Dog Men Release Q&A Suggestions

[revan2357]

Hi all,

I've been lurking around for several years and never have had the chance to attend one of Jim's events. But next week I will be attending the Dog Men Release Q&A/ Signing and I wanted to open the floor up for suggestions. Both my wife and my brother will be joining me so if we are lucky we should be able to ask at least 3. So far I have the following:

What does Harry believe the distinction is, if any, between the Black Council and Nemesis factions? To what extent is he correct?

What did Mouse mean in Changes when he says that he won Harry?
I believe WOJ is that Lea and Mouse intended different meanings of the word won, but I am hoping for some clarification.

If Thomas took up Amoracchius to become a KotC, as a career rather than a one night stand, what would happen to his Demon?
I know Thomas is uncomfortable with all things Holy to begin with but this might shed some light on a pet theory of mine.

Who was Goodman Gray paying rent to in Skin Game?
A little too direct maybe, but one can hope.

Eager to hear your thoughts and/or suggestions folks.

[magnuskn]

Well, I have one I've been waiting for years to ask. Since I live in Germany, the chance never came up. My question needs a little set-up, so please bear with me. ^^

"Over the last four books, the urgency of the plot and the intensity of the relationships between the characters have all accelerated considerably.  Due to your writing policy of having most of an entire year pass between books, however, all those elements have had to be put on hold for Harry between each of those books, leading to a series of reasons why he can’t contact his friends for a full year. You broke with that mold at the end of Skin Game, with Harry being in a position where he is with friends and family and apparently free to act without too many constraints upon him.

My question is: Going forward, how are you going to resolve this tension between having both an accelerated plot and intensified character interactions and your policy of the one year gap between books, without losing crucial character scenes and plot elements to the time periods between each book?"

[Darkest-Before-Dawn]

Well, I have one I've been waiting for years to ask. Since I live in Germany, the chance never came up. My question needs a little set-up, so please bear with me. ^^

"Over the last four books, the urgency of the plot and the intensity of the relationships between the characters have all accelerated considerably.  Due to your writing policy of having most of an entire year pass between books, however, all those elements have had to be put on hold for Harry between each of those books, leading to a series of reasons why he can’t contact his friends for a full year. You broke with that mold at the end of Skin Game, with Harry being in a position where he is with friends and family and apparently free to act without too many constraints upon him.

My question is: Going forward, how are you going to resolve this tension between having both an accelerated plot and intensified character interactions and your policy of the one year gap between books, without losing crucial character scenes and plot elements to the time periods between each book?"

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding your question, but I'm reading this as in-story years between books, rather than book release dates? If that's the case I'm pretty sure we have confirmation that Peace Talks only takes place 3 months after Skin Game so no need for a contrived reason why Harry hasn't been doing anything for a year.

[Rasins]

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding your question, but I'm reading this as in-story years between books, rather than book release dates? If that's the case I'm pretty sure we have confirmation that Peace Talks only takes place 3 months after Skin Game so no need for a contrived reason why Harry hasn't been doing anything for a year.

This!

[magnuskn]

Yeah, for the imminent future that problem I perceive may not turn up, especially since Harry has not been locked away from his allies and loved ones, like after Changes, Ghost Story and Cold Days.

However, there is an approaching apocalyptic trilogy, Harry is getting involved ever more with really, really powerful entities and my concern is that another year passing without something important having happened strains credulity. There has been a huge pile-up of unresolved issues for Harry to deal with because of his forced isolation between books and I can only hope that Peace Talks will deal with a lot of them.

Harry getting locked away on his island after Cold Days already was stretching it quite a bit and the explanations why people didn't visit him seemed weak (to me). Hence, why I think it interesting to ask if Jim still will try to maintain the one year cycle for the other future books before the BAT. I don't think it is particularly good for the story if Harry gets locked away again and then let out only three days for a year to deal with the plot of that particular book.

[Rasins]

It seems to me that something like this has been asked, and Jim said that the interval between in-book installments will be less. 

Though I'll admit that it may have been a discussion on here.

[magnuskn]

Yeah, I don't think it was asked of him, since I've watched literally every interview posted online of his since at least Cold Days came out.

[revan2357]

It seems to me that something like this has been asked, and Jim said that the interval between in-book installments will be less. 

