Priscilla Spencer has been Jim's creative consultant since 2007. In addition to managing content for Jim-Butcher.com and its social media channels, she beta-reads all of Jim's works, serves as a thematic consultant on the graphic novels and role playing games, and illustrates the maps for his books. The whole "Year of Dresden" thing is largely her baby. Her latest claim to fame is directing the official book trailers for Peace Talks and Battle Ground.
In her professional life, Priscilla is a Producer, Writer, Photographer, and Fantasy Map Illustrator working towards a career in producing TV. She enjoys musical theatre, gluten-free cooking, sci-fi/fantasy, and weightlifting. She aspires to travel the world and pet every dog.
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.
Last week’s Dresden Drop looked to the future, revealing the long-awaited trailer for Peace Talks and the bombshell announcement that there will be TWO Dresden novels this year. This week, we’ll look to the past, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the publication of Storm Front on April 1st, 2000.
Paranoid? Probably. But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean there isn’t an invisible demon about to eat your face.
But before we dive into that, let’s do a quick recap of the week. First off: if you haven’t seen the trailer yet, what are you waiting for?
Support this website by preordering Peace Talks and Battle Ground using the referral links in our store!
Tor.com featured us twice in one day, first to echo the reveals and add the official synopsis, then second to write up the highlights of the Q&A later that morning.
A man’s magic demonstrates what sort of person he is, what is held most deeply inside of him. There is no truer gauge of a man’s character than the way in which he employs his strength, his power. I was not a murderer. I was not like Victor Sells. I was Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. I was a wizard. Wizards control their power. They don’t let it control them. And wizards don’t use magic to kill people. They use it to discover, to protect, to mend, to help. Not to destroy.
In the first novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files series, Harry Dresden’s investigation of a grisly double murder pulls him into the darkest depths of magical Chicago. It also pulled readers into a a captivating, addictive saga overflowing with action, humor, engaging characters, and insights into our own world, guided by a protagonist whose persistent struggle to do the right thing has served as a source of comfort and inspiration through readers’ own challenges.
It’s difficult to know how to celebrate a novel that had such a powerful influence on the publishing world, joining the works of Charles de Lint, Emma Bull, and Laurell K Hamilton (and followed quickly by Charlaine Harris and Kelley Armstrong) in helping define the urban fantasy genre.
So rather than trying to capture the weight of that legacy, we’re choosing to highlight a few key places where fans, publishers, and creators in other media have interacted with the work, and we’re going to do so in several installments, spaced throughout the year. (This is mostly because a lot of the files and documents Priscilla needs to do this properly are in her apartment in Los Angeles, whereas she is holed up with her family in Dallas for the duration of the Curve-Flattening Period.)
You don’t go walking into the proverbial lion’s den lightly. You start with a good breakfast.
Today, we’ll start by revisiting Storm Front through series rereads hosted by Goodreads (2020), The Unspoiled Podcast (2018), The Dresden Files Podcast (2018), and Tor (2012). Do you have a favorite review/discussion of the book? Reply to the newsletter/@jimbutchernews twitter/social media post where this blog is linked and tell us about it!
Found in Translation
The traditional 20th Anniversary gift is china, but we can do better than that! Not only do we have China, but we also have Japan, Thailand, India, Russia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, and so many more. Check out our cover gallery of Storm Front‘s many translations into different languages. No matter where you are in the world, if you need the kind of help only Harry can provide, rest assured: he’s in the book.
Bulgarian
Chinese
Chinese
Czech
Dutch
Estonian
French
French
German
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hebrew
Hungarian
Hungarian
Persian
Persian
Polish
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Spanish
Spanish
Thai
Turkish
I don’t want to live in a world where the strong rule and the weak cower. I’d rather make a place where things are a little quieter. Where trolls stay the hell under their bridges and where elves don’t come swooping out to snatch children from their cradles. Where vampires respect the limits, and where the faeries mind their p’s and q’s. My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. When things get strange, when what goes bump in the night flicks on the lights, when no one else can help you, give me a call. I’m in the book.
We look forward to digging into more of Storm Front‘s legacy–including adaptions by the Sci-Fi Channel, the Dabel Brothers & Dynamite Entertainment, and Subterranean Press–throughout the year!
Also, for a limited time, Penguin has put the first three books back on sale. 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! Four books for under $14? Heck yes!
Our series read-along continues with Proven Guilty! Join the Spoiler-Free or Spoiler-Friendly discussions on Goodreads.
And that’s it for today! Though not it for this week. If you’ve been a Dresden fan for any length of time, you’ll know to expect April Fool’s hijinks tomorrow. Be sure to come back then!
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.
Today will be more explosive than a pyrofuego at a fireworks factory. The trailer is here, and we have massive news! And y’all are so passionate our website went down last night just from the anticipation of the trailer. If it happens again, we’ll be keeping you updated on twitter at @jimbutchernews, so you don’t miss a thing!
Here’s what today’s schedule looks like:
10:30am Eastern:
THE TRAILER IS HERE! Hit up io9 for the exclusive premiere of the long-awaited Peace Talks trailer AND read chapter one!
WE WANT TO SEE YOUR REACTION. Film yourself watching the trailer for the first time and send the video to yearofdresden@gmail.com using the large file sending utility of your choice: Google Drive, WeTransfer, etc. We’ll be editing them together into a massive compilation video, and we’d love to include you.
Spend the next couple hours rewatching the trailer obsessively, cataloguing every detail, and screaming over the explosive new info with your friends.
Realize you have a million questions for Jim and trailer director Priscilla Spencer about what you just saw. Tweet them to @jimbutchernews, and we’ll try to answer as many as we can at:
12:30pm Eastern:
Jim and director Priscilla Spencer will jump on Zoom for a Q&A, and you should join us! The first 100 fans can watch live on Zoom’s webinar feature. For everyone else, we’re hoping to stream the Q&A on YouTube or Facebook, so everyone can participate and submit their questions live. If that livestreaming capability is overloaded, we’ll record it and post to YouTube afterwards, so everyone will still be able to see it. Keep an eye on @jimbutchernews for updates!
The Trailer
The Peace Talks trailer was written, directed, and co-executive produced by Priscilla Spencer, working closely with Jim, and it stars Jason Bernardo as Harry Dresden, Sarah Flannery as Karrin Murphy, Christopher Showerman as John Marcone, and Birgit Ludemann as Lara Raith. A complete list of cast and crew can be found in the description on YouTube.
