Attention Dresdenphiles! Only ONE–Yes, I Said ONE–More Week Until #PeaceTalks Arrives! (PART 1 of 2)

July 7, 2020July 7, 2020 / Marcia Meara / 16 Comments

Yep, you read right! Only one more week until the six-year Dresden Drought is OVER! Today is our last countdown post, which I’ve broken into two parts for ease of scrolling, and I decided to go with “And All The Rest.” Pictures, memes, miscellaneous characters, and whatever else I can find in my files that I haven’t already shared. Browse away, and I hope you see some things to make you ooh and aah, or at least smile a bit. Enjoy!

A FEW MISCELLANEOUS CHARACTERS

I’ve talked about Michael Carpenter before, but as you can see by this image, Michael hasn’t been the only Knight of the Cross featured in this series. There were three, Michael, Shiro, and Sanya. Not saying anything specific about Michael or Shiro right now. But this is the only representation I found of Sanya, the Russian knight, and I wanted to include him. He’s truly a fun and interesting character, and adds a lot to the later books.

I’ve also mentioned Harry’s friend, one-man-polka-band and medical examiner Waldo Butters, and I wanted to share a couple more images of Butters . He’s been fun since the beginning, but really comes into his own in Book #13, Ghost Story. You’ll love him and his determination to help Harry, even after his first glimpses of what’s “out there” terrified him. Zombies, anyone?

As White Council Wardens go, one of my very favorites is Carlos Ramirez. He’s vastly amusing, always ready for a fight …

and totally full of himself–but he’s also always there when needed. (Seen below with Molly Carpenter, Michael & Charity’s somewhat wayward daughter, and Dresden’s apprentice wizard.)

Here’s another rendition of Molly. As Harry’s Apprentice Wizard, she’s also known as Grasshopper, Padawan, and several other Dresden-style nicknames.

One More Look at Molly as she’s described in later books.

The White Council’s executioner, Morgan, is essentially an honorable man, but convinced that Harry is not, and determined to catch him using forbidden Black Magic. He’s been the bane of Harry’s existence for almost all of Harry’s life.

Once in a while Morgan almost succeeds in his desire to prove Harry guilty of breaking the Council’s most sacred laws.

BIT PLAYERS

Toot-Toot the Fairy is an unforgettable little guy, tiny in stature, but big on courage, especially if there’s pizza being offered as a reward.

And I ask you, who other than Jim Butcher could make the three Billy Goats Gruff scary? (Maybe not up there with demons and Nicodemus, but still … Scary! 😀

I’ll wrap up Part 1 of today’s Countdown Post with this,
but I’ll be back in a bit with Part 2.

Attention Dresdenphiles, Everywhere! Only 7 More Weeks Until #PeaceTalks Arrives!

May 26, 2020June 15, 2020 / Marcia Meara / 22 Comments

Happy Tewe’s Day, Everybody! Guess what? We’re another week closer to the release of the long-awaited and greatly anticipated Peace Talks, Book 16 of the Dresden Files series! Yep, only seven more weeks to go, and my doesn’t the time just fly by? Yeah. Like a kid waiting for Christmas morning! Tick …….. tock. Tick …….. tock. You get the idea. BUT, we are closer, so for that I’m going to be grateful. And I’m going to share some things with you that interested me. Hope you’ll enjoy them, too.

First, I thought maybe it would be appropriate to talk about the man who created Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, Wizard Extraordinaire. That would be Jim Butcher, of course. I will admit that over the last six years, I’ve given serious thought to tracking Jim Butcher down and smacking him with a pizza so old and stale, even Toot-Toot the fairy wouldn’t touch it. However, I am too much in awe of his prodigious writing talent to do such a thing. Instead, I gnashed my teeth and bit my nails in silence, waiting, waiting, waiting for the day he would send forth the 16th installment of my favorite series of all time. And finally, that day is drawing near!

For those of you who haven’t read his work, or followed his blog,
or seen him at a signing, this is what Jim Butcher looks like:

Or maybe it’s more like this?

Unless, of course, it’s really more along these lines?

Hmmm. A man of many faces.
Well, one thing for sure,
Harry Dresden is obviously his alter-ego.
They could be twins separated at birth! See?
Here, he poses with a wizardly weapon,
and his genuine Foo Dog, Mouse!

INTERESTING STUFF

Butcher wrote the first book in The Dresden Files—about a professional wizard, named Harry Dresden, in modern-day Chicago—as an exercise for a writing course in 1996 at the age of 25. Storm Front, the first novel in The Dresden Files, was picked up by Roc/Penguin Books for publishing. It was released as a paperback in April 2000. Fool Moon followed nine months later on January 1, 2001, and the third book, Grave Peril, was published in September 2001. Thereafter, the release schedule slowed, with Summer Knight appearing on September 3, 2002. The fifth and sixth books, Death Masks and Blood Rites, appeared in August 2003 and 2004, respectively.