Though I'll admit that it may have been a discussion on here.

Q: Cool, I think a lot of us will be excited to read that then. What, if any, tease can you give us for Peace Talks?
A: Peace Talks is all about the various signatories of the Unseelie Accords are having a convocation in Chicago... This book is only set a couple of months after the end of the previous one [Skin Game]...
http://wordof.jim-butcher.com/index.php/2015-2016-transcripts-from-audiovideo-woj-sources/

And I can't find the relevant WOJ but IIRC then Harry is summoned by MM Harry at the end of Peace Talks which obviously kicks off Mirror Mirror. So that would mean that SG, PT, and MM are pretty much back to back stories.

Hope that helps. Any other suggestions for questions??

[magnuskn]

Yes, I knew already that Peace Talks is three months after Skin Game. That was disclosed quite some time ago, as you quoted.

What my question is about is how the books after Peace Talks leading up to the BAT will handle this "plot urgency vs. series convention" dichotomy. Rasins a few posts ago was suggesting that Jim had already said in an Q&A that all future books will occur on a shorter interim than one year, which Jim has never stated in any Q&A. Hence my question.

I haven't heard anything about how Mirror Mirror will start directly after Peace Talks, but I'll take your word on it. The problem is, that doesn't make the principal disconnect between one year gaps and the approaching BAT go away for the books after that.

I'd really appreciate it if my question gets asked, since it has been bugging me since basically Cold Days and even more after Skin Game.

[revan2357]

Just trying to provide evidence for the talking points is all. And I do think it's a question worth asking- I'm just wondering if there are any others in play.

Also, what I said with regards to SK, PT & MM was meant to add context to your point (assuming I'm not wrong about the bit about Harry being summoned).

Edit:

The problem is, that doesn't make the principal disconnect between one year gaps and the approaching BAT go away for the books after that.

I agree. If true it makes your point more pressing: there are only a couple of case file books left after that (presumed) sequence where unresolved issues can be addressed.

[Talby16]

We've discussed it here but I would love to hear Jim's take:

Q: What happens if a Fae owes a debt to a person who passes away and has no living relatives for the debt to pass to and makes no provision for that debt before his/her death?

[knnn]

I would ask the following:

We've seen that even mundane objects like the fake Shroud can contain vast amounts of power if they are the focus of enough belief.    How much power does something like the Statue of Liberty (i.e. as a symbol of hope to thousands) have?

Morgana Le Fay obviously existed at some point (it's her Athame), and the "Le fay" moniker implies she was well-versed in the Nevernever travel.   The original Merlin is reported to be around somewhere.   Is Morgana still around?   Does she know "Merlin-level" magic?

In Small Favor, the Archive is hiding under a veil right under the nose of half a dozen Denarians, yet she wasn't worried that one of them would use the Sight to find her.   Is it that she knew that Tessa and her minions didn't have enough magical power to open up a Third Eye, or was it some "Veil 2.0" spell that is impenetrable to the Sight?

[Griffyn612]

"Where did the idea for Bob come from?"

"Why Chicago?"

"Where did you get the idea for Harry's names?"

Because I don't like spoilers.

[magnuskn]

Just trying to provide evidence for the talking points is all. And I do think it's a question worth asking- I'm just wondering if there are any others in play.

Also, what I said with regards to SK, PT & MM was meant to add context to your point (assuming I'm not wrong about the bit about Harry being summoned).

No problem. I also just was trying to make clear why I feel that this question is worth being asked.

Edit: I agree. If true it makes your point more pressing: there are only a couple of case file books left after that (presumed) sequence where unresolved issues can be addressed.

Yeah, exactly. As I said, there has been a huge pile-up since Changes and Harry has been very obviously been locked away from dealing with them out of the bounds of the books. I have this nagging fear that Jim may not be able to unspool all these threads in an orderly manner.

[magnuskn]

"Where did the idea for Bob come from?"

"Why Chicago?"

"Where did you get the idea for Harry's names?"

Because I don't like spoilers.

All of those have been answered in past Q&A's. Bob is a literal talking head which Jim put in to make a joke at his writing teacher; Chicago because he couldn't use his original location he wanted to use, since that original location would have been too similar to Anita Blake;  Harry's name is an amalgamation of different magician names and Dresden was used for some obscure reason I don't remember of the top of my head.