If you're looking to compensate Jim or his agent, I suggest you make a donation to Jim's favorite charity, Missouri Pit Bull Rescue.

Jim's my favorite author ever, so I really want to behave in a way he's content with.  My feeling about things like this is that there's a difference between "cases that involve profit" and cases that don't.  My wife and I got invited to a costume party a few years ago, and I went as Dresden.  Put a good bit of effort into procuring and making the props (I thought my staff turned out particularly well).  I even thought about (but didn't have time) boring out the top of the staff and putting a red light in there so I could make the runes glow.

Anyway, it didn't occur to me that I might have been stepping on any sort of toes - I didn't make any money in the situation and I figured it was a form of free advertising for the series.  Is that how you guys would look at that as well?

Oh, funny story around that.  A day or two after the party it was Halloween itself - I wore the costume for handing out candy to the kids.  At one point I'd stepped out into the front yard, and was standing in the grass near the sidewalk with the staff planted in the ground and my head bowed down a little.  The costume was modeled after the cover shots, so included a hat.  The brim hid my face to some extent.

At one point while I was standing there a kid comes down the sidewalk and turns up our walkway.  As he passed me, I raised my head and turned toward him.  Poor kid nearly jumped out of his skin.  As he recovered, he said "DUDE - I thought you were a decoration."

Pretty hilarious and one of my "fun times" memories.  :-)

I think I'd quite enjoy a Mac story.  Maybe that would give too much away right now, though.

This is one where emotion and rationality take me in different directions.  Yes, I'm dying for more.  Yes, part of me will be deeply disappointed if we don't make it to the end of this thing.  But those are just feelings.  Logically, I'm totally in the "he doesn't owe us anything" camp. 

One thing worth remembering here is that we're fans - for us this is pure recreation and entertainment.  But for Jim this is labor.  I'm an awful lot less enthusiastic about my job than I was when I was young, eager, and proving myself.  He's written fifteen of these things, plus a pile of short stories to boot.  If he were just getting honestly tired of the character and the series I'd be totally unable to blame  him.

I could easily understand him "wanting to finish" and having every intention of doing so, but yet find it a much heavier burden than it used to be.  Guess what I do when there's something I know I need to do but don't look forward to?  That's right - I procrastinate and postpone. 

I actually hope none of the above applies here, but I'd understand if it did.

Well, she definitely has the right look, though she's 5'7".

Ok, knocked off Strange Magic in about 24 hours.  Thanks, Con - that was really quite good.  Maybe close to as good as Storm Front considered alone.  I'll have to read more to compare at the series level.  But yeah - you've thrown me a major bone!  Much appreciated!

Oh, this is confirmed?  Any info whatsoever on cast, timing, etc.?

I'm eager and scared at the same time...  Movie and TV folk don't seem to feel any need whatsoever to "honor" books in any major way.  But I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best.

In summation, those pesky vampires aren’t, by necessity, bad guys or whatever you said, for eating. In fact, it might be unethical to not allow them to eat at all. I think the standard of judgement would be in the details of the treatment of their food sources, thus full circle to my initial comment paralleling the human relationship with other animals.

This is a thought I've had at times.  The only way to flat out condemn the vampires is to take the position that they are less worthy of life than humans.  Once you accept that premise, then the whole issue is easy - down with the vampires, period.  But things become much more complex if you start out with the premise that all sentient, thinking beings are equally worthy of life. 

For that matter, even presuming that sentience makes a difference isn't a given - I do kill bugs that come into my house, but even as I do it I generally don't "hate on them" - I recognize that they're just "trying to get by in the world."  You really can't morally judge an organism or species for trying to survive.

Now, that said, the methods employed by the majority of the vampires we see in the Dresdenverse aren't kosher - even the ones that attempt to preserve the lives of their prey most often hold that prey if not in overt captivity then in a "locked in" socioeconomic situation that they can't escape.  The prey is not offered a choice.  Even Thomas's customers at his salon aren't really choosing, because they don't know what's going down. 

The only morally acceptable way to approach all of this, in my eyes, would be for the vampires to come out, reveal themselves, and say "We need <this> and <that> from you - what can we do for you that will convince you to let us have it?"  I.e., a fair market arrangement with both sides fully informed and choosing to go forward.

Short of that, the vampires are behaving in a criminal fashion to one degree or another, and opposing that is perfectly acceptable.  Whether or not that behavior warrants the death penalty really depends on how the specific vampire has approached his or her "feeding process."

Honestly, I would give strong consideration to shaving, say, five years off of my lifespan in exchange for regular attention from Lara Raith for the rest of my life.   

My problem here is that there just ISN'T anything as good as Dresden, period.  I've read some great books over the years - individual books - but never a SERIES that comes even close to what I get from these.

That's where I always fall back to when I find myself feeling frustration over the wait for PT.  I believe a solid professional writer could produce something on a predictable timeline - but that's not what I want Jim to do.  I want him to take his time and write when he feels like that's what he wants to do - I can't believe the quality could be like what we've seen if he tried to "force himself."

Yes, I'm eager and want the next book.  But I want THE next book - the way Jim wants it to be.