Our biggest story today is the results of our Cosplay Contest, but that’s not all we have in store. Keep scolling for details about a live interview between Jim and Pat Rothfuss, an exclusive edition of Storm Front, a sale on Dresden ebooks in the UK, a link to Jim’s appearance on The Great Fantasy Debate, and more!
Peace Talks‘ release is less than two months away! Have you preordered your copies of both novels in this summer’s Dresden Duology? Snag them through our store.
Want your books autographed by Jim? You can order a signed copy of Peace Talks from Barnes & Noble!
Cosplay Contest Results
Jim’s fans never fail to amaze us with their talent, dedication, and spectacular nerdery, and this contest was no exception! You made it incredibly difficult to choose our winners, and we offer our thanks and appreciation to everyone who submitted. We’ll be reaching out to the grand prize winners and runners up for their shipping information and prize preference this week.
BEST COSPLAYER/GROUP
Grand Prize: Congratulations to Nicol Thompson, who handmade a trio of Dead Beat costumes for her sons Steven (the Erkling) and William (Butters) and boyfriend Kyle (Harry)! Standout elements include the Erlking’s EVA foam helmet, cardstock Sue head, and One-Man Polka Band Suit from a dismantled drum set. Not to mention, y’know, the Wild Hunt of three horses (Lester, Ikaika, and Moose) and Zoey the Great Dane! Photographer: Nicol Thompson.
Runners-Up:
Andy and Becky Tripp have been creating hilarious and inspired costumes and mashups for the DragonCon Dresden Files Cosplay Meetups for years, and the addition of new daughter Josie has made their group cosplays a trillion percent more adorable. Costumes featured here include The Gatekeeper, Ivy, Masquerade Ball Harry, Mid-Transformation Deirdre, Small Favor-era Harry, and a Wizard of Oz mashup (including Jordan Walker Key as Thomas/the Tin Man and Katherine Ann Key as Lea/Glinda).
Photo: Andrea Gonzales 
Photo: Becky Tripp 
Photo: Andy Tripp 
Photo: Andrea Gonzales 
Photo: Andrea Gonzales 
Photo: Andrea Gonzales
Jacob Womack is another regular of the DragonCon Cosplay Meetups, most frequently appearing as Lord Raith (both Blood Rites and White Night costumes by his fiancee Ayla Ocasio). He’s added other characters to his repertoire, crafting an Erlking costume from EVA foam and assembling a Ghost Story Bob outfit, which is a deep enough cut to earn our respect.
Appearing with him in these photos are Jordan Walker Key as Thomas, Allison McDaniel as Margaret LeFay, Andy Floyd as Malcolm Dresden, and Ayla Ocasio as Lara.
Photo: Ayla Ocasio 
Photo: Andrea Gonzales 
Photo: Ayla Ocasio 
Photo: Ayla Ocasio 
Photo: Andrea Gonzales 
Photo: Andrea Gonzales
Kaja Bowman became the Rag Lady, reenacting a One-Woman Rave and the conversation at Denny’s. Photos taken by Zane Bowman.
Three Runner Up slots weren’t enough! Christine Sorrentino‘s sensational Toot-toot cosplay is better than pizza. Photos taken by Ryan Walton.
BEST COSPLAY PHOTOGRAPH OR PHOTOMANIPULATION
Grand Prize: Andrea Gonzales is a legend in the Dresden cosplay community, orchestrating the annual DragonCon Cosplay Meetup as well as themed and private shoots throughout the weekend. Her passion for the books and her fantastic sense of humor are readily apparent in her work.
Amelia Snow as Wild West Luccio 
Jen Russell as Masquerade Mavra 
Andy Floyd as Malcolm, Just Ducky Cosplay as Margaret, and Jacob Womack as Lord Raith 
Kitty Krell as the Leanansidhe 
Priscilla Spencer as Molly, Jo Solomon as Maggie 
Melissa Koval as Club Zero Justine
Runners-Up:
Cosplayer Jack Flash by photographer Scott Terra created this gorgeous series of images with titles that made us snort out loud with laughter: “Does This Staff Make Me Look Deep?,” “Stay Down, It’s The Staff Police,” and “Maybe I Just Have An Annoying Smile.”
