priscilla Spencer notified fans that they will be receiving an updated version with “some improved visual effects.” The move is unheard of for a book trailer already in release, according to book vloggers and publishing executives, but Spencer cites the precedent set by Tom Hooper, director of the 2019 movie musical “Cats,” who re-released digital prints of his film to theaters two days after its release.
Spencer admitted to finishing the trailer just a day before its Tuesday premiere after “procrastinating on the end titles sequence for like a month.” The last-minute tweaks left room for mistakes, apparently, like Harry Dresden’s bare head slipping through unnoticed.
Jim Butcher’s publicity team at Penguin Random House have long demonstrated the efficacy of marketing Harry’s novels with a consistent aesthetic: a staff and fedora to serve as visual shorthand for “Wizard Private Eye.” Given the trailer’s role as a promotional tool, a hat seems an obvious inclusion. Today, Spencer rectifies that error.
The updated trailer can be viewed on YouTube and at Jim-Butcher.com below.
