I can't believe it's almost October already

[sholio]

Signups for sga_santa are open already! SUMMER, WHERE HAVE YOU GONE. *weeps* I'm still dithering: I know I'm doing Yuletide and I already signed up for the sheppard_hc exchange - I've successfully done all three before, but can I do it without sucking the life out of my original fiction writing? *ponders*

Signups for festivids will be Oct. 6-15. I want to try to stay strong and not sign up for this one, because I can't think of anything more likely to make me tear my hair out than trying to make a vid for someone in two months. (but, but ... so tempting!)

On yet another fannish front, "Side Jobs" (the Dresden Files short story collection, including the post-Changes novella, eeeeeee) comes out on Oct. 26. I want it so! (Now that he's not doing Codex Alera anymore, will there be a new series? Or more frequent Dresden novels? *WANTS* Or will he take the time to actually sleep every once in a while? *g*)

ETA: *bounces* The sequel to Changes, (spoilery title span-texted) Ghost Story, is already available for pre-order! APRIL 5, 2011, PEOPLE! So excited, it is pathetic.

Comments

[ratcreature]

On yet another fannish front, "Side Jobs" (the Dresden Files short story collection, including the post-Changes novella, eeeeeee) comes out on Oct. 26. I want it so!

Yes! I'm looking forward to this as well, and have pre-ordered the expensive hardcover, even though I shouldn't with my finances what they are. OTOH, new Dresden Files! And waiting for months longer until the paperback would be awful. *bounces in anticipation*

[sholio]

Yes! I'll be springing for the hardcover as well; Dresden Files is just about the only series I do that for, anymore. (Well, that and Discworld, although it sort of depends on which set of characters it is.)

[nonniemous]

What, did he give up on Codex Alera? People just want more Harry Dresden, so maybe he's being penned into that?

No pun intended... ;-)

[sholio]

I'm pretty sure Codex Alera actually wrapped up, with book 6 or something like that. (The man is a writing machine!)

I read the first book of Codex Alera and it was ... bad. Bog-standard fantasy, predictable and dull, faily on all kinds of levels. For all I know, it got better, but I didn't give it a chance; I'll just stick with Dresden Files. :D

[abyssinia]

If it helps any, I think I *am* caving and signing up for festivids (since it has a January due date). You know, because temptation lies in that direction...

(it just looks so cool! And I've, more often than not (although far from always), ended up somewhat disappointed in fic exchanges. For some reason I've decided vids will be more fun to play in this year. Even though I've made a grand total of two ever.)

[naye]

I will join you in being pathetically excited about new Dresden book in April. Six months, YAY! That's nothing, as far as fannish waits go. Oh, oh, and I think, think that this February we'll FINALLY get Republic of Thieves, too, the sequel to Red Seas Under Red Skies!! \o/

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Really?!!! I'd given up even checking for that one. XD (Someone, I can't remember who, told me that the book has been written for ages, but it's the publisher that's been delaying it. Bad publisher, bad! But if they're finally giving it to us - yay, publisher, keep it up! *g*)

And, yes! Six months! That's easy! And Butcher has always been fantastic at sticking to deadlines; I don't think any of his books have failed to come out on time, so we can be at least fairly confident that we can count on that date! Plus, we'll have Side Jobs to ... well, probably to make the cliffhanger EVEN WORSE THAN IT ALREADY WAS, but at least we'll get a little Dresden fix between now and then. And it'll be an opportunity to re-read the short stories; I've already read most of them, I think, but they've been scattered to hither and yon over the last few years, and I'm pretty sure there's one or two in there that I never managed to read. *bounces in chair*

[naye]

Yeah - date's set to February 17, it seems like? Yay! I hadn't heard rumors the publisher was keeping it back - I knew Lynch had had a hard time meeting the deadline, but I figured that you're entitled to that if you write books as good as his.

Oh, and more Dresden in October! I am so excited! And curious about what the post-Changes short will give away about the overarching plot of Ghost Story. Eee~!

Finally on the book front, I really want the short story collection of Nighrunner stories, Glimpses, but it's not available on the Japanese Amazon (yet, possibly). I haven't read books in so long, it would be fun to have something that spans the reading enjoyment/fanning border.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

And curious about what the post-Changes short will give away about the overarching plot of Ghost Story. Eee~!

I know! *flails* I don't want to get up my hopes too much for this, since there's no telling what Butcher is planning, but (spoiler-spanning for Changes spoilers, just to be safe) being the total freak for presumed-dead stories that I am, I'm really hoping for some nice tasty ANGST regarding Harry's death (or, as the case may be, his "death" *g*). Murphy angst is pretty much a given, considering where things ended and where the post-Changes story picks up, but ... okay, I'll be shallow and predictable, and admit that I want Thomas-thinking-Harry-is-dead angst LIKE BURNING. :DDDD

Regarding Glimpses - heh, for reasons inexplicable, even though I haven't actually read the series, I friended her LJ (otterdance) awhile back (I like reading author LJs). I've been reading her PR posts for the collection, which are even starting to make me want to read it, despite not being a fan of the series. One of these days I ought to give it another try - which I'm pretty sure is why I originally started reading her LJ; I stalled out in the first third of the first book, and never went back to it, but I always meant to try it again, knowing that some of my flist are fans of the series.

[spark-force.livejournal.com]

this February we'll FINALLY get Republic of Thieves, too, the sequel to Red Seas Under Red Skies!!

Seriously???? Yay! Finally! I've been looking forward to that for SO LONG now.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I still haven't read Changes yet. I wanted to but the book store didn't have it :P I think I'll wait until the next book is out, then get both. Or will I be weak and get Changes sooner? I do miss Dresden Files.