Rachel Hackett created this striking, minimalistic image of Murphy’s encounter with the bridge troll in Restoration of Faith while sheltering at home. Three cheers for creativity during lockdown!
Cosplayer Kelley Nymph and Vision Knights Photography collaborated on this breathtaking image of Queen Mab.
Honorable Mentions in Both Categories:
Meg Willsher as Molly 
Brenda Wiebe as Lea 
Zachary Blair as Toot 
Jay Cohen as Butters 
Shannon Sherrodd as Mother Summer 
Eva Hellesto as Mab 
Sarah/Aurora Blue Cosplay as Lea 
Stephanie Thomas as Murphy 
Mandy and Matt Haecker as Warden Molly and Morgan 
Patrick Diamond as Harry and Christopher Michael as Thomas 
RomulanSith as a Warden 
Tama as Titania 
Tama as Harry 
Garrett King as Harry 
Melissa Koval as Molly 
Amelia Snow as Masquerade Bianca 
Duval Guerino as Harry, Photomanipulation by Venice Turraine 
Donovan Summers as Harry 
Meg Willsher as Molly 
Patrick Diamond as Harry
Kids Spotlight:
We can’t let the contest end without celebrating the awesome young people who submitted!
Suzanne and Jo Solomon as Sight Murphy and Maggie 
Becky and Josie Tripp as Gender-Swapped Malcolm and Baby Harry 
Warden Munchkin 
Gabriel Garcia as Harry 
Connor as Harry 
William Thompson as Butters
Thanks again to everyone who entered, and congratulations to the winners!
Penguin Book Club this Thursday
Penguin’s inaugural Book Club event is in two days, and they’ve enlarged the audience capacity so everyone can join us! See Patrick Rothfuss interview Jim and celebrate the book that started it all, Storm Front. Thursday, May 21st, at 7pm Eastern. Free registration required to watch live. Registrants can also submit questions, which will be compiled and vetted before the event! Look for an email from Eventbrite.
Great Fantasy Debate
Last Tuesday evening, Penguin posted Jim’s first appearance on The Great Fantasy Debate! See him square off against Pierce Brown as they argue which fantasy world is the best place for a vacation?
Storm Front Exclusive Returns
It seems Jim’s publisher won’t be attending any cons this year, so they’ve dropped the “Con” from the “Con Exclusive Edition.” This anniversary edition of Storm Front includes a new cover by Leo Nickolls and a foreword from Jim. Order your copy here! You can use the code BOOKLOVER20 to get 20% off and free shipping. AVAILABLE THROUGH 10PM EASTERN THIS THURSDAY ONLY.
UK Ebook Mega-Sale
Fans in the UK, rejoice! The first five Dresden novels are available in ebook format for £0.99 each through May 24th! Fill in your back catalogue or hook all your friends. Get purchasing links through Little, Brown:
Reminders
The Goodreads Read-Along continues with Small Favor!
The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game came out on the Switch last week! It’s also available on Steam, the App Store for Mac and iOS, Google Play for Android, and the Amazon Appstore for Kindle. Scales smoothly from 1-5 players in multiple play modes, including Solitaire, local Pass-and-Play, and Online Multiplayer.
We’ve expanded our social media presence! You should already know about the JimButcherNews Twitter feed, but we’ve also added accounts on Facebook and Instagram as well. Give us a follow and enjoy all the content that doesn’t make it into our Drops, like the Trailer Rewatch thread, the Quarantine House Game, and more!
Ebooks of Storm Front, Fool Moon, and Grave Peril are still on sale for fans in the US!
Storm Front at $2.99:
Fool Moon at $3.99:
Grave Peril at $5.99:
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!