For several years, you could pretty much count on a new Dresden Files book every year or so, until Skin Game (#15) was released in 2014. Then the drought began. Yes, I know there were graphic novels being written, and short stories (most of which are absolutely fantastic) appearing in various anthologies, and loads of other things going on in his life. (He is also the author of the Codex Alera series, a fantasy I quite enjoyed, and The Aeronaut’s Windlass, Book 1 of a new fantasy series that I hope will be continued.)

And those are all great things. BUT. Harry disappeared for a very long time. I thought perhaps–unbeknownst to his fans–my favorite wizard had been yanked into the Nevernever and left there to wander lost and lonely as a cloud until the end of days! Happily, as we now know, he’s back! Thus my series of posts wherein the countdown of the weeks continues and I dance around all excited, while generally acting like a looney tunes.

~~~

On that note, I’m moving along to share a new meme I made this week. Hope you enjoy it. It’s one of my favorite pictures and quotes, out of many!

AND HERE ARE A FEW MORE MEMES
FOUND FLOATING AROUND THE INTERNET.

Welp, that’s it for today, folks! I’ll be back next Tuesday with a brand new countdown update, more images and characters, and anything else I can think of you might enjoy! Hope to see you then!

~~~

Hooray for SINGLE Digits! Only 9 More Weeks Until #PeaceTalks #DresdenFiles #HarryDresden #JimButcher

May 12, 2020May 9, 2020 / Marcia Meara / 22 Comments

Harry and Thomas Ready to Do Battle With Fiends & Villains Everywhere!
(I believe this is another great piece done by Mika Blackfield)

Wizard Alert! Harry Dresden’s latest adventure is looming on the horizon! Yes, only 9 more weeks until the arrival of #PeaceTalks. That may seem like a long time, but after waiting more than SIX YEARS–did I mention that before?–a mere 9 weeks sounds like an instant. A long, drawn-out instant for sure, but still an instant. Everything is relative, after all. 😉

Cover of the Week

Another Chris McGrath Beauty

Last week, I promised to share a bit more about other characters in the Dresden books. I think I’ll start with one of my personal favorites, Bob the Skull.

Bob resides on a bookshelf at Harry’s place, and gives out advice, liberally mixed with snarky comments. Of course, it isn’t really the skull, itself, chatting with (at?) Harry. It’s a vastly old spirit that has taken up residence in the empty cranium, as evidenced by the light glowing from the eye sockets. It can (and does) vacate the skull from time to time, swooshing out the door on errands for Harry, or whenever Harry rewards him by letting him visit places where he can read adult novels of dubious literary value.

Here are a few memes featuring Bob’s snarky (and often corny) comments and jokes.