I've been considering Yuletide, just to do something different. But I've also been considering NaNo since I really need to get another original story written. I'm going to have to set Secret_Santa aside.

Such a busy time of year for writing.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Maybe your library has it by now? It might be worth checking! I know you were worried about the kid thing, but I really think it's handled pretty well - and the cliffhanger is awesome. (And by "awesome", I mean EVIL. But very tense!)

I'm trying to figure out if I'll be doing NaNo this year. My original novel is going very well right now, so I think I'll see where I stand on that one by the end of October - if it's either done (a definite possibility) or so stuck that I could really use a break, I'll do something new for NaNo, and otherwise I'll just keep plugging away at the one I'm working on.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I don't think my library has any of the Dresden novels. I'll have to see, but they've gone and gotten rid of the fantasy section and everything's been mixed up - fantasy lost among fiction lost among westerns. It's a headache and a half trying to find anything, and it's made me bitter towards them.

Yay novel writing! :D I so want to write something new. I love my current story but it's a trilogy and I'm not going to wait until it's finished before I tackle another project.

[winter-elf.livejournal.com]

I hope he goes signing so I can ask :) Not that he'll answer... but you know.... He often does the local independent store, so I'll keep my eyes on their signing schedule.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

I wish I lived somewhere central enough that we got authors on signing tours. :D (Of course, I say that now, but when I actually did, I never went - the only one I went to see was Neil Gaiman.) Anyway, I hope he comes through! And yeah, I would be interested to know what his next projects are going to be, or if he's just going to concentrate on Harry for a while.

[gnine.livejournal.com]

Oct. 26th? Only a month away?! That makes me ridiculously happy! Wants it precious, wants it sooooooooo bad!!!

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

SO CLOSE! (And I was just making a post about this - the cover art for Ghost Story is out! (http://jim-butcher.com/pics/gsCoverLg.jpg) *WANTS*)

[spark-force.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeee! *bounce* I can't believe it's coming out that soon-- it feels like no time at all since Changes!!

And I want Thomas-angst for it really bad too. XD

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

It's the perfect setup for Thomas angst, especially with the estrangement between him and Harry. One of Thomas's overriding character traits has always been his loyalty; he's still loyal to his goddawful vampire family, despite everything they've done to him. And now ... THIS. Assuming the cliffhanger isn't resolved immediately (which it doesn't really look like it will be, based on the cover for the next book) Thomas is bound to have a really bad time ahead. And whoever did it is going to be in a world of hurt. :D

[spark-force.livejournal.com]

YUP. Thomas and Harry's issues have been making me very sad face over the past couple books, so I really, really hope this at least moves towards fixing things between them. And it's not just going to happen on Thomas' side, because if the title of the next book is to be taken seriously, Harry will be able to see what *spoiler* does to everyone around him, which I think he needs, just so he understands what he actually means to his people (and the wizarding world in general).

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

... oh man, if the book actually does that (which the title and cover imply that it might) it will be FANFIC COME TO LIFE. Because, yeah, wow ... Harry. One of the things I love most about the series is how, over the course of 12 books, Harry has gone from being a loner to a guy who's built up an extensive and loyal circle of friends and family, most of whom are willing to form up a posse and ride off to chase demons with him at the drop of a hat. But he never seems to completely grasp this; he's still got those deep-down abandonment issues. If he could actually have that brought home to him, especially with the people he's closest to, like Thomas and Murphy ... yeah. Harry needs that. (And I want to see it SO MUCH.)

I guess it makes it even worse with Thomas that the estrangement has been mostly coming from his side - not just going back to the vampires, but attempting to break off contact with Harry. Harry's made it pretty clear that he still wants to have a relationship and still believes that human!Thomas is in there somewhere (and Thomas's actions in Changes indicate that Harry's right, even if Thomas won't admit it) but Thomas is the one who keeps pulling away. Maybe this will be enough to make him realize that you don't always get a second (third, fourth, fifth) chance.

*weebles* I want the next book so much!

[spark-force.livejournal.com]

Butcher is pretty good at the emotional stuff, and it does seem that the books have been sort of leading Harry in the direction of realizing that hey! he actually matters to people! so I am like 80, 90% certain it really is going to go there. (*flails in excitement*) And I mean, unless Dresden's... er, problem... gets solved really early on, or the book has a different POV (which I think is unlikely), how else *could* they narrate the book, anyway? Having him floating around doing nothing would be kind of boring...

Discussing this is making six months suddenly seem much longer. ;___; I want to know what happens~! And how much do you want to bet that Aftermath isn't actually going to answer any of the most pressing questions?

Changes spoilers in comment (for anyone else browsing the conversation)

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Augh, I know! I was doing much better at being patient until I started talking about it. XD

And how much do you want to bet that Aftermath isn't actually going to answer any of the most pressing questions?

Oh, I have no doubt! Actually, it really can't, since a lot of people are certainly going to be skipping straight from Changes to Ghost Story; it would be kind of a bait-and-switch to have the resolution in Aftermath and then Ghost Story picking up somewhere different, when readers who didn't buy Side Jobs weren't expecting to miss something plot-critical. I expect Aftermath will be kind of tangential for that reason.

Still looking forward to it, though. :D

And, yeah - I don't seriously expect a narrator shift (despite speculating about it quite a bit when Changes came out), but I love the idea of Harry able to watch what's happening but unable to affect it. For a while. That would get kind of dull quickly. On the other hand, there are quite a lot of characters who would probably be able to perceive him - pretty much everyone in the Nevernever, Bob, Mouse ...