Jim Butcher

For a limited time, cover artist Chris McGrath is offering mugs bearing cover art from White Night, Side Jobs, and Ghost Story. Get your coffee fix in a mug blazoned with the mug of Chicago’s only professional wizard!

Also, fans can look forward to two Dresden short stories in the next two weeks! “I Was a Teenage Bigfoot,” which takes place around the time of Dead Beat, comes out on May 29th in Kevin J. Anderson’s Blood Lite 3: Aftertaste. “Bigfoot on Campus,” set a few months before Changes, hits June 5th in P.N. Elrod’s Hex Appeal. The third (or rather, first) story in Jim’s Bigfoot trilogy, “B is for Bigfoot,” comes out at the end of August. You can pre-order them all from Jim’s store!

April Fool!

We hope you enjoyed our little prank yesterday. While the trilogy of “Bigfoot as Harry’s client” short stories is indeed on the horizon, there is no spinoff paranormal romance series in the pipeline. Jim is hard at work on Cold Days! It doesn’t have a release date yet, but you can be certain, we’ll be shouting it from the hilltops as soon as it’s been set!

Take the edge off the wait with the upcoming Bigfoot trio:

“I Was A Teenage Bigfoot” — from Blood Lite 3: Aftertaste, edited by Kevin J. Anderson.
Takes place circa Dead Beat.
Released 5/29/2012.

“Bigfoot on Campus” — from Hex Appeal, edited by P.N. Elrod.
Takes place between Turn Coat and Changes.
Released 6/05/2012.

“B is for Bigfoot” — from Under My Hat: Tales From the Cauldron, edited by Jonathan Strahan.
Takes place between Fool Moon and Grave Peril.
Released 8/28/2012.

There is also a Molly POV short story in “Dangerous Women,” edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Duzois, but its title and release date haven’t been announced yet. The story is set between Ghost Story and Cold Days.

What were your favorite April Fool’s Day jokes online yesterday? Share them here!

Edit: Just kidding! Hope you had a fun and safe April Fool’s Day!

Back in December, Jim talked about two new series he was auditioning, a high fantasy saga and a steampunk series. However, there was a third simmering on the back burner, and it’s since shoved its way to the fore. We can now announce Jim’s next series: A paranormal romance series, starring Bigfoot!

“The plan was to start writing Cold Days early this year,” Butcher explains, “but as I was finishing the trio of Bigfoot shorts, in which Bigfoot is Harry’s client, I realized there was so much more in his world I wanted to write. It really consumed my brain. The betas are eating it up, so I’m hoping the fans dig it, too.”

Jim credits his wife Shannon, author of over a dozen romantic suspense and paranormal romance novels, with the inspiration for his new direction. “Bigfoot is basically just an alpha male, exaggerated: Big, strong, hairy, and isn’t much for ballet. Makes him a good candidate for romance. :)”

While this new series takes place in the same universe as The Dresden Files, it will focus on entirely new characters. However, be on the lookout for the occasional familiar face!

Look for Great North Passion in stores October 2nd, 2012. Its sequel, Land of the Midnight Desire is expected in Fall 2013.

Discuss this news here!

Evil Hat, the game publisher behind the Dresden Files RPG, is running a kickstarter campaign to “kick off” their push into doing tie-in fiction with their other game lines. The first is a trilogy set in their Spirit of the Century pulp universe. Check out the kickstarter video here:

You can learn more — and hopefully contribute! — at:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/evilhat/spirit-of-the-century-presents-the-dinocalypse-tri

Also, the second sample chapter for Dinocalypse Now just went up:

http://www.deadlyfredly.com/2012/03/dinocalypse-now-chapter-two/

You can find others at the same blog, and more info at:

http://www.dinocalypse.com/

Issue #5 of the Fool Moon graphic novel hits comics stores tomorrow! Find one near you at comicshoplocator.com. You can also check out a five-page preview at Comic Book Resources.