And one more just for PURTY! (If you have a weird sense of what purty is!)
😀

Those of you who are up to date on the series might be as worried about Bob’s welfare as I am, but I’m trusting Jim Butcher to right all wrongs and take good care of him for now. (Don’t make me come UP there, Jim!!)

~~~

Next week, we’ll focus on another of my favorite characters, Michael Carpenter. In the meantime, let’s let Harry have the last word:

Stay tuned, Folks and keep counting the weeks! And remember, when it doubt:

Pre-Order Peace Talks HERE

Pre-Order Battle Ground HERE

Countdown to #PeaceTalks – Only TEN More Weeks!

May 5, 2020May 5, 2020 / Marcia Meara / 8 Comments

Still counting the days until Peace Talks is in my hot little hands! I know some of you are, as well, so I thought I’d share some pretty things today to make the time pass more quickly.

Though my personal vision of Harry is the one I “met” with the very first book, as depicted by cover artist Chris McGrath, he’s by no means the only version floating all over the internet. Many artists have been inspired by these books, and I’m hoping none of them will be insulted by my sharing some of their work with you today. I will happily add attributions to each picture if I find them, but there are so many in so many places, tracking down each artist is pretty hard. That being said, I will also remove any pictures if asked to do so. Here are a few of my favorites for your viewing pleasure.

Can’t decide if he’s about to yell “Fuego!” or “Forzare!” in this one. But he looks like he means business, for sure.

Harry and Thomas (brothers with a troubled background,
given their very different natures.)

An interesting take.

And a wonderful montage by Mika Blackfield.
From left to right, Billy, Butters, Murphy, Harry, Thomas,
Michael Carpenter, and Molly Carpenter.
We’ll be talking about some of these other characters in the upcoming weeks.

A Meme or Two For Your Amusement

And on that note, I’ll let you get back to your regularly scheduled programming. Just keep repeating: only 10 more weeks, only 10 more weeks, only 10 …………..

The Countdown to #PeaceTalks Continues! Only 11 More Weeks!

April 28, 2020April 29, 2020 / Marcia Meara / 26 Comments

Me, basically. Except for, you know … the really skinny part!

Welp, back again, folks. Still counting the weeks until the release of Peace Talks. We’re down to eleven now, and before long, it’ll be SINGLE DIGITS! Woo and also Hoo! It’s getting closer every day, and I have big news to share with you! The cover for Battle Ground has now been revealed, too! (Thanks for the heads up, Jeanne!) And it’s a real winner. Honestly, I like it much better than the strange blue/pink/lavender wash on Peace Talks. This one just screams action and adventure, don’t you think?

Of course, at this stage of the game, I wouldn’t much care if the cover was blank, just as long as I can get my hands on the books. (Okay, that’s a bold and blatant lie. I LOVE cover art with a passion, especially Chris McGrath’s cover art, and double especially Chris McGrath’s Dresden Files cover art. But you get my drift.) Battle Ground will be available on September 29, in case you want to go ahead and pre-order. I did. (Surprised?)

Fun Memes of the Day

Harry as a Much Younger Wizard
(Same cover artist: Chris McGrath; Same model: John Paul Pfeiffer)

Last week, we talked about Mouse, Harry’s Foo Dog. Foo dogs are a huge dog named for the Chinese guard “dogs” of old, which were actually statues of lions outside their temples. Not sure if “foos” are an accepted registered breed or not–topic for another day–but there ARE pictures of them online, and here are a few I found, along with this wonderful artist’s rendering of Harry and Mouse.

Don’t know about you, but whatever its origin and no matter what it’s called, one of these guys should deter just about any threat. 😀

To wrap up this week’s posts, I have a little gift for anyone interested. A 1920 x 1080 pixel desktop wallpaper I created, which will save at full size. Enjoy! (NOTE: If this doesn’t save at full size, let me know and I’ll send you the file.)

I’ll see you next week as the countdown continues. We’ll be talking other Dresden Files characters and how they fit into Harry’s world, and featuring artwork by various folks who seem inspired by this series. See you then.

#TwoferTuesday No. 1 – The Countdown Continues – 13 More Weeks!

April 14, 2020April 13, 2020 / Marcia Meara / 11 Comments

As promised, a bit more in celebration and anticipation of the upcoming release of Peace Talks, the 16th book in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. Only 13 more weeks to go!

~ A DRESDEN FILES TIDBIT ~

All of the fabulous covers for this series were done by my favorite cover artist, Chris McGrath. Chris does some of the best fantasy covers out there, and his model for Harry Dresden (John Paul Pfeiffer) is on many of them, including Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series, D. B. Jackson’s Thieftaker series, and more. John Paul is also the face I imagined for my own male “lead” in my Wake-Robin Ridge series. (I can dream, can’t I?) You can see more of Chris McGrath’s work HERE.

~ A DRESDEN FILES MINI-QUIZ ~

Which of these answers is correct?
Harry Dresden lives with three pet animals:
His dog, Mister
His cat, Mouse
His parrot, Beelzebub

(Note: Sorry, no prizes for this one. Just a fun way to see who’s been paying attention, who hasn’t, and who really doesn’t give a flip. 😀 Feel free to answer in the comments.)

And that’s it for today’s Countdown Post. I’ll be back next Tuesday with a few more images and tidbits for your browsing amusement. (And mine. Okay, mostly mine, probably. 😀 )

UNTIL THEN, REMEMBER:

Let the COUNTDOWN Begin!

April 7, 2020 / Marcia Meara / 13 Comments

It’s coming, folks! Yes! Believe it or not, Harry Dresden is BACK! According to every reliable source I can find, Jim Butcher’s latest adventure from the Dresden Files, Peace Talks, will be arriving on July 14!! Think of it! That’s a mere 14 weeks from today! And, yes! I know I’m ending every sentence with exclamation points, but I’ve been waiting SIX YEARS for him to get this book written and published! Six! Years!

That’s six years without my favorite adult Wizard in the world. Six years of wondering how the upcoming catastrophe will be averted. (Whatever it was. I mean, come on. I can’t be expected to remember all the details for more than half a decade, can I?) And most important of all—six years of waiting to see if Harry and Sgt. Karrin Murphy will finally, at LOOOONG last, take their relationship to the next level, in the totally obvious direction we’ve been expecting over the fifteen previous books!

You may expect to find future Peace Talk updates, filled with Dresden Files tidbits and images, over the next 14 weeks–right here! Same time, same channel. Tune in as we Dresden fans await the Big Day! See you next Tuesday!